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  7. 16 Healthy Lunch Ideas That Start with a Can of Tuna

16 Healthy Lunch Ideas That Start with a Can of Tuna

Leah Goggins headshot
Leah Goggins March 31, 2022
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Tuna Melts with Roasted Bell Peppers
Credit: Jacob Fox

Whether it's a 10-minute tuna salad sandwich or a make-ahead kale salad slathered with delicious dressing, these lunch ideas put canned tuna to delicious use. Tuna is a good source of lean protein, omega-3 fatty acids and selenium, and it's an affordable, shelf-stable ingredient you can always have on hand. Use the can in your pantry to make something truly tasty, like our Avocado Tuna Spinach Salad or Tuna Melts with Roasted Bell Peppers for a healthy lunch that bears repeating.

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Mediterranean Tuna-Spinach Salad

Mediterranean Tuna-Spinach Salad
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This tuna salad recipe gets an upgrade with olives, feta and a tahini dressing. Served over baby spinach, this is the perfect easy and light lunch or dinner salad.

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Mason Jar Power Salad with Chickpeas & Tuna

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This power salad will keep you fueled for hours, thanks to 26 grams of protein and 8 grams of fiber. Tossing the dressing and kale, and then letting it stand in the jar, softens it enough so you don't need to massage or cook it to make it tender.

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Mediterranean Pasta Salad

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You might not think to use hummus as a pasta sauce, but the creamy dip makes the perfect backdrop to the bold flavors of this healthy Mediterranean-inspired pasta salad.

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Tuna & White Bean Salad

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The time-honored Italian pairing of canned tuna and cannellini beans makes a super-simple, satisfying lunch. Serve over salad greens, on grilled whole-wheat country bread or tucked in a whole-wheat pita pocket.

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Tuna Melts with Roasted Bell Peppers

Tuna Melts with Roasted Bell Peppers
Credit: Jacob Fox
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Making your own roasted red peppers is so simple, plus it cuts down on the sodium compared to jarred peppers—giving you more room to add other flavorful ingredients, like mustard, without making the dish too salty.

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Avocado Tuna Spinach Salad

Avocado Tuna Spinach Salad
Credit: Greg DuPree
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Avocado adds creaminess while sunflower seeds provide texture and crunch in this easy tuna-spinach salad.

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Chickpea Tuna Salad

Chickpea Tuna Salad
Credit: Photography / Caitlin Bensel, Food Styling / Ruth Blackburn
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This chickpea tuna salad with capers, feta and cucumber makes for the perfect lunch to pack for work or school. You can prep the salad the night before (just be sure to keep the spinach separate and dress the salad right before serving).

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Tuna Salad with Egg

Tuna Salad with Egg
Credit: Photography / Jennifer Causey, Styling / Ali Ramee / Audrey Davis
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This simple tuna salad with egg has a clean and balanced flavor. The capers and lemon bring acidity to help everything come together and chopped arugula adds a peppery kick. Enjoy it with greens or on a slice of your favorite whole-grain bread.

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Avocado Tuna Salad

Avocado-Tuna Salad
Credit: Photography / Greg DuPree, Styling / Ruth BlackBurn / Julia Bayless
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Jazz up a can of tuna with this easy avocado tuna salad recipe. Silky avocado adds creaminess that's cut with a hit of acidity from lemon and a briny punch from feta cheese. Romaine hearts and cucumber offer refreshing crunch.

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10-Minute Tuna Melt

10-Minute Tuna Melt
Credit: Joy Howard
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This variation of a classic sandwich uses mayonnaise, but not where you think! Mayo is brushed on the outside of the sandwich in place of butter to make the sandwich golden and crispy as it heats in a skillet. Plain Greek yogurt takes mayo's place in the salad—along with crunchy celery, roasted red bell peppers and scallions—for a satisfying lunch with less saturated fat.

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Classic Niçoise Salad

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This colorful platter salad with origins in the south of France makes a well-balanced and satisfying hot-weather meal. Coating the potatoes in dressing while they are still hot helps them absorb the flavors.

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Whole-Wheat Orzo & Tuna Salad with Broccoli

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This pasta- and tuna-salad mashup gets a boost of color and texture from broccoli. Plenty of Kalamata olives add a briny bite. Be sure to monitor the pasta-cooking carefully, as orzo can go from al dente to mush in a minute. If in doubt, drain it a little early--it'll soften further in the lemon dressing.

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Catchall Lunch Salad

Catchall Lunch Salad
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This easy salad is great for using up any small amounts of leftover canned foods and produce you have on hand.

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Tuna Macaroni Salad

Tuna Macaroni Salad
Credit: Photography / Jennifer Causey, Styling / Ali Ramee / Audrey Davis
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This simple tuna and macaroni salad is easy to pack and enjoy for work or school. The celery and bell pepper add a refreshing crisp crunch while the dressing, packed with flavor from dill, Dijon and lemon juice, complements the tuna.

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Farfalle with Tuna, Lemon, and Fennel

Farfalle with Tuna, Lemon, and Fennel
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This warm, flaked tuna and lemon pasta recipe is ready in 30 minutes.

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Tuna, White Bean & Dill Salad

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Take canned tuna to new heights by adding cannellini beans, red onion and dill, tossing it in a lemon-pepper-Dijon dressing and serving it over a spinach salad with canned beets.

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    1 of 16 Mediterranean Tuna-Spinach Salad
    2 of 16 Mason Jar Power Salad with Chickpeas & Tuna
    3 of 16 Mediterranean Pasta Salad
    4 of 16 Tuna & White Bean Salad
    5 of 16 Tuna Melts with Roasted Bell Peppers
    6 of 16 Avocado Tuna Spinach Salad
    7 of 16 Chickpea Tuna Salad
    8 of 16 Tuna Salad with Egg
    9 of 16 Avocado Tuna Salad
    10 of 16 10-Minute Tuna Melt
    11 of 16 Classic Niçoise Salad
    12 of 16 Whole-Wheat Orzo & Tuna Salad with Broccoli
    13 of 16 Catchall Lunch Salad
    14 of 16 Tuna Macaroni Salad
    15 of 16 Farfalle with Tuna, Lemon, and Fennel
    16 of 16 Tuna, White Bean & Dill Salad

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    16 Healthy Lunch Ideas That Start with a Can of Tuna
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