There is no better tuna salad than New York deli-style Tuna Salad. With a few simple ingredients, it’s so easy to make and is perfect for lunch or dinner. Whether you serve it on toast, scoop it on salads, or eat it plain, you can’t go wrong!
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There is nothing quite like a New York deli; from the vast array of sandwiches to the plethora of salads, the flavors found in the New York deli are unmistakable and hard to match.
Having worked in several delis I picked up a few tricks so this tuna salad tastes exactly like one you’d get at a New York deli.
For the full New York experience, serve this tuna salad on a round roll with a side of deli macaroni salad!
Recipe Ingredients
All ingredients for this recipe are shown in the pic below and special notes are made in this bulleted list to assist you.
- Tuna. While many delis use a combo of chunk light and solid albacore, I prefer to use all solid because it’s better quality. I still get the same consistency because I use my hands to mix as you’ll see below. Water-packed tuna should be used. Save the high-end olive oil-packed yellow fin tuna for recipes like pasta al tonno.
- Relish and soy sauce. Some delis will use these, some won’t, but I’ve found these two additions really boost the flavor and body of the tuna salad.
- Mayonnaise. Delis in NY usually use a thicker Hellman’s mayo or thicker generic mayos sold at restaurant supply stores. Often referred to as decorator mayo, these thicker mayos are one of the keys to the deli flavor in many recipes, like deli-style egg salad and shrimp salad, however, you can definitely get away with using Hellman’s sold in the grocery store. Opt for Hellman’s over Duke’s or Miracle Whip if you want to replicate the NY flavor. If you’re looking for a lighter option, check out my healthy tuna salad recipe, which uses Greek yogurt and light mayo.
See the recipe card for full information on ingredients and quantities.
How to make it
Each number corresponds to the numbered written steps below.
- Finely dice 1/2 cup worth of onion and 1/2 cup of celery. Drain very well four 5-ounce cans of water-packed solid white albacore tuna, then place the tuna in a large bowl along with the celery and onion. Add 1 teaspoon of celery salt, 2 tablespoons of sweet relish, and 1 tablespoon of soy sauce and mix thoroughly. Your hands make the best mixers for tuna salad. Let the mixture sit for 10 minutes. (Photo #1)
- After 10 minutes, add 1 1/4 cups of mayonnaise and mix well. Season with salt and pepper to taste. (Photo #2)
- Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight. Note: You can certainly eat it now, but it is way better after overnight! (Photo #3)
- The next day, strain the tuna salad of all the accumulated water and add more mayo as needed. Serve on toast, rolls, crackers, salads, or enjoy by itself! (Photo #4)
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Top tips
- Let it sit. While you can definitely eat the tuna salad right away, I recommend letting it sit overnight so you can drain it of excess water. The flavor will also be so much better the next day! I recommend doing this with many of my deli salads, including the shrimp salad.
- Use your hands. I highly recommend using your hands to mix the tuna and break up all the pieces. This will ensure a smooth deli-like consistency.
- The mayo. Hellman’s mayo will give you the best authentic NY deli flavor.
More New York deli recipes
Here are a few more of my tried and true New York deli salad recipes. I hope you love them!
If you’ve enjoyed this New York Deli Tuna Salad Recipe or any recipe on this site, give it a 5-star rating and tell us about it in the comments below.
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New York Deli Tuna Salad
Ingredients
- 4 5-ounce cans solid water-packed tuna well drained
- 1/2 cup finely diced onion
- 1/2 cup finely diced celery
- 1 teaspoon celery salt
- 2 tablespoons sweet relish
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce
- 1 1/4 cups mayonnaise plus more as needed
- salt and pepper to taste
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Instructions
- Drain the tuna cans of their water as much as possible.
- Place the tuna, celery, and onion into a large bowl and thoroughly mix in the relish, celery salt, and soy sauce and let sit for 10 minutes before adding the mayo.
- Add the mayonnaise and mix well. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.
- The next day, strain the tuna of all the accumulated water. Add more mayo as required and serve. Enjoy!
Notes
- It is recommended to refrigerate overnight. The flavor will be much better and the tuna salad can be thoroughly drained to remove excess water.
- Pieces of white bread or crushed crackers can be used to dry up the tuna after draining and remixing the next day.
- Leftovers can be saved in the fridge for up to 3 days.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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Outstanding! As a native NY’er, I am very impressed with this recipe! I cut back on the mayo by a 1/2 cup, and was still a little too much for me, but overall super happy with it!
We’re so happy you liked it, Jackie!
In the video, you refer to both “celery seed” and “celery salt” – which one are you actually using?
Hi Norm. It’s celery salt. I didn’t have it when I made the video so used celery seed. With celery salt you probably won’t need to use any extra salt when doing a final taste test.
Wayyyyy too much mayo to start. 1/2 cup is fine for me. Worked great and didnt need to add more. Slightly crushed celery seeds instead of celery salt was also much better. The soy and mayo provide enough salt and you can always add more or a few drops of lemon.
I also added the crushed cracker crumbs the next day to bind things up. Why did you leave that out of the recipe here? A good secret trick.
Thanks for the comment. The “Notes” section in the recipe card discusses adding bread or crushed crackers if need be.
Oh boy, I’m excited to make this. I grew up in Massapequa and loved the Unqua delis tuna salad. I’ve never been able to recreate….maybe now I can. Also went to SUNY Potsdam and loved the tuna subs after a night out complete with a drizzle of Italian dressing. I’ll report back. Love you guys! (Have been living outside Philly for 50 years)
We hope you love it, Catherine!
My wife loves tuna salad so I decided to make this. She said it’s the best she’s ever had. I have to make it like this for us now. My old way doesn’t cut it anymore
We’re so happy you and your wife enjoyed, Michael!
I enjoy watching you cook , most oof what you make brings back memories of growing up in an Italian family . I lived in NY 30 plus years. And def miss getting delicious food there. Thanks for the memories and sharing your recipes . Beautiful family be kind to one another.
Thanks, Mady! So happy you enjoyed!
Delicious
We love our tuna salad.. I have almost made your recipe for 55+ yesrs.
The soy sauce is what I have missed without knowing it !! Thank you from an expat NYr
So happy you enjoyoed the tip about the soy sauce!
Thoroughly enjoyed this recipe! I’ve made tuna sandwiches since I’m a teen and normally don’t feel the need to reinvent the wheel, but I loved the soy and celery salt! I was t sure about the soy but I liked it!! Unfortunately I had no relish on hand but will try it when I pick some up. As per usual, your recipes are spot on!
We’re so happy you enjoyed, Chrissy!
Jim and Tara – I recently discovered your channel and immediately subscribed. You’ve captured and make many of the Italian food recipes I grew up. I especially like that your straight- forward, methodical and detailed approach to showing us your recipes. The tips you give are great as well. Love James’ taste reviews.
This is a very good tuna salad recipe. I made it as written with three exceptions:
1) substituted like amount of ground celery seed for the celery salt. This way I still get all the celery flavor but have complete control of the amount of salt,
2) added ¼ cup of softened cream cheese (no crackers/bread crumbs used for lower carbs),
3) halved the amount of mayonnaise (Best Foods brand here on the West Coast).
Thanks for the comment, Mickey, and for sharing your alterations!
Love this guy! He introduced me to Spaghetti al limone! A delicious and easy dish. So stocked to make myself some NY Deli tuna salad this weekend; Heck yea.
The only thing I like that he didn’t do.
Cuz I make sure my tune is not in any chunks and shut it up really well before adding anything to it. But that may just be my taste I don’t like tuna chunks
I liked this, although having frequented the salad bars in NYC delis many times when working in Manhattan I’m not sure about the soy sauce component. The tuna salad works great in a sandwich, but when you are eating this by itself the soy sauce seems to be a little too forward in the taste. I may try using less next time, or substitute with a squeeze of lemon.
Will sure make this.
This was very salty, almost too salty to eat. If i make it again i will halve the celery salt and soy.
Use your potato ricer to squeeze out the water from the tuna. It works like a charm. You’re welcome!
Great idea, thanks Nina!
I have never tried tuna with the soy sauce. I always squeezed a quarter of a lemon in the tuna before adding the mayo.But I will try the soy sauce also next time. I would also like to try the potato ricer next time.Good idea!
Genius, Nina! I’ve always wrapped it in several paper towels and squeezed as hard as I could several times to release that hidden moisture. I haven’t used my ricer in eons, so thanks for your tip Ü
Life long Islander but moved to Delaware 6 years ago….your NY deli recipes have brought harmony to the house……..Thank You
Aww I feel your pain ! We moved to thd mid west for affordable living. I miss the NY food the most !
Deli egg bacon and cheese on a poppyseed roll cannot be replicated !
James-
I use your tuna salad recipe albeit using only one can of tuna….I did however add a tablespoon of Dijon mustard…for a little tang..try it you’ll like it
Still waiting for the book….keep up the great work!
Tom
Everything but onion. No onion in my tuna salad. It’s a celebration of white albacore tuna, celery, lots of finely diced celery, & a good brand mayo. Sort of like my potato salad potatoes, hard boiled eggs, celery, good mayo!
But going to try yours minus the onion as that’s all I taste when it’s got onion in it of any kind.
Many thanks for your tuna salad recipe. It is perfection. For those who don’t find Hellman’s mayo at their grocer’s, I found that Hellman’s is bottled under the Best Foods label in some parts of the country. Same company, same mayo, different names. Worth checking out.
To me, the Hellman’s and Best advertising campaigns were a triumph of intelligent advertising. There was a California company, Postum, and it owned Best. Eventually, Postum bought the Hellman’s company. Today, Best is sold west of the Rockies and Hellman’s east of them. An early slogan was, “Hellmann’s in the East, Best Foods in the West.” But my favorite was, “Bring out the Hellman’s and bring out the Best” – a clever double entendre.
I’ve already made James’ chicken salad, potato salad and coleslaw and given them fives, and can confidently give this a five too.
We’re happy you enjoyed this one too, Pat, and thanks for the trip down memory lane – I also remember the Bring out the Hellman’s commercials!