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.
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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Looks great but what were you scraping off the knife in the video? Was it breadcrumbs? I don’t see them listed in the ingredients list
Hi Kim, those were crackers (Jim explains it in the full-length video). See the notes section of the recipe card where Jim mentions that bread or crackers can be used to dry out the tuna after draining and remixing the next day if needed.
Please comment as to which type of onion is best. I think that perhaps white onions would work best for taste. They are, however, a bit more watery than yellow onions.
Hi Dan, Jim has used both yellow and white for this recipe and there really was no difference. You can use either.
My go to recipe for tuna salad and just made it for lunch now! Added a bit of lemon juice. Delicious!
I’ve been making tuna salad for over 65 years and I thought that I have evolved my recipe to perfection, however your recipe is amazing and I am so grateful to change mine for the better using your ingredients.
Thank you, there is always room for improvement!
We’re so happy you enjoyed, Michael!
I’ve made this a few times and it’s the only recipe for tuna salad I will probably ever use. I use my own homemade mayo and I bought cans of a tuna brand I haven’t had before purchased at the around the corner health food store because it’s a short walk. I knew when I opened the cans of solid white albacore in spring water this was good stuff. It was light, fresh, and a beuatiful color and combined with the other ingredients tasted so clean, but I put on the plastic wrap and put the bowl in the fridge for an overnight mingle. Something to look forward to tomorrow.
We’re so happy you enjoyed, Neli!
I’ve made this a few times and it is awesome.
I live in Philadelphia and my wife is from New York. She is always missing good NY deli food. I wanted to make this for her so she would have a taste of home. She loved it. Thanks for sharing
So happy you enjoyed, Louis!
Thank you–I also came back to report that I made the tuna salad with 2 modifications — the pricier wild caught solid tuna and homemade mayo.
Unfortunately, the tuna salad just wasn’t AS good as the original as-written recipe. It was fine–but was lacking a pop, even with more seasonings. I will even say I prefer using chunk light tuna over solid tuna–it just tastes more authentic to the deli versions I’ve tried.
So for my tastes, hellman’s mayo is a must-use!
We’re so happy you enjoyed, Michael!
I’m picky with food. And I hate to admit this, but I had never had deli tuna salad.
As a kid I was always told never get tuna salad or chicken salad unless it was homemade so you know it’s safe to eat! What hysteria. I am assuming that intended meaning was truly intended for it to be “fresh” instead of “safe”. Funny how these things notions stay in our minds unchallenged sometimes?!
Anyway, I thoroughly enjoyed this tuna salad recipe and it was exactly what I imagined and hoped it would be–which doesn’t happen often.
I used chunk light tuna (instead of my fprefered Wild Planet, to make sure I liked it first–that stuff is not cheap!).
The salad really does get better after the second day. Right after mixing, I thought the soy sauce was too dominant. But the next day, everything tasted better as stated.
I will definitely keep this in my rotation with the only caveat being I’d like to try with my own homemade mayo that uses a base of extra light olive oil rather than Hellman’s (I don’t like to consume cheap/garbage oils in my diet–though, I will use it if necessary!).
I enjoyed the salad on large pieces of green leaf lettuce–so simple, refreshing, and satisfying!
So happy you gave it a try and enjoyed it, Michael!
Excellent!!
I NEVER ate tuna salad at home once refrigerated. Always thought taste changed.
I tried this recipe, and left it in fridge overnight. LOVED IT!!! EXACTLY LIKE NY DELI.
The relish was amazing addition. Left out salt and soy sauce, LS diet.
THANKS!
We’re so happy you enjoyed, Eileen!
This is the best tuna salad I have ever eaten. I can’t wait to try all the other deli salad recipes.
We’re so happy to hear that, Paula!
The tip about tearing the tuna is spot on. Soy sauce is great. I’m riffing this with dijon m. sundried tomato, omitting the sliced tomato, fresh dill, and switching to mozzerella cheese. Thank-you James!
PS Provalone would be great as well!
I would like to try your chicken salad and tuna salad recipes but I don’t like raw onion. Can I use onion powder or something else in your tuna salad and chicken salad recipes and, if so, how much should I use?
Hi Anne, you can definitely omit the onion. No need to replace with the onion powder.
I made this last night for a party for to night. I squeezed the water out so well that there was no liquid to remove. I shredded the tuna by hand to make sure there were no chunks before adding the other ingredients. I’m not a fan of sweet relish, so I skipped that. I only had celery seeds on hand. I did add a little Dijon and lemon juice, which I typically do when I make tuna salad. I made the mistake of not paying attention to the Costco canned tuna size (7 oz versus 5 oz), so I had to add a lot more mayo and other ingredients. I didn’t really taste the soy sauce, so maybe I didn’t add enough. Overall, a great tuna salad which I’ll make again. I’ll be serving this tonight with mini sliders.
I’ve made this recipe multiple times and it is a game-changer with the soy sauce and celery salt. The last time I made it, it was packed in oil, so I reduced the mayonnaise by a half-cup.
So happy you enjoyed, Jeremy!
I tried this yesterday and it will not be the last time. Way better than my go-to tuna sallad.
I’m in Sweden so we don’t have Sweet Relish but I added “Bostongurka” and a teaspoon of MSG to boost the flavor. Amazing!
We’re so happy you enjoyed, Marcus!
This was really good! My son who was disappointed were having tuna subs for dinner gave it a thumbs up. I’ll be sticking to this recipe for a long time.
So happy to hear that, BJ!
grew up eating plain tuna and mayo – hadn’t had it in years and now i can’t stop making this. Just so good
We’re happy to hear you’re making this on repeat! Thanks for the comment, Johnny!
This looks really good. I usually add hard boiled eggs, but I’m going to try it your way next time.
My go-to for tuna salad!
This is my family’s new go to tuna recipe. I’m asked for it regularly!
We’re so happy you all liked it!