Every now and again I get a pretty strong craving for canned tuna, but there are two problems with that: 1) canned tuna has gotten quite expensive and 2) All that mayo can be pretty dangerous. So, I came up with this easy little Tuna and White Bean Salad to solve both of those problems.

White beans (navy or great northern) are pretty neutral in flavor and the texture goes quite well with tuna, so they’re a really great way to bulk out tuna salad for cheap. Instead of using mayo to keep the salad moist and flavorful, I made a light and bright mix of lemon juice and olive oil. Green onions, freshly cracked pepper, and a little salt are all you need to make the flavors pop. This salad is simple, flavorful, filling, and can be eaten on crackers, in a pita, or just plain with a fork. It’s a great way to pack in that protein!

Oh, if you happen to have lemon pepper seasoning on hand, you can sprinkle that into the salad for a little extra pop or in place of the lemon juice and freshly cracked pepper. It will give the same great flavor with one little shake of the bottle!

See this recipe used in my weekly meal prep.

Updated 12-27-16

Tuna and White Bean Salad

Print Recipe

4.84 from 25 votes

Tuna & White Bean Salad

This Tuna and White Bean salad is mayo-free, but big on flavor. Whip up this salad in minutes to satisfy your hunger and tastebuds. 

Total Cost: $2.21 recipe / $0.74 serving

Author: Beth M

Prep Time: 10 mins

Total Time: 10 mins

Servings: 3

Ingredients

• 1 15 oz. can white beans ($0.86)
• 1 5 oz. can chunk light tuna in water ($0.89)
• 2 whole green onions ($0.19)
• 1 Tbsp lemon juice ($0.06)
• 1 Tbsp olive oil ($0.16)
• salt & pepper to taste ($0.05)

Instructions

• Pour the can of beans into a colander and rinse with cool water. Allow the excess water to drain off. Drain the can of tuna. Combine the drained beans and tuna in a bowl. Thinly slice the green onions and add to the bowl as well.
• Add the olive oil and lemon juice to the bowl, along with a light sprinkle of salt and freshly ground black pepper. Stir to combine.
• Taste the mixture and add salt, pepper, or lemon juice to your liking.

Tried this recipe?Mention @budgetbytes or tag #budgetbytes on Instagram!

Step By Step Photos

Drain and rinse the white beans. Drain the tuna and thinly slice the green onions. Combine all three in a bowl.

Add the olive oil, lemon juice, a light sprinkle of salt, and some freshly ground black pepper. I like pepper a lot, so I added probably about 20 cranks of the pepper mill.

Stir everything together and then adjust the seasoning to your liking. You can see how the tuna and beans were kind of falling apart, which makes it not so pretty. Higher quality beans will stay intact and higher quality tuna will be more chunky than mushy. But it tasted great all the same!