Martha Stewart’s Favorite Tuna Salad Is Now My Favorite Too

If it’s Martha’s favorite, then I simply have to try it. End of story. When I saw the ingredient list for this tuna salad and noticed that she incorporates chopped apples and fresh basil, she had my full attention. Apples and basil in a tuna salad? In this economy? I was intrigued by this flavor combo, so I cracked open a couple cans of tuna and did what any tuna salad lover would do — tried it out for myself ASAP.

Get the recipe: Martha’s Favorite Tuna Salad

This is an extremely straightforward tuna salad. To make it, mix 2 cans of oil-packed tuna in a bowl with thinly sliced celery, a finely chopped apple (we’re talking 1/4-inch pieces), mayonnaise, fresh basil, lemon juice, salt, and pepper. Martha serves hers on toasted sourdough but you can enjoy your tuna salad however you prefer.

I loved the apple and basil in this salad. The flavors came through wonderfully and you could taste the sweetness of the apples and the summery freshness of the basil with each bite. The crisp texture of the finely chopped apples was also a great touch. I halved the celery lengthwise and thinly chopped it, as the recipe instructed, but I wish I had chopped it up just a bit finer because I found the larger pieces a little distracting.

This salad was super tasty, but my biggest qualm is that it needed more mayonnaise. Three tablespoons of mayo for two (6-ounce) cans of tuna is just not enough. It was on the dry side and hard to scoop onto bread without it all falling apart. Even though the tuna was packed in oil, which will provide some fat for the salad, I still felt like the amount of mayonnaise wasn’t enough. The upside? This is a very easy problem to fix.

1. Chop the celery as finely as the apple (1/4-inch pieces). This will make for a more uniform salad and, in my opinion, a more pleasurable eating experience.
2. Add a couple more tablespoons of mayo to help balance out the salad.

Rating: 9.5/10