Tuna & White Bean Salad
Tinned tuna, white beans, and red onion in a lemony dressing — a no-cook, thirty-five-gram-protein lunch that keeps in the fridge.
Ingredients
- 2 tin Tinned tuna
- 240 g Cannellini beans
- 1 Lemon
- 2 tbsp Extra-virgin olive oil
- ¼ Red onion (optional)
- 3 tbsp Parsley (optional)
- ¼ tsp Salt (optional)
- ¼ tsp Black pepper (optional)
Method
- Whisk the lemon juice, olive oil, salt, and pepper into a dressing in a large bowl.
- Drain and rinse the white beans.
- Shave the red onion thinly and chop the parsley.
- Add the beans, onion, and parsley to the dressing and fold in the drained tuna in big flakes.
- Serve at room temperature, or chill for later.
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About Tuna & White Bean Salad
Tuna and white bean salad is a Mediterranean staple that stretches from Tuscany's tonno e fagioli to the countless lunch bowls of the wider region, all built on the same logic: creamy beans, oily tinned fish, and something sharp to lift them. This is assembly cooking in the best sense, a no-cook dish that leans on the quality of a few pantry things rather than technique. Cannellini beans provide the soft, starchy backbone, the tuna brings savory depth, and thinly shaved red onion cuts through with bite. It reads as humble but genuinely satisfying, the kind of thing you can build in the time it takes to whisk a dressing.
Dressing the bowl first and folding everything into it means every bean and flake picks up the lemon and olive oil rather than getting a dressing poured over the top. The result tastes clean and bright, with the beans turning almost buttery against the acidity and the onion softening slightly as it sits. It eats best at room temperature, when the flavors have loosened, though it holds up in the fridge for a day or two and arguably improves. With well over thirty grams of protein and a good hit of fiber, it works as a standalone lunch, a picnic dish, or a light supper alongside bread and a few olives.
Tuna & White Bean Salad: frequently asked questions
How many calories are in Tuna & White Bean Salad?
A serving has about 511 calories — 41.7g protein, 33.9g carbs, 23.3g fat, 8.7g fiber. Figures are estimated from the ingredient amounts and will shift with your portions and brands.
Is it high in protein?
Each serving has about 41.7g of protein, roughly 33% of its calories.
Is Tuna & White Bean Salad gluten-free?
Based on its ingredients, Tuna & White Bean Salad has no gluten-containing components, so it's naturally gluten-free — as always, check that any packaged ingredients you use are certified gluten-free to be safe.
Do I need every ingredient to make Tuna & White Bean Salad?
The core ingredients are essential, but you can leave out red onion, parsley, salt — they're optional and mainly there for extra flavor or finish.
How many servings does Tuna & White Bean Salad make?
This recipe makes 2 servings. In the app you can scale it up or down and the ingredient amounts adjust automatically.