12 Ways Celebrity Chefs Amp Up Their Tuna Salad

Tuna salad sandwiches weren't always the classic lunch item they are today. Back in the 1800s, home cooks made all kinds of mayo-based salads as an effort to repurpose leftovers. For example, some folks would mash day-old canned fish with creamy mayonnaise to mask its strong taste (via Smithsonian Magazine). This practice eventually led to the rise of mayo-based sandwiches, with popular combinations like leftover tuna, mayo, pickles, and olives, commonly served.

Luckily, tuna salad has evolved considerably in the last 200 years. In the latter half of the 1800s, when women began participating more in public life, lunch halls sought out ways to attract these new consumers. Thus, businesses started to serve fish salads made with fresh ingredients — a trend that has remained constant in American culture to this day.

Now, even the most basic tuna salad recipes continue to evolve and improve. Celebrity chefs have played a major role in this process by sharing their tips to elevate this staple. From Martha Stewart's suggestion to mix in crispy apples and basil to Nigella Lawson's strategy for adding an Italian twist, celebrity chefs have plenty of ideas to help bring your tuna salad to the next level.

The thought of tuna salad on crackers may evoke childhood memories for some, but Gordon Ramsay's elite take on the recipe is a far cry from your typical school lunch. In an exclusive interview with Tasting Table, Ramsay shared his elevated tuna salad recipe and our mouths are still watering. According to the Michelin-starred celebrity chef, his ideal high-end tuna salad involves quail eggs and seared tuna. 

"First of all, get some ahi tuna and lightly sear it. From there, I would get a beautiful quail egg [and] lightly poach them," Ramsay revealed. The chef went on to recommend serving the combination on Triscuit crackers smothered in tapenade. To top it all off, the chef described that he would add, "a tiny little slice of French green bean salad with a quail egg that is runny in the middle."

The recipe might make you salivate, but not everybody will immediately understand Ramsay's choice to include quail eggs. However, the way that the TV chef sees it, the answer has everything to do with size: "It fits beautifully [on your Triscuits]," Ramsay pointed out. "The dimensions of the biscuit are these amazing little snacks — canapés — and they're sort of two-bite wonders. And quail egg cut in half sits beautifully."

Ina Garten is not the only celebrity chef who uses Italian canned tuna to elevate her recipe; Giada De Laurentiis also opts for it in her tuna salad. Unlike Garten who drains most of the oil out of her tuna, De Laurentiis has another strategy. In a video for the Food Network's Facebook page, De Laurentiis popped open a can of Italian tuna and poured the olive oil from the tin into a jar. "Save the olive oil to make a great dressing for later," the Italian American chef told her viewers.

To make De Laurentiis' specialty dressing, take the leftover oil from the tin and place it in a larger bowl. To balance out the liquid's fishy flavor, you'll need to add fresh olive oil to the mix. Then, you should throw in enough red wine vinegar to make your salad dressing two parts oil and one part vinegar. Per the celebrity chef's tips, you can grind in some salt and pepper to taste. In the end, De Laurentiis instructs viewers to mix the vinaigrette into the tuna salad, leaving plenty of time for the spongier ingredients, like white beans, to soak up the flavor.

When cooking, presentation can be everything — and Carla Hall knows it. The former "Top Chef" contestant suggests arranging your tuna salad to give it the top-notch aesthetic it deserves. For starters, Hall outlines how to serve your tuna salad in a bowl made entirely of lettuce. As she told the Food Network, "I think of this recipe as an inside-out tuna sandwich: a halved head of iceberg lettuce becomes two bowls for the tuna salad." 

To make the classic salad Hall's way, start by selecting a whole head of iceberg lettuce and slicing it in half. Next, hollow out the inner part of the lettuce to make a bowl. The result should be thin enough that you can actually fill the insides with salad, while still maintaining enough thickness to stand on its own. If you find that your bowl rolls a bit from side to side, Hall has a trick for you: "Slice off a sliver [of lettuce] from the rounded bottom to create a flat surface," the celebrity chef advised. For a particularly stylish plate of tuna salad, top it all off with a poached egg. Hall says you can also serve it with a side of toast points to give your meal a restaurant-quality presentation.

While the spreadable varieties of tuna salad are certainly delicious, chunkier versions can be equally delightful. British celebrity chef, Delia Smith, suggests making a bulkier version of the dish, using whole white beans and larger pieces of fish. As per Smith's recipe, home cooks should whip up a batch of cannellini beans (or pop open a can), to serve over a bed of arugula. Rather than mashing the canned fish into these ingredients, Smith recommends breaking it up into bits to scatter over the salad.

Ultimately, Smith's take on tuna salad allows you to appreciate each ingredient individually, rather than only the combination as a paste. Her recipe gives you the chance to experience the strong peppery flavor of arugula, the nuttiness of cannellini beans, and the rich saltiness of tuna. Finally, the celebrity chef seeks to tie the flavors together with a lemon zest dressing. The citric element highlights each of the other ingredients, all while uniting them with one common flavor.

If you are looking for a way to spice up your tuna salad, you might want to turn to Valerie Bertinelli for advice. The actress-turned-cooking-show-host adds hot peppers to her tuna salad as a way to give it a touch of heat. As Bertinelli divulged on her Food Network show, "I think an egg salad and a tuna salad is very personal. I like spice in it so I'm going to put some jalapeños in." This ingredient adds an earthy, green flavor to your tuna salad, all while providing that extra kick that so many people crave.

While fresh jalapeños are delicious, their spice level is so high that they can overpower the other flavors in your salad. To reduce the heat, Bertinelli suggests avoiding whole peppers and opting for pickled ones instead. "They're a little milder. They add a little bit of a spicy bite," she explained. As an added bonus, this type of jalapeños will contribute a briny taste to your creation. On her show, Bertinelli noted, "Because they are pickles, [these peppers] add a nice little tartness." The slightly sour and tangy taste blends well with other common tuna salad additions, like pickles and olives.

While tuna salad is often considered a picnic treat, Nigella Lawson has another use for this delicious meal. According to the celebrity chef, it can also be an antipasto, also known as an Italian starter plate. To give your tuna salad this unique Italian twist, leave the mayonnaise and celery behind. Instead, parse some tuna into a plate of borlotti beans and top it all with a generous portion of high-quality olive oil. Finish it off by sprinkling salt and freshly ground pepper on top.

Although this flavor combination might not be familiar to everyone, in Italy, it is considered tried and true. In north-eastern regions, salads made of beans and fish preserves are so ubiquitous that you can find them in practically any bar or casual restaurant. As Lawson wrote on her blog, "This has always been the Italian antipasto." Per the chef, these ingredients also work together visually, giving you a vibrant creation. "I love the flecked terracotta of borlotti beans, giving you the colors of Tuscany on a plate," Lawson wrote.