Elevate Your Favorite Tuna Salad With A Refreshing Cucumber Twist

Tuna salad is anything but boring. You can spice it up with mustard, red pepper flakes, or chilies, add mayo for creaminess, or season it with capers, olives, and grated mozzarella for a Mediterranean feel. Better yet, add cucumbers to the mix for a satisfying crunch. These veggies are over 95% water, adding moisture to your salad. Plus, their mild, refreshing flavor can make canned tuna taste less salty.

Need one more reason to give it a try? Cucumbers go well with most vegetables and some fruits, including celery, onions, apples, lettuce, garlic, and others. For example, this tuna salad with cucumber, cranberries, and pecans tastes amazing and can be served in a halved avocado, on toast, or as a filling for sandwiches and wraps.

Another option is to serve tuna salad in cucumber cups. Or you can cut a cucumber in half lengthwise and fill it with tuna salad. Either way, you'll get a quick, delicious snack or appetizer that's just perfect for a lazy summer afternoon. 

Whether you have guests or want to surprise your loved ones, you can use cucumbers to make a refreshing, light appetizer. First, whip up a batch of tuna salad with your favorite ingredients. For example, you could use canned tuna, onions, celery, mayo, dill, and seasonings. After that, cut some cucumbers into thick slices and scoop out a small portion of their flesh. Leave the peel on or remove it, depending on your preferences.

When you're done, spoon the tuna salad into each cucumber cup and garnish with parsley, dill springs, sliced olives, or cherry tomatoes cut into halves or quarters. On a similar note, you can try these cucumber bites with avocado and basil. They're perfect for feeding a crowd and take minutes to prepare.

These bite-sized treats are easy to pick up and eat, making them ideal for parties and family gatherings. Plus, they're more diet-friendly than tuna salad served on crackers or bread, given that cucumbers have only 16 calories and less than 4 grams of carbs per cup. On top of that, they look quite impressive despite their simplicity.

Cucumber boats are a deliciously creative way to sail into salad season, making cooking a lot more fun. As the name suggests, these appetizers look like small boats that you can fill with tuna or egg salad, cottage cheese, hummus, guacamole, or creamy mango avocado salsa. If you go for tuna salad, mix all the ingredients in a large bowl and let them chill in the fridge so the flavors can meld. Meanwhile, slice the cucumbers lengthwise and scoop out the center of each half. Fill them with tuna salad, garnish with greens, and enjoy.

Ideally, opt for English or Japanese cucumbers, which are firmer and crunchier than regular cucumbers. They also have fewer seeds and, therefore, require less prep work. Since they're quite long, cut them in half before slicing them. Don't throw away the scooped pulp — instead, use it in smoothies or mix it into the tuna salad.

Another option is to use zucchini instead of cucumbers. You'll either slice them to make tiny cups or cut them lengthwise in a "boat" shape and fill them with tuna salad. Zucchinis and cucumbers have a similar nutritional profile, but the former are sweeter and less crispy.