The Unique Ingredients In Matthew McConaughey's Tuna Salad

Tuna salad is the little black dress of sandwich fillings –- protein-packed, budget-friendly, and endlessly customizable. Whether you prefer a minimalist approach or you aren't afraid to get creative, almost everyone has a tuna salad take, and Matthew McConaughey is no exception. The actor shared his go-to tuna salad recipe in a 2024 interview, and let's just say, he takes a more-is-more approach to this classic fish dish.

It starts relatively tame –- the requisite tuna, a touch of vinegar and lemon juice, chopped onions, pickle relish, and mayo. But McConaughey's just getting started, and things get increasingly spicy from there. His first controversial move is mixing wasabi paste into the mayo. It's a hot take, but Ina Garten's non-canned tuna salad includes a wasabi-lime vinaigrette, so it's probably Barefoot Contessa-approved. He also adds some chopped apple — a bit out there, but certainly not unheard of (apple is a great way to give your tuna salad a little crunch). Finally, he completes this tuna creation with corn, frozen peas, agave syrup, and the cherry on top, a generous sprinkling of crispy jalapeño chips. If you've lost the plot, let's recap: McConaughey's tuna salad includes no less than 12 ingredients, and at least half are solidly polemic –- corn, peas, apple, agave syrup, crispy jalapeño chips, and wasabi. Put together, it's a tuna-based bomb of flavor, spice, crunch, and controversy.

Matthew McConaughey's tuna salad concoction isn't for the faint of heart (or tastebuds). Still, there's no denying that the long and perplexing list of ingredients sparks a certain level of intrigue. Could combining all these flavors actually work? Is McConaughey a culinary genius in addition to his acting chops? 

Since the Uber Eats Super Bowl ad star pretty much just listed off a small mountain of ingredients and didn't share a specific recipe, many slightly different versions of the viral dish have been shared across the internet. More than a few Reddit reviewers lauded the actor's unique tuna salad as amazing, delicious, and possibly even life-changing. Others concluded that it was, well, just alright.

Hoda Kotb and Jenna Bush Hager of "TODAY with Hoda and Jenna" seemed to enjoy the unique tuna salad in an on-air tasting, but also noted that it's extremely spicy. Sandwich expert Barry Enderwick of Sandwiches of History rated it a decent seven out of ten (safe to say it's not one of the worst sandwiches he's ever eaten). At the end of the day, this is probably one of those love-it or hate-it dishes that you just have to try for yourself, like cold cheese-covered Ohio Valley pizza. If McConaughey's tuna salad is a bit too spicy for your taste, don't worry — we suggest upgrading your tuna salad with a more subtle twist like swapping mayo for a creamy dip or adding roasted garlic.