Sick Of Tuna Salad? Use This Canned Seafood Instead

Tuna salad may not be glamorous, but it is still a favorite for many sandwich lovers. That being said, even the biggest tuna fans, and I count myself among them, like to switch things up every once in a while. Chicken salad is fine, although it requires more effort to make unless you use canned chicken, which isn't my go-to (plus there's that off-putting pink color). An easier alternative involves swapping canned salmon for tuna, but my favorite switch is actually shrimp.

Canned shrimp tend to be on the small side, so there's no need to chop them. Instead, you can simply drain the tin and mix those little guys with mayonnaise to form a proper salad-like consistency. Then stir in any embellishments you like. I usually keep it simple, adding nothing more than lemon juice, Tabasco, and a sprinkling of Cajun seasoning or Old Bay. Others, however, may flavor their shrimp salad with onions, celery, cucumbers, or dill, and some like to supplement the mayonnaise with yogurt for a brighter flavor profile.

You can eat shrimp salad the same ways you would tuna salad: Plop it on a bed of lettuce, spread it between slices of bread to make a sandwich, or scoop it up with crackers. You can even use it as the filling for a cheesy shrimp melt.

Of course, it's also fun to play around with the presentation. I love serving shrimp salad on a croissant for the sole reason that it reminds me of one of my favorite orders from the Ikea restaurant. Bagels, baguettes, flour tortillas, pita pockets, and sub rolls also make serviceable sandwich bread stand-ins. If you're feeling whimsical, you can even lean into shrimp's nautical side by piling it into a hot dog bun to make a shrimp boat –- extra points if you cut a cheese slice into triangles for sails.

Shrimp salad can also be used to stuff hollowed-out cucumbers or tomatoes. If you go with cocktail tomatoes, these will work as canapés. It can also be combined with cold rotini noodles to make a shrimp pasta salad perfect for your next picnic or potluck, or spoon it into pastry shells to give it that retro ladies' luncheon vibe. Shrimp salad certainly makes a tastier alternative to shrimp wiggle, which is what those lunching ladies would have been nibbling on back in the day.