Give Your Tuna Salad A Bright Boost With An Unexpected Mayo Swap

Mayo is the binding ingredient in tuna salad that gives it its richness, but it's not the only way you can make tuna salad. If you're looking for something light, bright, and green instead of dense and rich, then turn your eyes toward green goddess dressing instead. While it lacks the lusciously thick and creamy texture of plain mayo, it does the job as a binder and provides a whole explosion of flavors you wouldn't otherwise be able to enjoy.

Green goddess is the dressing that gives potato salad a new flavor profile, and it can bring all new life to your tuna salad, too. Just replace the mayo in your recipe for green goddess dressing in about a one to one parts ratio, depending on the thickness of the dressing. Start out with a little less if you're uncertain and add more to get the taste or texture you want. You can even use green goddess dressing on the bread when turning tuna salad into a sandwich, just for that extra layer of flavor.

If you're wondering about how green goddess salad dressing got its elegant moniker, it was actually named after a 1920s play rather than the amount of greenery in it. However, greens are definitely a prominent part of green goddess dressing. A typical recipe includes some type of binding fat like mayo, sour cream, or Greek yogurt, along with plenty of green herbs like parsley, chives, tarragon, and basil. Black pepper, garlic, vinegar, and lemon juice are common co-stars, bringing some vibrant tang and pep to the herb garden that is this dressing. These are all ingredients that tend to marry well with tuna, so you'll end up with a perfect balance of flavors that are right at home in a salad.

You can also make your tuna salad with the creamy dip that is tzatziki if you have a particularly thin green goddess dressing. Tzatziki has many of the same herbs in green goddess dressing, but it provides more creaminess and richness that really seals the deal. Just replace the mayo in your recipe with half tzatziki and half green goddess dressing for a truly decadent binder. You won't miss the mayo at all; you'll have all the fat, flavor, and savory goodness you can want without ever reaching for that mayonnaise bottle.