Sometimes, an appetizer is just a different way of presenting favorites. Tuna, a fish food favorite (say that fast five times!) and the deliciously sour crunch of a pickle make a fast and easy tuna boat that will sail through the shoals of just about anyone’s tastes. And, if you tack carefully, you can make a tuna salad that will navigate your nutritional goals.
Using water-packed tuna and low-fat mayonnaise, you’ll find smooth sailing and low calories. Greek yogurt boosts protein. And, the choice of full-fat, low-fat or no-fat Greek yogurt give you the opportunity to ratchet up or down your taste/calorie choices. Since I’m trying for a keto version, I make my salad with full-fat mayo and olive oil-packed tuna. Yum! Talk about maximum flavor and minimal carbs!
This recipe, found at delish.com, includes directions for making the tuna salad, but of course feel free to season per your preference. In my case, I felt the pickles would provide enough dill taste, so I skipped putting more in the salad.
Once the salad is made, the only other work is scooping out the pickle seeds.
This is easier with larger pickles (I used smaller ones and it was trickier, but worth it to have smaller boats to serve).
This is also when I appreciate having grapefruit spoons. I have a set of four, which, of course, are NEVER used for grapefruit, LOL. But those serrated edges come in handy for scooping stuff, such as fibers from spaghetti squash.
Once your pickles are hollow, fill them with tuna salad. And, that’s it. The boats are ready to launch!
If you’d like to dress them up, sprinkle on a little paprika.
These little boats are a great addition to an appetizer buffet. Disclosure: I have been known to make a half-batch and call it lunch! Yum!
Tuna Salad Boats
Ingredients
- 10 oz. canned tuna drained
- 1/4 c. mayonnaise
- 1 tbsp. Dijon mustard
- 2 stalks celery finely chopped
- Juice of 1/2 a lemon
- 1 tbsp. chopped dill plus more for garnish (optional)
- Kosher salt
- Freshly ground black pepper
- 6 dill pickles
- Paprika for garnish
Instructions
- In a large bowl, mix tuna, mayo, mustard, celery and lemon juice. Add dill if using. Season with salt and pepper.
- Cut pickles in half, lengthwise. Scoop out seeds with spoon to create boats.
- Fill boats with tuna salad and garnish, if desired, with paprika.
Nutrition
Nutrition values are estimates only, using online calculators. Please verify using your own data.
THESE LOOK INCREDIBLE!!! TUNA IS SO GOOD! Sorry for yelling; I’m just excited about these! Nom nom nom nom…Also, I’ve NEVER seen anything like these before, so I’m sure they’d impress at any party!
I love tuna salad AND pickles so of course I love these!