Delicious Tuna Salad Recipe – Oma's Thunfischsalat Rezept

by: Gerhild Fulson  / Oma Gerhild shares German recipes rooted in family tradition.

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Don't forget the pickles!

My yummy Tuna Salad recipe, aka thunfischsalat, is so easy to make and great on German rye bread, fresh buns, or toast. Now, this isn't your ordinary tuna salad recipe -- you know, canned tuna with mayo. 

No, it's much, much different. 

Sure, you can take your canned tuna, which is a great staple to have in your cupboard. It's always ready to make up easily with mayonnaise for a basic tuna salad recipe.

However, want something a bit more special? Try this, this one. Along with the mayonnaise, there's onions, pickles, and hard boiled eggs.

After all, my Mutti added pickles to things like rouladen and kartoffelsalat, why not tuna salad. And the mayo is proof that this is just like Mutti's other salads from northern Germany. 

Seasoned with fresh lemon juice, it's a tuna salad sandwich like you've never had.

Need something special for a party buffet? This tuna salad looks great when it's put on a bed of lettuce. OR, serve it on crackers as an appetizer. Either way, it's an easy and delicious. 

It'll be a tuna salad you'll make again and again. It's that good!

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Tuna ... What To Buy ... And Why

• Now, not only is it delicious, but tuna is so healthy. Canned tuna is high in omega-3 fatty acids. It's also recommended that one should eat two meals a week of a variety of fish and/or shellfish that's low in mercury - including tuna.
• When you're buying canned tuna for salad, use the chunk or flaky kind. It creates a smoother textured salad. (If you were going to use it to add to pasta or dinners, then buy the solid kind.)
• Water-packed tuna has fewer calories and is milder tasting than the oil-packed kind. However, it you want really good flavored tuna, then choose tuna that's packed in olive oil.

Ready for amazing Tuna Salad?

Print Recipe

Delicious Tuna Salad Recipe – Oma's Thunfischsalat Rezept

My yummy Tuna Salad recipe, aka Thunfischsalat, is so easy to make and great on German rye bread, fresh buns, or toast. Now, this isn't your ordinary tuna salad recipe -- you know, canned tuna with mayo. No, it's much, much different. 

Along with the mayonnaise, there's onions, pickles, and hard boiled eggs. Seasoned with fresh lemon juice, it's a tuna salad sandwich like you've never had.

Prep Time:

10 minutes

Cook Time:

none

Total Time:

10 minutes 

Servings:

Makes 4 servings

Ingredients:

• 2 (170 grams) cans tuna, drained
• 1 small onion, diced
• 2 dill pickles, diced
• 2 hard-boiled eggs, diced
• 1 lemon, juiced 
• 6 tablespoons (89 grams) mayonnaise

Instructions:

1. Mix everything together in a bowl.
2. Spread thickly on buttered bread or buns.

Notes/Hints:

• Don't have a fresh lemon? Use bottled lemon juice. About two to three tablespoons equals 1 lemon.
• Presently, our tuna cans in Canada are 170 grams, which equals almost 6 ounces. If your cans are a bit smaller, that shouldn't matter to this recipe, other than you may want to use a bit less lemon juice. 
• I always have hard boiled eggs in the fridge. That way I'm ready to quickly use them whenever I need.

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Unless otherwise noted recipe, images and content © Just like Oma | www.quick-german-recipes.com

Updated: August 10, 2026

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to your table

Complete your set today - order now!

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Hi, I'm Oma Gerhild! As a food writer and cookbook author, I'm always looking to find ways to pass on my German heritage using local ingredients. Quick and easy. That's my goal. Wunderbar food. That's the result.