The Single Ingredient That Will Take Your Tuna Salad To Flavortown

On a mission to find new ways to upgrade your tuna salad? We're here to introduce a secret weapon that will turn your ho-hum weekday lunch into a scrumptious umami bomb that's ripe for culinary experimentation: roasted garlic. Unlike its raw counterpart, which can be sharp and pungent, roasted garlic is smooth, toasty, and has an inimitable hint of sweetness that will elevate your lunchtime sandwich experience without fundamentally changing your recipe. 

You can still add any ingredient to your tuna salad that you usually do, like scallions, egg, relish, or mayo. The roasted garlic plays well with most flavor profiles, while still packing a flavor punch that you have definitely been missing. 

Perhaps the best part is that adding roasted garlic can be effortless to throw into your tuna salad if you are willing to do a little prep ahead of time. Roast the garlic on the weekend, for instance, and, when stored correctly in an airtight container, it will retain freshness and delicious flavor all week. The actual roasting is as easy as trimming a few whole garlic bulbs and tossing them in a baking pan covered in foil. The golden, savory roasted garlic can then be squeezed from the cloves like a paste. Use as much or as little as you prefer — which may have to do with how much effort you want to put into eliminating garlic breath! 

To make the perfect roasted garlic tuna salad, start with the right fish. A good tip for buying canned tuna is to look at the variety, and how it was caught. Oil-packed tuna, for instance, will contribute a stronger flavor that marries nicely with the gentle kick of garlic. 

Any well-rounded recipe contains elements of acid, fattiness, heat, and salt, and your tuna salad should be no different. The fat component is usually the rich mayonnaise that binds your tuna together, but hummus would make an earthy substitute that complements the roasted garlic — or try avocado for a buttery, creamy mayo swap for tuna salad. Relish is the traditional zesty accompaniment to tuna, but why stop there? Lemon juice or Dijon mustard will give tanginess without muddying the flavor profile you are establishing.

Different people are more or less comfy with spiciness in their food, and tuna salad isn't an exception. A sprinkle of red pepper flakes or a dash of sriracha may be all you can handle, but feel free to go all out with minced chili peppers or a healthy serving of cayenne if you dare. It's not about blowing your top off with heat, per se, but a little bit of spice can certainly liven up the dish. And, of course, a little salt highlights all flavors and makes the overall dish taste better. No matter how you slice your sandwich, your roasted garlic tuna salad is going to be a hit.