How Giada De Laurentiis Gives Tuna Salad An Italian Twist

If you love canned tuna but are tired of all the mayonnaise-based recipes, Giada de Laurentiis has some great advice on how to incorporate an Italian flair into the classic, quick meal. Using just a few fresh ingredients, she told Food Republic that you can take tuna salad to the next level of both flavor and texture with minimal effort.

"So you take the canned tuna, and then what we do is we add olive oil and lemon, break it up, and then tomatoes and beans — white beans," said Laurentiis. White beans, in particular, are important because they have a soft, creamy texture that mashes up perfectly with the tender meat. Lemon helps you avoid the biggest mistake with tuna salad: not using acid! Between the richness of good seafood and olive oil, that little bit of tartness adds complexity that pairs perfectly with the softer, brightness of tomatoes.

When you want rich, creamy tuna salad, both Laurentiis and Julia Child have the same tip: Use fish stored in oil. These varieties tend to have much more flavor than those stored in water and Laurentiis insists that fish stored in glass and olive oil are the best of the best. All of these ingredients together check many of the same flavor boxes as other classic Western recipes, but in new ways that allow you to experiment with additional ingredients and seasonings.

Whether you're making one of her recipes at home or cooking one of her Italian-inspired Home Chef meal kits, the real flavor of Giada de Laurentiis's recipes come from the details. From using the right bread to upgrading your meat with a bit of fruity sweetness, these little tweaks can further elevate an already tasty recipe.

While there's nothing wrong with eating your tuna salad over crackers, Laurentiis suggested serving it spooned over a piece of toasted, crusty bread. She recommended something like a ciabatta, a long-fermented, rustic Italian bread with a complex taste and a pillowy center that absorbs any juices. Even if you load your recipe up with oil and lemon juice, its thick, chewy crust resists sogginess better than most other loaves and develops an incredibly earthy flavor when toasted. Plus, ciabatta's unique gluten structure makes it easy to digest, so you won't feel too weighed down after lunch.

"You could also use cranberries," Laurentiis noted. "I love cranberries." These add a subtle mix of sweet and tart, but Laurentiis suggested soaking dried fruits first before adding them to your tuna salad. Fresh from the package, they're a bit chewy, which may interfere with the other textures. All you have to do is let them sit in hot water for about 15 minutes, or until they've plumped back up and squish easily between your fingers.