The Secret to the BEST Deli Tuna Salad

I spent years hunting for the elusive ingredient in the tuna salad my grandma used to pick up at her local deli only to find it was right in front of me the whole time. My perfect pale pink, creamy-yet-crunchy deli tuna salad has a hard-boiled egg chopped into it and comes together in minutes using ingredients I almost always already have on hand.

It's great on rice cakes, salads, on my thick and fluffy focaccia and these soft ciabatta bread rolls but it's also so good on crackers, scooped into lettuce cups, or served as tuna on toast a la George Costanza (iykyk). If you're looking for a classic deli tuna salad or a tuna salad recipe with egg in it, you're in the right place.

I love making tuna salad in bulk and because I know it will stay good in the fridge for several days (and when you see what the secret ingredient in my recipe is, you'll understand why "staying good for a few days" is absolutely no problem here). In fact, just like my deli-style egg salad and deli-style chicken salad, my deli tuna salad actually gets better in the fridge over time!

Look, I know tuna salad is a basic dish. Tuna, mayo, maybe some onion or vegetables, and seasonings ... but no real recipe required, right? Okay, yes, you're right.

But I'm a tuna salad connoisseur. My family used to tease me on our annual vacations because, no matter where we went, I ordered tuna sandwiches. At one point, I even made an illustrated chart ranking all the tuna salads I had ordered on our trip. But I digress.

The best tuna salad I've ever had was the one my grandma would get at the deli counter at the Foodland near her house in Pittsburgh. It was a light, pale pink color, heavy on the mayo — almost creamy — but without the mayo flavor coming on too strong. It had crunchy bits of carrot and celery throughout, as well as flecks of white and yellow, from hard boiled eggs chopped right into the mix.

Over the years, I've tried to replicate that tuna salad with egg in it — somewhere, my mom has an index card on which I scrawled "REBECCA'S TUNA SALAD" (no credit to Foodland), my very first recorded attempt at making it myself over two decades ago.

But there was always something missing. I'd add paprika or oregano, maybe toss in some capers or finely dice the onion instead of doing a rough chop. Maybe more salt and less pepper? No, more pepper and less salt? The end result was always kind of close — but that x-factor, that thing that brought it all together, remained a mystery.

A couple years or so ago, completely by accident, I finally figured it out. You see, when I made tuna salad, I usually ate it right away. On this magical day, however, I made more than I could eat at once. And when I went back to it the next day, that elusive flavor I'd been looking for... was there.

The Secret to My Deli Tuna Salad

When you let tuna salad sit overnight, the flavors have time to really meld together. The mayo and seasonings absorb into those individual components creating a more cohesive tuna salad experience.

This is true whether you're trying to make New York style deli tuna salad, or trying to replicate the tuna salad from a famous deli like Katz's or McAlister's. No matter what tuna salad recipe you follow, if you eat it immediately, you're basically tasting the individual components, coated in some mayo. They haven't had time to meld.

My Ideal Tuna Salad Ingredients

In addition to time, pretty much everything that goes into this deli tuna salad with egg recipe you probably already have in your fridge or pantry, and if you don't — you can skip them (unless you don't have tuna and mayo, they're kind of non-negotiable). Get really creative with your tuna salad ingredients; don't feel like you have to use all the same things I do!

When it comes to tuna, I like using water-packed chunk light tuna for that classic pale pink look (and because it's more affordable). Lately I've been using Safe Catch brand. You can absolutely whatever your favorite tinned tuna is to make this deli tuna salad.

As for mustard, I prefer whole grain "old style" mustard, which adds a bit of crunch with a subtle mustard flavor.

When making hard boiled eggs for tuna salad, I prefer an egg with a yolk that is slightly soft but not jammy. See below for my favorite way to hard boil and peel an egg.

Dried oregano and paprika are my go-to seasonings in deli tuna salad. But you can also use herbs like basil, dill, parsley, or chives. Fresh or dried, it's up to you!

How I Make My Deli Tuna Salad

I use J. Kenji Lopez-Alt's steaming method to make my hard boiled egg because its fast and I find it makes the egg easier to peel. Then I slice the egg in two different directions with an egg slicer.

For these photos, I mixed the tuna salad in a bowl because it looks better. But when I'm making this tuna salad with egg for myself, I mix everything right in one of my fave deli-style containers (a 16 oz deli container is the perfect size).

Ideally, I like to let the tuna salad chill in the fridge overnight, but even just a few hours are enough for all those flavors to start melding together. This is how you get that deli flavor, and there's not really any way to rush this step.

📖 Recipe