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White platter with blue painted olive leaves holds an Italian tuna salad with sliced fennel, tuna, chopped parsley, and cannellini beans.

Insalata di Tonno (Italian Tuna Salad)

Italian tuna salad is a cold salad in Italy made from canned tuna packed in olive oil bulked up with cannellini beans and flavored with herbs, capers, fennel and red onion.
5 from 1 vote
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Prep Time 15 minutes
Total Time 15 minutes
Course Salad
Cuisine Italian
Servings 4 people

Ingredients
  

  • 1 Tbsp capers drained, rinsed, and roughly chopped
  • ¼ cup red wine vinegar
  • ½ cup parsley chopped
  • 2 Tbsp lemon juice
  • ½ red onion thinly sliced
  • 2 oz canned tuna packed in olive oil drained (200 g)
  • 1 15-oz can cannellini beans drained and rinsed, or about 1.5 cups (250 g) homemade cannellini beans
  • 1 bulb fennel thinly sliced
  • 3 cups lettuce or other greens optional
  • salt and pepper to taste

Instructions
 

  • Thinly slice the red onion and cover with the ¼ cup red wine vinegar in a small bowl for about 5 minutes.
  • Meanwhile, drain the canned tuna and gently flake into large chunks with a fork. Add to a second bowl with the cannellini beans, fennel and capers. Drain the onions and combine with the tuna salad mixture, being careful not to break up the tuna too much.
  • In a small bowl whisk the olive oil with the lemon juice, pepper and salt to taste. Add to the Italian tuna salad along with the chopped parsley and gently toss. Test for seasoning (the amount of salt you add will depend on the type of canned tuna and beans you choose). Serve immediately or wrap tightly and store in the refrigerator until ready to serve.

Notes

  • The lettuce greens are completely optional and should only be used should you be serving the salad straight away. If you are making the salad to be packed up and served later at a picnic or working lunch, leave the greens out all together.
  • You can keep this Italian tuna salad out of the refrigerator as long as it's out of the sun for several hours, making it ideal to bring to work and for picnics. 
Substitutions and Variations:
  • You can absolutely make this Italian tuna salad bean free by leaving out the cannellini beans all together. In this case, decrease the olive oil to ⅛  cup and the lemon juice to 1 tablespoon
  • Instead of red onion, use fresh spring onions and skip the soaking step. They are not as pungent 
  • Add pitted olives, either whole or roughly chopped (black or green)
  • Omit the fennel and and replace with ½ cup of chopped cherry tomatoes 
  • Substitute the parsley with basil by tearing a small handful of fresh basil leaves right before serving 
  • Use red wine vinegar or apple cider vinegar instead of lemon juice 
  • Serve with a couple hard boiled eggs, cut in quarters
  • Use any kind of tuna you like for this recipe although Italian tuna packed in olive oil will make the most flavorful salad. If you are using tuna packed in water, you may need to adjust the dressing by adding more olive oil, should it be too dry. 
  • Use your favorite lettuce or seasonal greens including baby kale, radicchio or baby lettuce.
Keyword authentic, easy
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