Spicy tuna salad & avocado wrap
No pan, no pot, no heat. Everything in this wrap happens on a cutting board and in a mixing bowl. Drain the tuna, julienne the vegetables, fold the dressing, roll, and eat.
The dressing is where the flavor lives: mayonnaise and yogurt mixed with soy sauce, Sriracha, and lime juice. It gives the tuna a tangy, spicy creaminess that plays against cold avocado and crispy raw carrot strips. 42g of protein and 563 calories, with leftover vegetables dressed into a side salad so every scrap gets used.
Ingredients
- tuna, in water 5 ounces
- carrot 1
- cucumber 0.25
- avocado 0.5
- scallion 1
- mayonnaise 1 tablespoon
- yogurt, nonfat 1 tablespoon
- soy sauce 1 tablespoon
- Sriracha sauce 1 teaspoon
- lime juice 2 squeezes
- tortilla wrap, whole wheat 1
Method
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Drain the tuna in a colander.
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Cut the carrot and cucumber into julienne strips. Slice the avocado. Cut the scallion into rings.
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Mix the drained tuna in a bowl with the mayonnaise, yogurt, half of the soy sauce, Sriracha and lime juice. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
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Spread the tuna salad on the wrap. Top with half of the avocado, half of the vegetable strips and half of the scallion. Roll up the wrap and cut it diagonally in half.
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Make a side salad with the remaining avocado, cucumber, carrot, scallion and a handful of lettuce. Drizzle with the remaining soy sauce, some lime juice and pepper to taste.
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Serve the wrap on a plate with the salad on the side.
Cut the carrot and cucumber into thin matchstick strips rather than thick chunks. Thin strips distribute evenly inside the wrap and hold the dressing between bites. Also good with fresh cilantro scattered across the filling before you roll.
The raw carrot strips and avocado in this wrap recreate a combination researchers have tested directly. In a crossover trial, adding avocado to a raw-carrot salad boosted beta-carotene absorption 6.6 times and vitamin A conversion 12.6 times. The fat in the avocado dissolves the pigment out of the carrot cells and carries it across the intestinal wall (Kopec et al., 2014).
Behind this recipe
Can I use tuna canned in oil instead of water?
Sure, but the numbers move. Switching to oil-packed means roughly 80 to 100 extra calories and 8 to 10g more fat per can, while protein barely changes between the two. Choosing water-packed lets the avocado supply most of the fat. If you prefer the richer flavor of oil-packed, skip the mayonnaise to offset the added fat.
Can I make this wrap ahead and take it to work?
The wrap travels well sealed in a container or wrapped tightly in foil. Pack the side salad separately to keep the greens crisp. Assemble everything the night before and refrigerate. The lime juice and soy sauce act as a light dressing that holds overnight without making the tortilla soggy.
Why mix mayonnaise with yogurt instead of using just mayo?
Half mayonnaise, half yogurt gives the tuna salad creaminess without doubling the fat. The yogurt adds a slight tang that pairs with the lime juice and Sriracha while contributing extra protein. For an even leaner version, go full yogurt and skip the mayo entirely.
Does the soy sauce do anything besides add flavor?
Research has found that fermented soy sauce more than triples how much non-heme iron your body absorbs from a grain-based meal (from 3.5% to 11.4%). The fermentation process breaks down the phytic acid that normally blocks iron uptake, turning soy from an inhibitor into an enhancer. This wrap pairs soy sauce with a whole wheat tortilla and tuna, both sources of non-heme iron, while the lime juice adds vitamin C as a second absorption booster.
