Tuna Salad Bun
The trick is the three-to-one yogurt-to-mayo ratio. It keeps the tuna salad creamy without the usual fat load, landing this entire sandwich at 16 grams of fat and 49 grams of protein.
Celery and pickles add crunch, red onion adds bite, and two whole wheat buns make it a real lunch, not something you eat between meals and forget about.
Ingredients
- tuna, in water 5 ounces
- celery 1 stalk
- pickles 2
- red onion 0.25
- tomato 1
- yogurt, nonfat 3 tablespoon
- mayonnaise 1 tablespoon
- lemon juice 1 squeeze
- buns, whole wheat 2
- mixed salad 1 handful
Method
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Drain the tuna.
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Chop the celery and pickle into cubes. Dice the onion. Slice the tomato.
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Mix the tuna with the celery, pickle and onion. Then stir in the yogurt, mayonnaise and lemon juice until you have a creamy tuna salad. Season with salt and pepper.
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Halve the buns. Lay the mixed salad on the bottom halves. Spoon the tuna salad on top and finally, distribute the tomato slices over it. Place the tops of the buns on them.
Wrap each bun in foil or pack them in a sealed container. The yogurt-mayo base holds up for hours without turning soggy, so this sandwich travels well for a packed lunch.
Behind this recipe
Is 49 grams of protein too much for one meal?
No. Researchers gave 36 men 100 grams of protein in a single sitting and tracked it for 12 hours. Muscle protein synthesis was still climbing at hour twelve, with no ceiling in sight. That 30-gram number stuck because the experiments ended while the body was still working. Your body handles all 49 grams from this sandwich. It just works on a longer clock than anyone assumed.
Read the full evidence reviewWill this sandwich keep me full until dinner?
Protein is the strongest appetite-suppressing nutrient, and this sandwich gets 34% of its calories from it. Research across 49 trials found that high-protein meals boost two fullness hormones (GLP-1 and PYY) while suppressing the hunger hormone ghrelin. The 577 calories combined with that protein density means this lunch has more staying power than most meals with the same calorie count but less protein.
Read the full evidence reviewCan I use all Greek yogurt instead of the yogurt-mayo mix?
You can, but you will notice the difference. Greek yogurt alone is tangier and denser, which makes the salad taste more like a dip than a sandwich filling. The tablespoon of mayo rounds out the flavor and adds the slight richness that holds everything together. If you swap to all yogurt, try adding half a teaspoon of olive oil to get that smoothness back.
