I Love Everything About Miranda Lambert’s Easy Tuna Salad

I recently relived all the sentimentality of the tuna salad of my childhood—without any of the arguing with my parents about why I couldn't drive the family minivan to soccer practice by myself. Now, I can eat my tuna salad over the sink and straight out of the bowl like an adult (who still rides around in the back of the car like a kid when she visits her parents).

Miranda Lambert's Nonny’s Tuna Salad from her cookbook Y’all Eat Yet? offers fans a coveted seat at her grandmother's kitchen table. It has big 1950s energy, stirring up memories of grabbing a 10-cent scoop of tuna on lettuce from the local automat or opening your lunch pail to unwrap a triple-decker Wonder Bread sandwich from home (even if you weren't born then). Most importantly, this tuna salad makes a great sandwich and goes well with almost anything.

This is no-fuss, use what you've got, throw in what you love, and take out what you don't-style cooking. It's an endlessly forgiving recipe that ebbs and flows at the whim of its makers. I love everything about it, from the tangy, creamy mayo to the bursts of sweet apple and crunchy, gently bitter celery. I'm normally Team Dill, but the sweet pickle relish really works here, too.

How I Make Miranda Lambert's Easy Tuna Salad

First, hard-boil two eggs. Then, chop the eggs, an apple, three celery sticks, and a small red onion into matching bits about 1/4 inch in size. I like to chew on similarly sized pieces, but Tuna Salad Club has no actual rules.

Don't Diss the Apple Until You Try It

If the apple part has your cowgirl booties running for the hills, I promise it makes sense when you taste it. There have been so many times when I wondered what the heck fruit was doing in a savory dish—and then been pleasantly surprised by the refreshing contrast in textures and flavors. (Don't get a big head, raisins.)

Combine the chopped ingredients with four cans of drained tuna, three tablespoons of sweet pickle relish, 3/4 cup mayo, and salt, black pepper, and spicy mustard to taste.

I used double the pickle relish and roughly a trillion times the optional spicy mustard because I'm into mustardy, pickly things. (Really, it was probably around 1/4 cup of mustard). No one flavor stole the spotlight while gracefully elevating the flavors.

I tried this tuna salad on King's Hawaiian pretzel slider buns (delish) and rosemary crackers, which lent a peppery "tuna salad of the woods" vibe. A little heat from sambal oelek might be fun. And exactly no one would be mad about a heap of Nonny's Tuna Salad on a toasty sourdough tuna melt—least of all, me.

GET THE COOKBOOK: Y’all Eat Yet?

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