tuna salad Archives - Protecting Your Pennies

Learn how to create a delicious THM E loaded tuna salad on sprouted bread for a simple brown bag lunch.

Have you ever tried tuna with just yellow mustard? My mom claims she likes it that way but I think it is awful. I remember in my college days trying to choke down that bright yellow tinged fish.

Too afraid to “waste” calories on mayo. Thank goodness I found Trim Healthy Mama and have lost 22 lbs postpartum without counting calories!

This THM E Loaded tuna salad is creamy and full of flavor even without the mayo. And you can whip it up quickly (especially if you prep your eggs ahead of time) making it a great weekday lunch for work.

It is also budget friendly! These are the top criteria in creating lunch right? Especially if you are at work or chasing a kid around.

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Let’s Talk Budget First

If you follow THM, you know that you can spend lots of money on special ingredients.

Heck, forget the special ingredients, HELLO bacon. When did bacon get so expensive? And my husband eats bacon like water so I like to find on plan recipes that help my budget as well.

THM E loaded tuna salad is a cheap lunch or even a light summer dinner. Here is a rundown of what I spent:

Knock Your Sprouts off Bread (Aldi), 2 slices – $0.21 (check out other on plan bread options here)

Tuna (packed in water) – .79

Plain Greek Nonfat Yogurt – .80

Boiled Egg – .08

Small Amount of mustard, dill pickles and onion – .20

Total $2.08

I eat the whole can but you could bulk the salad up and split it to make this a $1 per serving lunch! Either way, it is much cheaper than heading to your local deli to pick up a sub.

And I don’t know about you but there isn’t a deli with sprouted bread near me!

THM E Loaded Tuna Salad

Prep work involves simply boiling your egg. If you do this before lunch, you can make this THM E loaded tuna salad in no time.

Boil your egg like you typically would and slice in half.

With an E meal, we want to cut out the majority of the fat because we are going to indulge in healthy carbs (sprouted bread). The problem is that I love boiled eggs in my tuna salad.

To the point that I don’t think it is real tuna salad without eggs. I found a little trick to have my eggs with less fat. Just remove the yolk!

I know, I know. Duh! I had never really thought of it before but the yolk easily pops out of a boiled egg. Simply slice your egg.

Use a spoon to gently remove the bulk of the yolk. There may be a tiny remnant of yolk but I don’t worry about that. After all, THM E meals are low fat, not completely fat free.

Don’t throw that yolk away! Save it to add to your boiled eggs S meal or snack. I usually serve it to my 8 month old to go with his breakfast or lunch. Or I give it to my dog! He loves eggs. You could also save it to add into a THM S tuna salad.

Add the drained tuna to a medium bowl. Then add the amount of nonfat greek yogurt that you like to get to the desired creaminess.

I didn’t add measurements because everyone likes their mix a little different. I usually start with a couple of tablespoons and then add more if needed.

Chop your egg whites and add to the salad mix. Chop up a dill pickle or two and add.

The rest is optional but I like a tiny splash of mustard to give it a little more flavor. The greek yogurt gives you the creaminess of mayo but not quite as much flavor.

The splash of mustard amps up the flavor without giving me nightmares of the yellow bowl of tuna I tried to eat in college. A small amount of diced onion gives the THM E loaded tuna salad a little extra flavor and crunch.

Mix all of the items that you choose well. You want the ingredients to be well incorporated with the yogurt.

Load up your sprouted bread with the creamy, tuna salad. You won’t even miss the fat that is typically associated with tuna salad.

Serve it up with some fresh veggies or a piece of fruit for a complete meal.

My Sprouted Bread Tip

If you are new to THM, it won’t take you long to realize that sprouted bread doesn’t taste like the bread that you are probably used to. It is brown, it has some seeds, kind of chewy. I will be honest, I did not love it when I first started my THM journey.

The first tip is to try the Knock Your Sprouts Off bread from Aldi. I tried tons of different brands and it is by far my favorite. My Wonder bread husband can even eat it! Plus, it is so much less expensive than other brands. At just under $3, it doesn’t cost much more than the white, refined variety.

Here is my best sprouted bread tip: Toast your bread. Simple, right? If you toast the bread, it gives it a light crunch and takes away the chewy aspect of sprouted bread that I don’t care for.