What Goes With Tuna Sandwiches? – 9 Perfect Sides
Oozing with delicious juicy tuna, crunchy lettuce, and creamy mayonnaise, tuna sandwiches are a lunchtime staple for many of us.
But what sides should you have with your tuna sandwiches? This quick and easy fishy feast deserves the very best of side dishes!
If you’re running out of inspiration for tasty sides to go with tuna sandwiches, we’ve got nine perfect sides for you!
So, what goes with a tuna sandwich? The best side for a tuna sandwich is traditionally a Tuna Nićoise salad, though in this case, it would be sans tuna. Other great sides for tuna sandwiches include French fries, soup, olives, and crudites.
Tuna is a great option to have in your store cupboard to whip up a sandwich in a hurry. It’s a handy source of vitamin D, iron, protein, and omega-3, and of course, it tastes delicious as well!
But sometimes an amazing sandwich needs a side dish that’ll do it justice, and also add a bit of variety to your diet.
We’ll take a look at the nine best side dishes for tuna sandwiches, and tell you the ultimate version of each one.
With sides to make at home as well as the best sides to pop into your lunchbox, there is no excuse for having the same accompaniment to your tuna sandwich every day!
The 9 Best Sides For A Tuna Sandwich
Below we have our favorite sides for a tuna sandwich! If you’re scratching your head, trying to figure out what to pair with your delicious seafood-topped sandwich, then look no further!
1. Salad
You may well have popped a bit of lettuce or other salad into your tuna sandwich, but having a side salad really does take this up a notch!
Serving the salad separately means you can include ingredients that might make your sandwich soggy, and add in a few quirky twists as well.
- Best Salad to serve with Tuna Sandwiches: Try pairing your lunchtime snack with a Tuna Niçoise salad – but without the tuna! This traditional French salad is a delicious mix of crisp salad leaves, salty olives, olives, beans, tomatoes, boiled eggs, and potatoes, topped with a fresh lemon and mustard dressing.
2. French Fries
Pairing your tuna sandwiches with French fries turns this snack into a deliciously satisfying meal! Imagine the hot crispy fries, scattered with salt, nestled next to your carefully prepared sandwich …
- Best French Fries to serve with Tuna Sandwiches: Homemade French fries are the ultimate treat and go perfectly with tuna sandwiches. Fried or oven-baked French fries are both simple to make but can be time-consuming. If you are in a rush, there are also great choices for French fries available in the freezer section of your local store.
3. Soup
A cup or bowl of soup with your tuna sandwich is the ultimate comfort food. The best thing is that there are so many soups out there, you would never tire of your tuna sandwich with a different soup each day!
- Best Soup to serve with Tuna Sandwiches: Pair your tuna sandwich with a hearty minestrone soup to warm you on chilly winter days. This hearty Italian vegetable soup is made with tomato, beans, seasonal greens, and either pasta or rice.
4. Onion Rings
Crunchy juicy onion rings can be a great alternative to French fries and are perfect to pair with a tuna sandwich. Try popping a couple of onion rings into your tuna sandwich for added crunch!
- Best Onion Rings to serve with Tuna Sandwiches: Making homemade onion rings is quick and easy. Simply coat slices of onion with a light batter mix and deep fry until golden.
5. Crudites
Crisp and crunch crudites are a sublime pairing for your tuna sandwich. Delicious and nutritious, and best of all extremely easy to make yourself with whatever you’ve got in the refrigerator!
- Best Crudites to serve with Tuna Sandwiches: Your tuna sandwich should be paired with a mix of crunchy crudites. We love thinly sliced cucumber, peppers, and carrots, with a handful of radishes for a peppery kick. Adding a fresh pesto dip will bring a whole new dimension to this great side dish for tuna sandwiches.
6. Olives
Fancy a little bowl to nibble from alongside your tuna sandwich?
A selection of crisp, juicy, salty olives makes a delicious side dish and is a great addition to your lunchtime meal. Olives are also incredibly good for you, high in Vitamin E and antioxidants.
- Best Olives to serve with Tuna Sandwiches: An olive tapas dish is quick and easy to make, and will pair perfectly with a tuna sandwich. Simply pop pitted olives into a bowl and drizzle with olive oil, red wine vinegar, and lemon juice. Flavor with dried herbs and crushed garlic, season well and leave for a few hours to marinade.
7. Potato Chips
Now it really doesn’t get any easier than this! Everyone loves the perfect pairing of chips with a sandwich, and all you have to do is choose your flavor and pop a bag into your lunchbox.
The only question is, are you a chips on the side or in the sandwich kind of person?
- Best Potato Chips to serve with Tuna Sandwiches: Everyone will have their favorites, but we think you cannot go wrong with a simple salt and vinegar potato chip alongside a tuna sandwich.
8. Coleslaw
A crunchy, juicy, colorful coleslaw makes a refreshing accompaniment to a tuna sandwich. Simple to make and easy to store, adding coleslaw as a side will pack maximum nutrition into your meal.
- Best Coleslaw to serve with Tuna Sandwiches: A vinaigrette coleslaw will contrast perfectly with your mayo-laden tuna sandwich. Thinly slice carrot, cabbage, and onion, season, and dress with cider vinegar and olive oil. Add extra flavor with mustard and caraway seeds.
9. Fruit
Fruit doesn’t normally spring to mind when we think of sandwiches, but a fruit salad can be a great side dish for tuna sandwiches on a warm summer’s day! Fresh fruit will pack in extra goodness and give you well-balanced lunch.
- Best Fruit to serve with Tuna Sandwiches: A chopped salad of crisp apple, juicy red berries, sharp orange, and sweet melon makes a lovely refreshing side dish for tuna sandwiches. If you are making your lunch in advance, squeeze over a little orange juice to stop your fruit from going brown.
Related Questions
Now that we’ve gotten the chance to talk about our favorite sides for tuna sandwiches, let’s take a second to answer some questions we thought you might’ve had while reading this article!
How to make a tuna sandwich?
There are a huge number of variations on the iconic tuna sandwich, with people preferring to add loads of different ingredients. But why mess with a classic? Here is how to make the perfect tuna sandwich:
- Pick your bread – a crusty brown roll with whole grains makes a great tuna sandwich, but a couple of slices of soft white bread can also be sublime!
- Rinse and drain a can of tuna and tip into a bowl. Add mayonnaise, season well, and mix thoroughly with a fork.
- Now you need to add some crunch! You could pop some chopped peppers into your tuna mayonnaise mix, or add slices of crisp lettuce or cucumber to your sandwich.
- Pop the tuna mayonnaise onto your sandwich and serve!
What to serve with sandwiches besides chips?
Bored of the same old chips with sandwiches? Maybe you are looking to vary your lunchtime menu, or want to find more nutritious side dish options? Luckily, there are some great options of delicious sides to serve with sandwiches besides chips!
- Salad
- Coleslaw
- Pickles
- Crudites
- Soup
- Potato wedges
- Onion rings
What is a good side for tuna melts?
Crisp toasted bread, topped with tuna salad, tomato, and oozing melted cheese – who doesn’t love a tuna melt! But the question is, what do you serve it with?
We think that crispy potato wedges and a fresh salad make the perfect sides for a tuna melt.
Light and fluffy potato wedges will mop up any flavorsome juices which ooze from the tuna melt, and salad leaves and tomato will add a fresh and crisp element to the plate.
What are the ingredients for tuna salad?
Tuna salad starts with a blend of canned tuna and mayonnaise. Other ingredients are commonly added to give crunch and flavor – pickles, celery, onion, or peppers.
One of the most famous tuna salads is Salad Niçoise. There are many variations of the traditional recipe, but most of them contain tuna, hard-boiled eggs, potatoes, French beans, and olives.
What can I mix with canned tuna?
Looking for inspiration for what to mix with your canned tuna? Maybe you have got some tuna leftovers from making a sandwich, salad, or melt? Here are some great ideas for what to mix with canned tuna:
- Mediterranean tuna pasta salad – add olives, capers, and cheese to cooked pasta and canned tuna.
- Tuna patties – mix your canned tuna with breadcrumbs, egg, and herbs to make this family-friendly favorite. Form the mix into patties and gently fry until golden on both sides.
- Tuna salad stuffed avocados – are you fed up with tuna salad sandwiches? Simply make a basic tuna salad and pop it onto a halved avocado. A drizzle of seafood sauce tops this treat off perfectly.
- Tuna and pepper enchiladas – add canned tuna to fried onion and garlic, and stir in some passata. Season well and flavor with cumin and paprika. Pop the mix into tortilla wraps, roll and cover with grated cheese. Bake in the oven until golden and bubbling.
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