When I went vegetarian two years ago, I naturally gave up tuna fish. This was hard since for years, I would eat a tuna fish sandwich every day. No lie. I am a creature of habit. But, honestly, I missed tuna. In that vein, I went through many “faux” vegan tuna recipes relationships in search of my soul companion mock tuna.
Finally, I have settled on the below recipe from a hub page featuring Mike’s vegan recipe. Does it taste like tuna? Not really but it is quite tasty. Watch the video below or read the recipe.
The Recipe
Ingredients:
1 can of Garbanzo beans, drained. (I cook my own beans and store them in the freezer.)
2 medium pickle, chopped. (You can make your own pickles here.)
2-3 artichoke hearts, chopped. (I use frozen artichokes.)
¼ c chopped onions (Optional since raw onions and I don’t get along.)
1 Tbsp Olive oil
Spicy brown mustard, Dijon, and/or Vegenaise to taste. (Yellow mustard works too. It really makes the “tuna” zing. I tend to use more mustard and less “mayo” to reduce my fat intake.)
Pepper and sea salt to taste
Dill. (I use alot because I love it. If you used dry, you have to use alot since it isn’t as strong as fresh. Just sprinkle it on.)
¼ tsp garlic powder
1/8 tsp celery seed (I use more since I love celery seed. You can use celery too but the seed is so much stronger.)
1 Tbsp cold milled flax. (Sometimes I put in 2 Tbsp for more Omegas.)
To make it more fishy tasting, you could add 1/2 tsp of kelp. I haven’t tried this yet.
Additional Add-ins:
You can also add apples, carrots, or real celery too. Green apples are my favorite add in. Only add the apple on a per sandwich basis; otherwise the apples will brown in the salad.
If the tuna is too dry, you can add veganise. I tend to add more mustard since I like the taste.
Steps:
Drain the beans and mash them either with a fork or in your room processor. You don’t want humus so don’t over process. Then add all the other ingredients. I love pickles so I like to add more than Mike did with his original recipe. (He only used one pickle.)
Let me know if you try the recipe and what your “add-ins” are. Always looking to improve the recipe.
Join the conversation:
- Do you make a mean mock tuna salad? If so, let us know your recipe.
- Do you love tuna as much as me?
- Do you make your own pickles and/or vegan mayo?
I’ve used boiled and skinned almonds before and liked the texture better than the garb beans. I blended half to a hummus like texture and then the second half leaving it more chopped up.
Just for grins I tried a version of yours tonight with my homemade pickles (should have used bread and butter, not dill) It was very good stuffed inside a big tomato.
I can live without tuna having either of these as back ups.
Did you use the kelp? Was wondering if it taste more fishy with it? So sub the chickpeas with almond 1:1? Thanks for trying my recipe. What did Mikey have to say about it???
Mikey – found that the almonds were too hard on his digestion at this point, he has to be a careful eater. He hasn’t tried the garbo combo yet. I personally liked the almonds better especially in a lettuce wrap or to take the beach for a picnic snack. Both are better alternatives to wiping out tuna!