Give Tuna Salad Sandwiches A Sweet Twist With This Simple Bread Swap

When hunger starts to take its toll as the clock strikes noon, making a tuna salad sandwich is an expeditious way to fill that hole in your stomach. Sadly, people often rely solely on the makeup of the tuna salad itself to deliver the bulk of the flavor, whether that means adding hot sauce for a spicier bite like Nick Jonas or ditching traditional mayonnaise and using Kewpie mayo for a more complex tuna salad taste. From there, you're a few slices of bread away from a satisfying lunch. But Vivian Villa, the chef and founder at UnButter, revealed that using raisin bread instead of plain white or wheat gives a tuna salad sandwich something it's typically lacking — a touch of sweetness.

"The fluffiness of raisin bread absorbs the moisture in a tuna salad sandwich while the raisins provide a pleasant sweetness as a balance to the savory," Villa told The Takeout. Most tuna salad recipes offer the palate something savory. Occasionally, folks will include some tangy acidity with a splash of vinegar to tuna salad, and many add a bit of heat through various seasoning methods. Yet, rarely do people opt to put something sweet in the mix to round out the profile. By using raisin bread for your sandwich, you don't have to worry about adjusting your go-to recipe because the vessel for your tuna salad is doing all the legwork.

The raisin bread can also be easily upgraded with a little heat. Villa recommended either "dry toasting in a hot pan so the bread crisps up and the raisins caramelize, or toasting bread slathered in mayo for a savory crunch."

Using raisin bread for a creamy tuna salad will incorporate a touch of sweetness to the dish, but Vivian Villa argued that more can be done to elevate the overall profile. She first suggested enhancing the tuna salad itself with various ingredients that folks often overlook when seasoning it, such as with "mayo mix-ins (chili crisp/oil, miso, sesame oil, salsa), additions like fried onions or roasted garlic, or seasoning switch-ups like Old Bay seasoning." Those spicy and savory ingredients would further complement the sweetness of the raisin bread. They are also just great additions for anyone looking to get themselves out of a tuna salad rut.

If you're predisposed to taking a couple of pieces of iceberg lettuce to add that fresh crunch factor to a tuna salad sandwich, Villa indicated that thinking a bit more outside the box could lead to a more appetizing outcome. " ... Lettuce alternatives such as arugula, shaved jicama, and mixed greens are easy yet exciting switch-ups to the everyday tuna salad repertoire," she said. Arugula in particular offers a peppery taste that would mesh well with the sweet raisin bread component.

Still, not everyone is a fan of raisins. Villa mentioned some bread alternatives that would allow the raisin averse to experience sweet notes in their tuna salad sandwich. "Brioche, quick breads made with a base of apple, zucchini, pumpkin, and even Pillsbury crescent roll dough in a pinch are great vessels for tuna salad as they provide sweetness and cradle the filling," she said.