This vegan tuna is simply amazing. It’s so easy to make and tastes remarkably close to actual tuna, no really it does. It’s wonderful on sandwiches for a vegan tuna salad sandwich!
So what is this craziness? Vegan tuna? What’s next? Hahaa, I don’t know, I’m just getting started with the vegan meat substitutes.
And let’s just say this vegan tuna is not only completely delicious it also tastes like real tuna. The taste is spot on. But the texture? Well, the texture isn’t very tuna-like at all. But the taste is so good, you won’t mind.
The base of this recipe is mashed chickpeas and I think you can already guess that mashed chickpeas will not equal the texture of real tuna in any universe.
However, when you add all kinds of deliciousness to your mashed chickpeas, like vegan mayo (of course), finely chopped nori, lemon juice, chopped capers, garlic powder, nutritional yeast, dijon mustard, tamari and white vinegar, well it tastes a LOT like tuna salad.
And spread thickly on an open sandwich this makes a really tasty and filling meal.
For more vegan seafood-y recipes try our vegan fish, vegan shrimp, vegan scallops and vegan crab cakes. You’ll also love our vegan chicken salad (also made with chickpeas).
How To Make Vegan Tuna
You will find full instructions and measurements in the recipe card at the bottom of the post. This is a summary of the process to go along with the process photos.
- It’s super easy and fast! Drain a can of chickpeas and add them to a container or mixing bowl.
- Mash the chickpeas with a fork and then add in vegan mayonnaise, finely chopped nori, finely chopped red onion, lemon juice, finely chopped capers, garlic powder, nutritional yeast, tamari, dijon mustard, white vinegar and salt and pepper.
- Mix in and you’re ready to serve!
Vegan Tuna Ingredient Notes:
- Canned Chickpeas: These form the base of our recipe and create the texture so we can then add all our flavorings.
- Nori Sheets: A chopped up sheet of nori adds some ‘fishy’ flavor (in a good way). An easy way to ‘chop’ it is with a scissors.
- Vegan Mayonnaise: What is a vegan tuna salad without mayonnaise? Use any vegan mayo that you like. Some good brands are Hellmans and Just Mayo. Or you can even make your own vegan mayo!
- Red Onion: Chopped red onion provides crunchy texture and plenty of flavor. A regular white or brown onion will also work fine, but I love the flavor of a red onion for this recipe.
- Lemon Juice: Provides the tang!
- Capers: Chopped capers also provide some wonderful ‘fishy’ flavor (again, in a good way!).
- Garlic Powder: Adds depth of flavor.
- Nutritional Yeast Flakes: This has so many uses, it can create cheesy flavor or it can create eggy flavor or, in this case, it can add to the fishy flavor. No really, it’s amazing stuff! Nutritional yeast flakes might as well be called magic flakes when it comes to vegan recipes.
- Tamari: We used tamari for this recipe but you could also use soy sauce if that is what you have on hand.
- Dijon Mustard: Like nutritional yeast, this can be quite a magic ingredient creating amazing flavor in vegan recipes.
- White Vinegar: This must be distilled white vinegar, it can’t be subbed for apple cider vinegar (okay, it can, in a pinch). White vinegar adds the perfect tang to this and strikes just the right note.
- Salt and Pepper: Because, of course. Enough said.
How To Serve Vegan Tuna
This is really delicious served on slices of bread with lettuce and sliced tomato and a generous amount of vegan tuna on top! It’s also divine served on crackers.
Vegan Tuna Salad
If you want to add more ingredients to make it more of a ‘salad’ then chopped up celery and cucumber is the way forward!
Storing and Freezing
Leftovers keep very well in a covered container in the fridge for 2-3 days. Just give it a good stir again before serving in case any slight separation has occurred (it’s okay if this happens).
You can also freeze some if you like. Just freeze in a freezer safe container and when you want to use it again, thaw it in the fridge.
More Delicious Chickpea Recipes
- Vegan Chickpea Burgers
- Vegan Chickpea Salad
- Vegan Chickpea Curry
- Chickpea Meatballs
- Vegan Falafel
- Vegan Chicken Salad
Did you make this recipe? Be sure to leave a comment and rating below!
Vegan Tuna
Ingredients
- 15 ounce Can Chickpeas Drained, or 1 and ½ cups cooked chickpeas
- ¼ cup Vegan Mayonnaise (60g)
- 1 Nori Sheet Finely Chopped
- ¼ cup Red Onion Finely Chopped (about half a small red onion)
- 1 Tbsp Lemon Juice
- 10 Capers Finely Chopped
- ½ tsp Garlic Powder
- 1 Tbsp Nutritional Yeast
- 1 Tbsp Tamari or Soy Sauce
- ½ Tbsp Dijon Mustard
- ½ tsp White Vinegar
- Sprinkle Sea Salt
- Sprinkle Ground Black Pepper
Instructions
- Add the chickpeas to a mixing bowl and mash them with a fork.
- Add in vegan mayonnaise, finely chopped nori, finely chopped red onion, lemon juice, finely chopped capers, garlic powder, nutritional yeast, tamari, dijon mustard, white vinegar and salt and pepper.
- Taste test and add more salt and pepper if needed.
- Mix in and you’re ready to serve!
Video
Notes
- We used one 15-ounce (425g) can of chickpeas, drained. If you would prefer to use cooked chickpeas (not canned) then the amount to use is 1 and ½ cups.
- Nori – an easy way to ‘chop’ nori is with a scissors.
- Leftovers keep very well in the fridge for 2-3 days.
- This is divine served on open faced sandwiches with lettuce and sliced tomato and makes enough to top 4 slices of bread.
I’ve been dabbling with making a vegan tuna salad since I had the remarkable one they have at Busboys & Poets in Washington, DC. (Tuna sandwiches are one of things I have missed most after going vegan.) I made some substitutions that I think improve it ever so slightly.
First, I used TWO cans of chickpeas because I thought it was a bit too soupy. I upped the mayo to ⅓ cup (use Hellman’s Vegan Mayo if you can find it. It’s superb.)
Second, instead of capers (which I almost never have), I use half a dill pickle spear, chopped finely.
I suspect you could use pickle brine in place of the vinegar and maybe vegan fish sauce in place of the tamari, too. I recommend grinding the Nori sheet up in a spice/coffee grinder to make it into a powder.
One last thing: I remove the skins from the chickpeas for the best texture:
Toss the rinsed and drained chickpeas with 1 tablespoon baking soda then heat them in the microwave for 2 minutes until the beans are hot. Transfer the beans to a large bowl and wash with three or four changes of cold water, all the while rubbing the beans vigorously between your hands to release the skins, which will float easily away.
Really great recipe. +5 stars!
Hi Chris. Thanks for sharing how flexible this recipe is and for your great review!
You can stop searching. This is the bomb.
Thanks for the great review Michelle! Happy to hear you enjoyed the recipe!
Had an open can of chickpeas so searched out a tuna recipe and found it on your site. This is the first recipe I’ve made of yours and it was fantastic.. So easy and I had all the items (except capers) on hand. it was amazing. Can’t wait to see what it tastes like with capers! Thank you. it’s definitely a keeper:)
Thank you!
I love vegan tuna.
Us too!
Did a vegetarian version. Used pickled baby cucumbers instead of capers and omitted the vinegar because I thought the pickles added the acidity already. Didn’t have nori. Still, was a great protein rich sandwich filler that was satisfying. This will be a regular for us. Thank you!
Happy to hear you enjoyed the recipe Lani! Thanks for your great review!
Delicious! I made this using Cornish seaweed flakes as that is what I had in the cupboard. So yummy… added avocado too!
Glad to hear you enjoyed the recipe Helen!
I made this 2 days ago and I can’t stop eating it; even had it for breakfast. I made pita bread the same day and it’s a perfect combo. PS: I didn’t have nori, so I had to use a seasoning instead. It was still the best vegan tuna I’ve had, even better than actual tuna.
Thanks for sharing and for your great review June!
The way my eyes POPPED out of my head at how good this was. I thought it was going to be a three-ingredient oatmeal cookie situation. (Seriously, how does anyone eat those?) But I was pleasantly surprised. Now I made a double batch and only used vegan mayo, nutritional yeast, coconut aminos, dijon, vinegar, salt, pepper, and Old Bay. Would it have been an 12/10 instead of a 9/10 by following the ingredients? Probably. Will I use all the ingredients next time? Maybe (probably not). Will I continue to make this? YES YES YES! IDK where this website has been, but you just got yourself a new fan! And I’m not even VEGAN.
That’s great Jahzera! Thanks so much for sharing and for your great review!
PURE MAGIC – I tinkered just a bit (no lemon juice). i was amazed by the rich tuna flavor. Easy to follow. Looking forward to trying other recipes.
Glad to hear you enjoyed the recipe Michael! Thanks for sharing and for your great review!
This is seriously good! It definetly doesn’t taste like tuna in my opinion (or at least not the tuna I ate prior to going vegan), but it is a delicious sandwich filling nonetheless. I wasn’t a huge fan of the taste of the nori in it, so I think I’ll reduce it a bit next time, but I have no complaints about the recipe itself. I had it heated up in a grilled sandwich with some lettuce, and it was amazing! Thank you!
Hi Alex! Thanks for sharing and for your great review!
I make it without using exact measurements and it’s so delicious. I also used soy sauce instead of nori and added dill!
Thanks for sharing and for your great review Emma!
I followed basically everything except chopping seaweed was WAYY too difficult and I used real mayo, added green olives and swapped red onion for scallion and I am SOO pleased! Sandwiches can get very sad when you’re vegetarian and I’m so glad I tried this, thank you for your recipe, divaliciousness!
Happy to hear you enjoyed the recipe Suzy! Thanks for sharing and for your great review!
You can actually buy flaked nori that is really easy to add to recipes like this one – I use it for all sorts of recipes!
Thanks for sharing Carolyn.
THIS IS SO GOOD!! Omg. So glad I made a double batch. Thank you 🫶🏼
Awesome! Thanks so much for sharing and for your great review!
Just made this and had my first sandwich. Added tomato and spinach. So delicious I think I’ll have a second. I made a double batch and I’m glad I did. The only thing I did different was I used coconut aminos instead of tamari because I had it already. Also I broke up the nori sheets and put them in a coffee grinder for just a few pulses. Little green flakes not powder. Perfect.
That’s great Shari! Thanks so much for sharing and for your great review!
Made this today, followed the recipe exactly and it was amazing. Thanks for sharing, this is becoming my new go to for great tasting vegan recipes.😍
Happy to hear you enjoyed the recipe Julie!
This is a delicious easy recipe. My grandson adds dill relish
Awesome! Happy to hear you enjoyed the recipe Liz!