The Classic Southern Ingredient You Need For A Creamy, Flavor-Filled Tuna Salad

Tuna salad is a lunchtime staple. It's loaded with protein, comes together in minutes, and there are countless ways to kick up its flavor. You can swap the mayonnaise for avocado, sprinkle on some everything bagel seasoning, or even mix it with a little pimento cheese. Pimento cheese is a creamy blend of three main ingredients: mayonnaise, cheddar, and pimento peppers, which have a mild, sweet peppery flavor similar to a roasted red pepper.

You can usually find pimento cheese in almost any grocery store in the South, but if you don't live where it's commonly sold, it's easy to make it yourself. The star of the dip is pimento peppers, which are actually a type of chile pepper with one of the lowest Scoville scores — as little as 100. They have a bright acidity to them that works nicely with the salty tuna and the rich, creamy ingredients it's paired with in pimento cheese. Next time you're trying to use up some canned tuna, make room for pimento cheese tuna salad. This Southern-style dip has been around since roughly 1908, and the addition of the creamy cheddar to tuna salad gives it a similar taste to a classic tuna melt.

Whipping up tuna salad is an easy way to upgrade canned tuna, usually just by adding mayonnaise and a few simple spices. For pimento cheese tuna salad, though, you can prepare your favorite pimento cheese recipe or buy a store-bought version, then substitute it entirely in place of mayonnaise. The rich, creamy cheddar paired with the acidity from the pimentos adds a perfect flavor balance to the dish. The amount of pimento cheese you'll use depends on your own preference. For a standard 2-ounce serving of canned tuna, you should start small. Add 1 to 2 tablespoons of pimento cheese, then decide from there if the dish needs more. You can also supplement with a little bit of mayonnaise in addition to the pimento cheese if you want it even creamier. 

This addition works best if you're making the tuna salad by hand. You want to keep the pimento cheese intact to add some texture, so you should fold the cheese dip into the tuna salad rather than making the salad in the food processor. For a little more flavor and a hint of heat, pair the pimento cheese with some ground cayenne to taste. Cayenne is a common ingredient in pimento cheese, so the seasoning pairs nicely already, but only add a pinch; taste and add more if desired. This pimento cheese tuna salad makes for the perfect office lunch, or serve it with crackers for an easy snack.