vegan sunflower seed tuna salad

This vegan sunflower seed tuna salad is absolutely INCREDIBLE! You won’t believe it’s not tuna.

As a Vegan, I’ve learned over the years how to convert many of my childhood favorites into meatless meals.  I remember growing up in the summer when lunchtime rolled around, my Mama would make us creamy tuna sandwiches to satisfy our ravenous appetites and get folks fed.

So in honor of summer, and my Mama’s classic tuna sandwiches, we’re going to make sunflower seed tuna salad for a teleported experience back to my childhood and make the point its summer.

First, let’s talk about ingredients. There are two ingredients that make this salad kick.

• Sunflower Seeds: In order to put a vegan spin on this mock tuna you have to substitute the tuna. I used sunflower seeds because not only do they resemble the color of real tuna salad, they have a slightly nutty taste making them the perfect conduit to absorb the added flavors. I wanted to make this tuna salad as authentic looking and tasting as possible.
• Note: Whenever you’re working with nuts or seeds of any kind you must first soak them. Presoaking your nuts/seeds removes the enzyme inhibitors making them more digestible see (Exhibit A below)
• Kelp Granules: What’s tuna without the taste of the sea? Not tuna. Kelp granules are my go-to for adding sea vegetables into our diets whereby we get the benefits of eating the diversity of seaweeds that are loaded with minerals. WIN!! 

Next, to pull this off all you need is a food processor to pulse and grind your seeds to create that tuna-like texture. Once that’s done, add in your Vegan mayonnaise to give the salad a smoothness, but not an overwhelming cream factor, you don’t want to mask out the other flavors. Mix in the other add-ins and you’re done. You know how to make tuna salad. 🙂

The Sunflower seed tuna salad experience:

Grab a spoon, add a dollop of tuna salad on your butterhead lettuce, clinch a cold drink a napkin, and retreat into nature (preferably in the shade). Fold your lettuce into the shape of a taco, take a bite with your eyes closed, chew-experience the fresh coolness of flavors with textural bites of celery, scallions, and hints of dates that introduce a subtle sweetness into the mix. The kelp granules look like pepper, but taste like the sea adds a healthy dose of iodine and minerals. I added a fragrant sprinkle of fresh cilantro with a drizzle of coconut nectar to drive this baby home.

This my friend…is the full experience of summer.

HOW TO MAKE VEGAN SUNFLOWER SEED TUNA SALAD

5.0 from 1 reviews

vegan sunflower seed tuna salad

 

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Prep time

15 mins

Total time

15 mins

 

This vegan sunflower seed tuna salad is absolutely DELICIOUS! You won't believe it's not tuna. It's great on lettuce and YUMMY as a tuna sandwich.

Author: Taste of Yummy

Serves: 4 servings

Ingredients

• 1 cup of raw organic sunflower seeds (soaked overnight in water covered in an airtight container)
• 1 garlic chopped
• ½ stalk of celery, chopped
• 1 small pink shallot chopped
• ¼ teaspoon pink salt
• 1 Teaspoon of kelp granules (use sparingly it contains salt)
• ½ cup Vegenaise
• 1 Medjool Date, chopped
• Juice of half a lemon
• 4 Butterhead lettuce leaves
• Coconut nectar for the drizzle (Optional)

Instructions

1. Drain the sunflower seeds and pulse in the food processor with salt, kelp granules, and veganise until almost smooth, scrape down the sides throughout the pulsing process. Once it has a tuna salad like texture, transfer into a bowl.
2. Add the remaining ingredients. Mix well.
3. Spoon tuna salad onto butterhead lettuce. For an added hint of sweetness, add a drizzle of coconut nectar. YUM! YUM!

Notes

Refrigerate in an airtight container for up to 3 days.

3.5.3251

This post contains an affiliate link for the kelp seasoning that I own and use when making “tuna” salad.