The Chef-Approved Way to Make Tuna Salad Sandwiches 10x Better
Summer vacation is a state of mind and for me, the ultimate summer vacation meal is a tuna salad sandwich and potato chips. I used to be young and naive and I simply ate the sandwich with the chips on the side, interchangeably munching between the two bites. It wasn't until very recently that I, rather than relegate it as a side dish, started to open my tuna sandwiches, plop some chips on top, close the sandwich up and dug into the star-worthy lunch (no that's a huge understatement, I did in fact see a sky full of stars the first time I tried it).
Related: How to Make Your Tuna Salad Taste Like It Came From Jimmy John's
But if there are any criticisms to lob at a potato chip-topped tuna sandwich, it's that you have to add more chips as you go to keep the crunch factor consistent. Thankfully, there's a solve for that. The absolute best way to make a tuna salad sandwich is to fold potato chips into the salad and then top it with more potato chips. I did not stutter!
Related: My Husband Cracked the Code to the Best-Ever Tuna Melt
View the original article to see embedded media.
Why You Should Make Tuna Salad Sandwiches with Potato Chips
I learned about this trick from chef and cookbook author J. Kenji López-Alt, who, in the past has transformed how we make quesadillas and miso-glazed salmon. He took to his Instagram account to provide a tip that would forever change the way I make tuna salad sandwiches.
Typically I would reach for potato chips only after I prepped and built a tuna salad sandwich, keeping the bag to wait for me at my dining table. But López-Alt boldly proclaimed that the key to a crunchy tuna salad sandwich is "folding a handful of crushed chips into the tuna salad right before assembly, then adding an extra handful of whole chips on top and squishing the bread down."
This is genius because the crushed chips do double duty: they add crunch and season your tuna salad. And there's no need to stick to plain ol' salted potato chips. Try it with sour cream and onion, salt and vinegar, BBQ or honey butter chips or go wild and throw in some Doritos.
Related: 37 Most Popular Types of Chips
How to Make Tuna Salad Sandwiches with Potato Chips
First, make your favorite tuna fish salad recipe and grab some sandwich bread. In his post, López-Alt notes how he likes to use Japanese shokupan, a type of soft milk bread that is sweet and squidgy when pressed against the salty crunchy filling, but you can use any soft bread you like. Toss a handful of crushed potato chips into the tuna salad and fold them in.
Next, it's time to build your sandwich. Top one slice of bread with tuna salad and top that with a handful of potato chips, preferably uncrushed. And the top slice of bread and that's it!
Up next: The 15 Best Korean Groceries to Buy at Trader Joe’s, According to a Korean-American Recipe Developer
