Recipes / Lunch
5-Minute High-Protein Tuna Salad (No Cooking)
By Md Z. Hasan · Updated July 25, 2026
5 min
Total time
1
Servings
28g
Protein
260
Calories
Lunch is where a lot of GLP-1 days quietly fall short on protein — you’re not that hungry, and cooking feels like too much. A no-cook tuna salad with 28g of protein in five minutes is exactly the kind of easy, protein-first lunch that keeps you on track.
Why this works on a GLP-1
It takes zero cooking and almost no energy, it’s easy to eat in small amounts, and swapping Greek yogurt for most of the mayo turns a middling lunch into a genuine protein hit. Canned fish is one of the most protein-dense, convenient foods there is — perfect for a shrunken appetite.
Make it your own
- Higher protein: add the cottage cheese, or use two cans of tuna and make two portions.
- More flavor: stir in everything-bagel seasoning, dill, or a little hot sauce.
- Different base: salmon, chicken, or even mashed chickpeas work with the same formula.
Keep a couple cans of tuna in the pantry and you’ve always got a fast, high-protein lunch on the days nothing else sounds good — see more high-protein snack and lunch ideas.
Ingredients
- 1 can (5 oz) tuna in water, drained
- 2 tbsp plain Greek yogurt (or light mayo)
- 1 tbsp cottage cheese (optional, adds protein and creaminess)
- 1 tsp mustard or a squeeze of lemon
- 2 tbsp diced celery or cucumber, for crunch
- Salt and pepper to taste
- To serve: cucumber slices, whole-grain crackers, or a lettuce cup
Instructions
- 1
Drain the tuna well and flake it into a bowl with a fork.
- 2
Stir in the Greek yogurt (and cottage cheese, if using), mustard or lemon, and the celery or cucumber.
- 3
Season with salt and pepper. Taste and adjust.
- 4
Eat on cucumber slices, with a few crackers, or in a lettuce cup — or straight from the bowl.
Tips
- Greek yogurt in place of most of the mayo bumps the protein and cuts the fat — you get ~28g protein per serving.
- Small appetite? This is easy to eat in small bites and keeps well, so make it and graze.
- Swap tuna for canned salmon or shredded rotisserie chicken for variety — same fast, high-protein idea.
Log this 28g toward your daily target
ProteinDose tracks daily protein on a GLP-1 — one-tap presets, photo and barcode scanning, Apple Health sync.(Our own iOS app — free to download.)
