Curried Tuna Salad Roll Ups are a super easy appetizer or lunch idea made with zippy curry tuna salad with Japanese Daikon pickles rolled up in a gluten-free tortilla.
7 Reason to Love this Recipe!
Are you tired of the usual sandwiches for lunches?
Do you have last minute guests stopping by in 30 minutes?
Got the midnight munchies?
Did you forget to unthaw something for dinner?
Need a budget friendly lunch or snack idea?
Want something gluten-free?
With mostly pantry ingredients and a few fresh ingredients, you can have this quick and easy recipe ready to serve in about 20 minutes or less. You are going to love Curried Tuna Salad Roll Ups because they are creamy from the Kewpie Japanese mayo, crunchy from the celery, spicy from the curry and zippy and slightly sweet from the pickled daikon. However, the best part is that you can eat it with your fingers in this convenient little pinwheel bite.
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Have you ever visited Japan?
The subtle flavors of mayo, tuna and curry are very familiar taste. It is comforting like your favorite cozy sweater or well-worn shoes. There is nothing wild and crazy about this recipe, but we are certain it will be one of your favorites you will put into circulation soon. If you like these flavors you may want to check out our Super Easy Crab Salad as it is bursting with a zippy curry mayo sauce.
Ingredients and Substitution Ideas
Mayonnaise
Raise your hand if you have ever tried Kewpie Mayonnaise? We first tried this mayo after moving to Japan and we have never changed back to anything else. Kewpie is that good. It has just the right bit of acid, creaminess and sweetness that make the perfect bite.
However, you know you can use whatever mayonnaise you have on hand or prefer. If you find yourself with extra Kewpie mayo be sure to try our Sesame Burdock Root Salad , Tuna Mayo Rice Balls or Wasabi Mayo Crab Onigirazu.
Pickles
Have you ever tried pickled daikon (takuan)? You have no idea what you are missing out on. Daikon is a large white radish, much milder than the traditional red small round radishes we have in the west.
The daikon pickle is lightly sweet, sour and savory. Daikon are dried and then brined for a long time in salt, kombu, rice bran which brings them to this bright yellow color. You can find pickled daikon in Japanese, Korean or other Asian Markets.
However, you can substitute with hot dog dill pickle relish. Any relish that is slightly sweet, sour and savory will be delicious in this Curried Tuna Salad Roll Ups recipe.
Canned Tuna or Salmon
We used canned tuna in water for this Curried Tuna Salad Roll Ups recipe. However, you could also use canned salmon too. The most important step for this recipe is making sure that ALL of the water is drained and SQUEEZED out of the tuna fish.
Please note we have capitalized on the word squeeze all the water out. This is an important step as you don’t want your roll ups to get soggy. In addition, you will want to use canned tuna in water and not oil.
Curry it Up!
We used a mild yellow curry powder. We happen to have a mild curry powder from the Indian provisions store but any mild yellow curry you like will work well here. Notice the word mild and not medium. Generally speaking, Japanese recipes that have curry are quite mild in flavor and never too spicy.
Wrap it Up!
Do you have a gluten-allergy or need to go low carb? Today there are so many delicious tortilla wrap options out there. There is something for everyone. We used gluten-free wraps for me and low carb for the boys. You could even use dried nori (seaweed) sheets just like in a vegetarian sushi bake for a delicious low carb and gluten free wrap option.
When choosing a tortilla wrap, pick a soft wrap that easily flexes and large so it can hold enough of the ingredients. Just like with our Mediterranean Veggie Wraps, it is always helpful to microwave your wraps for just a few seconds to make them more pliable before rolling up.
Step By Step Roll it up…
After you place a thin layer of Curried Tuna Salad on your tortilla, fold in both sides and start to roll up keeping it tight. The tighter the roll the prettier the rolls. Once rolled, cut in half. Then cut each half in half and then each half in another 2 slices for a total of 8 slices in each wrap. We used a burrito sized wrap so it will be dependent on how large or small your tortilla wraps are. If you are making these for lunches, just leave whole and place in a plastic wrap to keep the roll tightly rolled for its journey to work or school.
Make it pretty…
If you are serving your Curried Tuna Salad Roll Ups to guest for a snack or lunch, decorate as desired. We sprinkled on a few black sesame seeds, cut up a few daikon pickles and added a sprinkle of chopped green onions.
These make for a fun and easy appetizer to pass. You can also make these the night before or several hours before and store in the refrigerator in a sealed container up to 24 hours. However this Curried Tuna Salad Roll Ups recipe is best consumed within 24 hours .
More Rolled Recipes you may Enjoy...
Skinny Spaghetti Squash Roll Ups
Summer Rolls with Chili Lime Dipping Sauce
Savory Baked Brie in Puff Pastry
Thai Firecracker Shrimp Party Appetizer
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Curried Tuna Roll Ups
Ingredients
- 10 oz tuna fish canned in water
- 2 stalks celery finely chopped
- 2 tablespoon onion chopped
- ⅓ cup pickled diakon radish chopped
- ⅓ cup mayonnaise (we used Kewpie)
- 2 teaspoon curry powder
- salt and pepper to taste
- 2-3 flour tortillas medium sized (can use gluten-free, low carb or regular wraps)
- Black sesame seeds, diakon pickles, green onions, radishes garnish - all optional
Instructions
- Drain and then squeeze the tuna out with your hands. The goal is to remove as much moisture as possible, so the tortilla stays dry. Do not use tuna in oil but instead use tuna in water.
- Put your drained tuna in a medium bowl and add your chopped celery, onion, pickled daikon, mayonnaise, curry powder and salt and pepper to taste.Stir well
- Place a tortilla on your cutting board. Lay flat. Spread approximately ⅓ of the tuna mixture on the wrap and then spread it to about 1 cm to the edge.
- Fold each side of the tortilla in and roll up tightly.
- Cut Curried tuna salad roll ups once in the middle. Then, cut each half into 4 sections for a total of 8 slices. See photos above for details.
- Garnish with black sesame seeds, daikon pickles, green onions, radishes or whatever your little heart desires. We set each curried tuna salad roll up on salad leaf to serve.
- Enjoy! Can be served immediately or refrigerated in a sealed container for up to 24 hours.
Gerlinde de Broekert says
What an interesting recipe, all I need is pickled daikon.
HWC Magazine says
Thank you Gerlinde. Curried tuna salad can even be made with other pickles of choice or try your hand at our lemon daikon pickles.
Heidi | The Frugal Girls says
This is such a fabulous last minute party appetizer idea. Your flavors are perfect and I literally almost always have all of these items on hand!!
HWC Magazine says
Thank you - Curried Tuna roll ups are a great way to entertain at the last minute. Most generally we usually have all the ingredients on hand and its a breeze to throw together.
Jake says
I love this idea -- so easy and so healthy
HWC Magazine says
Thank you Jake. These little tuna rollups would be a great idea to pack for your excursions.
Lynn Fenby says
This is a nifty little lunch/appetizer! I wasn't sure that we would love the curry, but we really did. I will be serving this for my next cocktail party; not only are they great, but the presentation is quite lovely.
(They are easy and quick to make as well.)
HWC Magazine says
Thanks so much Lynn. The curry powder does not tuna salad spicy but instead just makes it flavorful. So glad you liked these iconic flavors of Japan.
Eha Carr says
*big smile* Bobbi, you mentioned lunch, dinner and snacks . . . well, this recipe will suit me for breakfast just beautifully ! Usually I have a Scandi-type open sandwich with a huge pileup of herring or anchovies or smoked eel to go with my supersized mug of black coffee anyways . . . and I have oft lately used a wrap instead . . . so no problem of working two extra minutes for this spicy mix . . . well, unless mayo has been homemade for some reason will be more likely to use Greek yogurt for health reasons, but . . . thank you !
HWC Magazine says
Good Morning Eha! Bring on the morning coffee, for us it is a survival tool. Greek yogurt is a great substitution in the curried tuna. I cook the family breakfast but I usually do not eat then. Instead, after I am done with a photo shoot I get to eat the props, that might be anything from soup to steak and everything in between. Take care dear friend.
Candy Todd says
How much onion?
HWC Magazine says
Hi Candy! Thanks so much for noticing the onion ingredient missing. We used 2 tablespoons of onion finely chopped. We have added into the recipe. Please stay well and take care.