Vegan tuna, the perfect vegan substitute for regular tuna. It’s fishy, healthy, and low in fat, and to make it you only need 5 ingredients and 10 minutes!
Sometimes I find it hard to find homemade plant-based fish recipes. If I try to look for one at the supermarket, it usually contains lots of additives and preservatives, and that’s not really healthy. That’s why I decided to try this vegan tuna recipe, and it’s delicious!
Although this recipe doesn’t really have a tuna texture, it’s actually very tasty and it really resembles the tuna flavor. The key to this dish is the nori flakes, which help give it its characteristic fishy touch.
Besides, you can eat this vegan tuna as a dip or use it to make sandwiches, salads, or any recipe that calls for real tuna. It also contains good quality vegan protein because it’s made with chickpeas.
Vegan tuna, healthy, low in fat, and wonderfully good. It’s a super simple recipe that requires 5 simple ingredients and just 10 minutes. I hope you like it!
How to make vegan tuna – Step by step
- Blend the nori sheet in a powerful blender until you get nori flakes (photo 1). Set aside.
- Add the chickpeas to a bowl and mash them with a fork (photo 2).
- Incorporate the remaining ingredients (photo 3), stir, and mash again until well combined (photo 4).
- Serve immediately.
Pro tips
- The nori sheet isn’t optional, as we need it to get a fishy flavor. You could maybe use another kind of seaweed, but I haven’t tried it myself.
- You can replace the tahini with 1-2 tablespoons of oil (I’d use extra virgin olive oil).
- Feel free to use lime juice instead of lemon juice.
- If you don’t like chickpeas, this recipe will also work with other legumes like beans.
What is vegan tuna?
Vegan tuna is a vegan meat substitute for tuna. Of course, it doesn’t contain any real tuna at all, and although the texture of this recipe is not super close to regular tuna, it does have a similar flavor and it’s actually delicious.
Besides, it is low in fat and very healthy and nutritious, as well as high in protein because it’s prepared with chickpeas.
How long will this vegan tuna keep?
If you have any leftovers, keep them in an airtight container in the fridge and they will keep for 4-5 days, and sometimes even for a week. If it smells and tastes good, you can eat it.
How to serve vegan tuna
There are a lot of dishes you can prepare with this vegan tuna. I love to add it to salads like tomato avocado salad or vegan potato salad, although I also enjoy it in a vegan tuna sandwich.
Another option is to mix it with some vegan mayo and use it as a topping for your baked or jacket potatoes.
Looking for more vegan meat recipes?
Did you make this vegan tuna recipe?
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Vegan Tuna
- Prep: 10 mins
- Total: 10 mins
- 4 1x
- How to
- American
- Vegan
Servings 4 1x
Vegan tuna, the perfect vegan substitute for regular tuna. It’s fishy, healthy, and low in fat, and to make it you only need 5 ingredients and 10 minutes!
Ingredients
- 1 nori sheet
- 2 and 1/2 cups canned or cooked chickpeas (400 g), drained and rinsed
- 2 tbsp tahini
- 2 tbsp lemon juice
- 1/2 tsp salt
Instructions
- Blend the nori sheet in a powerful blender until you get nori flakes. You can also finely chop the nori sheet with a knife. Set aside.
- Add the chickpeas to a bowl and mash them with a fork.
- Incorporate the remaining ingredients, stir, and mash again until well combined. If you want to save some time, use a food processor instead, but don’t over-blend.
- Serve it with dishes like tomato avocado salad, vegan potato salad, vegan tuna sandwich, or mix it with some vegan mayo and use it as a topping for your baked or jacket potatoes.
- Keep the leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for 4-5 days. If it smells and tastes good, it could also last for up to a week.
Notes
- The nori sheet isn’t optional, as we need it to get a fishy flavor. You could maybe use another kind of seaweed, but I haven’t tried it myself.
- You can replace the tahini with 1-2 tablespoons of oil (I’d use extra virgin olive oil).
- Feel free to use lime juice instead of lemon juice.
- If you don’t like chickpeas, this recipe will also work with other legumes like beans.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1/4 of the recipe
- Calories: 168
- Sugar: 0.6 g
- Sodium: 341 mg
- Fat: 6.6 g
- Saturated Fat: 0.9 g
- Carbohydrates: 18.2 g
- Fiber: 5.1 g
- Protein: 8.8 g
Update Notes: This post was originally published in May of 2018, but was republished with new photos, step by step instructions, and tips in October of 2020.
Made this for lunch today as something different. It was absolutely delicious. Normally I make my vegan ‘tuna’ with vegan mayo; chickpeas; chopped celery, radishes and dill pickles; dried or fresh dill; finely chopped nori; lemon juice; salt and pepper. And while it is always tasty, I wanted something a little different. This hit the spot, I never would have thought to use tahini in it! As I had organic, wax free lemons, I did add a little zest but that was my only change. Thank you for sharing your recipes, I cannot wait to try more.
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Hi Sassy. Sounds good 🙂 I am so glad you liked it!
Hi. I’m keen to give this a go but, I don’t have (& can’t seem to get hold of) any chickpeas. Do you think it would work with something else? Black beans or butter beans maybe? And I’ve only seaweed flakes so I was just wondering, when you’ve ‘blitzed’ your nori sheet, how much does it produce, 1 teaspoon? Or more? If you get a chance to answer my queries, that would be great. Meantime, stay safe! 🙂
Hi Sophie!! You can try with other legumes like beans if You don´t have other options. It should work. About the seaweed amount, it is more than a teaspoon, my advice is to go spoon by spoon till you find a sea flavor you like. Have a great day!!
This was delicious! Three weeks into covid19 isolation, and living off of my pantry. Even lowly tuna fish sounded pretty amazing to me, and I actually had all the ingredients! I wrapped it in a brown rice spring roll wrapper and it was very much tuna to me. The nori and lemon provided just the right salty tang to suggest fish. Thank you, I’ll be making this a lot!
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Hi Christine! You’re so welcome 🙂 So glad you liked it!
Wow, this is amazing! I have been a vegetarian for 10 years, and tuna is the only meat I ever miss. I’ve tried a few recipes over time, but none of them were ever worth eating until this one! I will definitely be making it this again and again! My husband is a meat eater and he also likes they way it tastes. Thank you so much for sharing!!
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Hi! Thanks a lot 🙂 So glad you enjoyed it so much!
Where can I buy nori flakes in Spain? Also items like tofu where would you suggest?
Muchas gracias!
I have seen tofu in ‘herbolarios’ o ‘tiendas eco’. Nori I don’t know… I haven’t lived in Spain for a long time now but they may have it in big supermarket with Japanese ingredients as you need it your sushi.
Hi Judit! Thank you so much for your comment 🙂
Hi! I buy nori sheets at Mercadona and then I blend them in my blender to make nori flakes 🙂
Hi. Made this recipe and it’s pretty damn good! I used to use vegenaise but tahini is a bit thicker and tastes great. I had mine in a jacket potato with violife grated cheese and baked beans
Hi Pete! Sounds so good 🙂 So glad you enjoyed it!
Hey this is amazing amazing really love it xxx
Hi Sean! Thank you so much 🙂
I made this recipe, adding sweetcorn and vegan mayo after. Absolutely delicious! Will make time and time again. Thank you
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Hi Caprice! Sounds great 🙂 You’re so welcome!
I make this every week except I use 2 Nori and 2 Cans of drained tin chickpea since I have the food processor out anyway. I also use Olive oil instead of Tahini
Great in a sandwich with cheese and mayo or with crackers or toast
Thanks Iosune! You are a champion
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Hi Shaun! You’re so welcome 🙂 So glad you like it!
You shared a recipe that I will use for the rest of my life. Stunningly delicious!
Hi Gradus! I’m so happy to hear that 🙂
Absolutely the best tuna recipe we’ve tried since going vegan! We added a little bit of vegan mayo to make it a bit more sticky like tuna mayo. Such a good flavour and healthy too!
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Hi Jasmine! So glad you liked it so much 🙂
Hi! Does this last a week in the fridge? Dont want it to go off 🙁 Im also putting canned corn in it
Hi Sissel! It lasts 4 to 5 days, but I think it could lasts up to a week. If it tastes and smells okay, you can eat it 🙂
Super simple but very tasty. Have used it just with vegan mayo, spring onion, vegan cheese and lettuce in a baguette and as “tuna” melts just grilled on bread with a pile of grated vegan cheese and sliced tomato. Also in salads and pasta. Sounds odd but I added a blob of ketchup to add a slightly pinkish tinge and it counteracts the slight sourness of the chickpeas
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Hi Sarah! Sounds amazing 😉 So glad you enjoyed it!
This looks delicious! Can I use dulse flakes instead of a nori sheet? Or will that throw off the taste?
Hi Erica! Thanks a lot 🙂 I’ve neve tried it myself, but I think it could work…
I’ve made this twice and it turned out great both times. Definitely a keeper! The second time, I added a couple of tbs of water and it really helped give it more of a tuna-ish texture IMHO.
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Hi Brian! So glad you liked it 🙂
I made this earlier this week and although it tastes nice i feel like i have done it a little wrong. it feels a little chickpea heavy.
Can i please check is it 400g of chickpeas before or after they are drained?
i will continue experimenting although i have loads left still from the first batch i knocked up!
thanks
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Hi Dave! As you can read in the recipe box, the chickpeas are drained. Try to add less chickpeas or more of the other ingredients next time. Hope it works!
I ran out of chickpeas so substituted cooked butter beans and added a bit of water and olive oil for more moisture, then stirred in some sweetcorn. Absolutely delicious!
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Hi Sarah! Sounds great 🙂 So glad you enjoyed it!
….Oh and forgot to say, I also used lime juice instead of lemon juice
Yes, they’re pretty interchangeable 🙂
Abloutely love this! Thank you so much for sharing. I modified mine a bit by using both dulse flakes and ground kombu instead of the nori sheet. I’ve always found those two, particularly kombu, to give a much more fishier taste and even smell. And it does disappoint in this recipe. Has gone down a treat as Vegan tuna & hemp mayo sandwiches with cucumber and rocket with friends.
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Hi Lainey! Thanks a lot 😀 Sounds amazing! I use nori because is easier to find in some areas, but I’ll try your version next time 😉
Hi lainey ,
May I ask you how much dulse flakes and ground kombu you used?
Thanks!
Could you skip the lemon juice? What does it do in the recipe?
Hi Sissel! I think it’s an important ingredient to get a real tuna flavor, but you could use some vinegar instead 🙂
Great recipe.
Hi Adeline! Thank you so much 🙂
This was good! I just made a batch and let it chill for a while (I think much needed!). I tasted while preparing and felt it a little bland so I also added some Veganaise. Green onion and some diced celery will go into the rest of the batch to add that tuna salad crunch I missed. I thought the Nori was a bit much. When you say “sheet” you mean all 4 strips that make up a sheet, correct? And I also popped everything into the food processor. Very easy and very good. Thanks!
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Hi Suzy! I mean the nori sheets you use to make sushi: https://amzn.to/2sY0mMX Hope it helps 🙂
Amazing have made it three times already
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Hi Joanne! Thanks a lot 🙂 SO glad you liked it so much!
Really delicious with minimal ingredients! It’s so good just by itself. Thank you!
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Hi Kathy! Thanks a lot 🙂 Yes, I would it the whole thing with a spoon!
So I made mine today with vegan mayo, green onions and seaweed snacks (lol- it’s what I had on hand!) It was good- I liked the texture! I’ll try next week with the nori, tahini & lemon.
Hi Wendy! So glad you liked it 🙂 You really need to add the nori and the lemon, it’s even better!
Great recipe. I just put everything in the blender & whizzed it. I added more liquid (aquafaba from the beans), olive oil & salt. Also next time I think I’ll use more nori to give it an even fishier flavour!
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Hi Josie! Sounds great 🙂 So glad you enjoyed it!
Just made the vegan tuna and it’s amazing thank you so much
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Hi Joanne! You’re so welcome 🙂 So glad you liked it!
Hi Kate! Hope you like it 🙂 I’ve never used kombu myself, but I think it could work. Have a nice day!
Hi Iosune,
This looks fabulous and I will try it as-is asap, but as I only have Kombu on hand do you think I can substitute Kombu for Nori? Thank you for any advice/ideas and for your awesome website. I use it all the time!
Just the sort of recipes I want to make. Hopefully next day or so ,thank you.
Hi Valerie! Hope you like it 🙂