Matthew McConaughey is an Oscar-winning, Emmy-nominated actor — but he is also a “tuna fish salad master maker,” according to the actor himself. During an appearance on the podcast “2 Bears, 1 Cave,” hosted by Bert Kreischer and Tom Segura, McConaughey said he makes the same tuna salad just about every Sunday — and it features a slew of unexpected ingredients that you won’t find in the average traditional tuna salad.
The tuna salad includes some of the typical staples such as mayonnaise, lemon juice, chopped red onion, and, of course, tuna. But from there, McConaughey goes rogue — adding frozen peas, dill pickle, and corn, the latter of which he said he “always” includes. Then there are jalapeño chips to “give it a little crunch,” along with apples and “a touch” of agave syrup to sweeten it up a bit.
But arguably the most interesting addition is wasabi paste, which gives the tuna salad an exciting kick of heat. While McConaughey didn’t say exactly how much wasabi he uses, he did note that he mixes it with the mayo until it becomes “light green” in color. This makes sense, as a little bit of wasabi goes a long way. More specifically, when making wasabi mayo, a good starting ratio is two to three teaspoons of wasabi paste for every half cup of mayonnaise. You can also make the spicy condiment with wasabi powder, which is what we use in our recipe for wasabi mayonnaise.
What else to know about making McConaughey’s unexpected tuna salad
There’s no denying Matthew McConaughey’s recipe is full of unconventional ingredients. With that in mind, it doesn’t hurt to make adjustments here and there to fit your preferences while still keeping the spirit of the actor’s loaded tuna salad. Still, it’s a good idea to keep the corn, which he called a must, as well as the wasabi paste, easily the most interesting addition.
But you may want to add more than “a touch” of agave syrup or extra apples to help balance out the spiciness from the wasabi, for example. You can also skip, say, the dill pickle if it’s not your favorite — the dish has so much going on you may not even notice that it’s missing. Additionally, while the crunch is important, you could swap out the jalapeño chips for something else — perhaps something like tortilla chips or potato chips, both of which are more neutral in flavor. Whichever final version you settle on, just be sure to avoid common mistakes when making tuna salad, such as not properly draining the tuna or using low-quality mayonnaise.
Of course, after making the tuna salad, you’ll probably want to try it out immediately. If you do, save some for the next day — McConaughey said that’s when it tastes the best, referring to day-old tuna salad as “the home run.”
