Spanish Rice Salad with Tuna and Olives Recipe
A colorful, filling rice salad with tuna, olives, egg, and crunchy vegetables, often taken to the beach in Spain in a plastic container. It’s a cross between a pasta salad and a classic tuna salad, but lighter and more citrusy. It tastes best well chilled, once the dressing has soaked into the rice.
This salad combines the heartiness of a rice dish with the freshness of crunchy vegetables and a bright lemon dressing, making it ideal for hot days and easy to pack for outings or work.
Chef's tips
Make sure the rice is completely cooled before mixing in the other ingredients so the vegetables stay crisp and the eggs don’t crumble. For extra flavor, you can cook the rice in vegetable broth instead of plain water.
How to serve
Serve in a large bowl family-style or pack into individual containers for an easy grab-and-go lunch. It pairs well with grilled fish, chicken skewers, or a simple green salad.
Ingredients
- rice - 200 g
- tuna in oil - 200 g
- eggs - 3 pieces
- olives - 80 g
- bell pepper - 1 piece
- cucumber - 0.5 pieces
- corn - 150 g
- onion - 0.5 pieces
- olive oil - 3 tablespoons
- lemon juice - 2 tablespoons
- mustard - 1 teaspoon
- fresh parsley chopped - 2 tablespoons
- salt
- black pepper
Preparation
- Cook the rice in salted water according to the package instructions, until soft but not mushy. Drain, transfer to a large plate or bowl, and spread out so it cools faster.
- Place the eggs in a pot with cold water, bring to a boil, and cook for 9–10 minutes until hard-boiled. Transfer to cold water, peel, and cut into larger cubes.
- Dice the bell pepper and cucumber finely. Very finely chop the red onion. Slice the olives. Drain the corn well.
- Drain excess oil from the tuna and gently break it up with a fork into smaller pieces.
- In a small bowl, make the dressing: whisk together the olive oil, lemon juice, mustard, a pinch of salt, and pepper until smooth and emulsified.
- Put the cooled rice into a large bowl, then add the bell pepper, cucumber, onion, corn, olives, tuna, and eggs. Gently mix so the ingredients combine without breaking up the eggs too much.
- Pour the dressing over the salad, add the chopped parsley, and gently toss again. Taste and adjust seasoning with more salt and pepper if needed.
- Refrigerate the salad for at least 30 minutes so the flavors meld. Serve well chilled.
Storage
Sałatkę przechowuj w lodówce w szczelnym pojemniku. Przed podaniem wymieszaj i ewentualnie dodaj odrobinę świeżej oliwy i soku z cytryny, bo ryż chłonie sos i może się lekko zbić.
