YummyYucky

From the YummyYucky team, founded by Nancy Nash

🥗

Can Babies Eat Tuna Salad? From 6 Months, Hold the Mayo

Tuna salad works for babies from about 6 months when you make their portion the baby way: canned light tuna mashed with avocado or plain yogurt, with no mayo, no added salt and no raw celery. Store-bought mayo can join from about 12 months. Classic tuna salad carries fish and egg, so introduce each one on its own first.

Log tuna salad today →

Free, no account needed. Takes about 10 seconds.

When to introduce
Around 6 months, made with avocado or plain yogurt instead of mayo; the classic mayo version from about 12 months
Common allergen?
Yes: fish, plus egg from the mayonnaise. Plain yogurt, if you use it, is milk. A few canned tunas add a vegetable broth with soy, and many store-bought tuna salads add breadcrumbs (wheat), so read the label.
Texture
Flaked fine and mashed soft and moist, bones checked. No raw celery or onion pieces for a baby.
Key nutrients
Protein, omega-3 (DHA), selenium and vitamin B12 from the tuna. Classic versions add salt: USDA lists 418 mg sodium per 100 g of tuna salad made with mayonnaise.

Yes, babies can eat tuna salad, and it is one of the easier ways to get fish onto the tray. It just looks a little different at 7 months than it does in your lunch. The baby version is canned light tuna, flaked fine and mashed with ripe avocado or plain yogurt: no mayo, no added salt, no crunchy bits. Fish can join your baby's diet from about 6 months, along with other solid foods.2 The classic version waits a little. Our mayonnaise page starts store-bought mayo at about 12 months, and the celery and onion that give tuna salad its crunch are hard raw vegetable pieces, which the CDC lists as a choking hazard.7 Three things matter at every age: which can you buy (mercury), how much salt comes along for the ride, and how long the bowl sits out.

⚠️ Buy canned light tuna, not albacore (white), for less mercury.12 Make your baby's portion with avocado or plain yogurt instead of mayo, leave out raw celery and onion, and never leave tuna salad out of the fridge for more than 2 hours.712

Prep School: how to prepare tuna salad for baby-led weaning (BLW) and purées

🍴 Baby-led weaning

6 monthsDrain canned light tuna (low sodium or no salt added if you can find it; rinse a regular can), flake it fine and check for stray bones, then mash it with ripe avocado, or plain whole milk yogurt once yogurt has gone well on its own, until it is soft and moist. Preload a spoon for your baby to grab, or spread the mix thin on a soft toast strip they can hold. No mayo, no salt, no relish, and no raw celery or onion.
9 monthsMake the same mix a little thicker and put small soft clumps on the tray for fingers to pick up, or stir it through soft rice or small pasta they can scoop. Still check for bones, and still no mayo, salt, raw celery or onion.
12 months+A thin coat of store-bought mayo can join in; never homemade mayo made with raw egg. Skip sweet relish, and count the salt toward the day. Celery and onion only with the strings peeled off and both minced very fine, or leave them out. On a sandwich, cut it into pieces no larger than half an inch, keep your toddler sitting up, and watch them the whole time they eat.

🥄 Purées

6 monthsDrain canned light tuna (low sodium or no salt added if you can find it; rinse a regular can), flake it and check for stray bones, then blend or mash it with ripe avocado, or plain whole milk yogurt once yogurt has gone well on its own, until smooth and moist with no dry bits. Spoon-feed small tastes. No mayo, no salt, no relish, and no raw celery or onion.
9 monthsMash instead of blending, leaving small soft lumps, and stir it through soft rice, mashed sweet potato or small pasta on the spoon. Still check for bones, and still no mayo, salt, raw celery or onion.
12 months+A thin coat of store-bought mayo can go in; never homemade mayo made with raw egg. Skip sweet relish, and count the salt toward the day. Celery and onion only with the strings peeled off and both minced very fine, or leave them out. Spoon it onto soft toast cut into pieces no larger than half an inch, keep your toddler sitting up, and watch them the whole time they eat.

Is tuna salad safe? Choking & prep

Start at the shelf, because the can decides the mercury. The FDA and EPA put canned light tuna, which includes skipjack, on their Best Choices list; albacore (sold as white tuna) and yellowfin are Good Choices, and bigeye is a Choice to Avoid.1 Albacore typically carries about three times the mercury of canned light tuna, so buy light for your baby.2 Next come the allergens. Tuna salad brings fish, and once mayo is in, egg too. Both are common allergens that can go into your baby's diet from around 6 months, one at a time, and the FDA says there is no evidence that delaying allergenic foods beyond when other foods start helps prevent food allergy.92 Introduce plain tuna and well cooked egg separately before you combine them in one bowl, and once each goes well, keep it in your baby's usual diet.9 If your baby has severe eczema or a known food allergy such as an egg allergy, talk to your pediatrician before introducing new allergens.9 After a new allergen, watch for about two hours. Call 911 (or your local emergency number) right away if any of these show up soon after a food, on their own or together: swelling of the lips, face, eyes, or tongue; swelling or tightness in the throat, or trouble swallowing; vomiting; hives that spread beyond the mouth and face; trouble breathing, noisy breathing, or wheezing; a cough that keeps going; a hoarse voice; skin or lips that turn pale or blue; or a baby who goes floppy or limp, or is suddenly sleepy or hard to wake. If the only sign is a new rash or a few hives around the mouth or face, stop the food, watch your baby closely, and call your pediatrician. If anything else about your baby worries you, call 911.151617 Then the mayo itself. Store-bought mayonnaise is made with pasteurized egg, which the FDA says is safe to eat.10 Homemade mayo made with raw egg is a different story: children under 5 are more likely to get sick from germs such as Salmonella, and the CDC's safer choice for anything not cooked, like a dressing, is pasteurized eggs.11 Salt is the everyday catch. USDA lists 418 mg of sodium per 100 g of tuna salad made with mayonnaise, against 219 mg in drained light tuna and 7 mg in avocado, and regular mayo carries 635 mg per 100 g, nearly 90 mg a tablespoon.3 The National Academies set 370 mg a day as an adequate intake for babies 7 to 12 months, and the CDC says to avoid feeding young children foods high in salt and to choose low sodium or no salt added canned foods.54 Last is the crunch. Pieces of hard raw vegetables and bones in fish are both on the CDC's choking list.7 Leave raw celery and onion out of a baby's portion, check the tuna for bones, and keep your baby sitting up and watched the whole time they eat.7

Trying tuna salad today? Log the first taste and whether it was a hit, a hard maybe, or launched across the room, dated and ready for the pediatrician.

Log tuna salad today →

Free, no account needed. Takes about 10 seconds.

Nutrition

Tuna brings what fish brings. The FDA lists omega-3 fats (DHA and EPA), iron, choline and zinc among the nutrients in fish that support a young child's brain development and immune system, along with protein, vitamin B12, vitamin D and selenium.1 Drained light tuna has about 19 g of protein per 100 g in USDA data, while tuna salad made with mayonnaise has about 10 g, because mayo is mostly oil: about 75 g of fat per 100 g.3 Albacore does carry more DHA than light tuna in USDA data (0.63 g against 0.20 g per 100 g), but with about three times the mercury, and the FDA's advice for children is built on its Best Choices list, which is why light stays the pick for a baby.32 If your baby likes avocado, they already like half of this bowl, and that is a good place to start: a squeeze of lemon or a pinch of dill brightens the fish taste without any salt.

Goes well with

Avocado, mashed · Yogurt, plain whole milk · Toast strips · Sweet potato, mashed · Rice, cooked soft · Peas, smashed · Lemon, a squeeze · Dill

Storage & freezing

Homemade tuna salad keeps 1 day in the fridge,18 and the FDA storage chart says not to freeze it.14 Once a can is open, move the leftover tuna into a covered container; out of the can, it keeps 3 to 4 days in the fridge. Keep the fridge at 40°F or below. Never leave tuna salad out for more than 2 hours, or 1 hour when it is above 90°F, which is the FDA rule for seafood and other perishable food. For a picnic, keep it in a cooler at 40°F or below until you serve it, then set the bowl on ice. The avocado version turns brown quickly, so make it fresh in small batches.

More proteins to explore

🐟
TurbotAround 6 months
🐟
WalleyeAround 6 months
🐟
WhitebaitAround 9 months
🐟
Whiting6 months+
🦃
TurkeyAround 6 months
🫘
Urad dalAround 6 months

Introducing this allergen

Related reading

Common questions

Can babies eat tuna salad?

Yes, from about 6 months, made the baby way: canned light tuna flaked fine and mashed with avocado or plain yogurt, with no mayo, no added salt and no raw celery.2 Store-bought mayo can join from about 12 months, the age our mayonnaise page uses. Choose light tuna over albacore for less mercury.1

Can my baby have tuna salad made with mayonnaise?

From about 12 months, a thin coat of store-bought mayo is fine. It is made with pasteurized egg, which the FDA says is safe to eat.10 Never use homemade mayo made with raw egg; for anything not cooked, the CDC's safer choice is pasteurized eggs.11 Before 12 months, avocado or plain yogurt gives the same creamy texture without the nearly 90 mg of sodium in a tablespoon of mayo.3

Is tuna salad a good way to introduce fish or egg?

Not as the first meeting. Classic tuna salad brings fish and egg in one bite, so if your baby reacted you would not know which one did it. Introduce plain tuna and well cooked egg on their own first, one at a time, from around 6 months, and once each goes well, keep it in your baby's usual diet.9 The baby version with avocado has fish but no egg, so it fits right in once plain fish has gone well.

Which canned tuna is best for a baby's tuna salad?

Canned light tuna, which is most often skipjack and sits on the FDA and EPA Best Choices list.12 Albacore, sold as white tuna, typically has about three times the mercury, and albacore and yellowfin are both Good Choices, so check the label for those names.2 For salt, look for low sodium (140 mg or less per serving under FDA label rules) or no salt added, and drain and rinse a regular can.6

How often can my baby have tuna salad?

Keep it small and occasional, and rotate it with other fish. The FDA recommends children eat 2 servings of fish a week from a variety of Best Choices, with a serving of about 1 ounce at ages 1 to 3.2 Our fish guide keeps canned tuna to about once a week, so make the other fish meal salmon, sardines, pollock or trout, which are on the FDA's shorter list of even lower mercury fish.2 For how much a baby under 1 should have, ask your pediatrician.

Is tuna salad too salty for a baby?

The classic version is saltier than a baby needs. USDA lists 418 mg of sodium per 100 g of tuna salad made with mayonnaise, so a 1 ounce serving has about 120 mg, around 15 percent of the 800 mg a day the National Academies set as adequate for ages 1 to 3; for babies 7 to 12 months, the whole day's adequate intake is 370 mg.35 So the baby version skips the mayo and the added salt, uses low sodium or no salt added light tuna, and rinses a regular can, which removes some of the sodium.64

Can babies eat the celery and onion in tuna salad?

Not raw and crunchy. Pieces of hard raw vegetables are on the CDC's list of choking hazards, and celery adds tough strings on top.7 Leave raw celery and onion out of a baby's portion. From 12 months, peel the strings off the celery and mince both very fine, or keep leaving them out; the AAP advice is pieces no larger than half an inch, and keeping raw vegetable sticks from children until about age 4.8

How long can tuna salad sit out?

No more than 2 hours out of the fridge, or 1 hour when it is above 90°F; after that, throw it out.1213 In the fridge at 40°F or below, homemade tuna salad keeps 1 day,18 and it does not freeze well.14 At a picnic, keep it in a cooler and set the bowl on ice once it is served.13

What if my baby makes a face at tuna salad?

Fish tastes stronger than most early foods, so a face is fair. Mash it into something your baby already likes, such as avocado or sweet potato, add a squeeze of lemon or a pinch of dill, and offer it again on another day. YummyYucky can log each try with the date and whether it was yummy, meh, or yucky.

Sources

  1. FDA/EPA, Advice About Eating Fish (Best Choices chart; child serving sizes)
  2. FDA, Questions & Answers from the FDA/EPA Advice about Eating Fish (tuna, children, when to start fish)
  3. USDA FoodData Central, per 100 g: tuna salad, made with mayonnaise (FNDDS 2706828) 418 mg sodium, 10.1 g protein; fish, tuna, light, canned in water, drained solids (Foundation 334194) 219 mg sodium, 19 g protein, 0.197 g DHA; fish, tuna, white, canned in water, drained solids (SR Legacy 175158) 377 mg sodium, 0.629 g DHA; salad dressing, mayonnaise, regular (SR Legacy 171009) 635 mg sodium, 74.85 g fat, 13.8 g per tablespoon; avocados, raw (SR Legacy 171705) 7 mg sodium
  4. CDC, Foods and Drinks to Avoid or Limit (high-sodium foods, canned foods, added sugars)
  5. National Academies (NASEM), Dietary Reference Intakes for Sodium and Potassium (2019), Table S-2: sodium adequate intake 370 mg a day at 7 to 12 months, 800 mg at 1 to 3 years
  6. FDA, Sodium in Your Diet (label terms; rinsing canned tuna)
  7. CDC, Choking Hazards (Infant and Toddler Nutrition)
  8. AAP HealthyChildren, Choking Prevention
  9. NHS, Food allergies in babies and young children
  10. FDA, Dairy and Eggs (commercial mayonnaise contains pasteurized eggs)
  11. CDC, Safer Food Choices for Children Under 5
  12. FDA, Selecting and Serving Fresh and Frozen Seafood Safely
  13. FDA, Handling Food Safely While Eating Outdoors
  14. FDA, Refrigerator and Freezer Storage Chart (tuna salads: don't freeze; opened canned seafood 3 to 4 days)
  15. NIAID Addendum Guidelines, Appendix D: Instructions for Home Feeding of Peanut Protein
  16. ASCIA: Anaphylaxis
  17. NHS: Anaphylaxis
  18. FoodSafety.gov: Children Under Five, Safe Storage of Puréed and Solid Baby Food (strained meats and eggs: 1 day refrigerated, 1 to 2 months frozen)

Further reading

😋 🤢

Track it in YummyYucky

Log first tries and reactions, with an automatic allergen tracker when a food needs one, all in one place you can share with your pediatrician.

Start tracking for free

Last updated September 2026. Next review December 2026. How we write these: built from current published guidance from the AAP, CDC, FDA/EPA, NIAID, WHO, and other pediatric and public-health authorities, with sources cited on the page. See our editorial and medical policy for how we research, source, and update these, and how we double-check the food advice.

This is general information, not medical advice, and is not individualized for your baby. Always talk to your pediatrician about your baby's diet, introducing allergens, and any reaction. In an emergency, contact emergency services.

Some links in our guides are affiliate links: if you buy through them we may earn a small commission, at no extra cost to you. We only suggest things we'd actually use, and it never changes our guidance.