The Trader Joe's Find That Makes Tuna Salad Irresistible

To make a really good tuna salad sandwich, you don't necessarily need to do all that much. Like anything, quality ingredients — like grabbing the best can of tuna for tuna salad — are important, but beyond that, it's largely a matter of fine details. Things like using the right amount of mayonnaise make all the difference, and sometimes a single-ingredient addition is all you need to elevate that old standby seafood salad. Such is the case with Trader Joe's Hot and Sweet Jalapeños. 

As soon as you screw off the lid of the jar, it's clear that these are not the nacho toppers you're familiar with. Inspired by cowboy candy, or candied jalapeños, Trader Joe's made this product its own by bringing plenty of heat to the table with not just jalapeños, but also dried chilis. It also reined in the sweetness with a touch of aromatic garlic. According to folks across the internet, they're good on just about everything, but they really show their worth when added to tuna salad. 

Trader Joe's Hot and Sweet Jalapeños can be chopped up and tossed directly into the tuna salad bowl or draped across the inside of a sandwich. You can even try making candied jalapeño mayo to ensure that the flavor makes it into every single bite. Then, if you want to keep playing in the realm of sweet and spicy, other additions and swaps can help you keep pushing the flavor boundaries.

Once you pick up a jar of Trader Joe's Hot and Sweet Jalapeños and try this trick, you might just find yourself searching through the pantry for other interesting ingredients to top your tuna. Some folks have complained that not every jar of TJ's Sweet and Hot Jalapeños has enough kick, and the good news is that there are plenty of options if increasing the heat is your main goal. 

Making your own candied jalapeños mixed with peppers from higher up the Scoville scale, such as serranos or habaneros, is one option. Alternatively, a near-zero-effort technique to do just about the same thing is to add cayenne to your tuna. Or, just like you can add more pepper flavor with a candied jalapeño mayo, you can also try out other spicy dressings, like chipotle or serrano mayo.

You might also want a little more sweetness to balance out your tuna salad. Fortunately, there is plenty of inspiration out there for that as well. Adding a sweet upgrade to tuna salad can be as simple as tossing in a handful of dried cranberries or currants, as in Julie Kinnaird's Mexican-inspired tuna salad recipe. Fresh fruits like apples and grapes are also common additions.

There are countless chef-approved tuna salad upgrades out there, some of them more complicated than others. If what you're looking for is a trick that manages to walk the line of both one of the simplest and one of the best, all you need is a quick stop at your nearest Trader Joe's for a jar of Sweet and Hot Jalapeños.