Overview
This plan builds a full week of lunches around canned tuna without pushing past the FDA/EPA recommended 2-3 weekly servings of chunk light tuna. Three days run on tuna — split between the classic mayo salad and the heartier pasta salad version — and the remaining two days rotate to a hard-boiled egg plate, keeping you within safe mercury guidance while still leaning on tuna's low cost for most of the week.
Total cost for five lunches lands around $22, or roughly $4.40 per day including sides. I mix the tuna salad fresh in two batches rather than one five-day batch, since USDA guidance caps mayo-based tuna salad at 3-5 days refrigerated at or below 40°F (4°C) — splitting the batch keeps every portion well within that window instead of relying on day-5 tuna from a single Sunday mix.
5-Day Breakdown
Day 1 (Monday): Classic tuna salad over mixed greens, whole grain crackers on the side. Mix fresh Sunday night or Monday morning.
Day 2 (Tuesday): Tuna pasta salad, prepped Sunday alongside Day 1's batch — same cook session, different format so it doesn't feel repetitive.
Day 3 (Wednesday): Hard-boiled egg plate with sliced vegetables and hummus — the mercury-limit rotation day, no tuna.
Day 4 (Thursday): Fresh half-batch of classic tuna salad, mixed Wednesday night to stay within the 3-5 day window rather than stretching Sunday's batch to day 4.
Day 5 (Friday): Second hard-boiled egg plate, or swap in leftover rotisserie chicken if you have it — closing the week under the weekly tuna serving limit.
Shopping List
- 10 cans (5 oz) chunk light tuna in water — $12.00
- 1 cup mayonnaise — $3.00
- 1 bunch celery — $2.00
- 1 small red onion — $0.80
- 2 lemons — $1.00
- 8 oz small pasta shells — $1.50
- 1 cucumber — $0.80
- 1 dozen eggs — $3.50
- Mixed greens, crackers, hummus — $4.00 (approx.)
Weekly total: approximately $28-29, or about $5.60-5.80 per day for lunch across five days — still well below most restaurant or delivery lunch options, while staying inside recommended mercury limits by capping tuna at three of the five days.