Ryan Bartlow’s Potato Salad with Tuna Belly from Essentially Basque

If you think you know how to make potato salad with tuna, this one’s worth making differently. The version in Essentially Basque, by Ryan Bartlow, chef of Ernesto’s and Bartolo, and Laurie Woolever, culinary memoirist and cookbook co-author with chefs like Anthony Bourdain, has little in common with the American potluck staple.  

There’s a reason it fills the counters of San Sebastián’s crowded pintxos bars, where being served is something of a competitive sport. This recipe for ensaladilla con atún asks for more precision than most of us bring to potato salad, and Bartlow and Woolever explain themselves carefully and with a little humor as well. Just tossing good tuna belly into your usual recipe won’t get you anything exceptional. Follow this one closely, and you’ll taste the difference. 

Ryan Bartlow & Laurie Woolever

Ensalladilla con Atún

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Servings: 6 servings

In the United States, potato salad is a casual summer party food, but in Spain,it’s held in high regard, especially when it’s fortified with high-test conservas, like the tuna belly called for in this version. This isn’t necessarily a Basque recipe, but some of the most classic Basque pintxos feature ensalladilla con atún, typically on a slice of toasted baguette or stuffed into a piquillo pepper. The variation pictured here makes a great pescatarian lunch, garnished with chopped hard-boiled eggs and guindilla (pipara) peppers and served with crunchy, breadstick like crackers called picos, which are available at gourmet stores and Spanish specialty retailers.

Ingredients Method

Ingredients

  

• 4 large eggs
• 2 to 3 medium potatoes 1 pound/455 g, peeled and cut into 1½ -inch (4 cm) chunks
• 3 medium carrots 6 counces/170 g, peeled and cut into ½-inch (12 mm) dice
• 1 medium Spanish onion 8 ounces/225 g, vut into ¼ to ½-inch (6 to 12 mm) dice
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 clove garlic peeled and smashed
• Kosher salt
• 2 tablespoons sherry vinegar
• 2 tablespoons best-quality extra virgin olive oil
• ¼ cup 60 ml mayonnaise, plus more if needed
• 1 tablespoon capers coarsely chopped
• 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
• 3 ounces 85 g best-quality canned or jarred tuna belly in oil
• 18 to 24 guindilla pippara peppers
• 24 to 32 picos

Method

 

1. Bring a small pot of water to boil and carefully add the eggs. Let them cook for 9 minutes, then plunge them into an ice bath to immediately stop from cooking. After at least 15 minutes, peel the eggs and coarsely chop 3 of them, leaving the fourth for now. Set them aside.
2. In a medium, heavy-bottomed pot, combine the potatoes, carrots, onion, bay leaf, and garlic. Add a pinch of salt and enough cold water just to cover the vegetables. Bring the water to boil and let the vegetables cook for about 20 minutes, occasionally skimming off and discarding the yellow foam given off by the carrots. Remove and check a piece of potato for doneness; it should be very soft, giving almost no resistance when pinched. The carrots will be tender but still very much holding their shape, and the onions will have largely dissolved into the cooking water.
3. Because you don’t want extra liquid in the salad, don’t use a colander, where water can collect; instead, lift the vegetables out of the pot with a slotted spoon or a small sieve into a large bowl, first letting the extra water drain out very well. Add the vinegar and oil. Fold in the mayonnaise (at a minimum ¼ cup/60ml and then as much more as you would like), capers, mustard, and coarsely chopped eggs. Next, fold in the tuna, breaking it up slightly but not shredding it to the point it resembles cat food; there should still be recognizable chunks of fish throughout the salad. If you like, fold in some of the oil from the tuna can, which will enhance the flavor of the salad.
4. Taste the salad and season with salt as desired
5. Separate the white and yolk of the remaining hard-boiled egg. Finely chop each portion separately, and use that as a garnish for serving the salad. For each portion of the salad served, top with the guindilla (piparra) peppers and serve the picos alongside.

Excerpted from the new book Essentially Basque: Bringing Spanish Cooking Home by Ryan Bartlow and Laurie Woolever. Photos copyright © 2026 by Gentl and Hyers. Published by Abrams