What is the best brand of tuna?

If you mean canned tuna, my top overall pick is Wild Planet.

• Wild Planet Albacore Wild Tuna - $26.45 (Walmart - RELIABLE & FAST)

My picks

• 🥇 Best overall: Wild Planet — excellent flavor and firm texture, with strong sustainability practices. Epicurious rated its albacore the best in a taste test.
• 🥈 Best for low mercury: Safe Catch — particularly good if you eat tuna regularly. The company says it tests every tuna for mercury, and Consumer Reports found its tuna relatively low in mercury.
• 🥉 Best value: Genova — especially its yellowfin packed in olive oil; flavorful and generally less expensive than premium brands.

One important tip: If you're concerned about mercury, choose light/skipjack tuna more often than albacore. Consumer Reports found albacore generally had substantially more mercury, although levels vary from can to can.

If I were buying one today: I'd get Safe Catch Elite Pure Tuna for frequent eating, or Wild Planet Albacore when taste is the priority.

The best brand of canned tuna overall is Wild Planet , known for its sustainable pole-and-line catching methods and rich, clean flavor packed without added water or oils.

Top-rated tuna brands vary depending on what matters most to you:

If you want, tell me:

• Are you looking for skipjack, yellowfin, or albacore?
• Do you prefer tuna packed in water or olive oil?

I can give you a more specific recommendation!

If you mean canned tuna, my overall pick is Wild Planet.

• Wild Planet Albacore Wild Tuna in Extra Virgin Olive Oil - $36.00 (Wild Planet Foods)

My picks

• 🏆 Best overall: Wild Planet — excellent texture and flavor, plus strong sustainability practices. Multiple taste tests have ranked it highly, though one test preferred other brands, so taste is somewhat subjective.
• 🥗 Best for salads/pasta: Genova — especially its yellowfin in olive oil; richer, Mediterranean-style flavor.
• 💰 Best budget option: StarKist — a solid everyday choice, particularly for sandwiches.
• 🐟 Best if you're especially concerned about mercury: Safe Catch — its tuna is individually tested against a strict mercury limit.
• 🇪🇸 Best premium/gourmet: Ortiz — particularly the bonito/white tuna in olive oil; excellent eaten straight from the tin.

If I were buying one can at the grocery store: I'd get Wild Planet Albacore, preferably in olive oil if you're eating it on its own, or in water/no salt added for tuna salad.

One useful tip: “dolphin-safe” isn't the same thing as sustainable. For sustainability, look for pole-and-line, troll-caught, FAD-free, or credible certification.

When it comes to the "best" brand of tuna, it really depends on what you're looking for—whether that is top-tier gourmet flavor, strict sustainability, or everyday budget value for a classic tuna salad. Food critics, consumer tests, and-taste tests generally point to these top contenders:

• Conservas Ortiz (Best Gourmet / Splurge ): Widely considered the gold standard by publications like The New York Times Wirecutter , Ortiz packs whole, beautiful pink-white flakes of line-caught white tuna (Bonito del Norte) in rich olive oil. It is luxurious enough to eat straight out of the jar or tin with a fork.
• Wild Planet (Best Sustainable & Healthy ): A favorite for eco-conscious shoppers, Wild Planet is famous for pole-and-line or troll-caught tuna. They cook the fish just once in the can (retaining natural Omega-3 oils without adding water or oil fillers), giving it a meaty texture and clean, robust flavor.
• Genova (Best Mid-Range / Olive Oil-Packed ): If you love tuna packed in olive oil but don't want to pay gourmet import prices, Genova Yellowfin Tuna is a grocery store staple. It offers a savory, flaky, and rich profile that elevates a simple sandwich or pasta dish.
• American Tuna (Best Domestic / Pole-Caught ): Fished sustainably by American pole-and-line fishermen in the Pacific, their canned albacore packed in sea salt is frequently praised in taste tests for having a remarkably fresh, clean taste without any metallic or overly "fishy" aftertaste.
• Kirkland Signature (Costco) (Best Bulk / Everyday Value ): For a standard water-packed solid white albacore, Costco's house brand hits the sweet spot of affordability, mild clean flavor, and firm chunks that don't turn to mush in a big batch of tuna salad.

Are you looking for a tuna for gourmet eating on its own , a heavy-duty ingredient for tuna salad/melts , or something focused on low mercury / sustainability ? Let me know and I can give you a more specific recommendation.

The best overall canned tuna to buy is Wild Planet Wild Skipjack Light Tuna Go to product viewer dialog for this item. , thanks to its clean, mild taste, firm texture, and strict sustainability standards. However, the absolute right choice depends on your budget, how you intend to prepare it, and whether you prefer fish packed in oil or water.

The top-rated tuna options available vary across specific culinary needs:

Best Overall & Everyday Options

Add to list Widely considered the best tasting tuna by food editors. It is hand-packed without added water or oil, yielding an incredibly dense, meaty texture that doesn't need draining. It is excellent for rich casseroles or standard tuna salads.

Add to list This is the top choice if you want maximum flavor straight from the tin. The olive oil gives the yellowfin a highly decadent, velvety mouthfeel and subtle nutty finish. It shines in Mediterranean pasta recipes or Niçoise salads.

Best Health & Premium Choices

Add to list The premier option for health-conscious shoppers, pregnant individuals, or families. They are the only major brand to mercury-test every single fish they catch, guaranteeing the lowest mercury levels on grocery shelves.

Add to list A trendy, artisanal option that features hand-packed, dense, and beautifully flaky albacore. It is more expensive than standard tins, but its high-quality olive oil makes it perfect for eating directly on crackers or charcuterie boards.

Best Budget Options

Add to list Target's house brand ranks highly in blind taste tests because it provides larger, solid chunks of fish rather than a shredded mush. It delivers a very clean flavor without heavy "fishiness" at a fraction of the cost of artisanal brands.

How to Choose Your Tuna Type

• Oil vs. Water : Tuna packed in extra virgin olive oil retains significantly more moisture and carries a richer flavor. Tuna packed in water is preferable if you are looking to cut calories or want a blank canvas for a heavy mayo dressing.

If you want to narrow down your choices, let me know:

• What recipe are you making? (e.g., tuna salad, pasta, eating plain)
• Do you prefer your fish packed in oil or water?
• Is low mercury or organic sourcing a priority for you?

If you mean canned tuna, my top pick is Wild Planet overall.

Wild Planet Skipjack Wild Tuna

$17.20

My picks

• 🥇 Best overall: Wild Planet — excellent flavor and firm, flaky texture, plus pole-and-line fishing practices. Epicurious ranked it its top canned tuna, and more recent testing still rates it highly.
• 🥈 Best for rich flavor: Genova Yellowfin in Olive Oil — especially good straight from the can or in Mediterranean-style dishes. A 2026 taste test named it best overall.
• 🥉 Best for minimizing mercury: Safe Catch — the company tests individual tuna for mercury, making it a particularly attractive choice if mercury is your main concern.
• 💰 Best inexpensive everyday option: StarKist Solid White Albacore — widely available and scored well in Bon Appétit's blind tasting for texture and savory flavor.

If I were buying one can: I'd get Wild Planet Skipjack in water for everyday use, or Genova Yellowfin in olive oil if I wanted the tastiest option.

Wild Planet Skipjack Wild Tuna

$17.20

Genova Yellowfin Tuna in Olive Oil

$2.99

Safe Catch Wild Albacore Tuna

$4.44

StarKist Solid White Albacore

$10.58

The "best" brand of tuna depends on what you value most—taste, health and low mercury levels, or sustainability—with top overall choices including Wild Planet for rich flavor and eco-friendly practices, Safe Catch for strict mercury testing, and Tonnino or Genova for gourmet, oil-packed fillets.

Best for Taste and Texture

Best for Health and Purity

Quick Comparison of Top Contenders

If you can share how you plan to use the tuna (such as for a basic tuna salad, a warm pasta, or straight from the can) and whether you prefer it packed in water or oil , I can recommend the exact variety that fits your meal.

If you mean canned tuna, my overall pick is Wild Planet.

Wild Planet Albacore Wild Tuna

$24.00

🥇 Best overall: Wild Planet

• Excellent flavor and firm, meaty texture
• Uses pole-and-line or troll fishing, which generally reduces bycatch.
• The tuna is hand-cut and cooked once in the can, rather than being heavily processed first.
• It has consistently scored very well in taste tests; Epicurious named it its overall winner, and a Michigan State University taste test also ranked Wild Planet Skipjack #1.

Other excellent choices

🥈 American Tuna — probably the best if you want premium taste. The Kitchn's testers called its albacore their favorite water-packed tuna, though it's considerably more expensive.

🥉 Safe Catch — my pick if mercury is your biggest concern. The company tests every fish for mercury, and its Elite tuna is skipjack, which is generally lower in mercury than albacore.

💰 Best value: Wild Planet Skipjack. It's generally cheaper than the albacore while offering a firm texture and relatively mild flavor.

My grocery-store choice: Wild Planet Skipjack for everyday tuna salad/sandwiches; Wild Planet Albacore when I want a more substantial, steak-like tuna.

If you tell me whether you care most about health/mercury, taste, price, or sustainability, I can give you the single best can to buy.

If you mean canned tuna, the “best” depends on whether you care most about taste, price, mercury levels, or sustainability. My top picks:

🥇 Best overall: Wild Planet

• Best for: quality + sustainability + clean ingredients
• Why: firm, steak-like texture; many varieties are pole-and-line caught; often just tuna and salt.
• Best choice: Wild Planet Albacore (for a mild, premium tuna) or Skipjack (for lower mercury).

🥈 Best tasting “gourmet” tuna: Tonnino or Ortiz

• Best for: eating straight from the jar/can, salads, Mediterranean dishes
• Oil-packed versions usually have richer flavor and a more tender texture. Blind tastings have ranked Tonnino and Ortiz among the strongest performers.

🥉 Best everyday grocery-store option: StarKist

• Best for: tuna salad, sandwiches, affordability
• It’s widely available and performed well in some taste tests for balanced flavor and texture.

Best budget pick:

Member's Mark (Sam’s Club) or store-brand albacore can be good values if you eat tuna often.

A few buying tips:

• For best flavor: choose olive oil–packed tuna.
• For lower mercury: choose skipjack (“light tuna”) more often than albacore.
• For tuna salad: albacore gives a milder, firmer texture; skipjack gives a stronger “tuna” flavor.

If I had to pick just one can for most people: Wild Planet Albacore for quality, or StarKist Chunk Light for a cheap everyday tuna.

When it comes to the "best" brand of canned or jarred tuna, it really depends on what you value most—sustainability, rich flavor/texture , or low mercury testing . Across major food publications, chef recommendations, and blind taste tests, a few standout brands consistently rise to the top:

• Wild Planet (Best All-Around & Sustainability): Widely considered the gold standard at standard supermarkets . Their skipjack and albacore are 1 0 0% pole-and-line caught (no destructive nets or massive bycatch). Crucially, they cook the tuna just once in the can without adding extra water or oil, meaning it retains its natural juices, smells fresh rather than fishy, and has a rich, meaty texture.
• Genova (Best Supermarket Option in Olive Oil): If you prefer an oil-packed tuna that tastes rich and silky rather than dry, Genova (especially their Yellowfin or Albacore in olive oil) is a crowd favorite. It has large, tender flakes with a savory, buttery profile that elevates a simple tuna salad or pasta without breaking the bank.
• Ortiz (Best Splurge / Gourmet Import): Available at specialty shops or international aisles (like World Market), Ortiz packs whole-muscle white tuna (Bonito del Norte) in gorgeous glass jars or tins of olive oil. It has a dense, steak-like texture and a clean flavor that makes it good enough to eat straight out of the jar with a fork.
• Safe Catch (Best for Health-Conscious / Low Mercury): Prized by health editors and sold in bulk at places like Costco, Safe Catch is famous for being the only brand that individually tests every single fish for mercury to guarantee strict purity thresholds, while still maintaining a wild-caught, sustainable profile.
• Rio Mare or Tonnino (Best Mediterranean-Style/Fillets): Perfect if you are looking for gorgeous, tender solid-pack yellowfin fillets that look less like shredded grocery store mush and more like a gourmet component for an upscale Niçoise salad.

If you tell me how you plan to use the tuna (e.g., a quick mayo-heavy sandwich, a warm noodle casserole, or eaten plain on a salad) and whether you prefer water-packed or oil-packed , I can recommend the exact variety and brand for your meal.