Canned Tuna Recipes
Dinner from a can of tuna — sharp cheddar and pickle tuna melts, tuna patty sandwiches, tuna noodle casserole, tuna pasta salad — for busy weeknights.
★ lunch
lunchThe Ultimate Sharp Cheddar & Pickle Tuna Melt
A gourmet, crispy, and comforting classic tuna melt with sharp cheddar and pickles.
Ashley 776Ingredients
- 2 cans (5 oz each) Tuna in water
- 1/3 cup Mayonnaise
- 1/2 cup Dill pickles, finely diced
- 2 Tbsp Red onion, finely diced
- 1 tsp Minced garlic
- 4–6 slices Sharp Cheddar cheese, thick slices
- 4 slices Sourdough or thick-cut white bread
- 2 Tbsp Butter or mayonnaise, softened
- a pinch Salt
- 1/4 tsp Black pepper
Instructions
- 1Drain the Tuna very well and squeeze until almost dry.
- 2In a medium bowl, flake the dry tuna with a fork. Stir in the mayo, diced pickles, red onion, garlic, and black pepper. Mix until well combined.
- 3Spread a thin layer of butter or mayonnaise on one side of each bread slice. (this side will touch the pan).
- 4Place a slice of bread butter-side down in a cold skillet. Layer a slice of cheddar, a generous scoop of tuna mixture, another slice of cheddar, and then top with the second slice of bread, butter-side up.
- 5Turn the heat to medium-low. Cook for 3–4 minutes until the bottom is golden brown. Flip carefully and cook for another 2–3 minutes. Cover with a lid for the last 60 seconds if the cheese isn't melting fast enough.
- 6Slice diagonally and serve with extra pickles and chips.
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Open in Pepper →A Can Of Tuna Saves Dinner
There's always a can or two in the back of the pantry, and that's usually the night nobody planned anything. Tuna stretches with mayo, eggs, noodles, or cheese and comes out tasting like somebody meant to make it.
Cooks on Pepper reach for this collection on the nights the store trip didn't happen, when it's too hot to run the oven long, or when lunch has to be packed for the week ahead.
Every recipe here starts with cans or pouches of tuna: The Ultimate Sharp Cheddar & Pickle Tuna Melt, an easy Southern tuna salad with hard-boiled egg, Tuna Patty Sandwich, Goose's Tuna Casserole with cream of mushroom, Mini Tuna Melts on crescent roll dough, and Tuna Pasta Salad with bowtie noodles.
Quick Tips
- 1
Drain the tuna well
Press the tuna against the lid or a fine strainer for a good 30 seconds. Watery tuna makes soggy bread and loose salad.
- 2
Chill the salad first
Let tuna salad sit in the fridge 30 minutes before you eat it so the onion and mayo have time to come together.
- 3
Butter the bread outside
For a melt, spread softened butter or mayo on the outside of each slice and cook 3 to 4 minutes per side over medium-low so the cheese melts before the bread burns.
- 4
Undercook the noodles
Boil egg noodles about 2 minutes shy of the box time for casserole; they finish in the oven and won't turn to mush.
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