Despite concerns about mercury, tuna remains one of the most economical ways to feed yourself on the fly. It's quick, it's cheap, and... OK, it's really boring if all you ever do is make it into tuna fish sandwiches.
We've got 10 ways to make this pantry staple a more interesting meal.
One thing we recently read about mercury in canned tuna fish: Chunk light tuna has about a third of the mercury as solid white, albacore tuna. The chunk light stuff is usually made from skipjack, a type of tuna that's smaller and less predatory than albacore, which means it accumulates less mercury.
So here are 10 ways to eat a can:
1. Bean and tuna salad. Some creamy white beans, something crunchy (maybe celery or fennel) and chunks of tuna, dressed with a little lemon juice and olive oil. Try this recipe for Italian Marrow Beans with Tuna, one of our recipes from Rancho Gordo.
2. Pasta salad. Cold pasta salad with crisp vegetables, a light vinaigrette, and flecks of tuna is a great alternative to pasta salad with chicken.
3. Tuna croquettes. Similar to these salmon croquettes we wrote about, tuna croquettes are a fun (kid-friendly!) way to use up several pantry staples—tuna and crackers. Try this recipe: Tuna Croquettes, from Alton Brown.
4. Spelt Farotto with Tuna and Artichokes. Faith put this recipe together with some Trader Joe's artichoke spread and spelt berries.
5. Layered with eggplant. Go take a look at this Tuna Tonnato with Eggplant Salad from Gourmet. Chunks of tuna are layered with grilled eggplant (from a jar!) and tomatoes.
6. A classic salad niçoise. We love this salad, with its potatoes, crunchy green beans, hard-boiled eggs, and chunks of tuna. Try Elise's Niçoise Salad from Simply Recipes.
7. Tuna melts! Technically, this is still tuna salad. But good cheese makes it much more interesting. We've been making them lately with parmesan. Run under the broiler for a few minutes, then top with arugula.
8. No-mayo tuna salad. Why not try an olive oil-and-vinegar based dressing instead of mayonnaise? Take some tips from our Italian Chicken Salad.
9. In a casserole. Heat it up with some cheese and pasta. Try this Tuna Noodle Casserole from Gourmet.
10. Plain. Not exciting, we know, but have you ever just eaten tuna out of the can with some good salt and pepper? It's actually kind of nice. Don't feel like you have to have bread and mayonnaise. A cracker and a drizzle of lemon juice may be all you need.
Any other ideas out there?
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Cut up a few capers and olives (green or black), chopped red bell pepper , chopped green onions, some parmesan cheese and mix well with the tuna. Use this to stuff tomatoes. Then put them under an electric grill (I use the toaster oven) for a few seconds until the cheese melts.
it's a lovely low cal quick eat for at work when I have 6 seconds to throw some food down my throat. salt pepper lemon.
I'll eat it right out of the can. With nothing added, just a fork. Yum.
My favorite meal right now is some tuna tossed with lots of green onions, black pepper, olive oil and just a small amount of apple cider vinegar. I serve this cold alongside some red rice that I cook with a nub of ginger, a clove of garlic and some fennel seeds. A few slices of avocado and everything drizzled with a squeeze of lime or lemon and you've got one tasty (and healthy) meal.
My favorite new salad:
Arugula, roasted tomatoes, white beans, grilled asparagus, red onion and some canned tuna, all dressed with a simple olive oil/lemon vinagrette and a generous amount of salt and pepper.
my friend scoffed when she saw i bought chunk light. she went all albacore on me. for real, is there something WRONG with chunk light? i love it!
but only in water. tuna in oil grosses me out.
I just had this for lunch: tuna mixed with extra virgin olive oil, sundried tomatoes, capers, and olives over a bed of baby arugula.
My co-workers looked at my food like I was crazy because I didn't put mustard or mayo in the tuna.
When I was a kid my Australian friends introduced me to a tuna curry they ate as a kind of comfort food: brown some onions and garlic in butter over medium heat, add about a half cup of frozen peas and stir in a can of tuna, a cup of sour cream and a tsp of curry powder. Heat thoroughly and serve over noodles or rice.
I know it's not particularly good for you, but I've created a no-bake version of tuna noodle casserole, just mix a pound of pasta with a can of tuna and a bunch of grated cheese. Hits the spot and slightly better for you than plain mac and cheese.
Definitely add capers if you're going the olive oil tuna salad route.
One of my favorite salads is romaine, garbanzo beans, Italian vinaigrette of some variety, drained canned tuna, and a bit of grated cheese. It's a texture thing.
I never eat tuna straight out of the can, but maybe if kippers hadn't been invented I would!
Mix plain yogurt with a little salt, lemon juice, and garlic and use that instead of mayo for tuna salad and it's just the best.
Maybe it's plain to some, but I LOVE tuna sandwiches (done my way, of course). It's best on whole wheat crackers with a bit of swiss. One of my all time favorite meals!
I call it a Tuna Avocado Rice Bowl.
It's like a deconstructed California roll, but with tuna instead of crab and hot steamed rice instead of sumeshi. The canned tuna is cooked with soy sauce, sake, and sugar until the moisture evaporates and the tuna is dry and flaky. It's topped with slivers of nori, sesame seeds, and a dash of shichimi. A very satisfying dish!
Tuna prepared this way can also be used as a filling for rice balls.
I love it on thin-crust pizza. After you put down the sauce and mozzarella, add some tuna and red onions and bake. It's one of my favorites!
I love tuna salad on rice cakes but with a healthy twist. I only buy the no salt variety which has 6oz of meat. The cans from the major brands are now 5oz (sly way for increased profits) with a flavor reminescent of cat food. I mix one can of salt free tuna, 1/2 c Nancy's cultured cottage cheese, a spoonful of yogurt and a dash of onion powder together and spread it on a large rice cake. It's a quick, gluten-free, high protein lunch that hits the spot. Often, I warm the open face "sandwiches" in the toaster oven for extra crispness. A smearing of avocado on the rice cake and then top with tuna salad is very good!
That tuna curry recipe makes me feel sick. I guess I'm just not a tuna person, although I make tuna casserole for my husband a lot. I make it with a can of tuna, farfalle pasta and a can of Progresso cream of wild mushroom pasta with crushed potato chips on top.
Our go-to tuna dish is chopped sun-dried tomatoes (the kind in oil), kalamata olives, capers, and garlic — with a couple of minced anchovies if you like — heated in a bit of olive oil in a skillet until the garlic is cooked. Toss with cooked pasta and a can of tuna. Add a handful of chopped Italian parsley.
I'm not much of a fan of canned tuna either Matilda. Tuna curry? No thanks.
But fresh tuna is heavenly. It's like a completely different food when it's fresh.
substitute BBQ sauce for mayo and use any way you would normally use tuna.
I take a can of tuna, enough soy sauce to cover the bottom of the pan, and sugar to taste, and heat it through, and serve it over sticky rice. Yay comfort food!
Tuna is also yummy in green curry, or mixed with mac and cheese, or tossed with salad. This afternoon, I added tuna heated with soy sauce and some sesame oil to the lentil veggie stew I had for lunch, and that was good.
Tuna is really good with pasta. I have made a dish with tuna in tomato sauce with capers and olives. It's a great salty/sweet taste and takes about 10 minutes to throw together. Though it is definitely better with the tuna packed in olive oil. It is usually not much pricier than the water-packed though.
I love tuna from a can--way more than "real" tuna steaks. Here are a couple of my favorite recipes, both with pasta, and both really quick and easy:
- Saute some garlic and chopped fresh tomatoes until saucy, add some sliced scalllion, then stir in tuna and a big squeeze of lemon juice. Toss with cooked pasta and a generous sprinkle of chopped parsley.
- "Creamed" tuna: saute some minced shallots in butter until cooked, whisk in some flower to make a paste, then whisk in some milk to make a creamy sauce. Stir in the tuna with salt and plenty of fresh black pepper, and some cooked veggies--peas are my default, but I often do broccoli, or sometimes mushrooms at the beginning with the shallots. Toss with egg noodles (or serve over good crusty bread).
We make a tuna and rice salad. Capers, chopped red onion, chopped parsley, chopped cilantro, and canned tuna, tossed with white rice. Great for a cold lunch (but not so great for your breath...)--bring some mints for afterwards!
Totally agree with Footballfoodie.
I make a similar "pasta con tonno" dish using a jarred marinara sauce, tuna in olive oil, capers, lemon zest, squeeze of lemon and pepper flakes. Served with Rotini pasta. It is amazingly fast to make and is ready in the time it takes to boil the pasta.
The best tuna is Italian and packaged in olive oil. I prefer "Asi do Mar."
I just want to say that I love all the comments to this post. My husband hates canned tuna and I've always been secretly afraid that I'm a freak because I'm always coming up with new ways to eat it. But no, the internet has proven once again that every odd behavior has its practitioners, and I feel much better for it.
Drizzle a little chili oil over it and eat on crackers!
These are all great ideas, even the curry one (sounds delish actually). I have a sick cat who will only take his medicine if it's mixed with tuna water (he likes just the water, not the actual tuna oddly enough). I've been throwing out a lot of it because there are only so many tuna salad sandwiches one can eat. But now I'll try these ideas. Thanks everyone!
Use it in pasta
I like this Jamie Oliver pasta recipe
http://www.jamieoliver.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=26538
It so good.
My kids love our tuna pasta recipe, which is the go-to summer dinner for us. Flake 2 cans of Italian olive-oil packed tuna into a bowl, add a drained can of cannellinis, half a jar of drained capers, the juice and zest of a lemon, and mix. Throw in drained rotini, mix and serve with a salad. Then everyone back in the pool!
A variation on the no-mayo tuna salad - we like to make tuna salad with chickpeas. Easy, delicious, and cheap!
I grew up with "tuna and peas on toast." Basic bechamel, throw in a can of tuna, add frozen peas, serve on toast.
How about tuna rillettes as an appetizer:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/26/dining/261nrex.html
I'm another canned tuna lover - any way, any how!
Try tuna sandwiches with the tuna mixed with mayonaise, chopped apples and pecans on good bread. It's a great summer lunch.
A good way to eat tuna is in quesadillas. A lot of seafood restaurants here in mexico serve marlin quesadillas and this is a variation that my sister came up with, just cook some onion, tomato and jalapeno in a skillet, then add the tuna, make some quesadillas and fill them with the tuna mix before the cheese is completely melted, it's surprisingly good.
stuff tuna salad in a tomato, top with swiss, run under broiler for a lower carb alternative...
Tuna as empanada filling..mix tuna, white beans, olives, until really well mixed (smash beans if neccessary)...and stuff into shell.. bake, yum.
I mix tuna with cooked rice, a splash of rice wine vinegar, black and white sesame seeds, and a little sesame oil to stuff it into fried tofu skins for my own version of Inari Sushi.
Sox - AMEN.
This post is kick-ass. I'll take tuna in just about anything, and now I have a host of new ideas. I'm not even a curry fan, but I love the sound of that concoction MINUS the tsp of curry powder, Rivercat0338.
Trader Joe's makes an awesome fat-free balsamic salad dressing that is to-die-for drizzled over tuna (mixed with anything)!
You guys all have the best ideas in the world. Thanks for all the tuna suggestions!
My go-to tuna recipe is Pâté di Patate, a recipe from Mara Allavena in Italy that was in Saveur magazine some years ago. While the recipe may sound a bit strange, it tastes great and even my kids love it! Ms. Allavena's recipe is:
Cook 2 russet potatoes in a pot of salted water over medium-high heat until soft, about 25 minutes. Drain. When potatoes are cool enough to handle, peel, then mash in a bowl. Beat in a drained 6-oz can tuna packed in olive oil. Add 2 tbsp. finely minced capers, pinch cayenne, and salt and freshly ground pepper to taste. Gradually beat in 2 cups mayonnaise; for a smoother puree, work mixture through a food mill (do not use an electric mixer; potatoes will become gummy). Serve with black olives and whole capers. Makes about 3½ cups. The photo that accompanied the recipe showed a glass of red wine and a mound of the pâté (studded with black olives) on a plate as an appetizer.
I have modified the recipe a bit. I peel the potatoes before cooking, use a ricer to mash the potatoes, reduce the mayo to about 1 cup, and serve it as a main dish with a side salad or green veggie. While you can use water-packed tuna if you add some olive oil to the dish before mixing it, it tastes better when using a good imported tuna packed in olive oil (which does make the dish more expensive).
my favorite way is to mix tuna with balsamic vinegar and add feta cheese and black beans. it is a very high protein meal this way. but here is a question for you guys: how do you pronounce "tuna"? according to my boyfriend, i say it like chew-na but it sounds right to me. do any of you say it this way?
Saute minced garlic and red pepper flakes in 1/2 c. olive oil. Add 2 cans tuna packed in olive oil and a little salt. Remove from heat. Boil and drain pasta, reserving a cup of pasta water. Add a bunch of baby spinach or arugula. Add the tuna mixture. The heat will wilt the greans. Delish!
best kitchn post ever
My mom always made me tuna sandwiches and gave me a bag of cheese doritos to eat with it when I was a kid. To this day, I crave doritos when I have a tuna sandwich and am not satisfied with a side of potato chips. Is this totally crazy? I feel like there must be other people out there who need a bag of doritos with their tuna sandwich!
I don't feel quite so dismissive of the whole deadly mercury contamination's effects on my gray matter (and that of my future bundles of joy, if I am so blessed)... also after reading Bottomfeeder by Taras Grescoe tuna doesn't seem like a consequence free choice anymore. Brisling sardines taste almost identical, I use them as I would tuna in all my recipes now. Also they are just as cheap :)
I fell in lurve with sardines thanks to Dinner with Julie.
http://dinnerwithjulie.com/2009/01/14/sardine-puffs/
Saute half a sliced onion, then add about 2 cups of kimchi, and add a can of tuna in oil. Simmer until the kimchi juices reduce a little and the ingredients have stewed together nicely. Serve over rice.
My boyfriend loves, loves, loves when I make tuna sushi rolls and it's SUPER easy. Sushi rice {rice plus a little vinegar & etc.}, nori, the classic tuna/mayo combo, and some sliced cucumber. And a few sesame seeds if you wanna get fancy. Yum!
My favorite: an easy no-cook sauce for pasta which I developed year ago. Serves 4
Boil 8 oz. pasta with 4-6 whole cloves of peeled garlic. Meanwhile, in a large serving bowl, add grated zest of one lemon; juice of one lemon; 2 cans Italian tuna in olive oil -- DO NOT DRAIN --1 tsp anchovy paste; 1/4 tsp dried red pepper flakes; capers and pine nuts.
Just before pasta is done; remove garlic cloves and mash into serving bowl with other ingredients to make a sauce.
Drain pasta (DO NOT RINSE) and add to serving bowl with some of hot pasta water to moisten. Toss with chopped (fresh) flat leaf parsley. Serve immediately with a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil.
I am so excited that there are recipes that are mayo free. I like mayo but since having my gall bladder removed I can't eat it.
If you are on a really tight budget: tuna, ramen noddles (not spice), a little balsamic vinegar and olive oil. It is a great easy cheap tuna pasta salad.
Ugh, tuna croquettes are one of my childhood nightmares...
My favorite tuna recipe (besides my grandmother's tuna salad) is: canned tuna, olive oil, oregano, salt, and pepper over pasta. Quick, easy, cheap, and learned from one of my roommates when I studied abroad in Italy.
Oops... I forgot to mention the dressing for the tuna and rice salad: 1/4 cup lemon juice (or white wine vinegar) plus 1/4 cup olive oil, salt, and pepper. Mix it up and then toss with your salad!
When I lived in Spain, tuna was a key ingredient in the most fantastic deviled eggs ever. Ketchup too, I think.
I remember when my mother was short on time for dinner, she would make a quick meal out of canned tuna served with steammed rice & frozen veggies for me and my siblings. In a medium skillet, heat up oil (veg or what she used was oil from the canned tuna) and sautée minced garlic. Add drained tuna and cook up for about 5-8 minutes. Add salt and pepper to taste (I like it kinda salty). This was great especially when I was on my own in college and now.
my favorite canned tuna recipe is:
one can of albacore tuna in water
several slices of raw onion, semi-chopped up
fresh tomatoes, chopped (about one cup)
olives with pimento
olive oil
boiled potatoes (3 usually), sliced
ground pepper
after potatoes cool, mix the tuna and all the other ingredients together with olive oil and chill in the fridge for about twenty minutes. It's delicious, filling and healthy.
I love combining a can of tuna, drained, with an avacado. Mix the two together, add a bit of black pepper and just a squeeze of a lemon half (to prevent the avacado from oxidizing) and you have a delicious, creamy tuna salad. It's a great alternative to mayo. Slice a yellow or orange pepper in fourths, and use the pieces to scoop the tuna out of the bowl. Yum!!
I made the tuna casserole tonight - from the Gourmet site - and it was Y.U.M.M.Y.! (the only thing I changed was the noodles, used Penne, because that's what I had).
Purdeegirl: in OUR house it was called, 'numminey on toast'..we begged for it..hahaha..(like, mmm nummy!!) none of us has been able to really replicate it!! But this is it..same one!!
you can use the empty can (well-washed, of course) as a miniature cake pan, or double layer cake if you have 2 cans. Just butter the can and sprinkle with flour.
Sauté one can of tuna in half an onion. Pour in a cup of crème fraîche. Mix a bit till it's a white sauce. Pour over pasta. Takes less than 30 mins to make.
YUM! In Switzerland there's even crème fraîche with herbs in it available at the Coop grocery store. That's the one I use.
Canned tuna is so versatile, I love all the great new recipes to try! Tuna is my one of my pantry staples, for super quick I go with my ginger/garlic tuna, if I have a bit more time I enjoy carmelized onion, tuna, klamata olive & capers pasta.
For the ginger/garlic: 10 min ( rice cooking time)
1. saute 2 cloves chopped garlic 1tbsp grated ginger.
2. flash off a splash of rice wine vinegar
3. add drained can of tuna (flaked but not mushed), turn up the heat and let it color
4. add splash of soy sauce, dash of sesame oil and a sprinkle of sesame seeds-serve w/rice & furikake
for the pasta:
1. carmelize 1 med onion
2. flash off 1/4 c. dry vermouth
3. mix ~1 tablespoon flour with ~1 cup milk or half & half, and add to pan, let thicken
4.season with salt & pepper
5. cook favorite pasta
6. mix pasta w/ creamy onion sauce
7. top with flaked canned tuna, diced klamata olives, capers and if on hand a bit of lemon zest & parmesan
These recipes are mouthwatering, but the information about mercury lacks context and might cause hungry readers to make an ill-informed decision. Let me clear the waters with the official seafood recommendations…
1. For the general population, there are no species of fish to limit or avoid. All major health organizations, including the American Heart Association and the American Dietetic Association, recommend that Americans eat more fish – at least two servings per week.
http://tinyurl.com/fish-recs
2. For the special population of women who are or may become pregnant, nursing moms, and young children, there are four fish to avoid: shark, swordfish, king mackerel, and tilefish.
It is especially important that pregnant moms get plenty of the other types of fish. Nutrients in seafood like omega-3s are needed for the best possible brain and eye development in babies. Moms should aim for 12 ounces or 2-3 servings of a variety of seafood per week, of which half (6 ounces) can be albacore tuna.
http://tinyurl.com/pregadvice
3. Americans eat very little seafood and omega-3 deficiencies are widespread. A new study estimates that low omega-3 (seafood) intake is responsible for about 84,000 deaths per year in the U.S.
http://tinyurl.com/omega-3deaths
So eat these healthful and tasty recipes up without worry! For more ideas and a peek in to what plenty of seafood looks like in the real-life diet of a registered dietitian (me!), please visit www.blogaboutseafood.com.
Jennifer McGuire, MS, RD
National Fisheries Institute
cook 1 cup couscous according to package directions. fluff and set aside.
in the meantime, saute 3 bunches of green onions, chopped and half a zucchini, sliced thinly. add curry, to taste and a can of tuna, flaked.
mix in the couscous, and add some finely chopped feta.
can be served hot or cold. absolutely addictive despite the somewhat odd combination of tuna/curry/feta.
So many great ideas! I am so having a can of tuna for dinner tonight!
When I have nothing in the house, or nothing I really feel like, and need something quick and hot I make a package of ramen noodles, add some tuna and mozzarella or parmesean cheese. So creamy and gooey and comforting! Sometimes I'll add frozen veggies of some sort to feel healthy lol.
TNstyliegal: I say too-nah. Your way sounds right too though.
my mom makes a great Tuna Cabbage salad. tuna in olive oil, purple cabbage, celery, green olives and a simple oregano, red wine dressing. we usually do it to taste about 2-4 cans of tuna per head of cabbage. Great way to stretch a buck for a summer picnic... yumm!
I keep a few cans in my desk drawer at work. I'll mix it in with microwave mac and cheese or instant soup or throw it on a salad I buy at the cafeteria. They are perfect for a desk drawer and really a life saver some days.
Quick tuna curry. Sweat onions, add curry powder, then a little flour, cook a couple of minutes. Add a 1/4 cup water, cook until thickened. Add some half-and-half, cook until thick, add couple of cans of tuna. Serve over rice with peanuts and chopped scallions. Yum! Just made it for dinner.
I use tuna from Whole Foods 365 brand. I used to use Starkist, but they add bouillon to the tuna (as does Chicken of the Sea). You get a nice pure taste with WF 365.
We use tuna or any leftover fish to make "okonomiyaki" or "as you like it" in Japanese. Comfort food that allows you to add whatever you have on hand to the base. Basically, a frittata.
Mix /- one cup of flour (brown rice flour is good) with a pinch of baking powder, salt, cayenne and if you like, other dried spices or sesame seeds. Then, add one egg, a 1/4 cup or so of oil (EVO makes it less Japanese, but tastes lovely). Chop leftover veggies (cabbage, greens, grated carrot, whatever). Add green onion, grated ginger and a dash of sesame or chili oil and a bit of water to make a firm batter. Then add your chopped fish, shrimp, crab, anchovies, etc. If anchovies, be sparing and omit salt.
Cook in a cast iron skillet set med-high. Flip after a few minutes or put under the broiler to cook both sides. Traditionally served with a dollop of tonkatsu sauce or even, mayo, but we prefer nonfat Greek yogurt mixed with a bit of chili pepper paste.
Find a recipe for puttanesca and replace the anchovies for tuna. LOVE IT!!!
I am diabetic so have to find all sorts of ways to eat right now a days.. one I have come up with for tuna is this:
Make a salad of your misc likes and add bean sprouts and water chestnuts or just use a can of Oriental veges you would use for chow mein or chop suey and use Asian dressing or Italian dressing. Crunchy, tastey and good for you :)
could use the salmon and or the crab meat in the above recipe too never thought of that before now :)