Crispy tuna melts
Buttery, golden bread, melty cheddar and a lemony tuna filling, the coziest dinner that’s secretly a sandwich.
- 20 min total
- 15 min hands-on
- Anyone can make this
- Serves 2
- About $2.20 a serving
- 710 calories
Dolly says: I’d make this on a weeknight. It’s on the table in 20 minutes.
Ingredients
For 2 servings.
- 1 can canned tuna, 5 oz, drained well
- 3 tbsp mayonnaise
- 1 stalk celery, finely chopped
- 2 tbsp red onions, finely chopped (optional)
- 1 tsp dijon mustard
- ½ lemon, juiced
- 2 tbsp butter, softened
- 4 slices sourdough bread
- 4 slices cheddar cheese
From your pantry
- ¼ tsp black pepper
Each serving has about 710 calories, 33 g protein, 48 g carbs and 44 g fat, and costs about $2.20 at typical US grocery prices. Both are estimates from what the recipe uses.
Missing something?
- No canned tuna? Canned salmon works.
- No red onions? White onions or yellow onions work.
- No lemons? Limes work.
- No butter? Ghee works.
- No sourdough bread? French bread or white bread or whole wheat bread works.
- No cheddar cheese? Shredded cheddar or monterey jack cheese or mexican blend cheese works.
Steps
Tap an underlined word for a quick explanation.
Mix the tuna, mayonnaise, celery, onion, mustard, lemon juice and pepper in a bowl, breaking the tuna into small flakes with a fork.
Food safety: Rotisserie chicken, deli meat, canned tuna and cooked shrimp are already cooked. Keep them cold until you use them, and heat them until steaming hot if the recipe warms them.
Spread the butter on one side of each slice of bread, all the way to the edges.
Dolly’s tip: Buttering right to the edges is what makes the whole slice golden.Lay 2 slices butter side down. Top each with a slice of cheddar, half the tuna, another slice of cheddar and a second slice of bread, butter side up.
Heat a large over medium heat for 2 minutes, then add the sandwiches.
Skillet. A skillet is a frying pan: wide and flat with low, sloped sides. The shape lets steam escape, so food browns instead of stewing.
How you’ll know: It’s the pan you’d fry an egg in, and a 10 or 12 inch one handles most recipes.
Medium heatTimer: 2 min
Cook for 3 to 4 minutes, pressing gently with a spatula now and then, until the bottom is deep and .
Golden brown. Golden brown is the color of good toast, somewhere between yellow and light brown. It means the outside is cooked and crisp but not burnt.
How you’ll know: It looks like toast and smells toasty; dark brown with a bitter smell means it went too far.
Crispy. Crispy means the outside is dry, firm and crunchy. It comes from high heat, a little oil and room in the pan, because crowded food steams and goes soft.
How you’ll know: It sounds crunchy when you tap or bite it, and it doesn’t flop when you lift it.
Medium heatTimer: 3 min 30 sec
Flip carefully and cook 3 minutes more, until the second side is and the cheese has .
Golden brown. Golden brown is the color of good toast, somewhere between yellow and light brown. It means the outside is cooked and crisp but not burnt.
How you’ll know: It looks like toast and smells toasty; dark brown with a bitter smell means it went too far.
Melt. Melting means gently heating something solid, like butter or cheese, until it turns liquid. Low or medium heat keeps it from browning or burning.
How you’ll know: It’s smooth and liquid, and butter may foam a little but hasn’t turned brown.
Medium heatTimer: 3 min
Dolly’s tip: If the bread browns before the cheese melts, turn the heat down a little and cover the pan for a minute.Let them sit for 1 minute, then cut in half on the diagonal and serve.
Timer: 1 min
Plan this in Dollop, and get the grocery list
Dollop puts this dinner on a night that suits your week, lists only what you still need to buy, and walks you through each step while you cook.
