I don't make gooey, cheesy, Tuna Melts nearly enough. Maybe it's just too much of a good thing.
A Tuna Melt is basically Grilled Cheese with Tuna Salad. My Tuna Melt recipe uses a simple Tuna Salad of drained canned tuna, mayo, pickle relish, and chopped onion. I have a great Loaded Tuna Salad a click away here (it has the addition of a chopped boiled egg and olives.)
Tuna Salad ingredients are still cheap to get at my 99c only Store and Dollar Tree. Even regular grocery stores sell cans of tuna and pickle relish at bargain prices. Mayo is more expensive these days, but I often find small jars at my Dollar Tree.
I add American Cheese to my grilling Tuna Salad Sandwich. You can use any favorite slices of cheese.
Experiment with any favorite bread for toasting. I get mine from the bakery bargain bin at Ralphs Grocery store.
I toast the bread with a small pat of butter. You can use a butter substitute or no butter at all.
Making a Tuna Melt is simply delicious when you do it the 99 Cent Chef way.
Tuna Melt - VIDEO Play it here, video runs 3 minutes and 3 seconds.
My YouTube video link for viewing or embedding, just click here.
Ingredients (about 2 sandwiches)
- 1 can tuna - a 5-ounce can "chunk." Drain the tuna of liquid. I press down the tuna with the can lid to squeeze out water - be careful as the can lid can be sharp.
- American Cheese - 1 slice per sandwich. Okay to use any favorite including cheddar, Swiss, mozzarella, or pepper Jack.
- Onion - 1 tablespoon chopped. Purple, white, green, or yellow onion.
- Sweet Pickle Relish - 1 tablespoon. okay to use chopped pickle.
- Mayonnaise - 1 Tablespoon. Add more or less to suit your taste.
- Pepper to taste - about half a teaspoon. I find canned tuna salty enough, so I leave out the salt.
*For a can of "Solid" tuna double the amounts of onion, relish, and mayonnaise.
Directions
Fine-chop onion. It's okay to leave out the onion if you don't like it.
Drain one can of tuna. "Chunk" tuna which is loosely packed. If you use "Solid" tuna you will get twice as much in a can so you should almost double the amounts of chopped onion, pickle relish, and mayo.
To a bowl add drained tuna and chopped onion.
Add one tablespoon of mayo. Okay to add a teaspoon at a time to reach desired creaminess. Mix all ingredients and taste.
Store Tuna Salad in the refrigerator until ready to use in a Tuna Melt.
Grilling a Tuna Melt
To complete the recipe build and grill the Tuna Melt. I start with a pat of butter in a frying pan or stovetop grill over medium heat. It's okay to just toast bread without butter or oil.
When the butter is melted drag the bread slices through the butter. Now assemble the Tuna Melt.
With the buttered side down, I like to add a slice of cheese to the bread first. Next, I pile on some Tuna Salad. Finally, top it all with another lightly buttered slice of bread.
Having the cheese on the bottom nearest the flame gets it to start melting-- that's what makes a Tuna Melt so special.
It only takes a few minutes to toast the bread, so peek under it as it cooks so you don't burn the sandwich.
You may find Tuna Salad breaking down a little bit during toasting as it warms, so be careful when turning the sandwich during toasting as some Tuna Salad may spill out.
