Find out how to make various meals with canned tuna–from appetizers to pasta and more. You’ll be surprised at just how delicious, and economical tuna can be!
Most pantries in the U.S. have at least one can of tuna in it. Others have more than one. Those of us who’ve been through a disaster stockpile foods of this nature as part of our survival kit. The problem is finding different ways of preparing them.
Old Favorites
Tuna noodle casserole is one of my more favorite uses for this product. It can be made two ways. The fastest and easiest is to mix the tuna with a can of condensed cream of mushroom soup, sprinkle cheese and breadcrumbs on top and toss it in the oven. I have to say that no one in my family much likes that version.
My version is a little more time consuming. Here is my version:
Mince half an onion and dice five or six mushrooms. Next, make a roux by melting a tablespoon of butter with a tablespoon of olive oil. When it’s melted, add two tablespoons of flour. Whisk for at least one minute. Add two cups of milk, whisking as it’s poured. Throw in the onions and mushrooms and continue whisking until the mixture thickens. Add a cup of cheese (we prefer mozzarella), stir till it’s melted and then add the tuna. Top with more cheese and breadcrumbs (optional) and bake until set.
Tuna cakes are another easy to prepare food, and can be made even if a disaster is the reason for the tuna. Put the tuna into a bowl, add about a third of a cup of seasoned breadcrumbs, an egg and three tablespoons of minced onion. Form this into patties and refrigerate for at least 20 minutes. Fry until golden on both sides.
Tuna salad is probably the most common use for this product. The basic recipe is to mix tuna with mayo and sweet pickle relish. Diced onion is also added at times.
Newer Ideas
These recipes taste best if top quality tuna is used. In fact, all tuna recipes seem to taste better, but it is on the expensive side. These can be made, at least to a certain degree, after a disaster.
Fish Tacos: This is the simplest recipe of all. Put tuna into a taco shell, add salsa (if desired), lettuce, tomato and cheese. Guacamole or avocado can also be used.
Pasta Salad: Add tuna to any standard pasta salad recipe. It can even go into the boxed salads in the grocery store.
Stuffed tomatoes: The stuffing for this is the tuna salad mentioned above. To prepare the dish, cut the top off of three or four vine ripened tomatoes. Remove the core and any seeds that come up. Spoon the tuna salad into the tomatoes and serve.
Tuna may be a common pantry item, but it doesn’t have to be boring. Experimenting with different applications could help no matter why you want to use this fish.
