Tuna Melt
- Total Time
- 15 minutes
- Rating
- Notes
- Read community notes
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Ingredients
Yield:4 servings
- 3(6-ounce) cans solid, water-packed tuna, drained
- ¾cup mayonnaise
- ¼cup finely chopped cornichons or small kosher dill pickles
- 3tablespoons minced red onion
- 2tablespoons lemon juice
- 1packed tablespoon minced fresh dill (optional)
- 2teaspoons whole-grain mustard
- ¼teaspoon kosher salt
- ¼teaspoon black pepper
- 8slices rye or sourdough bread, cut ½-inch thick
- 8sandwich slices extra-sharp Cheddar (or 6 ounces shredded)
- 4tablespoons softened unsalted butter, plus more as needed
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (4 servings)
1303 calories; 55 grams fat; 15 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 14 grams monounsaturated fat; 23 grams polyunsaturated fat; 146 grams carbohydrates; 6 grams dietary fiber; 13 grams sugars; 57 grams protein; 2373 milligrams sodium
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
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- Step 1
Place the tuna in a medium bowl and flake with a fork. Add the mayonnaise, cornichons, red onion, lemon juice, dill (if using), mustard, salt and pepper. Mix well.
- Step 2
Depending on the size of your bread, spoon ⅓ to ½ cup tuna salad on each of four slices of bread, heaping it in the middle slightly. Divide the cheese among the sandwiches, tearing and arranging the cheese to fit neatly. Place a piece of bread on top of each and generously spread the top piece of each sandwich with about ½ tablespoon butter.
- Step 3
Heat a 10-inch skillet over medium-low. Place two sandwiches, buttered-side down, in the skillet, and cook for 3 to 4 minutes, until the bottom pieces of bread are golden brown.
- Step 4
Meanwhile, spread the top of the each sandwich with another ½ tablespoon butter. Carefully flip the sandwiches, turn the heat to low, and cook for 3 to 4 more minutes, until the bottoms are browned and the cheese is melted. Repeat with the remaining two sandwiches and serve immediately.
Private Notes
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Cooking Notes
VR46
Instead of buttering the bread, use a little mayonnaise. You're welcome :)
eddbon1
In the mid 1940s I was 13 years old and my mother asked why I put cheese slices in my tuna sandwich and then into the broiler. I had no answer other than I thought of it and it tasted good.
pecorinaromana
I added pickled onions (apple cider vinegar and maple syrup) as a sandwich ingredient along with avocado. I also slathered each side of my sourdough with Mayo before I toasted it on a buttered griddle. The result was divine - best tuna melt I ever had.
MajorTomB
I always add a slice of tomato to my tuna melt topped with a little salt and a lot of cracked black pepper.
Hamlin O’Kelley
Use mayonnaise instead of butter on the outside of the bread!
nancy
Tuna doesn’t seem to come in 6 oz portions anymore. The brand I buy is 4.5 oz and the most popular brands are 5 oz. Easy to adapt a simple recipe like this one but others would be well served to reflect this marketing change. Thank you
less basil
A stalk or two of celery is a nice addition
Eatie Gourmet
Spread a light layer of horseradish between the tuna and the cheese. You'll thank me later.
JKH
I’m a huge fan of tuna melts, and I will say this tuna salad recipe is great. However, as many here have noted, I’m used to open faced tuna melts, toasting the bread adding the tuna salad and just melting the cheese under the broiler. I found that preparing this like a grilled cheese made the tuna salad really warm and a little off putting. I’ll make again, but open faced.
JT
Awesome, though not sure why you'd bother softening and spreading the butter when you could more easily melt it in the pan and let the bread soak it up. But whatevs. One mod/tip: Combine all the tuna salad ingredients *except* the tuna before adding it at the end. Way easier to get everything well-distributed that way.
CC Baker
The type of tuna will impact the texture, so adjust wet ingredients accordingly. I find albacore is more dry than a chunk light which absorbed less of the mayo mixture.
HS
Good, but 3 cans of tuna made more tuna salad than needed for 4 sandwiches
Celia
Our standard is to use 1/2 an English muffin and finish by melting cheddar under our toaster oven broiler. Finish with smoked paprika.
Jim G
Delicious as-is, but easy to adapt. For instance, canned pink salmon is just as good, maybe better, than tuna; and red wine vinegar makes a more flavorful substitution for lemon juice. Also consider a little tart hot sauce - not to make it spicy per we, just to give it a little something as an undertone. We made a few different combinations, and the family loved them.
Joyce K
Delicious! And I also used mayo on the bread to grill. Might add some capers next time and some avocado. Yum!
Harvey Leifert
It would be nice to have ingredient quantities for one sandwich. I will never ever be making four at a time.
EnglishLitDoc
One of my favorites. I revisit this recipe all the time. I use mayo instead of butter for the outside of the bread--much crispier, and it never fails. The crunch of the cornichons work so well, just make sure you get a really good, rustic mustard. And adding a tomato sends this over the top! Somebody recommended horseradish below, and I absolutely need to try that next.
RB
I always add a titch of very thinly sliced celery.
Denis
Not sure why a recipe is needed. But this is mostly how I've always made tuna-melts. Thus, two thumbs up.
George J
Adding a few slices of jalapeño to the sandwich really makes it pop!
Fzaw
I’ve made this before, today I had no tuna but I did have a fresh 6oz salmon filet so I used that. I also shredded some Monterey Jack and tossed it with some chopped KimChi. Best grilled tuna melt in the tristate area.
Judy
I ate these in high school around 1968, at a little diner across the street from my school. I have made a version of this for years and kids loved them when they were small.
Audrey
Whenever we want a grilled cheese sandwich or a tuna melt, we assemble the sandwich and put it in our old Forman grill. We never used the grill for much but it makes fabulous grilled sandwiches which is why we keep it around. The bread comes out perfectly crispy and the cheese is very melty. We don't butter/oil the grill or the bread.
Christa
Sam Sifton notes that "Lidey makes the melts with buttered exteriors. I add a swipe of mayonnaise for extra browning and a fantastic crunch."
Name Linda Criss
No dill thank you. It overwhelms the taste of a good tuna melt. . Celery, red onion minced, mayo is my take with Swiss or gruyere. Tomato slices in between is a must! Then there are those days when potato chips go on over the tuna salad as well. Not an epicurean delight yet the taste is simply divine.
TJ
Adding a little garlic and Italian seasoning/oregano to your butter- basically making your bread into garlic bread -makes this soooo so good
Elyse McC
This is excellent. I subbed bread and butter pickles and honey mustard since that’s what I had, it was wonderful!
KO
The fresh dill, freshly chopped pickle, higher quality canned tuna, and fresh bread (from my bread machine), took this to the next level. I will never make a tuna melt any other way.
thatsnotmyname
The guy who said spread horseradish on the bread, you got it right.
Tasty but Soupy
Add the horseradish. Takes it to the next level. Thanks to the person who suggested it.
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