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Nothing beats a hot, cheesy tuna melt sandwich for a comfort food lunch or dinner, and we have a few family secrets to making the best tuna sandwich ever! If there is one thing I grew up eating, it’s fish and chicken sandwiches. ALL the time and as an adult, they are still a comfort food for me.
Tuna Melts
Tuna melts are sandwiches that are made with canned tuna that are mixed into a tuna salad. You then take that tuna salad filling and either pile it onto a bun or sandwich bread and melt it with cheese. Tuna melts are hot sandwiches, while tuna salad sandwiches are cold.
They can be open or close-faced, with the open sandwiches being more the homemade, 1970s Mom version and the closed sandwiches being more of the restaurant version. Both are good, but I find that the closed-faced tuna melt holds together better, especially with my recipe.
My Mom’s chicken salad sandwich is one of my top favorites, with a good ol’ BLT sandwich not far behind. However, the tuna melt is a hot sandwich, while most others are cold. Love heavier sandwiches? Try my Monte Cristo sandwich, my Classic Reuben Sandwich or Submarine Sandwich!
How to Make a Tuna Melt
First things first: open-top or closed sandwich? Buns or bread? Toppings or just cheese? This is the never-ending cycle of questions when it comes to tuna melts. Now, as a kid, my Mom would toast hamburger buns, then pile the tuna mixture on top, then cheese, and then broil them in the oven. That’s the real childhood tuna melt.
- Mix together the tuna salad filling.
- Prepare the bread slices with mayo.
- Assemble the sandwiches in the frying pan.
- Slowly fry the sandwiches until crisp on the outside, and the cheese melts on the inside.
Tuna Melt Fillings & Toppings
Here is where you really personalize ( and get into arguments) about your tuna melts. First, you do have to decide if you are going with a top or topless. THEN come the really hard decisions! I like my tuna melts on a nice grainy bread, with TWO slices of cheese, one on the top and one on the bottom. I’m crazy like that.
1. The Toppings
I have seen tuna melts in restaurants topped with any and all combinations. You tend to see everyone’s artistic take on tuna melts when you go to a restaurant more than when you look online at recipes. I ALWAYS check out what’s on the tuna melt when I see it on a menu. We like to eat at diner-type places (hello, tuna casserole!), so I have seen a ton! Toppings can be things such as:
- slices of tomatoes
- thin rings of raw white onion
- lettuce
- pickle slices
- cheddar cheese
- marble cheese
- mozzarella cheese
- potato chips
2. The Filling Ingredients
This comes down to personal preference. I have narrowed my fillings down to the first four on the list, and then I will list some others that I have seen. Mayonnaise is a given! I use lemon juice instead of dill pickles to add the sour tang the filling needs, and then I add sweet green relish. The onion and the celery add crunch and flavor, and it’s best if they are diced small.
- minced white onion
- sweet relish
- minced celery
- lemon juice
- diced dill pickles
- diced carrots
- dill
- garlic powder
My Family Secrets to a Great Tuna Melt
- Instead of butter on the outside of your grilled sandwich, use mayo. I picked up this trick from my restaurant industry friends. Mayo takes longer to brown, won’t burn like butter, and doesn’t leave a taste on the outside! We always use it on grilled cheese; the kids don’t notice.
- Cook these on medium heat to ensure they warm up all the way through. By the time they brown on the outside, they will be warm all the way through.
- TWO slices of cheese per sandwich! This is my secret to holding the sandwich together with cheesy goodness! The slices melt and then hold both sides of the bread together in the middle.
- We use sweet relish for the typical pickle flavor and then add lemon juice for the sour to foil the sweet relish. It really is the best of both worlds taste-wise, instead of plain dill pickles.
- Grainy bread. It sometimes adds a much-needed texture to what can be an almost too-creamy sandwich.
More Sandwich Recipes
Toasted tomato sandwiches are so easy and one of my favorites all times of the year, and you can’t go wrong with French Dip sandwiches for another hot sandwich. And while they take more work and planning, nothing beats a clubhouse sandwich for dinner; that’s Mr. Magpie’s favorite!
Enjoy! Who else enjoyed these growing up? Did you have them open-topped and melted on buns in the oven or as a sandwich like this?
Love,
Karlynn
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Classic Tuna Melt Sandwich Recipe
Ingredients
- one 188 millilitre can chunk light tuna well drained
- 2 tablespoons mayonnaise
- 1 tablespoon minced white onion
- 1 tablespoon finely minced celery
- 1 tablespoon sweet pickle relish
- 1/2 teaspoon lemon juice
- salt and pepper to taste
- 4 slices bread of choice
- 4 slices cheddar or marble cheese
- extra mayonnaise for “buttering” the bread slices
Instructions
- Flake the tuna with a fork, then combine the tuna, mayonnaise, onion, celery, relish, lemon juice and salt and pepper.
- Slather two pieces of bread with mayonnaise like you would use butter, then place into a large skillet, mayonnaise side down.
- Place a cheese slice onto the bread.
- Spread the tuna mixture over the cheese slices. Place a cheese slice on top.
- Use the mayo to “butter ” the remaining two slices, then place on top, mayonnaise side up and out.
- Heat the pan to medium heat and cook until the bread is lightly browned on the bottom.
- Flip the sandwiches carefully to the other side, then cook until the other side has browned.
- Remove, slice in half and serve.
Notes
- You can adjust everything in the filling to your own liking.
- You CAN use butter on the outside, it just browns faster and might not allow the tuna to get warmed all the way though
- Cook on only medium so that the entire sandwich warms up though to the middle! Don’t cook on too high of a heat!
Nutrition
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Wes Tibbets says
A year and a half ago, I went to Florida to assist with the cleanup of Ian. Each day, a lady would serve me breakfast and dinner. A few times, she made me a tuna melt that was excellent. Not long ago, I messaged her for her recipe. Like many people, she knew the ingredients but didn’t know the measurements. I cross reference her ingredients and found this recipe on Google. I followed it with one exception, I used dill pickle juice for lack of having a lemon around. I also tried it two ways toasted. One with the mayonnaise on the outside of the bread and one with the bread toasted with butter. I preferred the butter. Even though I scraped all of the excess mayonnaise off, I found it to be a little soggier than toasting it with butter. But not much. Growing up, my grandmother made the best tuna fish sandwiches. I checked her recipe and found that the measurements were very close to yours. Except in hers, she used diced apple instead of celery, the onion, dill relish instead of sweet, and chopped pecans. A twist you might consider trying sometime for your tuna fish sandwiches. We always added pickles and lettuce to it as well. And did it on white bread. My friend told me to use rye bread. I did but it isn’t what she served me on in Florida. It was the first time I tried rye bread and I have to say, I’m not a fan. I switched to country white and toasted it with butter. I enjoyed that version very much. Thank you for the recipe and taking the time to share it with folks on the internet.
Cesan Hernandez says
Thank you for sharing this recipe. My husband and father in law loves it! They said it was the best Tuna Melt they ever had.
BK says
Was great! Used butter instead of mayo to grill but did put the Mayo on the inside of the bread. Will definitely make again.
Heather says
Just made this tonight, my husband actually really loved it, he was not looking forward to dinner tonight but after he tasted it he said this was the best tuna melt he has ever had. Thank you!
Lavndrkiss says
just made the tuna melt, it was nasty. and the mayo made the bread soggy. yuck.
Cynthia Hirtz says
you may have used to much mayo, you just want to lightly coat the bread. I smear it on then take the knife and scrap the bread from one side to the other, what is left is all you need, same with butter if you use it.
Lea C says
Very good as written. I will add an extra can of tuna only next time for a bit more protein- but this is excellent!
Victoria says
This is by far the most delicious Tuna Melt E-V-E-R!! I doubled the batch and used a tad more onion. Super yummy!!
Anne says
Very tasty and quick/easy sandwich! I added a slice of tomato because that is something I usually do with melted cheese and bread. Otherwise I stuck to the recipe 100%. My family especially loved the tang from the sweet relish and lemon juice. We will have this again!
Sandra Robinson says
Looks good
Renee says
Will give your recipes a try!!!
First time on this site!!!!!
Renee says
Will give your recipes a try!!!
Hillery says
I only give it 4 ☆☆☆☆ because I did it a tad differently…. I left out the onion. celery, lemon juice and salt and I used muenster cheese instead. still turned out great! loved it! will definitely eat again and again!!!!
Renee says
Will give your recipes a try!!!
Sound very tasty!!