Healthy Tuna Patties Recipe
These healthy tuna patties are a delicious switch for dinner tonight and they’re made with a clean eating recipe!
Tuna patties are a remarkably easy and simple dish to throw together. They make a wonderfully light meal on a hot summer evening. The flavors are light and delicious and you can serve them with any sauces you prefer.
They make a wonderful high-protein meal or snack the whole family will love! You can even serve them with a sprinkle of parmesan cheese or mix in some old bay seasoning. Just make sure to read the ingredients because some brands may have unwanted ingredients.
Tuna Patties Recipe Tips
- Use an ice cream scoop to scoop the patty into the skillet and then use a fork to gently press it down to a flatter form.
- If you prefer to bake these instead of frying them, simply scoop the patties onto a parchment-lined cookie sheet and bake for about 15-20 minutes at 350 F.
If Your Tuna Patties Fall Apart
If your patties fall apart in the pan, there could be one of a few things that are causing it.
- The tuna was not drained well enough. You want to get all of the water removed or it will cause problems.
- Temperature and humidity can vary from kitchen to kitchen, for many different reasons. The fix could be as simple as adding one more egg. Three eggs worked fine for me, but it’s possible that some people may need to use four eggs. So if the first patty falls apart, just stir in an extra egg with the remaining tuna and try again.
- The size of the tuna chunks – very large chunks will not hold together as well as smaller chunks. If you find the chunks of tuna are on the larger side, simply put the tuna in a small bowl and mash it a bit with a fork until the pieces are much smaller.
- The heat of your pan – While you don’t want to cook these on high heat, you do want to put them in a very hot pan so the egg cooks immediately and holds everything together. So get the pan nice and hot, then reduce the heat to medium heat and cook.
- You can add a binder if you wish – Good binders can be almond flour, oat flour, or whole grain cracker crumbs (Panko makes a whole wheat version of bread crumbs). Start with 1 tablespoon. You can add more, but don’t go overboard.
Dietary Needs
These are great for a low-carb or keto eating plan. They are also low glycemic, gluten-free, and paleo.
What To Serve With Tuna Patties
Tuna patties are pretty versatile. Anything you would generally serve with fish will work here. I love sweet potatoes or even sweet potato fries (for more of a “fish-n-chips” type of dish). Rice or quinoa and vegetables are always a great option, as is a simple, green salad.
Can You Make Healthy Tuna Patties In An Air Fryer?
You can! Line your air fryer basket or tray with parchment paper and cook these at 360 F. for 10 minutes.
IMPORTANT: If you opt to air fry these, you will want to do 2 important things.
1. Preheat your air fryer, if it has that function.
2. Definitely use one of the binders mentioned above. And for this, I would start at 2 tbsp.
About Tuna Patty Ingredients
Water-packed, canned tuna – Make sure to get the water-packed tuna, not oil-packed. No added salt is best.
Large eggs – These do best if used at room temperature, but it’s not as important as it would be in baking. I’ve made these with cold eggs as well and they do just fine.
Lemon juice – Freshly squeezed or bottled with no sugar added.
Red onion – Chop these really well. If you have a different color onion on hand, feel free to use it. But purple onions have a sweetness that works really well here.
Dried parsley – If you prefer to use fresh parsley, use 1 tbsp. and mince it really fine.
Dried dill – Again, you can use fresh if you prefer. Use 1 full tsp. for that, and mince well.
Garlic powder – If you prefer fresh garlic, I highly recommend mincing it and sautéing it first before adding it to this recipe. If you go that route, use 2 medium garlic cloves and mice well.
Oil – This is as needed for cooking. Use any oil you have on hand. Lightly flavored oils will taste best here.
More Optional Topping Ideas
- Green onions
- Shallots
- Ground black pepper
- Fresh herbs
- Fresh chives
- Fresh cilantro
- Fresh basil
- Lemon zest
- Fresh lime or lemon wedges
How To Make Healthy Tuna Patties
Stir everything together in a medium mixing bowl until well combined.
Form small patties with the tuna mixture, with your hands (about 1½ inches in diameter).
Cook in a skillet using a heart-healthy oil.
Top your tuna cakes with fresh, chopped onion, fresh parsley, and serve with a lemon wedge. Top these with a little kosher salt or pink Himalayan salt. A little black pepper is good too.
How To Store Tuna Patties
If you have extras or need to make these ahead of time (you can make them up to 2 days in advance), store them in an air-tight container and keep them in the fridge. Make sure they all get eaten by day 3. Fish has a very short shelf life before it can make you sick. 3 days is the max time they should spend in the fridge.
Can You Freeze Tuna Patties?
You can! You’ll need to cook them first, but once cooked, they will freeze for up to 3 months.
To do this, cook the patties according to the recipe. Place them on a parchment-lined cookie sheet and place them, uncovered, in the freezer for 2 to 3 hours. Once frozen, transfer them to an air-tight container and return them to the freezer.
Thawing And Reheating
To thaw, let them sit in the fridge overnight.
To reheat, simply place them into a warm pan with a light spritz of oil and flip them frequently until warm.
You can also microwave them, 30 seconds at a time until they are just warm. Do not overdo it in the microwave because they will get dry and rubbery fast.
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Ingredients
- 15 oz. water packed tuna (no added salt, water drained well)
- 3 large eggs
- 1 tbsp. lemon juice
- ½ cup red onion (chopped)
- 1 tsp. dried parsley
- ½ tsp. dried dill
- 1 tsp. garlic powder
- oil (for cooking)
Instructions
- Stir everything together in a medium mixing bowl until well combined.
- Form small patties with your hands (about 1½ inches in diameter).
- Cook in a skillet using a heart healthy oil.
- Top with fresh, chopped onion, fresh parsley and serve with a lemon wedge.
What size tins of tuna do you use?
Leeseey – 5 oz.
What is a serving size, one patty or two?
Cathi – The serving size is up to you. But the data is for 1 patty. Hope that helps!
This is perfect! I’ve been having tuna patties on my mind. Haven’t made them myself though. Now I can’t wait to make these.
Cynthia – I hope you enjoy them!
How long do you cook the patties? and at what heat? Assume ’til both sides are browned and crispy?
Dana – Yes, exactly. The tuna is already cooked, so it’s just a matter of cooking until the eggs are cooked and the side are nice a golden brown.
ooh yum! there was a Lydia Bastianich recipe I tried some years ago and this reminds me of it. The patties turned out really lemony and clean tasting. I will see if I can dig it up.
Barbara – Great!
I wonder if there’s a way to oven “fry” these? Do you think the mix would fall apart attempting that method?
Fran – Unfortunately, I think they would fall apart. You could, however, bake the patties in muffin tins. That would keep them together!
Why would you need to make 12 patties? Who are you feeding, an army? Also, how exactly is this “clean”?
Stass – Why wouldn’t you make 12 patties when you have several mouths to feed? Not everybody cooks just for themselves. But you can certainly cut the recipe in half. And how exactly is this NOT clean?
My hubbie used to fish for salmon or steelhead trout in the No West. Then we would have left overs we would make patties and fry them and freeze them and have a neat meal or sandwitch for later…. we used crushed crackers ( now I would look for clean eating binders ) to hold then together better … any Ideas on what that could be ?? Could use egg whites and maybe 1 yolk ? to make it cleaner.. and Olive Oil to fry in ?
Judy – Sure! And as for crackers, try looking for Ak Mak crackers. They are 100% whole wheat.
Ak Mak is amazing
Bernadette – Yes! I love Ak Mak!
Forgot to say we would BBQ ( or bake ) the FISH first so the FISH WAS COOKED FIRST and then we used the COOKED FISH leftovers to make patties.
Judy – Sounds yummy!
I don’t like onions. I’m wondering what I might substitute to get a similar patty. Any suggestions?
Shannon – You can always just leave the onions out. 🙂
I substituted onion powder, 1 tablespoon for each 1/2 cup onion, I also used xanthan gum to thicken the tuna mixture, they turned out pretty good.
Wendy – Awesome! Glad you enjoyed them! 🙂
These look great, and really simple! Just perfect with a summer salad!
Crystal – I hope you enjoy them!
I love making tuna patties. They are pretty inexpensive and taste great.
Kristi – Definitely!
I made these last night and they tasted Great! I used green onions instead of a red onion. It was so good my picky eating 6 yr old asked for More! The only complaint I have is they fell apart 🙁
Heather – Oh no! Next time, try adding an extra egg and see if that helps. Glad you liked them though!
I would love to make these but have an egg allergy in my house. What do you think I could use as an alternative binder? I know flaxseed meal in water works for baking, but not sure if it would translate to this type of recipe.
Heather S – I’m not sure to be honest. Perhaps chia seed in water? I honestly don’t know I suppose you could just do a tuna “scramble” instead. But not sure if that’s what you want.
Mustard
I’m allergic to eggs. 1 tablespoon of water equals 1 egg
Justme – But water won’t hold the patties together.
You know if these would be good the next day? Or freezeable. I like to cook in advance sometimes so I can just grab and pop into a microwave and eat. Or for my Husband while he’s at work.
Mandy – I’m not sure about freezable, but I’m sure they’d be just fine the next day.
I think I used too small of eggs and too big of a lemon or something – it was definitely too runny to patty – I needed another can of tuna. BUT BUT BUT – I just scrambled it instead and made a tuna scramble and holy crap – it was GOOD! I also used fresh dill – and quite a bit of it – chopped it up with the onions. MMM. Can’t wait for leftovers tonight!
Nichole – Haha! Oh, I’m so sorry the patties didn’t work for you, but also glad it all worked out in the end. Enjoy!
Gonna have to agree with another poster. This is technically not clean eating since it’s using canned processed tuna. Unless, the tuna was wild caught and there are zero preservatives added in the canning process. Also, albacore is high in mercury so people should get “vannes light” variety. … I will try be using this with some fresh tilapia as an alternative though, as it sounds delicious
JuJu – Tilapia has just as many problems as canned tuna. But you can certainly buy some tuna, cook it and go from there! Hope you enjoy it.
These are wonderful! I used albacore tuna, changed eggs to egg whites, left out the onion and used cooking spray instead of oil. I love them for breakfast actually. Also tried them with chicken (cooked it and made “ground chicken” in a food processor) and it was good that way as well!
Cheryl – Great! I’m so glad you enjoyed them!
Enjoyed the SwCrustless Quiche very much. Looking forward to more!.
Janet – Wonderful! So glad you enjoyed them!
Is there a way to make the patties less runny….halved the recipe but my mix was so wet it would NOT hold together at all
Jessica – Did you drain the water from the tuna can before using? If you cut it in half, how many eggs did you use?
I made these without the onions and they tasted great. The mix seemed runny but the patties held together during cooking.
Shannon – That’s great! Did you use onion powder instead of just simply omit them completely?