Easy Canned Tuna Cakes
These Whole30 and Paleo Easy Canned Tuna Cakes are a popular recipe on this site thanks to just how fast and easy they are to make. They are great for those weeknight meals when you are low on groceries because they contain just a handful of ingredients that you likely already have in your fridge and pantry making them convenient and economical!
Canned tuna is a pantry staple in my kitchen, that use whenever I am in need of a quick meal. I personally prefer to use canned tuna in oil because I find that it is more moist and flavourful then the ones packed in water. I love adding it into a salad, mixing it with mayonnaise and fresh herbs or serving it in lettuce wraps. These tuna cakes are a fun way to really up your canned tuna to the next level.
But these aren’t your typical tuna cakes. The canned tuna is mixed with lemon juice, fresh herbs, red onion, mustard and scallions so that they really pack a punch of flavour.
I like serving these tuna cakes on a bed of lettuce, topped with a lemon aioli or red pepper sauce. Leftovers are fantastic enjoyed warm or cold and will last for a few days in the fridge.
Tips for making these tuna cakes
- To ensure that these tuna cakes hold together when cooked, I recommend making them on the smaller side, using approximately a golf ball sized amount of the mixture per patty
- When frying the patties, don’t move them around in the pan more than necessary. Allow one side to form a golden crust before flipping it over, and only flip them once. I’ve found that these are the best tricks to keep them from falling apart in the pan.
- Chilling the patties in the fridge for 20 minutes will help firm them up and hold together when frying. If you are in a rush, pop the patties in the freezer for 5 minutes instead.
Make Ahead/Leftovers
- Prep the tuna mixture and form it into patties up to 6 hours ahead. Store the patties in the fridge and for best results cook right before serving.
- Leftover cooked tuna cakes will last up to 3 days in the fridge. They can be reheated in the microwave or oven (350ºF for 10 minutes) but for best results I recommend reheating them in a pan with a splash of oil for a crisp crust.
Love easy seafood cakes/burgers? Here are a few others you might enjoy:
If you make this recipe let me know in the comment section below, I would love to hear what you think or take a photo and tag me (@everylastbite_) on Instagram, I love seeing your photos!
Easy Canned Tuna Patties
Ingredients
- 2 cans tuna (5oz cans)
- 1 tbsp of the liquid from the tuna can
- 1/2 cup almond flour
- 2 tbsp chopped parsley
- 1 tsp lemon zest
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- 2 tbsp grated red onion
- 1/4 cup chopped scallions
- 1 1/2 tsp dijon mustard or mustard powder
- 1 egg
- 1/2 tsp pepper
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1 tbsp olive oil
Instructions
- Drain the liquid from the cans of tuna, reserving 1 tbsp of the liquid from the can. Add the tuna and reserved liquid to a bowl and break the tuna up with a fork.
- Add in the almond flour, chopped parsley, lemon juice and zest, red onion, scallions, mustard, egg, salt and pepper. Stir until well mixed and then taste. Adjust the seasoning as desired.
- Form the mixture into 6 patties and place on a parchment paper lined plate or tray. Place the patties in the fridge for a minimum of 20 minutes, chilling them will help them hold together when cooking.
- When ready to cook, place the olive oil in cast iron skillet on medium heat. Once hot add in the patties and let them cook for approximately 4 minutes until a golden crust forms. Flip and cook on the other side.
- Serve the patties with lemon wedges and roasted red pepper sauce or lemon aioli.
This came together so quickly and all with easy pantry ingredients
Soooo good! I made them, then froze and just pull out the number I want and thaw in the fridge. Tonight I had 3 over mixed greens with olive oil and a splash of red wine vinegar! Fantastic and entertaining level flavor!
Trying this for dinner tonight! I’ve been searching for a tuna patty recipe that didn’t need bread crumbs, because we have loads of cans of tuna leftover from spring’s pandemic stockpiling and my husband is keto. I’m excited to see how this turns out!
I’m allergic to almonds and I’m doing the Whole 30 for the first time. Can I use arrowroot flour instead?
Delicious! I’m really not much of a cook, but I followed the steps to the letter and these came out perfectly. I made a couple changes to the ingredients: omitted the onion and scallion (which I did not have on hand because I don’t particularly like those flavors) and swapped in a healthy portion of Old Bay seasoning and a tiny dash of hot sauce.
Question for future reference: Can I freeze half of the patties for future use? If so, would it be better to do so before I cook them or after? Any special instructions or tips?
WOW! Made these today, followed the recipe to the T, used solid white tuna, along with the suggested recipe for the roasted red pepper aoli… Completely addicted! I did add an extra garlic clove to the aoli because i love garlic but together the dish was delightful! The tuna cakes held together perfectly. I would say go a little smaller than palm size on the tuna patties.
Looks delicious! I have an egg sensitivity. Have you tried making these without egg? do you think flax egg would work?
Really tasty and super easy!! I made the lemon aioli to dip them in and it was delicious!
They look so good! 😊 I began the September Whole 30 today. However, it has been two or three years since I did a whole 30, so things may have changed. But I thought that almond flour was not allowed?
Hi Sarah – Almond flour is allowed if you are using it to bind something like a fish cake together, it is not allowed however to make muffins/cake/pancakes. Good luck on your whole30!
So good and so easy!
So happy you enjoyed them!
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I would love to make this in my air fryer — have you tried that? And if so, any thoughts on what temp and how long? I love tuna and this recipe sounds lovely so thank you!
Unfortunately I have absolutely no experience with an air fryer so I am not able to make any suggestions but I suspect it would work well.
Do you guys have the nutrition chart for this?Thanks
What sz canof tuna?
I use 145g sized cans 🙂
Can these be made with coconut flour or regular flour
Yes definitely, there is such a small amount of almond flour that you can use another type of flour instead.
These tuna cakes are the bomb! So easy to make and so tasty. Both me and my boyfriend loved them 🙂 gonna try the eggplant meatballs next! Keep it up and thanks so much for the SCD friendly recipes x
Just made these… for an easy inexpensive fish cake I thought they were great. Prefer the crab or salmon but I usually have can or two of tuna in the pantry. I did top it with the lemon aioli – nom! Thanks! Also – thought you killed it on your whole30 takeover! The celery root taco shells… genius.
Aawww thank you for such a kind comment! I absolutely loved doing the takeover. So happy you enjoyed the tuna cakes, I agree, they aren’t fancy or gourmet but considering they contain just a few simple pantry staples they are great for when you need an easy and economical meal. 🙂
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Hi there! I would love to make these, but I am wondering if I can use coconut flour?