Tuna Patties
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Tuna patties are a favorite lunch dish in our home! Seasoned with lemon, onion, and cilantro, these are moist in the middle and crispy browned on the inside.
This easy tuna cakes recipe is delicious and so easy to make. Serve them alongside other classic favorites like 7 layer salad or fried cabbage.
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Tuna Patties
Tuna Patties
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Why you’ll love this recipe
📌 Classic timeless flavors that will have you reminiscing to childhood.
📌 Made with pantry and fridge ingredients you probably already have on hand.
📌 Easily modified for your personal tastes and palate.
Ingredients
- Tuna – We used solid white albacore canned tuna for this recipe, but any tuna canned in water will work.
- Eggs – Large eggs.
- Yogurt – Plain Greek yogurt. Alternatively you can use sour cream.
- Lemon – Squeezed for the juice.
- Cilantro – Fresh cilantro, chopped. Parsley can be substituted.
- Breadcrumbs – Plain, unflavored, dry breadcrumbs.
- Onion – Sweet yellow onion.
- Peppers – Jalapeno pepper if you like spice, or bell pepper if you prefer no spice.
- Seasonings – Salt and pepper.
- Oil – Vegetable oil for cooking. Olive oil is my preference.
- Sauce – Optional, sriracha, plain Greek yogurt (or sour cream), and lemon juice.
Step-by-step directions
⭐ First, in a large bowl mix together tuna, egg, cilantro, onion, yogurt, breadcrumbs, peppers, lemon juice, salt and pepper.
⭐ Then, shape tuna mixture into patties.
⭐ Next, heat oil in a large skillet and lightly fry patties until cooked through and browned on each side.
⭐ Finally, serve with yogurt dip.
Scroll down to the printable recipe card toward the bottom of this article for ingredient measurements and detailed cooking instructions.
Preparation
Can you make tuna cakes ahead of time?
Yes, these are great when made ahead! I like to make a big batch and keep them in the fridge for easy dinners. You can enjoy them cold or heat them up in the microwave, toaster oven or air fryer.
They can even be frozen for longer term storage.
What kind of peppers should I use?
If you like a hit of spice, add jalapeno pepper, but if not, go ahead and use green bell pepper. Green bell pepper has no heat but it will add moisture and texture to the patties.
Alternatively, you can substitute an equal amount of diced celery.
Storage and leftovers
How long will the leftovers keep?
These will last in the refrigerator for 4 – 5 days or longer in the freezer. Make sure to store in a sealed container.
Can you freeze tuna cakes?
Yes! Allow the patties to cool to about room temperature, then layer them with parchment paper or wax paper in an air tight, freezer safe container.
Freeze for up to 6 months and defrost in the refrigerator.
Tips, tricks, and frequently asked questions
✅ Try adding smoked paprika or smoked chipotle powder.
✅ Swap the the jalapeno for green pepper or celery if you want crunch without spice.
✅ Trade the cilantro for fresh dill to switch up the flavors.
✅ Make this with canned salmon or canned chicken.
✅ Serve with your favorite dips like this creamy dill sauce or chunky blue cheese dressing.
Serving suggestions
These are delicious with a fresh cucumber tomato salad, or corn and tomato salad. Serve them with a toasted slice of homemade white bread and a raspberry cheesecake cookie for dessert.
More delicious tuna recipes
Other delicious seafood recipes
- Cranberry almond salmon bowls
- Honey mustard salmon recipe
- Shrimp scampi
- Salmon rice bowl
- Easy coconut shrimp
- See all our seafood recipes!
Tools we love
- 15″ Cast iron pan – This. Pan. Is. Huge. Literally massive. I have two and they’re sooooooo amazing.
- Large Griddle – We use ours for everything from pancakes, to eggs, to chicken breast, and seared steak!
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How to Make Tuna Patties
Tuna Patties
Ingredients
- 24 oz canned tuna drained
- 2 large eggs
- ¼ cup plain Greek yogurt or sour cream
- 3 tablespoons lemon juice fresh
- 1 bunch fresh cilantro chopped
- ⅓ cup breadcrumbs plain
- 1 medium sweet yellow onion diced
- ½ cup diced jalapo peppers or green bell peppers seeds and ribs removed
- 1 teasoon salt
- ½ teaspoon pepper
- 4 tablespoons vegetable oil
Dip (optional)
- ½ cup plain Greek yogurt or sour cream
- 2 tablespoons sriracha
- ½ lemon juiced
Instructions
- In a large bowl mix together tuna, egg, cilantro, onion, yogurt, breadcrumbs, peppers, lemon juice, salt and pepper.
- Shape mixture into 8 patties and set aside.
- Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat, and fry patties until cooked through and browned on each side (about 5 minutes per side).
- Whisk together dip ingredients, if desired.
Notes
Nutrition
Did You Make This Recipe?
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Tuna Patties
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I tried this Tuna Patties Recipe and it was awesome! You made it so easy to follow your instructions. They were great and I received many compliments.
I love that these are healthy and not too difficult to throw together!
What do you mean by 24 ounce Tuna??? How many cans is this??
Hi Tesa – Cans come in all different sizes, look at the side of the can to see how many ounces it is. You’ll want 24 ounces total. Hope that helps! April
This Recipe is a great base. But as I was gathering my ingredients from my pantry I also too into account that your ratios are off, or just on purpose either way.
As I was mixing. I decided to use Crushed Ritz crackers instead of breadcrumbs.
24 ounces is a LOT of canned DRAINED tuna alright.
I proved that a mere 1/3 cup of dry IS NOT ENOUGH to make Patties that Hold their shape EVEN after skillet frying.
I used 1 cup crushed Ritz crackers and they pulled together Beautifully.
I made some plain sticky jasmine rice.
Added some Mayo and sour cream into the mixture.
Hope it’s good enough to keep the recipe, made so many alterations tbh I will have to Re-Write it once I put it into My Recipe Book.
Thanks for the recipe!
Hi Emmi – I’m so glad you enjoyed your version of the recipe, I can assure you that our ratios are correct and work when the recipe is followed as written. 🙂
If you’re going to criticize so harshly and come up with your own recipe, maybe you should not bother with a response!
The recipe is great as is!
I agree KJ!
I have made this recipe several times following the instructions as written and they are delicious. The hold together perfectly.
Hi
This recipe was fantastic, flavour, moist and just all round delicious
Thank you for sharng
These tuna patties are absolutey scrumptious, I eat them four days a week Im addicted, they contain all the ingredients I love and are so easy to make
Where can you buy a 24 ounce can of tuna?
These are the best tuna patties, my daughter in law found the recipe a year ago and we both make them all the time. I’m having a hard time with sides we always do a salad of some sort, but two teenagers and a son wants a little more, haha. Any suggestions
I enjoyed this recipe so much. I live by myself so I made enough to freeze and then reheat in oil.
Definitely use the jalapeno. The flavor compliments the recipe so well. I don’t think it would be the same without it . If you don’t want it too spicy, then maybe use a little less jalapeno. the other change that I made was to press panko crumbs into the outside before I cooked them. I can’t stop eating them.
I enjoyed this recipe so much. I live by myself so I made enough to freeze and then reheat in oil.
Definitely use the jalapeno. The flavor compliments the recipe so well. I don’t think it would be the same without it . If you don’t want it too spicy, then maybe use a little less jalapeno. One change that I made was to press panko crumbs into the outside before I cooked them. I can’t stop eating them.