Kitchen notes · a little help before you start
Tuna Melt
A tuna melt has plenty to enjoy between its buttery bread slices: creamy tuna salad, soft cheddar and a little crisp celery. Tomato can join in if you'd like it.
- Prep
- 7 min
- Cook
- 8 min
- Total
- 15 min
- Original yield
- Serves 4
- Ingredients
- 12 listed
Make it part of your week
Recipe categories & planning details
- Meal type
- Lunch
- Primary protein
- Fish
- Cuisine
- American
- Cooking method
- Baking · Baked & roasted
- Preparation & total time
- Prep: 15 minutes or less · Total: 30 minutes or less
- Dish type
- Sandwiches
A few quick notes
1. Mix filling before assembly
Combine tuna, dressing, vegetables, herbs and seasoning thoroughly before dividing the salad among the bread slices.
2. Butter faces outward
Place bottom slices butter-side down and close sandwiches with the top bread butter-side up before baking.
3. Taste salad before extra salt
Taste the mixed tuna salad before adding any extra salt at the end.
Get to know the ingredients
Water-packed tuna
Use white tuna packed in water, drained well and flaked before it joins the mayonnaise mixture.
Softened butter
Soften butter so it spreads evenly over the bread surfaces before the sandwiches go onto the sheet.
Optional sliced tomato
Tomato slices are optional, added over tuna and cheddar inside the sandwich before the top bread goes on.
Let’s make it
Choose your servings, then check things off as you go.
Original recipe: Serves 4. Original quantities shown.
Check ingredients as you prepare them. These checks stay on this page.
How to make it
0 of 5 steps completeMake room for Tuna Melt
Review ingredients in your pantry before anything is added. Meal plans use your household size; grocery-only additions use the servings selected above.
The last little job
Bake until the cheddar melts
Transfer the assembled sandwiches to the oven and finish once their cheese has melted before serving warm.
A little more help as you go
Finely chop the crunchy additions
Use finely chopped celery and green onion in the tuna salad so the filling combines evenly.
Reheat on a sheet pan
You can reheat cooked sandwiches from the refrigerator on a sheet pan in the oven.
A few questions you might have
Can the cooked sandwiches be frozen?
They don't freeze well, while cooked tuna melts can be refrigerated for up to three days.
Does lemon juice go on at serving?
Mix freshly squeezed lemon juice into the tuna salad with mayonnaise, celery, green onion, parsley and seasonings.
How much filling goes in each sandwich?
Divide the prepared tuna salad equally among the four bottom bread slices before adding cheddar and optional tomato.
Does the cheese go beneath the tuna?
The assembly puts tuna salad on the bread first, then cheddar slices, optional tomato and the top bread.
Is parsley just a garnish?
Chopped fresh parsley is mixed into the tuna salad before assembling and baking the sandwiches.
Any more cooking tips?
Use tuna in water. Use tuna in water and drain it well. The tuna in oil is not only less healthy but will be way too oily when mixed with the mayo. Taste for salt. After you mix all the tuna salad ingredients together, taste for salt and add more if needed. You always want to wait till the very end to add any additional salt. Fully butter the bread. Make sure the butter is softened and that you evenly spread it all over the slices of bread so that the tuna melt bakes to a crispy golden brown. Already cooked tuna melts will keep in the fridge for up to 3 days. However, they don’t tend to freeze well. To reheat, put the sandwiches in the oven at 350°F (177°C) on a sheet pan for about 10 minutes.
Storage & reheating safety
For cooked, perishable leftovers, refrigerate within 2 hours (1 hour above 90°F), using shallow containers for prompt cooling. Keep the refrigerator at 40°F or below, use refrigerated leftovers within 3–4 days, and reheat hot leftovers to 165°F, checked with a food thermometer. Follow any shorter package limit.
These are general safety limits, not a tested storage or freezing recommendation for this particular dish. USDA leftovers guidance · Safe cooking temperatures
Recipe source: jocooks.com. Ingredient names and quantities may be adapted for the pantry.
Preparation notes follow the recipe shown here.
