Tuna recipes
Storecupboard
Quick suppers
Budget
Cookery
A tin of tuna is the most useful thing in the cupboard. For under a pound it turns pasta, a jacket potato or a few salad leaves into a proper supper in fifteen minutes, with nothing that needs defrosting. Below are seven easy tuna recipes, each in UK quantities, plus the one rule that keeps tinned tuna from tasting tired and a quick note on which tin to buy.
Key takeaways
- Seven suppers from a tin: tuna pasta bake, tuna melt, tuna mayo jacket, tuna sweetcorn pasta, salad nicoise, tuna fishcakes and a fifteen-minute tuna curry.
- The one rule: tinned tuna is already cooked, so stir it in near the end. Boil it about in a sauce and you cook out the flavour and dry it to cotton wool.
- Which tin: spring water for salads and jackets (lightest, most protein); oil for bakes, melts and curry (stays moist); olive oil to eat as it comes.
- Cost: a 145g tin is roughly 80p to £1.30. Most of these feed four for the price of a coffee.
- Safety: if you are pregnant or trying for a baby, the NHS advises no more than four cans of tuna a week. More on that below.
Which tin of tuna to buy
Tuna comes packed in spring water, sunflower oil or olive oil, and the choice changes both the cooking and the calories. Spring water gives the lightest result and the most protein per tin, so it suits salads, jacket potatoes, tuna mayo and fishcakes. Tuna in oil stays moister through baking and frying, which is why it earns its place in a pasta bake, a melt or a curry. Tuna in good olive oil has the fullest flavour and is best eaten more or less as it comes, in a salad nicoise where the oil becomes part of the dressing.
One nutritional footnote worth knowing: the omega-3 fats in tuna are oil-soluble, so if you buy tuna in oil and pour the oil down the sink you tip some of the good fats away with it. Tuna in spring water keeps its omega-3 in the fish. It is a small point, but it is the honest reason water-packed tuna is the slightly healthier tin.
A word on sustainability
Tuna stocks vary enormously by species and by how the fish are caught. The simplest guide on a busy shop is the blue MSC label (Marine Stewardship Council), which certifies the tuna came from a sustainable, well-managed fishery. The phrase pole-and-line caught on a tin is also a good sign: it means the fish were caught one at a time rather than scooped up in nets, with far less bycatch. Skipjack is the most abundant tinned species; the Marine Stewardship Council keeps an up-to-date guide if you want to dig further.
Tinned tuna is already cooked. Treat it like fresh fish and you will boil the flavour out of it.
The seven easy tuna recipes
Each of these is a genuine store-cupboard supper: the kind of thing you can make on a Tuesday with a tin, some pasta and whatever is in the door of the fridge. Three of them, the pasta bake, the melt and the salad nicoise, are written out in full as recipe cards. The other four are quick methods you will not need to read twice.
1. Tuna pasta bake
The one everyone means by “tuna pasta.” A proper family pasta bake, golden on top, on the table in half an hour. The trick is to undercook the pasta by two minutes, because it finishes cooking in the oven, and to stir the tuna through at the end so it stays in flakes rather than dissolving into the sauce.
Tuna Pasta Bake
Serves 4 · 10 min prep · 20 min bake · 30 min total
Ingredients
- 300g penne or fusilli
- 2 x 145g tins tuna in sunflower oil, drained
- 1 onion, finely chopped
- 2 cloves garlic, crushed
- 1 x 400g tin chopped tomatoes
- 100ml creme fraiche or 4 tbsp mascarpone
- 150g mature cheddar, grated
- 1 tsp dried oregano, a pinch of chilli flakes
- Olive oil, salt and pepper
Method
- Heat the oven to 200C fan (220C conventional, gas 7). Boil the pasta in well-salted water for two minutes less than the packet says, then drain.
- Meanwhile, soften the onion in a little olive oil for five minutes, add the garlic, oregano and chilli for a minute, then the tomatoes. Simmer for five minutes and season.
- Off the heat, stir in the creme fraiche, then the drained tuna and the drained pasta. Fold gently so the tuna stays in flakes.
- Tip into an ovenproof dish, scatter over the cheddar, and bake for 20 minutes until golden and bubbling.
Make it go further: a tin of drained sweetcorn or a couple of handfuls of frozen peas stirred in at step three stretches it to feed five and adds a vegetable.
2. Tuna melt
A tuna melt is the best ten minutes you will spend on a tin all week: tuna mayo under bubbling cheese on toast. The two things that lift it above a sad sandwich are draining the tuna properly, so the mix is not wet, and finishing it under a hot grill so the cheese actually melts and browns rather than merely warming.
Tuna Melt
Serves 2 · 5 min prep · 5 min grill · 10 min total
Ingredients
- 1 x 145g tin tuna in spring water, well drained
- 2 tbsp mayonnaise
- 2 spring onions, finely sliced
- 1 tsp Dijon mustard
- A squeeze of lemon
- 4 slices of bread (sourdough or a good bloomer)
- 80g cheddar or red Leicester, grated
Method
- Mix the drained tuna with the mayonnaise, spring onions, mustard and lemon. Season.
- Toast the bread on one side under the grill. Turn, pile the tuna mayo onto the untoasted side, and top with the cheese.
- Grill until the cheese is melted and blistered, three to four minutes. Eat at once, while the cheese still pulls.
The open vs closed question: open, on toast, is quicker and crisper. For a closed, griddled melt, butter the outsides of the bread and cook in a dry frying pan, pressing down, until both sides are golden.
3. Tuna mayo jacket potato
The lunchbox-and-leftovers classic, and the cheapest hot meal in this list. A baked potato, split, with cold tuna mayo and something sharp through it. Spring water tuna is right here, because you want the filling fresh and light rather than rich.
For two: bake two large potatoes (a microwave for eight minutes then fifteen in a hot oven gives you fluffy inside, crisp skin, faster). Mix one drained 145g tin of tuna in spring water with two tablespoons of mayonnaise, a finely sliced spring onion, a little sweetcorn if you have it, and a squeeze of lemon. Split the potatoes, fork up the insides, season, and pile the tuna mayo on. A handful of grated cheese melted on top turns it into a tuna jacket the children will not argue with.
4. Tuna sweetcorn pasta
Tuna and sweetcorn is the flavour most British children think of as tuna, and as a quick pasta it is genuinely good, not merely a concession. No oven, one pan plus the pasta pot, ready in the time the pasta takes to cook. This is the one to teach a teenager.
For four: cook 300g of pasta. While it boils, mix two drained 145g tins of tuna (spring water or oil) with a drained 198g tin of sweetcorn, four tablespoons of creme fraiche or mayonnaise, the zest and juice of half a lemon, and plenty of black pepper. Drain the pasta, keeping a mugful of the water, and fold everything together off the heat, loosening with a splash of the pasta water until it is glossy rather than claggy. Serve warm, or chill it and it becomes a tuna pasta salad for lunchboxes the next day.
5. Salad nicoise
The grown-up tuna salad, and the one that justifies a better tin. A salad nicoise from Nice is a composed salad, which means the elements are arranged on the plate rather than tossed in a bowl, so each forkful is a deliberate choice. Tuna, egg, green beans, potatoes, tomatoes, olives and a sharp dressing. Use tuna in olive oil and let the oil go into the dressing.
Salad Nicoise
Serves 4 · 25 min · serve at room temperature
Ingredients
- 2 x 145g tins tuna in olive oil
- 4 eggs
- 400g new potatoes
- 200g green beans, trimmed
- 250g cherry tomatoes, halved
- 1 baby gem or a few handfuls of soft lettuce
- 100g black olives, a small tin of anchovies (optional)
- Dressing: 4 tbsp olive oil (use some from the tuna), 1 tbsp red wine vinegar, 1 tsp Dijon, a crushed clove of garlic
Method
- Boil the potatoes until tender, 12 to 15 minutes. Add the green beans for the last three minutes, then drain and refresh under cold water so they keep their colour. Halve the potatoes.
- Soft-boil the eggs: six and a half minutes from boiling, then into cold water. Peel and halve.
- Whisk the dressing. Arrange the lettuce, potatoes, beans and tomatoes on a platter. Flake over the drained tuna in generous chunks, add the eggs, olives and anchovies, and spoon the dressing over everything.
Purist note: Niçois traditionalists leave out the potatoes and green beans altogether. They are common in British versions and make it more of a meal, so keep them if you like; you are in good, if disputed, company.
6. Tuna fishcakes
Fishcakes are the answer to leftover mash, and tinned tuna makes them an any-night job rather than a project. They freeze beautifully raw, so it is worth making a double batch.
For four (eight fishcakes): mix 500g of cold mashed potato with two drained 145g tins of tuna, two finely sliced spring onions, the zest of a lemon, two tablespoons of chopped parsley and one beaten egg. Season well. Shape into eight cakes, dust in flour or coat in breadcrumbs for crunch, and chill for twenty minutes if you have time, as they hold together better. Fry in a little oil over a medium heat for three to four minutes each side until golden. Serve with a squeeze of lemon and peas, or a parsley and caper salad. To freeze, open-freeze the raw cakes on a tray, then bag them and cook from frozen, adding a couple of minutes a side.
7. Fifteen-minute tuna curry
The store-cupboard supper the recipe collections forget, and a quietly brilliant one. A tin of tuna, a tin of tomatoes or coconut milk, and curry paste make a warming bowl in the time it takes to cook the rice. Because the tuna goes in at the very end, it stays in soft flakes rather than disintegrating.
For four: soften a chopped onion in oil, add two tablespoons of curry paste (korma, tikka or madras to taste) and a crushed clove of garlic, and fry for a minute until fragrant. Add a 400g tin of chopped tomatoes or coconut milk and simmer for eight minutes. Stir in a drained 198g tin of sweetcorn or a couple of handfuls of frozen peas, then gently fold in two drained 145g tins of tuna and warm through for two minutes, no more. Finish with a squeeze of lime and serve over rice. It is a genuinely good midweek curry that costs less than a meal-deal sandwich each.
Is tinned tuna good for you, and is it safe?
Tinned tuna is a lean, high-protein food and a useful, affordable source of nutrients. Two points are worth getting right, both from the NHS.
It does not count as oily fish. The NHS recommends at least two portions of fish a week, one of them oily, for the long-chain omega-3 fats. Despite swimming in the same waters as mackerel and sardines, fresh and tinned tuna do not count as oily fish, because the canning process and the cut used leave little of those fats. So a tuna pasta bake is a good supper, but it does not tick the oily-fish box; salmon, sardines or mackerel do that.
Mercury and pregnancy. Tuna contains more mercury than most other fish, so the NHS sets a limit for some people. If you are pregnant or trying for a baby, the advice is no more than four cans of tuna a week, or two fresh tuna steaks (a medium can is around 140g drained; a steak around 140g cooked). If you are breastfeeding, there is no limit on tuna. For everyone else, tuna is fine to enjoy freely as part of a varied diet. Children can eat it too; the NHS limits for children concern shark, swordfish and marlin, not tinned tuna.
General guidance
This is general information drawn from NHS advice, not personal medical advice. If you are pregnant, breastfeeding or have specific dietary concerns, check the current NHS guidance or ask your midwife or GP.
Doing it cheaply, and without waste
Tuna is already one of the cheapest proteins on the shelf, and a few habits stretch it further. Supermarket own-brand tuna is, for these recipes, every bit as good as the premium tins; save the better olive-oil tuna for the salad nicoise where you taste it on its own. Buy multipacks when they are on offer, since tins keep for years. And nothing here needs wasting: leftover tuna pasta becomes tomorrow’s cold pasta salad, fishcakes freeze raw, and half a tin keeps covered in the fridge for a day for tomorrow’s jacket potato. A tin of tuna, a bag of pasta and a few cupboard basics will feed a family of four for well under a fiver, and none of it tastes like economising.
If you are cooking for people who do not drink, these suppers want nothing more than a jug of iced water with lemon, or a good alcohol-free fizz with the salad nicoise. None of them needs wine to be a proper meal.
Frequently asked questions
What can I make with a tin of tuna?
The quickest wins are tuna mayo on a jacket potato or in a melt, and tuna stirred through pasta with sweetcorn or tomatoes. With a little more time, a tuna pasta bake, fishcakes, a salad nicoise or a fifteen-minute tuna curry all start from a single tin and store-cupboard basics.
Should I buy tuna in spring water or oil?
Spring water for salads, jacket potatoes, tuna mayo and fishcakes, where you want it light and the most protein per tin. Oil for pasta bakes, melts and curry, where it keeps the tuna moist. Olive-oil tuna is best in a salad nicoise, where the oil becomes part of the dressing.
Do you drain tinned tuna before cooking?
Yes, in almost every case. Draining stops the dish going watery or greasy. For a melt or a mayo mix, drain it well so the filling is not wet. With olive-oil tuna for a salad, keep some of the oil and use it in the dressing rather than throwing it away.
Can I eat tinned tuna when pregnant?
Yes, in moderation. The NHS advises that if you are pregnant or trying for a baby you should have no more than four cans of tuna a week, or two fresh tuna steaks, because tuna contains more mercury than most fish. There is no limit while breastfeeding.
Is tinned tuna actually good for you?
It is a lean, high-protein, affordable food and a useful part of a varied diet. The one caveat worth knowing is that, unlike salmon or sardines, tuna does not count as oily fish, so it will not give you the omega-3 the NHS recommends from one oily-fish portion a week.
How long does opened tinned tuna keep?
Once opened, tip any you are not using into a covered container (not the open tin), keep it in the fridge, and use it within a day. Made-up tuna mayo also keeps for a day; tuna fishcakes freeze well raw and cook from frozen.
More quick suppers from the cupboard
If tinned tuna is your fast, cheap seafood, fresh and frozen prawns are its livelier cousin: see our easy prawn recipes for quick family suppers for the same store-cupboard thinking with a bit more occasion. For nights when even one extra pan is one too many, our easy one-pot meals for minimal washing up are built around the same midweek logic. And the rest of the family recipes live in the recipe index.
By Linda Garrould · Updated 15 June 2026
0 Comments