Do you have leftover hamburger buns and don’t really feel like making more hamburgers? You do have a few choices. Previously, I slightly modified my garlic cheesy bread recipe, which normally uses leftover hot dog buns, to use up some hamburger buns. Sometimes, though, I’m not exactly planning an Italian night.
So I’ll go with another easy favorite of mine: Open-faced tuna melts. The melty, cheesy goodness is best tackled with a knife and fork, and maybe a couple of napkins. Even with the occasional mess, these tuna melts have proven popular with my family, including those who normally find tuna boring.
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The best part? They’re easy to make on days when you’re looking for a quick lunch or dinner idea. They take only 10 minutes to mix the tuna salad and 10 minutes to bake.
Why This Recipe for Open-Faced Tuna Melts?
If you’re like me, you’re probably used to having leftover hamburger buns after your family’s cheeseburger night or making ham and cheese sandwiches for the community picnic. Open-faced tuna melts are a handy way to use them up.
A good tuna melt starts with the tuna salad mix. I don’t go with just canned tuna and mayonnaise. That’s boring. I like to add more flavorful ingredients like Dijon mustard to really make the flavor stand out.
Most importantly, making these tuna melts is almost as easy as slapping together a ham-and-cheese sandwich and may even be faster. The secret: A few minutes in the broiler, which can speed up the baking process!
Equipment for This Open-Faced Tuna Melt
The cool part is that you probably already have everything you need to make these tuna melts somewhere in your kitchen if you cook at home a lot. If not, no shame in shopping around for the best deal on kitchen supplies.
- Mixing Bowl
- Mixing Spoon
- Citrus Juicer
- Cookie Sheet
- Oven with Broiler
Where’s the broiler? Many people don’t know this, but that “drawer” at the bottom of your oven that you’ve probably been using to store your skillet lids may actually be a broiler! Be sure to check your oven’s manual to be sure. Alternatively, your Instant Pot or toaster oven may have a broiler setting.
Ingredients for This Open-Faced Tuna Melt Recipe
Have you held on to a few cans of tuna you got on sale a while ago and just haven’t used yet? That’s right, you could probably find most of these ingredients somewhere in your pantry or refrigerator. If you need to pick up an ingredient or two at the grocery store, feel free to print or pin the recipe card below.
- Canned Tuna
- Mayonnaise (I prefer Hellman’s)
- Lemon Juice (Freshly squeezed if you have a few lemons you aren’t using otherwise)
- Mustard (dijon or spicy brown)
- Red Onion, finely chopped
- Salt
- Pepper
- Celery Stalk, Chopped (Optional)
- Boiled Egg, Chopped (Optional)
- Hamburger Buns
- Tomato, sliced
- Cheddar Cheese
About These Ingredients for Open-Faced Tuna Melt
Okay, whoever thinks of putting lemon juice in tuna, right? It may be natural to wonder about some of these ingredients if you’re used to a more basic tuna mix for your tuna sandwiches. Each of these ingredients actually brings something to this tuna melt. Here’s a quick rundown.
Canned Tuna
12 ounces canned tuna in water
Naturally, tuna is the base of the entire melt. It has a neutral flavor that pairs well with the other ingredients we’ll add to the tuna salad. I like to look for a brand of canned tuna that has low mercury content. Safe Catch is a good brand.
The three most common varieties of tuna are albacore, yellowfin, and bigeye. Yellowfin and bigeye have lower mercury levels than albacore. The USDA has a decent guide to tuna and mercury levels.
Mayonnaise
1/3 cup mayonnaise
Mayonnaise is pretty basic in tuna because it helps bind the tuna together and adds a creamy, slightly tangy flavor. I’ll admit that I started with just a basic tuna-and-mayonnaise mix when developing this recipe because I was playing it safe. It was good; it just needed something a little extra.
I prefer the Hellman’s brand because it offers a few mayonnaise options to suit your preferences. “Real mayonnaise” is typically made with eggs. Extra-heavy mayonnaise has extra egg yolk, which gives it extra flavor and creaminess. Light mayonnaise has less fat and calories than the “real mayonnaise” version. The vegan version barely even calls itself mayonnaise because it’s plant-based, but it should work the same way.
How To Make Mayonnaise
Alternatively, you could try making your own mayonnaise! Martha Stewart shows us how in the below video.
Lemon Juice
1 tablespoon lemon juice
Lemon juice adds a citrusy sour tang to the tuna salad. Because we’re only using a tablespoon, the flavor won’t get overwhelming. It just makes the tuna salad flavor more interesting.
I like to juice a lemon for this for a stronger, fresher lemon flavor. I cut the lemon in half widthwise, and then juice it with my citrus juicer.
Dijon or Spicy Brown Mustard
1 1/2 teaspoon (or 1/2 tablespoon) Dijon or spicy brown mustard
Dijon mustard has a stronger, tangier, mildly spicy flavor than yellow mustard. It gets its stronger flavor from whole brown mustard seeds suspended in vinegar or wine, which brings out mustard’s signature flavor.
Spicy brown mustard is actually very similar to Dijon mustard. It’s also made with brown mustard seeds and, like Dijon mustard, you might even see some of them as little brown specks suspended in the condiment.
Red Onion
1/4 cup diced red onion
Diced red onion adds a bit of crunch and its classic, pungent, slightly sweet flavor to the tuna salad. Raw red onion has a sharper flavor than yellow and white onions, but it starts to dissipate fairly quickly when cooked, so the sharpness may not be as noticeable once it’s gone through the oven and broiler.
Celery Stalk (optional)
1 chopped celery stalk, leaves removed
The celery stalk can replace red onions if you don’t like them, or you can add it as an optional “extra.” It adds an attractive crunch that makes it a classic in tuna salad.
Boiled Egg (Optional)
1 boiled egg, chopped
A boiled egg is another classic in tuna salad for extra protein. To avoid overcooking it while the tuna melt bakes, you may want to boil it for a little less time than you otherwise would.
How To Make “Jammy” Boiled Eggs
For this tuna melt recipe, aim for somewhere between a runny “soft-boiled” and “fully hard-boiled”. You may see the yolk texture you want to aim for referred to as “jammy” – not very runny, not very hard – and you may have seen jammy boiled eggs if you’ve ever had a bowl of ramen with half an egg in it. In the video below, Eda’s Kitchen shows us how to make them.
Salt and Pepper
Salt and Pepper to Taste
Salt can really help bring out the savory flavors in the tuna salad. I don’t like to add so much that the salty flavor is overwhelming, though. I’ll try to aim for about 1/4 teaspoon.
Likewise, you can add as much or as little pepper as you like. It adds a woody spiciness to any recipe.
Tomato
1/2 to 1 tomato, sliced
Tomato and tuna salad is another classic combination. When I can, I like to pluck a ripe tomato out of my garden for a stronger tomato flavor.
Cheddar Cheese
1 cup cheddar cheese, shredded
The cheese is basically the “melty” part of “tuna melts.” Cheddar cheese adds its distinct cheesy flavor to this tuna melt. It can be as sharp or as mild as you like.
Hamburger Buns
3-4 hamburger buns, separated into halves
The hamburger buns give you something to layer the other components of the tuna melt on. How many hamburger buns you’ll need depends on how many people you’re feeding and how much tuna salad you want to put on each melt.
If you need to use up more than four hamburger buns, you may wish to consider doubling this recipe, which is easy to do. You may just need an extra cookie sheet and a bigger mixing bowl.
Printable Open-Faced Tuna Melts Recipe Card
Ingredients
- 3 Hamburger Rolls
- 12 oz Tuna in water
- 1/3 cup Mayonnaise
- 1 Tbsp. Lemon Juice
- 1/2 Tbsp. Mustard dijon or spicy brown
- 1/4 cup Red Onion diced
- 1 Celery Stalk
- 1 Boiled Egg
- Salt
- Pepper
- 6 Tomato Slices
- 1 cup Cheddar Cheese shredded
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
- In a bowl, combine tuna, mayonnaise, lemon juice, mustard, red onion, celery stalk, boiled egg, and salt and pepper to taste. Stir until well combined.
- Separate the hamburger rolls into 6 different pieces and place them cut side up on a cookie sheet.
- Divide tuna salad between the hamburger buns. Top with a slice of tomato. Spread cheese evenly on top of the tomatoes.
- Bake for about 4-5 minutes. Remove from oven and turn the broiler on. Broil for 3-4 minutes until cheese is melted and golden brown.
Nutrition
Method for Making Open-Faced Tuna Melts
Although these tuna melts are quick to make, they won’t make themselves, so let’s get started!
Step One: Preheat Oven
Preheat your oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit (190 degrees Fahrenheit).
Step Two: Make Tuna Salad
In a bowl, mix tuna, mayonnaise, mustard, red onion, and the celery stalk and boiled egg if using. Stir well until combined.
Step Three: Arrange Hamburger Bun Halves on Cookie Sheet
Separate the hamburger bun halves. Arrange them in a single layer, evenly spaced on a cookie sheet.
Step Four: Top Hamburger Bun Halves With Tuna Mix
Top the hamburger bun halves with the tuna salad, evenly distributing the tuna mix between them.
Step Five: Top Tuna Salad with Tomato Slices
Carefully balance the tomato slices on top of each hamburger bun with tuna. Make sure they’re as flat as you can get them. The slices can be as thick as you like, but I like to avoid making them too thick so they don’t overwhelm the tuna melt.
Step Six: Top Tuna Melts with Cheese
Evenly distribute the cheese between the tuna melts. For me, the tricky part is keeping too much cheese from spilling onto the cookie sheet, which is the real reason to make sure the tomato slices are flat.
Step Seven: Bake Tuna Melts
Bake the tuna melts at 375 degrees Fahrenheit (190 degrees Celsius) for about 4-5 minutes.
Step Eight: Broil Tuna Melts
Remove from the oven and turn the broiler on. Put under the broiler for about 3-4 minutes to get the cheese nice and golden brown. Try not to leave them in the broiler for more than 4 minutes, or they will burn.
Step Nine: Serve Warm
I like to serve these while they’re still warm enough for the cheese to be melty. The tuna salad might also be a little bubbly when it comes right out of the broiler. This is a good thing.
Substitutes for Open-Faced Tuna Melts
If you don’t have enough hamburger buns, hot dog buns will work for these tuna melts, too. (English muffins might work, but I haven’t tried it. They would make for a smaller tuna melt for sure.)
I like to use yellowtail and bigeye tuna in these tuna melts. Canned salmon can work in a pinch, too.
A cheese that melts like cheddar, such as Monterey Jack, Gouda or Colby, can work if you want to try something other than cheddar. Edam does pretty well if it is as fresh as possible, since it tends to harden over time. For a sharp, nutty flavor and smooth melt, try Double Gloucester. American cheese can work in a pinch.
FAQ for Open-Faced Tuna Melts
While making these open-faced tuna melts is usually pretty straightforward, we do get questions sometimes! I tried to answer some of the most frequently asked questions here. If you have a question I haven’t thought of yet, feel free to ask in the comments section, and I’ll do my best to answer!
Can these tuna melts be made in advance?
We get this question a lot! While these tuna melts take less than half an hour to make, we understand that you have a packed schedule some days. The truth is, the tuna mix is the only part I like to make in advance because open-faced tuna melts can be a pain to reheat if they’re leftover from the night before.
According to the USDA, tuna can be safely kept in the refrigerator for 3-4 days. However, I’ve rarely made the tuna salad more than a day or two in advance.
Why did my tuna melts burn?
The most likely explanation is that they were left in the broiler too long. That’s why I’m pretty paranoid about using the broiler, actually. I’ll set a timer and then just refuse to wander off to do something else until they’re done broiling.
Why did the hamburger buns get all soggy?
This is actually another reason I don’t like to assemble the tuna melts too far in advance. The hamburger buns can get soggy if left too long after being topped with the tuna salad. Some of the moisture from the mayonnaise and mustard seeps into them. (It’s also why I prefer to eat them the same day I make them.)
Why do mercury levels in tuna matter?
Too much mercury can harm brain and nervous system development in very young children. The USDA recommends that pregnant or breastfeeding mothers limit mercury intake. (It also recommends that mothers not let mercury scare them away from eating fish in general, though. An occasional tuna melt is fine!)
Side Dishes to Consider
A really good tuna melt calls for a good side dish to go with it! Here are a few of my favorite food pairings and side dishes that pair well with these tuna melts.
- Easy Roasted Butter Beans
- Savory Sweet Potato Carrot Soup
- Instant Pot Broccoli Risotto
- Crispy Vegan Mashed Potato Balls
- Buffalo Wild Wings Potato Wedges Recipe
- Air Fryer Potato Chips
Don’t forget to save the recipe card if you haven’t already! If you tried this tuna melt, feel free to leave us a comment to tell us what you think, and don’t forget to rate this recipe.
