Deluxe Healthy Tuna Melt
Oh my goodness — this tuna melt rocks my world.
As I mentioned before, things have been a little hectic lately with school, teaching at Sweat Garage, and keeping up with you lovely folks. So, I’ve been looking for quick and easy recipes to incorporate into my daily lunch and dinner rotation — meals I can whip up at a last minute’s notice.
Canned tuna fish is such an easy, but unfortunately overlooked, staple.
Because most healthy eaters avoid mayo, tuna sandwiches are often cast aside. In the past, I tried mixing my tuna with greek yogurt to get that creamy consistency, but it never quite cut it.
I finally came up with the perfect, mayonnaise-free mixture though to highlight this awesome protein. You’ll never guess what the secret ingredient is!
It does incorporate greek yogurt, but it also has a few other essential ingredients that really give it that authentic tuna salad taste.
Since the weather is cooling down, I figured it was the perfect time to use this healthy tuna salad in one of my favorite childhood dishes: the tuna melt.
I added a few layers of extras to dress up my basic childhood snack and the result was the tastiest tuna creation I’ve ever had in my life — this is not an exaggeration.
Without further ado: The Deluxe Healthy Tuna Melt
- 2 Whole Wheat English Muffins (I use Food For Life)
- 1 Can Tuna, in water
- ¼ C. Greek Yogurt
- 1 small Dill Pickle, diced
- 1 T. Mustard
- ½ tsp. Stevia (I use SweetLeaf)
- Salt & Pepper to taste
- 2 oz. Cheddar Cheese, sliced
- 1 Tomato, sliced
- ½ Avocado, sliced
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
- Split english muffins in half and toast in a toaster or in the oven for about 3 minutes.
- Combine tuna, yogurt, pickle, mustard, stevia, and salt and pepper in a bowl.
- Top each english muffin with tuna mixture, 2-3 avocado slices, 2 tomato slices, and ½ ounce of sliced cheese.
- Place muffin halves on a baking sheet and bake for about 5 minutes.
- Enjoy!
As you may have noticed, the secret ingredient in this healthy tuna salad is stevia.
Yes, I put a bit of sugar in my tuna.
Before you get all grossed out, remember: tuna salad is usually made with mayonnaise, which has sugar in it. The tiny bit of stevia I added to this mixture is what gives it that authentic tuna salad taste. Don’t knock it till you try it.
If you’re on the Artificial Sweeteners Cause Diabetes-bandwagon, feel free to replace the stevia with real sugar (it will add a minuscule amount of calories). Keep in mind though — those studies did not test the effects of stevia.
Anyway, back to the glorious melt. This is my favorite meal of the moment. It’s healthy, easy and perfectly balanced.
Another option is to mix the avocado directly into the tuna salad. It brings the creaminess factor to a whole ‘nother level. You can view this “Green Tuna” Phenomenon on my Instagram. Mr. Chow certainly approved.
Either way, I hope you’ll try it out this week!
Weigh In: Are you a fan of tuna melts? Do you have any other healthy tuna salad variations?
*This post is linked to Real Food Wednesday and What I Ate Wednesday.
Ashley @ A Lady Goes West says:
Yes! I eat canned tuna on top of salads a lot, and instead of mayo, I’ll add mustard or relish to the tuna for a little creamy texture. This looks delish, and I NEVER thought about adding stevia. Very interesting. Great photos too!
Pattycakes says:
Yum! I eat tuna twice a week, and will definitely have to try this recipe!
GiGi Eats says:
For the past several months I have been 100000% obsessed with Bumble Bee Tuna Jalapeno and Sun-Dried Tomato (two different varieties), they’re packed in olive oil and have no creepy ingredients!!! They’re amazing, I order them in bulk off amazon, because…… I mean, it’s me of course! Ah ah ah! I should give you a can or two! :) However, from the looks of it, you’re pretty on top of flavoring your tuna DELICIOUSLY! xo!
Linda @ TheFitty says:
Ah I didn’t know there was a secret ingredient for tuna melts. I always imagined mayo and tuna, but now I’ll start adding stevia.
Karen says:
Yummm! Looks delicious Whitney! I’ve tried adding greek yogurt to tuna as well and love it, but my favourite way to make a “tuna sandwich without mayo” is cottage cheese. Just the two mixed together is good enough for me. No bun needed ;)
Deborah @ Confessions of a Mother Runner says:
I am a vegetarian but tuna is the one thing I eat. I always put mustard on it too. And of course I love avocado.
Jami says:
This looks AMAZING!! I have been mixing my canned tuna with hummus for years now to avoid the mayo – toss in a hard boiled egg, diced celery & carrots, lots of cracked black pepper and voila! Will totally have to try this delicious looking melt though next time! Thanks, Whitney! :)
Torry @ A World Without Wheat says:
I have forgotten completely about tuna but I am just have to try this and bring it back in the mix!
Thank you!
Lauren @ The Bikini Experiment says:
Looks great! I eat tuna all the time since it is easy and can be prepared quickly. I will have to give your recipe a go! :-)
Kim says:
YUM!! I love tuna, avocado and cheese – what’s not to love about this sandwich?!
We do plain tuan way too often but next time we make tuna (this weekend:) it will be this recipe!
Arman @ thebigmansworld says:
Dude you are genius.. A classy BH genius. Pinning to make- Although I’ll still use mayo (have half a jar left… boo).
Charlotte @ Commitness to Fitness says:
HA- so as soon as I saw the photo I was like “oh my goodness” then scrolled down and saw that yes, that was exactly the right sentiment. I’m a HUGE tuna melt fan — the dill pickle really makes it (and I wasn’t even phased by the sugar) — I need this sandwich in my life.
Laura @FitMamaLove says:
Your green tuna on instagram inspired my lunch today! I didn’t have avocado, but I made a healthier tuna fish with capers, olive oil, red wine vinegar, celery, salt and pepper. I ate it with some brown rice chips. Thanks for the inspiration!
whitney campeau says:
This looks so good, Whitney. I never make anything with tuna at home and I’m not sure why – it’s so healthy and so good! Hope all is well :)
jill conyers says:
I love love tuna with about 1/3 of an avocado, dijon mustard and black pepper. So good! My other favorite tuna recipe is almost identical to yours except for the stevia. I’ll add it next time.
Sam Brown says:
I can’t wait to try this!! I’m always try to think of different things to do with tuna because I’m obsessed with it but unfortunately not very creative when it comes to things like this. Love it!
Sam xx
http://www.smart-twenties.com – how to make the most of your twenties
Mega says:
Hi Whitney! I really liked this Deluxe Healthy Tuna Melt. It’s so easy to prepare and the ingredients are not costly. I tried it a while ago and my entire family loved it as well. Thanks for the inspiration.
Whitney English says:
That’s so great to hear!! Thanks for letting me know xo