How to make canned tuna taste good

If we need to get dinner on the table fast, we look to pantry all-stars like that little can of tuna fish. Since it's easy, cheap, and shelf-stable, we always keep a few cans (or jars) around for last-minute meals. And while our go-to tuna salad sandwich is always tasty, there are so many other ways to turn the contents of that can into tonight’s dinner.

The Best Canned Tuna to Buy

Of course, tuna isn't the only canned fish in town. The combinations below work equally well with canned salmon or mackerel. Basically, if you can pop the top and flake it, you can mix it into one of these canned tuna recipes.

1. Tuna + Pasta

For an instant boost of filling protein in your carb-loaded pasta night, add a can of tuna. For a cold take, stir together the classic tuna-mayo mix, then combine with fusilli and some chopped raw vegetables for a light pasta salad. To keep it hot, mix a can into pasta sauce as you heat it; we love tuna in a classic tomato sauce, but you can also go simple with a no-cook sauce, combing tuna with olive oil, capers, olives, and herbs for a salsa verde approach. Or you can stir it into mac-and-cheese for a creamy, tuna casserole.

Spaghetti with Tuna, Tomatoes, and Olives

Pantry Pasta Puttanesca

Spaghetti with Tuna, Tomatoes, Capers, and Basil

2. Tuna + Cheese

It’s just one step away from a tuna salad sandwich, but oh how that layer of cheese in a tuna melt makes all the difference. The classic—with red onion, celery, and cheddar—is favorite for good reason, but we like to switch the flavors up a bit, subbing the celery out for chopped fennel, which adds light, refreshing flavor. Or give tuna the cheesesteak treatment on long rolls with Swiss cheese and a red-pepper mayo.

Another cheesy tuna option: Skip the crab in crab rangoon, instead mixing tuna with cream cheese, scallions, and herbs, then stuff into wonton wrappers (you can make your own if you don't have any on hand) and fry.

Of course, there are a host of different takes on tuna casserole, like this one with Gruyere, dill, and leeks.

Tuna Noodle Casserole with Leeks and Fresh Dill

3. Tuna + Bread

What’s better than avocado toast? Tuna avocado toast. Mash up an avocado with olive oil, salt, and pepper, then gently stir in a can of tuna for a delicious double whammy. (Add a few slices of bacon and tomato for the ultimate BLTA.)

You can also go burger style, and pack that tuna into a patty to sandwich on a bun. Keep it simple by combining the tuna with breadcrumbs, mayo, and egg, or go big by making a red pepper–caper mayo, mixed right into the flaked fish.

Pan bagnat is a classic French tuna sandwich with anchovies and eggs, but you can turn it up, too, with a fennel and olive salad.

Pan Bagnat with Fennel

Green Goddess Tuna Salad Sandwich

Niçoise Toast

4. Tuna + Beans

Opening two cans is almost as easy as one, and it's worth the extra effort—tuna and white beans are a powerhouse duo of protein, fiber, and vitamins. It doesn't hurt that the combination is also delicious. Combine them in a salad with radicchio and chopped celery for a quick weeknight dinner; toss with cucumbers and tomatoes for a filling side; or stir tuna into a chunky Italian white bean soup instead of sausage.

Tuna and green beans are another great combo. Green beans add a nice bit of fresh crunch to counter the tinned fish. Try it with garlicky potatoes and feta or a grains and greens salad.

Green Bean and Tuna Salad With Basil Dressing

Freekeh and Frisée

White Bean and Tuna Salad with Radicchio

5. Tuna + Egg

You only have to look at many of the canned tuna recipes above to see that tuna loves the richness of an egg. Give the combo a bit more of the spotlight in an empanada made with puff pastry or pizza dough, or in a Tunisian-inspired turnover made with wonton wrappers.

A Niçoise salad only needs tuna, olives, and eggs to really be complete, but you can add in lentils, white beans, green beans, caper berries, and more—whatever you have on hand, really—to make a composed salad that really hits the spot. Or you could add hard boiled eggs to this salad of shaved carrots and sliced radishes.

You can bake tuna into a Basque-style tortilla, a dish akin to frittata, made with chopped ham, tuna, and vegetables.

Finally, the ultimate tuna and egg combo is tonnato eggs—a deviled egg riff with tuna blended right into the yolk mixture. These eggs are rich and boldly flavorful, especially good with crispy capers on top.

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