The Ultimate Tuna Melt

The Ultimate Tuna Melt

Tuna Salad

• 4 5 oz cans tuna (drained well)
• ⅔ cup Kewpie mayo
• ⅓ cup finely diced celery
• ¼ cup chopped celery leaves
• ¼ cup minced red onion
• ¼ cup finely chopped fresh parsley (flat leaf)
• ¼ cup finely chopped banana peppers
• 1 tbsp celery seeds
• Kosher salt + fresh cracked black pepper (to taste)

Spicy Giardiniera Mayo

• 6 tbsp Kewpie mayo
• 2 tbsp drained spicy giardiniera
• 1 tsp calabrian chili paste

The Rest

• 8 slices good white bread (or sourdough)
• 6 tbsp Kewpie mayo (divided)
• 8 1 oz slices white American cheese (or your cheese of choice)
• 2 tbsp butter

1. Make the tuna salad. To a large bowl, add all ingredients under “tuna salad” and mix until well combined.
2. Make the spicy mayo. To a small blender, add all ingredients under “spicy giardiniera mayo” and blend until smooth, or the consistency you like. I like some chunkiness!
3. Assemble. To one side of each slice of bread, add ¾ tbsp of mayo and spread evenly. To the other side of each slice, spread on ¾ tbsp of the spicy mayo. Divide your tuna salad onto half of the slices of bread, spicy mayo side up (you want the spicy mayo on the inside of the sandwich, regular mayo on the outside). Top with 2 slices of cheese, then the other slice of bread, again spicy mayo side in, regular mayo side out.
4. Toast the grilled cheeses. Heat a skillet over medium low heat, then add a half tbsp butter and swirl. Place one sandwich in the pan and gently press down. When golden brown, flip, cover the pan to help the cheese finish melting, and cook till golden brown. Repeat with remaining sandwiches!

• Use skipjack and/or wild caught canned tuna for more protein and less mercury!
• If you want your tuna salad to be cold you can always fry each piece of bread in the pan before adding the tuna (or spicy mayo)! I actually prefer it that way – just add the slices of cheese to the top of a slice (underside slathered in mayo) and cook till golden brown, repeat (sans cheese) with the other slice, then build – adding the spicy mayo and tuna salad to the inside. It’s so good either way! 
• This is a RICH meal! Honestly, half of this sandwich is a good meal for me. You can turn this into 6 or 8 sandwiches as well, or do away with the spicy mayo/use less of it to cut back on calories a bit. This also has a ton of protein and micronutrients too, a lot of which coming from the tuna salad, so if you were gonna not skimp on something, I’d say it should be that! At the end of the day, build a sandwich that fits your calorie and protein needs!

Micronutrient Highlights

193% vitamin B2, 130% vitamin B12, 122% selenium, 116% vitamin B6, 86% vitamin K, 62% phosphorus, 57% calcium, 49% vitamin D, 33% choline, 32% iron, 25% magnesium, 23% potassium, 22% vitamin A and zinc

Main CourseAmerican