These simple tuna patties take less than 15 minutes to make and are delicious for an easy dinner for a busy weeknight or a meal prep lunch throughout the week! It’s a delicious simple recipe your whole family will love– made gluten-free and paleo!
What Makes This Recipe Great
I made these one day for lunch when I couldn’t find any protein in the fridge, then spotted cans of wild albacore tuna on the kitchen shelves. I always forget about canned fish and how tasty it is until moments like these when I run out of all the meats I can eat in the house. In reality, I do really need to incorporate more fish into my diet because of their health-boosting Omega-3s and nutrient density, but somehow it’s just never the first thought when I get hungry. I think it’s because I always ate them plain and would just get bored of them.
Until freakin’ now, folks… (so dramatic) These amazing Tuna Patties are so ridiculously easy to make and so tasty, and you can even make the patties ahead of time as a time-saving trick!
You can eat the tuna patties on their own or between two gluten-free bread slices. I like it on a salad smothered with paleo mayonnaise and hot pepper flakes, but truth be told, I put those toppings on basically anything savory. These are also kid-friendly if you want to dial back on the hot sauce and serve it with some ketchup. So many possibilities!
I’m kicking myself for all the times I never knew what to do with canned tuna, and would just mash it with some kind of fat to make a salad. No wonder I got bored of it! After making these tuna patties, no more lame old tuna salads for me for a while, because these are sooooo much better!
If you’re looking for even more tuna recipes check out these: The Best Tuna Egg Salad, Easy Spicy Tuna Crispy Rice Recipe, and Tuna Onigiri Recipe.
Ingredient Notes
Made with super simple ingredients you probably have on hand, this easy meal comes together in no time. As written, it’s Whole30, Paleo, Gluten-Free, Dairy-Free, and Low Carb/Keto. The best part though is that you can customize the ingredients to your liking, adding or omitting as you see fit!
- canned tuna: I like to use wild-caught cans of tuna.
- large eggs
- almond flour
- chopped green onions
- Dijon mustard
- hot sauce
- lemon zest
- fresh lemon juice
- salt and black pepper to taste
- coconut oil: Or another neutral oil like olive oil or avocado oil.
Step-by-Step Instructions
- In a large bowl, combine all tuna patty ingredients except coconut oil.
- Use your hands to combine and mix evenly.
- Shape the tuna mixture into 4 patties, each about 1/2-1” inch thick.
- Heat coconut oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat.
- Gently lay the patties into the pan, and cook until golden brown, about 3-4 minutes on each side.
- Serve warm with dipping sauce, in between bread slices or atop a salad, or by themselves garnished with herbs like fresh parsley, fresh chives, or more green onion.
Expert Tips
- These are also kid-friendly if you want to dial back on the hot sauce and serve it with some ketchup.
Serving & Storage Tips
You can eat these crispy fried tuna patties on their own or between two gluten-free bread slices. I also like them on a bed of greens smothered with paleo mayonnaise and hot pepper flakes. You can also serve them on their own with my homemade tartar sauce and lemon wedges if desired.
To store, place the tuna cakes in an airtight container and store them in the refrigerator for up to 3-4 days. To reheat, you can use an air fryer, oven, microwave, or stovetop:
- Stovetop: Reheat in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat until warmed through. Use a little bit of neutral oil if desired.
- Oven: Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and preheat your oven to 350 degrees F. Bake for 10 minutes until warmed through.
- Air Fryer: Preheat your air fryer to 350 degrees F. Place the patties in the basket of your air fryer and cook for 3-4 minutes until heated through.
To freeze, let the patties cool completely, then store them in freezer bags in the freezer for up to 2 months. Reheat and serve!
More Quick & Easy Recipes
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Easy Tuna Patties Recipe (Paleo, Whole30, Keto)
Ingredients
- 2 5-oz canned wild tuna drained
- 1 egg
- 1/2 cup almond flour
- 1/4 cup chopped green onions
- 2 tsp dijon mustard
- 1 tsp hot sauce
- Zest and juice of 1/2 lemon
- Salt and pepper, to taste
- 2-3 tbsp coconut oil
Instructions
- In a big bowl, combine all ingredients except coconut oil.
- Use your hands to combine and mix evenly.
- Shape the mixture into 4 patties, each about 1/2-1 inch thick.
- Heat coconut oil in a skillet over medium high heat.
- Gently lay the patties into the pan, and cook until browned, about 3-4 minutes on each side.
Notes
Expert Tips
- These are also kid-friendly if you want to dial back on the hot sauce and serve it with some ketchup.
Serving & Storage Tips
You can eat these crispy fried tuna patties on their own or between two gluten-free bread slices. I also like them on a bed of greens smothered with paleo mayonnaise and hot pepper flakes. You can also serve them on their own with my homemade tartar sauce and lemon wedges if desired. To store, place the tuna cakes in an airtight container and store them in the refrigerator for up to 3-4 days. To reheat, you can use an air fryer, oven, microwave, or stovetop:- Stovetop: Reheat in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat until warmed through. Use a little bit of neutral oil if desired.
- Oven: Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and preheat your oven to 350 degrees F. Bake for 10 minutes until warmed through.
- Air Fryer: Preheat your air fryer to 350 degrees F. Place the patties in the basket of your air fryer and cook for 3-4 minutes until heated through.
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Yum! Looking forward to trying these tonight. Have you ever tried avocado oil? My husband is not a fan of coconut oil so I use that a lot. It has a much more mild taste and higher smoking point. Thanks for sharing this recipe!
Hope you like it! You can use avocado oil as well, and I love it when I make mayo. I just like coconut oil in cooking because I have candida issues, and coconut has powerful antimicrobial properties. Either one works!
Once cooked, can these be frozen and re- heated like chicken nuggets?
Yup! Just defrost and refry them, and they’ll be crispy and delicious.
These are amazing!!! I am a horrible cook and these were a piece of cake, and amazing reheated even. Thank you!!
Aw, so glad you enjoyed it! It’s one of my go-to recipes. 🙂
Not sure what I did wrong but mine were mushy!
So sorry it came out mushy! Make sure not to over mix the patty batter, and use plenty of oil to pan fry it.
I had a slight problem with that, but I forgot to really drain the tuna well. I just kept frying them a bit longer and they were great.
Could I use coconut flour instead?
No, coconut flour acts very differently and will soak up all the liquid, making the patties dry. Almond meal or almond flour works best!
I know you said above that you can’t use coconut flour, but any thoughts on cassava, tapioca or tigernut flours? I’m following AIP but with some reintros. But no almond flour yet! Thanks! 🙂
I haven’t tried those other flours so I can’t guarantee results. They might dry out the tuna. Maybe search for “AIP tuna patties” on Google and see what you can find. 🙂
These are so tasty! I want to make some tonight for my lunch tomorrow. Can I reheat them in the microwave?
Thank you! Yes, you can reheat them the same way but the texture might be a bit more mushy. If you are fine with that then I’d say go for it! 🙂
Can you use canned wild caught salmon in place of tuna? Thank you.
Yes!
Amazing tuna burgers! Our whole family loves them!
Thanks so much for posting this recipe!!
So glad you liked them!
Love this recipe, quick, easy and delicious!! Curious why the fat content is so high for one patty, is that the oil?
Yes, that’s from the cooking oil. The patties will soak up the coconut oil as they cook.
These are delicious! I used the canned wild caught ahi from Costco….squeezed all the water out of the can. The only addition I made was some freshly snipped parsley from the garden (along with my homegrown lemon) So yummy!
I’ll be using this recipe again! Thank you!
Yum, love the addition of parsley! So glad you enjoyed!!
Do you think this would go with guacamole sauce? Thank you!
Yes, sounds amazing!
Maybe I did something wrong. I don’t know. But these tasted SUPER lemony. Like WAY too much lemon. And I didn’t even do as much as it called for. I did double the recipe so there’d be enough for the whole family. It seemed like zest and juice from an entire lemon would be a bit much. So I still only did about half a lemon. It was a large lemon. Perhaps it’s supposed to be half a small lemon?
I haven’t heard the patties being too lemony! I would just reduce it next time. Maybe it was the size of the lemon.
Going to try tonight thank you marlena
These were amazing! Great flavor & crispy. It’s one of our go to dinners in a pinch!
These were amazing! So quick and tasty—I separate the patty into bite sized pieces on a bed of arugula with sautéed cherry tomatoes! Can these also be made in an air fryer?
I’m sure they’ll work in the air fryer! They do crisp up better in the pan, but the air fryer will work just fine for less mess.
The flavor of these were DELICIOUS. Especially the lemon zest and lemon juice!! The one problem I had was that the patties broke apart and did not bind well. I’ll try making them with a different technique next time and see if it works. But damn, these were amazing on a bed of lettuce, strawberries, red onion, and sunflower seeds, which an amazing apple cider vinaigrette recipe i found online. will definitely make these again!
Wow, that sounds like an amazing meal! Thanks so much. I’m so glad you liked them!
☆☆☆☆☆ We really enjoyed these! They were super easy to make only taking about 10 minutes. I used regular mustard because I didn’t have dijon and dried chives in place of the green onions. Thanks for the recipe. This is a keeper!
Thank you!!
First time making tuna patties. Loved the additional of lemon. Felt a little dry but besides that they were delicious! Served with cherry tomatoes. Next time will try avocado too!
These are great! I did replace part of the almond flour with rice flour (we just needed gluten and dairy-free) and everyone in my family agreed that they were wonderful.
Holy yum!!! I made some subs based on what I had in the house…panko instead of almond flour, sriracha instead of hot sauce, and a splash of ACV instead of lemon juice and then I fried them in avocado oil and served with a side of sriracha mayo. Oh my goodness. Perfection and I don’t even love tuna that much lol
I’m so glad it turned out delicious with the substitutions. Thanks so much for leaving a review!