Crispy Tuna Cakes Recipe (2024)

I plan to add a beaten egg or two to bind the mixture, then I’ll chill it in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes before frying. Not surprised about your caveat that they’re delicate—but adding egg and chilling the mixture should make them considerably less prone to breaking.

Try this: When making these or crab cakes, use a small size biscuit cutter and pack the mix into it to the top. Put some panko on a plate, put the biscuit cutter on the panko, fill with fish mix, pat panko on top. This makes a pattie that is firm and holds its shape. They will be super crispy on the outside.

I keep a bag of powdered buttermilk on my pantry shelf: "Bob's Red Mill Sweet Cream Buttermilk Powder." Just mix with milk. If I have plain yoghurt, I sometimes use that.

If I’m reading the NYTimes correctly, and one never knows, I understand that I’m to eat THE MEDITERRANEAN DIET!!! Which drew me to this recipe. You gotta like canned tuna and dill to like this but luckily I do. I used my hands to mash the tuna mixture. It wasn’t dry for me but I did dip the patties into a beaten egg before frying and as frying I topped with more breadcrumbs for crunch. The sauce was delicious. Plenty of salt needed all around to pop the flavors.

Made last night, stuck with the recipe apart from subbing parsley for dill and adding a few hot pepper flakes. Used hands to bring the mix together and chilled for 3 hours. Cakes were NOT dry, did NOT fall apart so I suggest making from original before adding eggs. Excellent pantry dinner. Served with sweet potato air fries and blistered green beans. Dressing served as sauce for the cakes. Made as mini cakes will be excellent with tartar sauce as part of tapas spread.

Parsley and lemon!

I did add the egg, plus substituted one can crab meat for one can tuna! Delicious!Made spicy co*cktail sauce and tartare sauce to go with it.

I made this tonight and it was very flavorful indeed. The buttermilk dressing was perfect and I look forward to using the leftovers. I used 1 egg to bind per the comments but I think next time I would use 2. I also used panko crumbs and parsley plus a little dill as I ran out of dill from preparing the dressing first. Mashing the beans completely is also key to help bind the ingredients. I added Mama Lil’s peppers on the salad as a topping and that was a hit.

Carol - modern store bought buttermilk is just a type of cultured milk, as is yogurt. If you have any type of yogurt on hand, you can use it. If it's greek or skyr, just water or "milk" it back. There's generally enough acid in there to still perform the same task.

I would go with tarragon, and use much less due to the licoricey flavour, which can be overpowering

We made the tuna cakes only and sauteed zucchini instead of the dressing a iceberg. The tuna cakes will be our new go-to for tuna.

Delicious! Made no modifications and had no problem forming patties or keeping them intact. We did really enjoy the dressing—olives and buttermilk make for a zesty tang and as a dill lover, I was a happy consumer. Definitely going to be a repeater recipe.

Try some fresh chopped parsley; I always combine parsley and tuna. Maybe a little onion powder, too.

Loved these. It was tricky squashing the beans but I used my hands and then a fork and got it done. I didn’t find the patties to be very delicate but I did chill them in the freezer for half an hour first and then cooked them slowly in a cast iron pan. Especially loved the dill and lemon. I could eat these every day.

This sounds great except for one thing: my family absolutely hates dill! Anyone out there have any substitutes? I suppose I could just leave it out?

Added 2 eggs to bind and increase protein, and dredged patties in additional breadcrumbs (panko black pepper and a smidgie of cinnamon to cut fishiness) after forming into patties for extra crunch. Didn't have fresh dill, used dried, was still excellent. Ate on burger buns with lettuce and pickles, everybody hit the clean plate club on this one. Had seconds in the middle of the night, standing in a dark kitchen, cats circling at my feet like crabs beneath a whale fall.

Dill is hard to come by…I would use finely chopped parsley, but it sounds good!

These were tasty, my husband really liked them. I didn’t make the salad and instead served with roasted veggies with romesco sauce (another NYT recipe). I mixed the cake ingredients and found it dry and crumbly so added 1/3ish cup of mayo to hold everything together and chilled the mix for a couple days before forming and frying them. Had to be very gentle flipping with two utensils but all but 2 held together nicely. I also used canned salmon because that’s what we had. Very good!

Great meal. Wondering if a little anchovy paste might add to the depth and/or a little butter with the olive oil. Definitely keeping it in the rotation. Thank you.

I didn't find them fragile at all, not sure why but they held together quite well. No need for egg. I did use Great Northern White beans, don't know if that made any difference. Also substituted yogurt for the kefir but everyone loved it.

Loved it! You definitely need all of the dressing. Has anyone tried to blend the dressing or would that be too much olive taste?

Would these tuna cakes freeze well? I live alone and recipe is for four.

Also, I think adding an agg for binder is a good idea to try.

Subbed chickpeas for beans and yogurt for buttermilk. No need to add egg. Great pantry recipe!

We loved these! Recommend reducing the amount of buttermilk to 1/4C or increasing the amount of mayonnaise to make the dressing thicker. I didn’t have enough fresh dill so reduced the amounts to about half what the recipe called for in both the cakes and dressing but it was still fabulous, simple and felt pretty decadent!

Liked the tuna/white bean cakes, served them with lots of lemon, will add a little diced celery next time for crunch. The combination of green olives with buttermilk and mayonnaise in the dressing didn’t work for me. I’d rather pair the tuna cakes with a traditional blue cheese and bacon wedge salad, classic and delicious.

Question: The recipe calls for dill leaves and tender stems. These are fresh (which I never have around), but can dried dill weed work in this recipe, and what's the ratio or amount I can substitute?

The fish cakes stayed together quite well, and were good even without the delicious dressing, which put them over the top. I did use an egg to help bind them and added some finely diced green onions.

has anyone tried substituting part of the mayo with greek yogurt? or would egg be a better substitute since they are so fragile?

Changes I made to the patties:Added about a tsp of Old Bay Seasoning.Added about two tbsp Kewpie Mayonnaise.Added about a half tsp of red chili flakes.Changes I made to the dressing:Added dill pickles.I thought these were delicious, if a bit dry. Make sure not to use too much oil or they will fall apart. I will likely make these again. They were very easy to make and tasted delicious.