Quick Dinner Solution-Tuna Fish Cakes A 25 minute Dinner
Last week amid the thrill of a birthday for one boy and an overnight camping trip to the mountains for another I completely forgot dinner. I did round up rain pants, make brownies, make lasagna, prep for a kids party, clean the house (sort of) and assorted other fun things but dinner completely slipped my mind on the night of the camping trip. I guess I figured they’d all be eating happily around the campfire and those of staying home might slip out for a mom and kid dinner alone. Unfortunately it turned out I DID need to make dinner for the campers, and the child I thought I’d slip away with wanted to stay home and build legos. FOILED.
Thankfully a stocked pantry saved the day and some serious money, the prices for dining out just keep going up and up, wow. I don’t have a microwave, by choice, so I was limited in the meat division to what was in the pantry or the fridge, so it was tuna or clams. I also wanted something hearty, filling and hot because the campers were going to be camping in the rain. Let me just interject with this public service announcement: I’ve never been so glad that I picked staying home rather than camping, it snowed in the night, not on them but in the mountains.
What to make, what to make, no time for tuna noodle casserole, tuna fish sandwiches brrrrr, tuna melts! Ugh no bread! Well tuna fish patties? Like salmon patties only tuna? A quick google search led me to the recipe from Kraft foods and with a quick pantry check I was good to go. I didn’t have the Stove Top stuffing it called for but I had a box of Mrs. Cubbisons so I subbed that in for the Stove Top. The patties went together in 5 minutes, chilled for 10 and broiled for about 10 and we were in business.
Tuna Fish Cakes
Ingredients
- 2 cans tuna fish drained water or oil packed
- 6 ounces of dried bread -his can be a stuffing mix, your own dried bread pieces or even croutons
- 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
- 3/4 cup water I used half pickle juice here for added flavor
- 1 carrot shredded
- 1/3 cup mayo
- 2 dill pickles minced or run through a food processor
- 1 TBSP cooking oil or cooking spray like Pam
Instructions
- mix all the ingredients except the oil thoroughly
- chill for 10 minutes
- turn the oven on to broil
- use some of the oil to grease a baking sheet or spray with cooking spray
- use a 1/3 of cup measuring cup to scoop the fish and form cakes on the greased baking sheet
- lightly brush the top of each cake with oil, or spray with cooking spray
- broil 3-4 inches away from the element for about 10 minutes, if they appear to be getting too brown lower the rack and continue cooking until heated through
- once they are nicely browned and heated through they are done
- serve with cocktail sauce, tartar sauce or just fresh lemon wedges
Can look at my blog and see prices, and nutritional facts of tuna at different grocery stores.