I came up with this fantastic dish to use up any leftover bread. I usually use whatever vegetables are in my vegetable drawer at the moment, so feel free to use your best judgment. They are delicious when paired with low-fat mayonnaise, sour cream, or even on their own, though my husband loves ketchup. Enjoy yourself while using this recipe, which is what I usually do.
| Prep Time: | 20 mins |
| Cook Time: | 10 mins |
| Additional Time: | 5 mins |
| Total Time: | 35 mins |
| Servings: | 24 |
| Yield: | 24 patties |
Ingredients
- 3 slices hearty country bread
- 3 cups water
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 onion, chopped
- ¼ cup fresh spinach leaves (Optional)
- 3 cloves garlic, chopped
- 2 (5 ounce) cans tuna, drained and flaked
- 6 mushrooms, diced (Optional)
- 1 zucchini, diced (Optional)
- 1 stalk celery, diced (Optional)
- 2 eggs
- 1 tablespoon chopped fresh dill, or more to taste (Optional)
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
- ¼ teaspoon dried basil
- ¼ teaspoon oregano
- 1 tablespoon olive oil, or as needed
Instructions
- Soak bread in water in a large shallow dish until softened completely; remove from dish and squeeze as much water from bread as possible.
- Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in a non-stick skillet over medium heat; cook and stir onion, spinach, and garlic in the hot oil until the onion softens, about 5 minutes.
- Mix the onion mixture with softened bread, tuna, mushrooms, zucchini, celery, eggs, dill, salt, pepper, basil, and oregano in a large bowl until combined. Form the mixture into about 24 thin, palm-size patties.
- Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat; cook the patties in the skillet until cooked through, 2 to 3 minutes per side.
- If you have pre-sliced bread from the store, that can be used as well; you just have to use more of it, so probably about 5 or 6 slices.
Nutrition Facts
| Calories | 43 kcal |
| Carbohydrate | 3 g |
| Cholesterol | 19 mg |
| Dietary Fiber | 0 g |
| Protein | 4 g |
| Saturated Fat | 0 g |
| Sodium | 133 mg |
| Sugars | 1 g |
| Fat | 2 g |
| Unsaturated Fat | 0 g |
Reviews
Too “bland” and tasteless. Will probably try Italian seasoned bread crumbs, add 1/4 tsp Allspice and cook in Sesame Oil next time.
I just made this and it was very good, but I had to make several changes due to lack of ingredients because of hurricane Irma. No bread or eggs, or veggies except celery and garlic. I used Italian style dry bread crumbs, a large can of tuna in oil, grated parmesan, and dill. They tasted wonderful but didn’t hold together very well… lol.
Per other reviewers, we did NOT soak the bread at all; although I do keep my bread in the freezer. It was sandwich bread and per the note, 5-6 slices were required…to not make the batter/dough/mixture completely soggy despite not soaking it. Anyway, otherwise we followed the recipe to a T, and it turned out delicious. The girl who is living with us and doesn’t like tuna even loved it and plans to take the recipe home to her mother when she goes. I really liked the celery in this recipe; it gave some crunch to an otherwise mush-textured patty.
They were very good, but needed catsup!
love this recipe I made mine into tacos I added Jalapenos in the mixed topped off with queso fresco, crema Mexicana, Chipotle cream, avocados and beans at the bottom in a nice warm tortilla. Keeper in my book everybody loved it
Made some changes to the recipe and used 1/2 of the suggested amounts for 4 patties. They turned out great!
Tried this and something didn’t work for me…will have to try again. Ended up with the most delicious tuna but not in patty form so I made tuna melts and everyone was very happy.
Tuna Fish Patties Haiku: “These were so soggy. So many ‘watery’ things. Maybe needs more bread.” The zucchini and the mushrooms gave off too much liquid, coupled w/ the bread having been soaked in water (I’m clueless – what was the point of doing that and not just using breadcrumbs?) and the end result was a very liquid-ey bowl of ingredients that I had to squeeze in a colander b4 forming into patties. Like other folks, I don’t see how 24 patties could’ve been formed out of this, so I made 8. The flavor was good, but the execution and instructions weren’t. If I made this recipe again (big If), I wouldn’t soak bread (would use breadcrumbs), I’d sweat the zucchini 1st (or skip it altogether), and same goes for the mushrooms.
Though I liked the concept of this recipe, there was too much Parmesan flavor that over powered the other flavors. The Parmesan also gave it a grainy texture.
This is a really good foundational dish. I have tons of tuna, and I am glad I found a way to use it all. As with all recipes, I tweeked the recipe a bit and personalized the ingredients I used. Instead of bread, I soaked 3 English muffins in a combination of water and milk. Instead of zucchini, I chopped up 1/4 or a green bell pepper. I then pulsed everything in my food processor so that there would not be any big chunks of anything. They are very tasty, and I like the seasoning as stated in the recipe, except next time I would eliminate the basil and oregano, and maybe add a bit more dill. I don’t think the basil and oregano do much to add to the flavor of these, but then I am not a big fan of either of those seasonings. The next time I make these, I think I will try using 3 eggs, so that they bind together a bit better. TIP: Use an ice cream scoop instead of getting your hands all gooey and grubby. Dislodge the patty from the scooper into the oil, and flatten down with a spatula. This makes for nice unformly sized patties.
I’m not a huge fan of tuna, but these were good. I think if you really like tuna, you’ll love these. I might try the recipe again later using a milder, more delicate fish.
Flavors are very good. BUT, veggies must be diced very small and I found the mixture too wet. Patties crumbled and didn’t hold together well at all. Maybe more egg for binding, or less water in the bread?
Easy and delicious. My picky children even liked it. I didn’t have every ingredient on hand so I made adjustments and it was quite flavorful. My family has requested that I make it again, which means a lot.
I used all the optional ingredients, and the only change I made was to sub kale for spinach and add one more egg (I didn’t think they’d stay together well enough without another one). Hubby and I really liked these, though 2 year old didn’t. I think the dill is what makes it extra good.
Very tasty. I modified the original recipe for two people. We’re on a low salt diet, so I rinsed the tuna, skipped the salt, and added extra black pepper (we’re on New Orleans, so I can get away with the spices). I also skipped the spinach, zuchini, and mushrooms because I had none on hand (hubby doesn’t care for any of those). Served with a simple side salad. We enjoyed our lunch.
They turned out really tasty but the recipe is incomplete as it doesn’t say when it is best to add the bread crumbs and I thought that maybe wisking the eggs together with the seasonings before adding the tuna might make the mixing a bit easier. But again, even with me guessing, they still turned out great. Thanks
My wife and I loved this recipe! It was very easy to make, as mentioned by other reviewers. The minor adjustments I would make next time is to add an additional slice of bread (I used pre-sliced store bought bread) and also squeeze out more water. The additional of the veggies made the mixture more watery than I expected, and a few of the tuna patties didn’t hold together as well. Will definitely be making this again! Side-note — Didn’t even have the strong fishy smell that is common with tuna.
kids hate veggies? puree them and hide them in the mixture! keep an eye on the moisture content though as it can fall apart if too moist
The recipe was great, but I did modify it. Added the zuc, musrooms and some banana peppers to the fried veg. Added the bread when all the ingredients were mixed. I also increased the amount of tuna by one can and added an extra egg to help hold it all together. Before I fried the patties and medium-low heat in the skillet I pressed them using a hamburger press. I toasted some whole wheat bread and sliced some tomato and avocado to add for toppings along with some low fat mayo. Hope this helps somebody eyeing up the recipe… I also supplied the pictures fyi.
I was skeptical, but wanted to try this, as it seemed like a great way to save money. I was surprised, I followed the recipe exactly with the exception of the size of the patties, made mine the size of a burger and served on hamburger roll with tartar sauce. It was incredible. Both very light and very filling at the same time. Will make this again, only change perhaps I will add a little bit of lemon zest to give it a little zip although it’s really not needed. Personal taste thing there.
What a great way to use leftover veggies in the fridge! I sauted some fresh kale with the garlic and onions. If I had had fresh mushrooms, I probably would have sauted those in advance as well. The mixture can be a bit wet, so I’d be wary of adding ingredients that give off water.