Easy and tasty – here is one way to turn a can of tuna into a satisfying summer meal. Avoid the scourge and money pit of purchasing fast food. Uncle Smokey here with one of my favorite summer no-cook meals.

Cover Image.  From our post on Egg Salad.  To be honest, either this tuna salad dip or an egg salad are good choices for fast protein.  Better for you than a pizza.

Building Blocks

Tuna dip is especially handy after a long tiring day when it is too easy to make poor food choices. This quick meal offers protein, carbohydrates, and some healthy fats – all the building blocks your body needs for health. Also some fiber to keep your intestines working well. And they keep telling us to try to eat fish once a week for the fish oils.

You Will Need

This is simple because you may have all of it already on hand.

  can of tuna
  soft cheese
  condiments
  herbs & spices 
  dippers

Can of Tuna

Or maybe two cans. How many hungry people do you have milling about?

I have made this with canned mackerel, commonly found on the East coast but rarer in the West. I have also made it with canned salmon. I like anchovies, so if you have a tin of them or sardines in the pantry you can add them to the mix.

Soft Cheese

Any soft cheese will work. I like to use the white Mexican cheese called queso fresco, it add the perfect consistency to the dip. You can also use farmer cheese (that stuff next to cream cheese on the cheese aisle). I have used small curd cottage cheese, but was not a fan of the flavor.

Condiments

Home made mayonnaise is awesome for this. Especially if you make it with lime juice instead of lemon juice. Here’s the Savor the Southwest YouTube video on making mayonnaise – fast and easy.

Cutting calories? Then just lemon or lime juice, or maybe the liquid from the tuna can.

Herb Blends

A while ago here on Savor we published our handy “Ten Easy Herb & Spice Blends.” I like to make them and keep these ten different ones on hand because it just makes cooking so much easier. No need to think much at the end of a long hard day on the homestead. Just grab a jar and shake.

Fish is especially good with the Cajun Blend. That blend is salt-free and that’s good because the queso fresco is salty. You can use another kind of salt-free blend that you prefer.

Dippers

Best for dipping is the way to remember to eat healthy vegetables. Not crackers or bread sticks but something like celery sticks, carrot sticks, endive leaves or better yet some fennel! Occasionally we grab leaves of Romaine lettuce and make lettuce wraps. A spoon also dips this up well, but then you are not getting fiber roughage.

Tuna Crunch Dip

  3 /4 cup queso fresco 
  2 tablespoons mayonnaise
  1 tablespoon lime or lemon juice
  2 – 3 teaspoons Cajun Herb Blend
  1 can tuna, drained and flaked (reserve the juice if needed)
  optional onion family: 1 teaspoon or so of chopped green onion, garlic chives, or fine slices of I'itoi onion bulb

Step One.

Combine queso, mayo, lemon juice, and herb blend in a mixing bowl, and fork it all together. You may need to add a little more mayo to get it to a creamy consistency. If you are watching calories, you can use some of the tuna water instead of mayonnaise.

This whips up fast in a food processor, a good option if you use the cottage cheese. Or by hand if you live off grid and the sun is down so you don’t want to drain the batteries. I prefer to mix it right in the serving bowl so there are less dishes to wash.

Step Two

Once the cheese blend is creamy, add the flakes tuna – and optional onion family members.

Step Three.

Get your dippers together on a plate.

Step Four.

Serve & Enjoy!

Thanks for Reading

the Savorists

Ways to Cook With Honey

No, not good in a tuna dip, but may we suggest our dandy little cookbook for other great dishes?

Using Honey in New and Savory Ways offers 36 pages of tips for using honey in your cooking, as well as in all manner of dishes.

We hope you will help support some local Southwest folks!
From the review:
“Honey is for more than desserts and this book can help! Using honey in cooking savory dishes helps engage all your taste buds and adds a layer of added flavor to everyday dishes – plus holiday fare.”

Beekeeper? We offer volume discounts – because if you sell honey in local markets you might want to offer some recipe book as well. To order use our Special Orders tab.

Check?  Sure we take those too – just use that Special Orders tab.

Copyright

© Article copyright Jacqueline A. Soule/ Savor the Southwest. All rights reserved. You must ask permission to republish an entire blog post or article. Okay to use a short excerpt – but you must give proper credit to Savor the Southwest.    You must include a link to the original post on this site. No stealing photos.

Disclaimer

The authors of this website have researched the edibility of the materials we discuss, however, humans vary in their ability to tolerate different foods, drinks, and herbs. Individuals consuming flowers, plants, animals or derivatives mentioned in this blog do so entirely at their own risk. The authors on this site cannot be held responsible for any adverse reaction. In case of doubt please consult your medical practitioner.