The Ultimate Tuna Melt Sandwich on the Griddle
This tuna melt sandwich is packed with two types of canned tuna fish and all sorts of pickled veggies, layered with cheese, and perfectly toasted on the griddle. A classic griddle sandwich recipe that’s perfect for a quick lunch or weeknight dinner!
Servings: 4 sandwiches
Ingredients
- 15-18 oz canned tuna see notes
- ¼ cup pickled banana peppers drained and chopped
- 3 sweet cherry peppers from a jar, seeded and chopped
- ¼ cup dill pickles drained and chopped
- ⅓ cup sweet onion diced
- 3 hard boiled eggs peeled and chopped
- ½ cup mayonnaise see notes
- 1-2 tablespoons yellow mustard
- salt and black pepper to taste
- 8 slices bread like sourdough, rye, or white bread
- 2-3 tablespoons butter room temperature
- 1 tablespoon cooking oil
- 4 slices cheddar or Swiss cheese
- sliced tomato, sliced avocado, or cooked crispy bacon optional toppings
Instructions
- Make the tuna salad - Drain the canned tuna. Use a fork to flake the tuna into a large mixing bowl. Add banana peppers, sweet cherry peppers, dill pickles, diced onion, hard boiled eggs, mayonnaise, and mustard. Mix together well. Add salt and pepper to taste. Add more mayo as needed.
- Heat a griddle or skillet on low heat. Add about 1 tablespoon oil to the heated surface and spread it around with your spatula. *The combination of oil with the buttered bread is unbeatable for fry-griddling toasty bread.
- Butter one side of each of the bread slices. Place the bread butter-side down on the griddle or in the skillet.
- Add one slice of cheese to the bottom piece of bread. Spoon a generous serving of tuna salad over the cheese and spread evenly. Add sliced tomato if using. Toast open-faced for 2-3 minutes for the top and bottom bread to start developing a golden color. Then, add the top piece of toast to the sandwich.
- Cook until both sides of the sandwich are golden brown and the cheese is melted, carefully flipping as needed for even cooking.
Notes
- For the canned tuna - We used two 7 oz cans of solid white Albacore tuna in water, plus one 5 oz can of yellowfin tuna in olive oil. Use your favorite tuna fish variety, adjusting the amount of mayo as needed depending on can sizes.
- For the mayonnaise - Full-fat mayo is recommended. Start with 1/2 cup and add more as needed.
- Keep griddle or skillet temperatures low - High heat will burn your bread before the cheese has a chance to melt. Low heat and patience is a must for the best toasty tuna melt.