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Tuna Crunch Sandwiches
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- Total Time
- 5 minutes
- Rating
- Notes
- Read community notes
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Ingredients
- 1(5-ounce) can solid white albacore or skipjack tuna (see Tip)
- 1hard-boiled egg, peeled
- 1celery rib, finely minced
- 3tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil (see Tip)
- 2tablespoons finely minced red onion, shallot or scallions
- 2tablespoons finely minced fresh parsley, chives, tarragon or a mix (optional)
- 2tablespoons mayonnaise, plus more for spreading (see Tip)
- 1tablespoon sweet pickle relish or chopped dill pickles (optional)
- 2teaspoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
- A few large handfuls of hearty potato chips or corn chips (see Tip)
- Salt and black pepper
- 4slices thick, soft sandwich bread, such as Texas toast, toasted, if desired
- 2lettuce leaves, such as iceberg, romaine, green leaf or Bibb
Preparation
- Step 1
Open the can of tuna, leaving the lid in place after opening it. Invert the whole can over the sink and press the lid into the tuna firmly to squeeze out as much excess water or oil as you can. (Be careful not to cut your fingers on any sharp edges). Transfer the tuna to a medium bowl.
- Step 2
Wash your hands well, then grab the boiled egg and squeeze it through your fingers into the bowl with the tuna. Add the celery, olive oil, onion, herbs (if using), mayonnaise, relish (if using) and lemon juice. Using a fork, gently fold together all the ingredients, trying to leave the tuna in relatively large chunks. Grab a few chips and, using your hands, crumble them into the bowl. Season lightly with salt and pepper, and fold again to combine. Taste and adjust seasoning to taste — more salt, pepper and lemon juice if it tastes bland, and more olive oil or mayonnaise if it tastes dry.
- Step 3
When ready for lunch, spread each slice of bread generously with mayonnaise. Place lettuce on each bottom slice of bread, then top each with half of the tuna salad mixture. Add a generous handful of potato chips on top of each (more than seems reasonable), then close the sandwiches. Press down firmly so the chips break and embed themselves into the tuna salad and the bread. Cut into triangles and serve with extra chips on the side.
- You can use oil- or water-packed tuna here; as long as the tuna is well drained, either will work just fine. Save the expensive stuff for other recipes. This recipe calls for extra-virgin olive oil, but for a more classic flavor, omit the olive oil and use up to 4 tablespoons of mayonnaise instead. For the chips, Ruffles, Fritos or kettle-style chips work best (especially salt and vinegar flavor), but again, the ideal sandwich uses whatever chips you happen to enjoy or have on hand.
Private Notes
Cooking Notes
You don't know how much this recipe made me smile. Will be making it this weekend. Spent several years of childhood incarcerated in a convent boarding school in north of England. Our secret treat was Walls ice cream bars layered with potato "crisps" and sandwiched between buttered white sliced bread! We were told, "only bad girls' would eat something like that. Hence, "Bad Girl Sandwiches" , fondly remembered to this day 65 years later.
My cat gets the squeezed out water, (but will not eat tuna???) I get a perfect sandwich with Ruffles, and chopped green olives instead of relish, celery, and onion if I am feeling 'fancy' but always, always, always the olives. If I am out (unthinkable!) of olives I don't make a tuna sandwich. As in period. By the way, I use ordinary, stuffed with pimento, olives in jars from the isle, not fancy olives from an 'olive bar'.
I have full faith in Kenji for any recipe (try his Detroit pizza recipe!) but I must add my own tips here. The crunch begins with celery, diced small and added with some diced onion. But complement all the salty/savory elements with the sweet snap of diced apple. The apple transforms good tuna salad into whooooaaa good.
The obvious problem with this recipe is that first one has to buy a bag of potato chips. When I do that, they don't last more than 24 hours (size of the bag doesn't seem to matter), so there's never any around to make this sandwich unless you make a trip to the store just for lunch.
My only comment is if using tuna in oil, resist the urge to dispose of the oil down the sink drain as called for in Step 1. Dump it into another container and discard, which is what you should be doing with any other fats, oils, or greases you don't want.
Substitute chickpeas for the tuna for a vegan treat.
If you grate the egg on the small holes of a box grater it disperses through the tuna very evenly and is very fluffy too
My favorite sandwich! But on good rye bread, no relish, lots of black pepper, and has to be Ruffles.
I always add at least 1 tsp of horseradish. The mayo smooths out the bite but leaves the flavor.
If you have cats, don't get rid of the tuna juice! Give it to the cats. They love it. lol. And I always use some dijon mustard in my tuna salad.
More celery, Kewpie (instead of olive oil) and chopped preserved lemon (amd maybe pickled red onions) in the tuna mixture. No need to spread mayo on bread - use romaine or Boston lettuce leaves on both sides of the filling to keep toasted multigrain bread from sogging up.
Sixty years ago my dad introduced us to piling Kitty Clover potato chips on the tuna salad then smushing down the top slice of bread (Wonder, of course). He said it was more efficient and saved time. Also, our tuna salad was always made with mustard (yellow, because we didn't know there was any other kind) and slathered atop a slice or two of good old pasteurized processed American cheese food. Still the only way I'll eat tuna salad.
I guess you don't read comments in the Cooking section often. Absent the instruction to peel the egg, a half dozen people would be asking whether to peel, and a few would wonder what to do with the shell after peeling. Or will tofu "work" instead of the egg.
Tuna salad is best on an English muffin with a slice of cheddar or American cheese toasted under the broiler. But I do like it with potato chips as well…but not in a sandwich…I scoop the tuna salad into them like a dip. Chicken salad also good this way.
In addition to sweet pickle relish, sugared jalapeños or even just the hot sugar juice liquid is an excellent addition. A good sprinkling of curry powder is delicious too, with apple and celery. To bind it all together a spoonful of Hellman’s Mayo and a bit of rice wine vinegar.
I've been eating this for as long as I can remember. My tuna salad recipe is slightly different but I've tried so many varieties of chips on my tuna sandwiches throught the years. My favorite combination is Cool Ranch Doritos which is strange because I'm not a fan of the chips by themselves.
Am I the only one that sips the tuna water instead of pouring it down the drain?
made a simpler version with just mayo, salt/pepper, egg, pickle and cucumber. yummy and quick!
Delicious!
I make this and add cumin and chili powder to taste. I also use fresh spinach instead of lettuce. It's delicious.
Never waste good flavors! That yummy "tuna juice", whether oil or water, is enjoyed by both my cats and dogs too! Likewise bacon fat (I add bacon for crunch sometimes in tuna sammies), chicken fat (schmaltz), etc. can be saved vs down the sink to add excellent flavor to potatoes (think home fries), meat, veggies, whatever you want to fry/ saute/ cook. This is what recycled little jars are useful for. Help your budget, the planet and your taste buds by using/upcycling whatever you can.
Delicious sandwich! Made a couple of small changes the second time I made it - used Kewpie Mayo for extra richness, skipped the EVOO, and added a little Dijon mustard for additional depth. Skipped the hard boiled egg, as it gets lost and I feel the egg white adds an odd texture. Wrapped it in a large spinach and herb tortilla wrap with spring mix salad greens. A wonderful lunch on a Friday while working from home. :)
This was filthy good using two leftover soy-marinated, five spice deviled eggs in place of the boiled egg and olive oil. No regrets.
Loved this! The extra chip crunch was terrific. Also enjoyed all the add ins. I enjoyed other commenters' kitty comments. Next time they get to.lick the can.
I love this recipe with one major change: I eat the chips separately. My concern was that if you didn’t eat the tuna fish all at once (and I didn’t), the chips would get soggy. The results were perfect and I will do it again!
What does this mean: “grab the boiled egg and squeeze it through your fingers into the bowl with the tuna”?
Personally, I would rather eat the chips on the side. There is plenty of crunch with the celery, onion and dill pickle. Chips in the sandwich distracted from all the other good flavors.
The tuna salad itself is good, though quite standard. Putting chips inside the finished product is an affectation. Plus, they quickly loose their crunch from the liquid ingredients.
A roommate of mine grew up eating Tuna sandwiches with peanut butter on the bread instead of mayo. It's a really delicious combo and I still make it that way.
How can 2 sandwiches serve 6 people?
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