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Home » Recipes » Fall in Love With This Special Air Fryer Tuna Melt!

Fall in Love With This Special Air Fryer Tuna Melt!

Filed Under: Dinner, Lunch, Sandwiches August 27, 2023

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This air fryer tuna melt is a super fast weeknight meal that is perfect for when you don’t have anything planned!

Make this and end up with a seemingly gourmet meal made mostly from pantry ingredients.

Why I love this air fryer tuna melt so much

This air fryer tuna melt is my go to dinner or lunch when I forgot to take meat out of the freezer or just didn’t have anything else on the menu. It’s also great to place on the meal plan when I’m trying to stretch my budget. Using bread and just two cans of tuna, I can transform two unassuming pantry items into a crispy, crunchy masterpiece.

This is a really simple tuna melt, if you have more ingredients on hand and are looking for something even more spectacular, I recommend this tuna panini.

What if I don’t Have an Air Fryer?

Not to worry! There are alternative ways to make this delicious crispy tuna melt! Here are a few options I recommend:

  • Pan fry the tuna melts until crispy and melted. I highly recommend medium to low heat on a non-stick pan so the cheese has time to melt without the bread burning.
  • Bake the tuna melts in the oven at 350 degrees for 5 minutes on each side. Make sure to use a metal baking sheet for this.
  • Grill the tuna melts on your outdoor grill or Blackstone griddle.

If you don’t have an air fryer but are interested in purchasing one, I highly recommend the instant omni. It’s a toaster oven and air fryer and it does a lot more than just that. I’ve had mine for 3 years and still love it! Get your own here!

How To Make an Air Fryer Tuna Melt

Start with 2 cans of tuna. I like the great value brand because it is very inexpensive and still decent quality.

You’ll need bread too. I love using homemade sourdough but, if I don’t have that I try to buy clearance bread and freeze it. This recipe is not for open faced tuna melts so you will need 2 slices of bread per sandwich. This recipe makes 4 sandwiches so you’ll want to take out 8 slices.

Making the Tuna Salad

Open and drain 2 cans of tuna and place them in a medium bowl. Add in 1/4-1/3 a cup of mayo. This depends on how you like your tuna. I like my tuna salad with more mayo but I know some people prefer less.

To the mayo and tuna, add 2 tablespoons of dijon mustard and 1/2 a teaspoon of salt and pepper. Give the tuna salad a good mix until everything is well incorporated.

Assembling the Sandwiches

Adding in fresh tomatoes is a real treat, while not 100% necessary, it’s delicious. I had tomatoes on hand from my small patio garden so I decided to add them. If you have tomatoes, on hand, I recommend you slice one up and add it to the tuna melt to be extra.

Butter one side of each slice of bread and place the bread butter side down on a cutting board or baking sheet.

Top 4 of the bread slices with the tuna mixture, dividing it evenly.

Top the tuna with the sliced tomatoes.

And as the last piece of the puzzle, add a slice of cheddar cheese. (Alternatively, you could use any favorite cheese you like such as: Monterey Jack, Swiss, Colby Jack, or any other cheese you love)

How to Air Fry the Tuna Melts

Air fry at 350 for 6 minutes.

Flip and cook for 2 more minutes. 

Impressively Crispy!

It shocks me time and time again, how crispy the air fryer can make a sandwich! Slice your cheesy, crispy tuna melts in half and enjoy! I like to serve mine with some fresh veggies, hummus, and ranch dressing for those that enjoy that over hummus!

Watch How To Make This Air Fryer Tuna Melt

You can watch me make this and 2 other fast and easy weeknight dinners in this Youtube video.

Maxed out Mom Recipes on my Youtube Channel

And for more quick, cheap, and easy inspiration check out these videos:

  • 15 Meals Kids and Moms Love
  • $5, 10 Minute Dinners
  • 10 Low Ingredient, Low Cost Dinners

MORE BUSY MOM RECIPES TO TRY

  • Cheap Family Meals Under $10
  • 7 can soup in the crock pot!
  • 10 Twists on Taco Tuesday
tuna melt stacked up

Air Fryer Tuna Melt

This tuna melt is really simple, really cheap, and really delicious! You'll be shocked at how crispy and flavorful it is!
Print Recipe Pin Recipe
Prep Time 10 minutes mins
Cook Time 10 minutes mins
Total Time 20 minutes mins
Course Main Course
Cuisine American
Servings 4

Ingredients
  

  • 2 cans tuna drained
  • 1/3 cup mayo
  • 2 tablespoons dijon mustard
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon pepper
  • 8 slices sandwich bread
  • 2 tablespoons butter softened
  • 1 small tomato sliced
  • 4 slices cheddar cheese

Instructions
 

  • Mix together the drained tuna, mayo, dijon mustard, salt, and pepper.
  • Spread the softened butter on one side of each slice of bread and place the bread butter side down on a cutting board or baking sheet.
  • Top 4 slices of bread with 1/4 of the tuna mixture each.
  • Top the tuna mixture with the sliced tomato and top the tomato with the sliced cheese on each.
  • Top the sandwiches with the final slice of bread and air fry at 350 degrees for 6 minutes.
  • Flip the sandwiches, and air fry for 2 more minutes until the cheese is melted and the bread is crispy and golden on both sides.
  • Slice in half and enjoy!
Keyword air fried, air fryer, budget meal, busy mom meal, cheap and easy dinners, easy recipe, tuna, tuna melt, tuna panini, tuna recipe, tuna recipes, tuna sandwich

Maria Ronan is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com. Links on this site may include affiliate links to Amazon and its affiliate sites on which the owner of this website will make a referral commission. Thank you for supporting Meals With Maria! My videos and website are for entertainment purposes only. Any information related to food, food safety, cooking, recipes, etc. are my opinions only. Maria Ronan is not liable and/or responsible for any advice, services, or product you obtain through this video and website.

Tagged With: air fryer, air fryer recipe, air fryer recipes, air fryer tuna melt, budget cooking, budget meals, cheap and easy, dinner, EasyRecipes, FamilyMeals, sandwiches, tuna, tuna melt, tuna melt recipe, tuna recipes

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Welcome to Meals with Maria! I’m Maria, a passionate home cook and mom on a mission to help you make everyday healthy meals simple, and holiday indulgence special. As a wife and mother of three boys, I know how important it is to balance nourishing your family with meals that are easy to prepare and budget-friendly — while still savoring the joy of holiday treats and meals out. Read More…

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