Tuna Melt in a Tortilla
Pouch tuna, mayo packets, and a hard cheese, griddled flat on a tortilla.
- calories
- 640
- weight
- 7 oz
- cal / oz
- 91
- protein
- 33 g
- serves
- 2, scales
- prep
- 5 min
- cook
- 6 min
- total time
- 11 min
- water
- none
- cost
- $
Calorie and protein figures are my own estimates, good enough for planning a food bag and not meant as precise nutrition data.
- Lunch
- Dinner
- Canister stove
- Grill grate
- Campfire coals
- Car camping
- Backpacking
- Basecamp
- Canoe / raft
- Nut free
- One pot
- Grab and go
- Shelf stable
- Basic
Ingredients
| Foil pouch tuna | 2 pouches, 5 oz each | pouches beat cans; no draining, no sharp lid |
|---|---|---|
| Mayonnaise packets | 4 to 6 packets | about 3 tbsp total, shelf-stable until opened |
| Dijon mustard | 1 tsp | a packet or a squeeze from a tube |
| Dried minced onion | 1 tbsp | stands in for fresh red onion |
| Dried parsley | 1 tsp | |
| Salt and pepper | 1/4 tsp each | |
| Flour tortillas | 4, 8-inch | they do not crush like bread |
| Hard cheddar | 3 oz | aged cheddar rides unrefrigerated for a couple of days |
| Sun-dried tomatoes | 6 halves | the oil-packed kind, blotted, or dry ones snipped small |
| Olive oil | 1 tbsp | for the pan, in place of butter |
Method
- Open the tuna pouches into a pot or a freezer bag. Add the mayo, dijon, dried onion, parsley, salt, and pepper. Stir or squish until it holds together.
The original is a diner tuna melt on buttered sourdough with celery, red onion, and a sliced tomato. Every one of those is a refrigerator item or a crushable item, so they got swapped: dried minced onion for the red onion, sun-dried tomatoes for the fresh slices, a hard aged cheddar for the deli slices, and oil for the butter. Celery is gone entirely. It was there for crunch, and nothing shelf-stable does crunch after four minutes in a hot pan.
Tortillas replace bread because bread arrives at camp as crumbs. Folded in half over the filling, a tortilla griddles into something close to the same thing: crisp outside, melted cheese, cold-mixed tuna warmed through. No water goes into this recipe at all, which matters on a dry camp — the whole meal costs one oiled pan and one spoon.
Packing
Dry seasonings premixed in one small bag. Tortillas flat against your pack's back panel so they stay round. Cheese and tuna pouches wherever they will not get punctured.
Variations
- Swap the cheddar for a wax-sealed gouda in hot weather; it holds shape longer.
- No stove: skip the cheese melt and eat it as a cold tuna wrap.
- A few crushed potato chips inside add the crunch the celery used to.
https://mealswithmaria.site/tuna-melt-panini-recipe