The World’s Best Tuna Melt
on May 05, 2020, Updated May 23, 2025
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English muffins are a great base for these open-faced tuna melts with melted cheese.
The tuna melt is one of our favorite go-to lunches at home, beloved by all members of my family. The classic tuna melt can be made on basically any type of bread, but I usually do open-faced tuna melts on English muffins.
I am a braggy, unabashed fan of my own tuna fish recipe, which appears in The Mom 100 Cookbook. If you want to switch it up, you could sub in Italian Tuna Salad! I like serving it with Tomato Soup or Minestrone for a super comforting lunch.
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What's In This Post?
The World’s Best Tuna Melt: Start with great tunafish salad, pile it onto a toasted English muffin, top with cheese and bake for one of the best open-faced hot sandwiches ever.
Ingredients
- English muffins – I love using English muffins because they get nice and crunchy and provide a sturdy base for this sandwich.
- Solid white AND light tuna fish – White tuna has a very subtle flavor and a very firm texture, while light tuna has a rich flavor and a moist texture. The combo of the two makes the perfect tuna, in this tuna lover’s opinion. Drain the tuna well.
- Mayonnaise – Add just enough mayonnaise to make the tuna salad creamy and rich but not wet, which would make the bread soggy.
- Onion – The bite of raw onion is essential to the best tuna melt. Red onion or yellow onion is both fine.
- Celery – A classic tuna salad ingredient, adding freshness and crunch.
- Sweet relish – Adds a bit of sour sweetness, deli-style.
- Dijon mustard – When you see how much a bit of Dijon perks up the flavor, you’ll never make tuna without mustard again.
- Cheddar cheese – You can substitute any low-moisture, melty cheese that you like.
How to Make a Tuna Melt
- Toast the English muffins: Preheat a toaster oven or the regular oven to 375 degrees. Toast the English muffin halves for about 3 minutes, until very lightly browned. Remove and leave the oven on.
- Make the tuna salad: Mix the tuna, mayo, onion, celery, relish, and mustard in a medium-sized bowl. Add the salt and pepper and blend well with a fork.
- Build the sandwiches: Divide the tuna mixture over the 4 muffin halves, placed on a baking sheet. Top each with 1/4 of the shredded cheese.
- Bake and serve: Return the sandwiches to the oven and bake for about 5 minutes, or until the cheese has melted. Serve warm.
Tips and Substitutions
- You can use any kind of mustard here, but I like Dijon for its strong spiciness.
- Make the tuna up to 3 days ahead of time, store in the fridge in an airtight container, and assemble and bake the sandwiches whenever you want one.
- You can use chopped dill pickles, such as cornichons or half sours, instead of the relish.
- You can place tomato slices on top of the tuna fish on the English muffins before adding the cheese if you like.
- Also try Canned Salmon Salad in this recipe, instead of the tuna, for a salmon salad melt.
FAQs
A tuna melt is a sandwich made up of bread, tuna salad, and melted cheese. I like to make my tuna melts open-faced. The bread can be any kind of sliced bread you like; whole wheat, rye bread, and sourdough are great options, but my favorite choice is an English muffin.
You can feel free to play around with the cheeses you use to top your melt. Shredded cheese or sliced cheese both work well. Cheddar is always a good bet, and Swiss, a Mexican blend, Monterey Jack, or a Pepper Jack are also solid choices. Anything with a low moisture level that melts nicely will work. Turn your oven broiler on high for just a minute toward the end so that the cheese begins to turn golden brown, if desired.
Solid white tuna results in a salad that can be too dry unless you add an unconscionable amount of mayonnaise, and using all light tuna can be perceived by kids (and adults) as too fishy. The 50/50 combo results in a tuna fish that is nicely in the middle.
You might find a different balance to your taste or just not have both on hand. That’s perfectly fine. I usually use tuna in water, though if you prefer tuna in oil, you can definitely use that. You could also use part tuna in water and some tuna in oil if you want a richer result. Italian or French tuna is excellent. I clearly have many thoughts on canned tuna.
What to Serve With a Tuna Melt
Potato chips are always a great option! Or try:
More Tuna Recipes
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Open-Faced Tuna Melt
Ingredients
- 2 English muffins
- 1 (6 1/2-ounce) can solid white tuna fish (drained)
- 1 (6 1/2-ounce) can light tuna fish (drained)
- ¼ cup mayonnaise
- 2 tablespoons minced onion
- 2 tablespoons minced celery
- 2 teaspoons sweet relish
- 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper (to taste)
- 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese (or cheese of your choice)
Instructions
- Preheat a toaster oven or the regular oven to 375 F. Toast the English muffin halves for about 3 minutes until very lightly browned. Remove and leave the oven on.
- Mix the tuna, mayo, onion, celery, relish, and mustard in a medium-sized bowl. Add the salt and pepper and blend well.
- Divide the tuna over the 4 muffin halves. Top each with 1/4 of the shredded cheese and return to the oven for about 5 minutes until the cheese has melted. Serve warm. If you want to give the tuna melts a minute under the broiler at the end to really make sure the cheese is melty, go for it.
Notes
- Solid white tuna results in a salad that can be too dry unless you add an unconscionable amount of mayonnaise, and using all light tuna can be perceived by kids (and adults) as too fishy. The 50/50 combo results in a tuna fish that is nicely in the middle.
- You can use any kind of mustard here, but I like Dijon for its strong spiciness.
- Make the tuna up to 3 days ahead of time, and assemble and bake the sandwiches whenever you want one.
- You can use chopped pickles, such as cornichons or half sours, instead of the relish.
Super simple with a classic taste. I opt out of the celery (personal preference) ,use green onion instead, on ciabatta bread or sourdough and top it with arugula or spinach. We always come back to this recipe. Thank you
I made them in my air fryer with thick handsliced cheese. Love the dijon in the tuna. Will most definitely make these again
These were delicious tuna melts. We left out the onion and relish but may add it next time. We loved the English muffins, great recipe!