Turn Canned Tuna Into Taquitos For An Easy Meal

Canned tuna is one of the most consumed seafood products in the U.S. because it's affordable and versatile. Salads, sandwiches, and pasta are among the most common canned tuna recipes, but taquitos are the novel dish that would taste delicious with a canned tuna filling. Ground beef, chicken, or even pureed potatoes are common single-ingredient taquito fillers, but canned tuna provides the perfect meaty and tender texture and a burst of umami for a taquito. Famous canned tuna brands like StarKist offer flavored pouches like hot Buffalo, jalapeño, and rice and beans in hot sauce, saving you the trouble of seasoning or adding extra ingredients to the taquito filling.

Tuna taquitos are simple to make, and you can bake, air fry, or oil-fry them in a skillet to achieve that crisp, golden exterior. Simply blend canned or pouched tuna with mayonnaise or sour cream and any additional spices, sauces, or veggies to create the filling you'll roll into flour or corn tortillas. Heat the tortillas in the microwave wrapped in a damp cloth or on a griddle to ensure they're pliable before adding the tuna filling and rolling them tightly into tubes. Place them seam-side down on a baking sheet or air fryer basket, spray or brush them with oil, and bake them in the oven at 375 degrees Fahrenheit for 15 minutes. They'll only take eight minutes in the air fryer at 400 degrees Fahrenheit or five minutes to deep fry in oil at 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

Flavored tuna pouches are convenient resources to cut down on your ingredient list, but a standard can of water-packed tuna provides a blank slate for your own filling ideas. You could use flavored mayonnaise or flavored cream cheese to bind the tuna, along with canned veggies like peas, carrots, and corn for texture and a bit of sweetness. Chipotle mayo, tuna, corn, and diced red onion sprinkled with shredded mozzarella cheese would make a well-rounded spicy, sweet, and smoky tuna taquito. You could make a jalapeño popper tuna taquito with a filling of cream cheese, bacon bits, diced bell pepper, and a jalapeño tuna pouch. For a colorful and zesty taquito filling, blend tuna with shredded carrots, chopped celery, diced pickled jalapeño, sour cream, and a packet of taco seasoning, finishing it with a sprinkling of pepper Jack cheese.

As for dipping sauces and garnishes, tuna taquitos would taste delicious topped with shredded lettuce, tomatoes, sliced avocado, and a drizzle of Mexican crema. An umami-rich, spicy tuna taquito would also pair well with a tangy tomatillo salsa or the avocado crema used in this recipe for chicken taquitos. A chunky tomato salsa is the perfect umami pairing to enhance the oceanic notes of the tuna. You could serve them with this charred tomato salsa for a smoky and sophisticated dipping sauce.