Tuna Croquettes

After a busy day, I looked at the clock and realized that the dinner hour was upon us; in fact I had exactly twenty minutes to get supper on the table. Thankfully, I usually prepare a double recipe of tuna croquettes, my regular Tuesday night blue-plate special, and freeze half. I raced to the freezer and looked everywhere for my stash of fish patties but came up empty-handed. Clearly I had miscalculated. Time was of the essence and I had to start my preparations from scratch.

Tuna Croquettes

I turned to Kosher by Design Short on Time, by Susie Fishbein, for my favorite recipe for tuna croquettes. Sorry Susie, I didn’t have enough tuna in the pantry and there was no time to fry the patties. The clock was ticking. I quickly combined the ingredients that I had on hand and gave the thick mixture a few turns with a spatula. Winging-it, I filled a plate with cornflake crumbs and carefully rolled each patty in the crunchy, crushed cereal bits in order to obtain a crispy, golden outer crust. I placed the patties on a prepared baking sheet and quickly popped the pan into the preheated oven. Eyeing the clock worriedly, I tried to remember the phone number for take-out pizza. Fifteen minutes later, I pulled the piping hot croquettes out of the oven and took a cautious bite of my hastily improvised dinner. Fluffy and soft on the inside with a crackly exterior, these tuna patties, prepared in mere minutes, were winners.

Assemble your ingredients. Preheat the oven to 425 F. and line a large baking sheet with parchment paper. In a large bowl mix the tuna with the matzo meal or breadcrumbs, mayonnaise, eggs, garlic powder, onion powder, dried minced onion and salt. Mash the tuna well with a fork and stir until well combined.

Add 2/3 cup of cornflake crumbs to a large plate. Form the tuna mixture into patties. I usually get nine patties from this recipe. Gently coat each patty with crumbs and place the patty on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Spray the tops of the patties with cooking spray and place the pan in the preheated oven. Bake for 15 minutes. (If you have the time, refrigerating the tuna patty mix for a half an hour allows it to firm up a bit. This makes it easier to form the patties.)

Print Recipe

Tuna Croquettes

Meat, Chicken and Fish

By Based on a recipe by Susie Fishbein, Kosher on Design Short on Time, adapted by me – Serves: 8

Prep Time: 5 minutes – Cooking Time: 15 minutes – Total Time: 20 minutes

Moist and fluffy tuna patties with a golden crispy crust

Ingredients

• 3 (5 oz. or 170 g.) cans of solid white tuna in water, drained
• 2/3 cup unsalted matzo meal or breadcrumbs
• 1/4 cup mayonnaise
• 4 large eggs
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
• 1/2 teaspoon dried minced onion
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• To prepare the patties for baking:
• 2/3 cup of cornflake crumbs (for coating the patties)
• Cooking spray

Instructions

1

Preheat oven to 425 F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

2

Place the drained tuna in a large bowl and mash well with a fork to break it up. Mix the tuna with the matzo meal or breadcrumbs, mayonnaise, eggs, garlic powder, onion powder, dried minced onion and salt. Stir until well combined.

3

Add 2/3 cup of cornflake crumbs to a large plate.

4

Form the tuna mixture into patties. Gently coat each patty with cornflake crumbs and place the patty on the prepared baking sheet. Spray the tops of the patties with cooking spray and place the pan in the preheated oven. Bake for 15 minutes.

Notes

The tuna patties can be frozen. You can reheat them directly from the freezer. Bake them at 400 F. for 10-15 minutes. If time allows, refrigerate the tuna patty mixture before forming the patties to allow it to firm up a bit.