Tuna cakes were a staple in my childhood, and I loved them to no end. I remember having them with a side of grits for dinner. I thought I was getting away with dinner murder because we didn’t have vegetables with it, not realizing my mom chopped up veggies and put them in the cakes. Silly child.
Now that I make these for my own family, I call them “faux crab cakes” because it uses the same seasonings from the creation of crab cakes, but it costs way less. Also, faux crab cakes sounds fancy, and who doesn’t love food that has a fancy name?
These are yummy, so easy and cheap to make. No need for actual crab, tuna is the star of this recipe. I made these in a smaller size as appetizers when friends came over, and they were shocked at how good they were. This is a great recipe to make with leftover mashed potatoes too!
Tuna Cakes (faux crab cakes)
Ingredients
Vegetable oil, for shallow frying
2 (6 ox) cans tuna fish
1 egg, beaten
2 tablespoons chopped onion
1/4 cup mashed potatoes (or mayo)
1/2 cup bread crumbs
1/2 cup cooked corn (optional)
1 tsp old bay seasoning or any seafood seasoning
1/2 tsp lemon or lime juice
extra bread crumbs for outside, if desired
Instructions
Heat 1 half-inch of oil in a large skillet over medium heat. While oil is heating, combine all ingredients. Form into patties (larger ones for a meal, small ones for appetizers) and dust with the leftover breadcrumbs, if desired.
Once oil is hot (look for rippling in the oil), fry patties until light golden brown, about 2 minutes on each side.
Remove from oil and drain on paper towels before serving.
Have you ever made tuna cakes for your family? Let us know if you used mashed potatoes or mayonnaise in your recipe!
I will bet I could make these with all the Free Crab meat I have. Thanks for the recipe!
precious,
thats what I would do lol. I thought about that while I was typing out the recipe. All that imitation crab meat would taste quite yummy in this recipe :o)
These sound great, with either tuna or imitation crab. 🙂
I was looking for something to cook for dinner tonight – and we have a TON of imitation crab meat from a sale around here! Thanks so much 🙂