Whole30 Tuna Cakes with Dijon Sauce

Love a good tuna cake? Here is one to add to your menu planning, it combines great flavor and simplicity resulting in a delicious and healthy meal for those busy weeknights, or any night. And I must confess, the tuna cake might just be a vessel for the dijon sauce, it is soooo good! I have ideas for using the dijon sauce in a few different recipes - more to come!

One of my favorite things about this recipe is the tuna cake is coated in flax seeds for a crunchy coating. no “dredging” in flour here! What a great idea, and one that I will be trying on other meats! This provides a crispness to the outside that mirrors what a flour coating would provide, such a cool little trick!

INGREDIENTS -

For the tuna cakes -
2 or 3 6-oz cans tuna, flaked
1 egg, lightly whisked
1 green onion, sliced
3 Tbsp mayonnaise, Chosen Foods Whole30 mayonnaise is my preferred
1 Tbsp almond or cassava flour
2 Tbsp parsley, chopped
2 tsp capers, chopped
1-2 Tbsp flax seed, spread on a plate
Olive oil for fry pan
Chopped parsley and/or green onion for topping, optional

For the sauce -
3 Tbsp mayonnaise, Whole 30 approved
2 tsp dijon mustard
2 tsp white wine vinegar
1 tsp capers, chopped
1/2 tsp dried dill
1/4 tsp each salt and pepper

I’ve made these tuna cakes both by baking in the oven and another time by frying in a cast iron skillet. The frying method has won my vote, baking wasn’t a failure, but the tuna cakes were a bit more moist cooked in the skillet.

Prepare your skillet by coating it with olive oil. For the cakes, mix together the tuna, egg, green onion, mayonnaise, flour, parsley, and capers in a medium bowl. You might as well dig in with your hands to mix this up because the next step is forming 4 patties and you are going to get messy anyway 😃. Sprinkle both sides with salt and pepper and then dip each side onto the plate of ground flax seeds, or you can sprinkle the flax seeds on the cakes and gently pat them in.

For the dijon sauce, mix together all of the sauce ingredients and allow to sit while you are cooking the tuna cakes.

Heat about a tablespoon of olive oil in the fry pan to medium high. Gentle place the patties in the fry pan and cook for 3-5 minutes on each side, depending on the thickness of your tuna patty. The flax seeds brown up nicely and make a delicious crispy coating!

To serve, drizzle dijon sauce over the tuna cakes, and if you have extra parsley or green onion, sprinkle those on top. Enjoy!