Italian Canned Tuna Meat Loaf Recipe

This tuna meat loaf made with canned tuna, is an old Italian recipe: polpettone di tonno. It is one of my backup recipe I make when I am running out of food. It is made with ingredients I always have in my kitchen, plus it can be made ahead of time, stored in the fridge and served cold with a salad.

Jump to:

• Origin of this recipe
• Ingredients
• Step by step instructions with images
• When to serve it and side dishes
• Substitutions
• Equipment
• Storage
• 📋 Tuna Loaf

Origin of this recipe

This recipe is from a classic Italian cooking book: Il cucchiaio d'argento (the silver spoon).

It is a very easy recipe my mother would make if she had no time to go to her daily market shopping and the fridge at home had limited choices of food.

All the required ingredients are very common, most of the time you will have them stocked up in the fridge and pantry: canned tuna, eggs, breadcrumbs, Parmesan and some fresh herbs.

To make my life even easier, I always have in my freezer a bag full of breadcrumbs flavored with garlic, Parmesan and parsley or basil.

I use it so often and it is so convenient to have it ready in the freezer. I don't even have to defrost. As it does not solidify, I can just get the amount I need and keep the rest in the freezer.

You can read more about my freezer supply in the article: What food do you freeze? 

Ingredients

The ingredients needed for this recipe are very simple and easy to stock up at home.

• Canned tuna: I always have several jars of canned tuna at home as an emergency supply. It is very important to buy a good quality of canned tuna. Tuna stored in water is usually tasteless. Although, tuna stored in cheap olive oil is even worst. I prefer to buy the tuna canned in the glass jar and stored in good olive oil. I like to see the nice chunks of tuna, not loose mushy meat of unknown origin.
• Fresh eggs: I have my own chickens so my eggs are always fresh
• Italian seasoned Breadcrumbs: I always have in my freezer a bag of breadcrumbs mixed with Parmesan, basil or parsley and garlic. I use it so often that having a bag ready in the freezer save me so much time in the kitchen. You can see how I prepare it in the next paragraph. The ingredients are:
  • Stale bread
  • Parsley or basil
  • Grated Parmesan cheese
  • Garlic

See recipe card for quantities.

Prepare the breadcrumbs

1. Blend with an electric blender a cup of shredded breadcrumbs with basil or parsley leaves and a garlic clove
2. Add the grated parmesan to the breadcrumbs
3. Stir with a fork to remove all the lumps

Step by step instructions with images

1. Strain the tuna from its olive oil
2. Mix the tuna, the prepared breadcrumbs and the eggs
3. Place the mix into a aluminium foil or cheese cloth
4. Roll it like a salami and tie the ends

5. Place the tuna wrapped in foil or cheese cloth in the steamer or in the boiling water
6. Steam for 20 minutes in the pressure pan or simply steam or simmer in water for 1 hour.
7. Once cooked, unwrap it and let it cool down completely.
8. Once cold cut it into slices and lay them on a serving dish.

Hint: Wait until it is completely cold before slicing it otherwise it will break. If you want to increase the dose, make 2 rolls instead of a larger one. A larger roll will need more time to cook.

When to serve it and side dishes

As this tuna loaf is eaten cold, it can be prepared ahead of time and kept in the fridge until it is time to serve it.

It can be served with a simple fresh salad and some mayonnaise or aioli.

I like to serve it with French Tabbouleh, a fresh couscous salad that keeps in the fridge for days.

Another great side dish is grilled summer vegetables salad like zucchini, eggplants and peppers marinated with extra virgin olive oil, garlic and basil. They also keep in the fridge for 3 to 4 days.

If I have long busy week, I can just get these dishes out of the fridge and have a dinner ready to be served for several days. They are so good, no one minds having the same food 2 days in a row.

Substitutions

In this recipe you can substitute the canned tuna with canned salmon or mackerel.

It is also a great way to use leftover fish.

Besides aioli, you can also serve it with homemade mayonnaise, a lemon vinaigrette (extra virgin olive oil, salt, and lemon juice)

Equipment

I make this recipe in my pressure cooker steamer, it is very convenient and it only takes 20 minutes.

For convenience I wrap it into aluminium foil as I don't like the mess of a cheese cloth.

If you don't have a steamer you can simply wrap it in cheese cloth and boil it.

In fact, in the original recipe the tuna loaf is wrapped in a cheese cloth and boiled in water for 1 hour.

Storage

Once cold cover with a cling wrap, store in the fridge and it is ready to be served. It will keep for 3 to 4 days.

It is not suitable for freezing.

If you are making the tuna loaf recipe, leave your comment below I would like to hear from you. You can find more delicious ideas if you FOLLOW ME on Facebook, YouTube, Pinterest and Instagram or sign up to my newsletter.