Spicy Tuna Burgers

I have never liked canned tuna. It’s usually mixed together with mayonnaise and pickles…two of my least favorite things. But I LOVE tuna steak. So every now and then I do recipe searches for tuna, and in this particular case I overcame my distaste for canned tuna and I am really glad I did.

This burger is delicious, filled with veggies and spicy Sriracha. It does use canned tuna, but I buy a nice-quality yellowfin, which is less processed than some other tunas, and thus a bit tastier. The whole combination makes a very loose, soft burger that is excellent alongside the extra fresh veggies. I will say that the Sriracha really does pack a punch, so if you are not big on spicy, you might want to substitute ketchup for half or all of the chili sauce.

If you don’t eat red meat, this is a complex, tasty alternative to a hamburger!

Chop up the red pepper, red onion, and celery. This is made ridiculously easy if you have a food chopper (the kind you can just hit a few times and it chops everything into teeny weeny pieces). When all is said and done, it makes a pretty picture! But sadly…my food chopper met a bitter end as soon as I finished chopping, when I accidentally knocked it on the floor. To all Pampered Chef consultants: I am currently an easy target…

Mix all of the burger ingredients together in a large bowl. I just use my hands and squish everything around until it is well mixed.

Form into 4 patties. As I said earlier, the burgers are very soft, so you may want to drop them right onto a hot skillet as soon as you shape them.

Most of the ingredients in the burgers are already cooked (except the egg) so they don’t need to heat very long, just a few minutes on each side in order to give them a nice sear.

Drop the burgers onto lightly toasted whole wheat hamburger buns. Top with sliced tomato and a few crisp leaves of lettuce. I also spread a little light mayo on the top bun, to add some moisture and cut the spice just a little.

Spicy Tuna Burgers

adapted lightly from Allrecipes.com
serves 4

Ingredients:
1 6oz. can tuna, drained
⅓ cup minced onion
¼ cup minced celery
⅓ cup minced red bell pepper
1 egg
½ cup seasoned bread crumbs
¼ cup light Miracle Whip
2 tbsp. chili sauce (Sriracha)
¼ tsp. salt
¼ tsp. fresh ground black pepper
2–4 drops Tabasco sauce
splash of Worcestershire sauce
4 whole wheat hamburger buns
1 large tomato, sliced
romaine lettuce

Directions:
Combine all but the last three ingredients in a bowl and mash together until well blended. Divide equally into four parts. Form into patties; the mixture will be very soft, so handle carefully.
Spray a light layer of cooking oil into a skillet. Heat skillet on medium high heat. Carefully set patties into skillet and allow to cook for 3 minutes.
Meanwhile, begin toasting hamburger buns.
Flip burgers; they should be browned. If the first sides were too dark, be sure to cook the second side a little less.
Set burgers onto hamburger buns and top with tomato and lettuce.

Enjoy!

4 comments to “Spicy Tuna Burgers”

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  1. Stephanie - August 24, 2011 Reply

    those look really good! i’m definitely going to try them!

  2. Stephanie - September 8, 2011 Reply

    small question- should that really be 1 6 oz can of tuna? i used a 12 oz can and it seemed to be the right amount. . . but then again, i left out 2/3 of the veg 😉 i don’t like celery and onion is scary!!

    • Melissa - September 8, 2011 Reply

      I thought it was a small amount of tuna, too, but it worked for me! Tasted like tuna, but not overwhelmingly, and it made 4 decent-size burgers. But if you are using less filler, maybe the extra tuna is necessary. Actually, the extra tuna probably makes the whole mixture a little more dense…mine made a very soft burger. How was the consistency?
      As far as the two veggies you don’t like, maybe you could use different veg instead? I, personally, don’t taste the celery much at all, but if you don’t like it, maybe you could try grated carrots?

      • Stephanie - September 8, 2011 Reply

        The consistency was pretty good. They fell apart a little bit because I forgot to spray the pan and they stuck a little bit. Oops. Overall, though, quite good, even without the celery and onions! 🙂

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