Tender on the inside, golden brown and crispy on the outside, these tuna potato patties are simply scrumptious. With fresh parsley, green onion and dried dill, they take a simple can of tuna from basic to something extra special.
What’s something that you always have in your pantry? Me? Canned fish.
Often, I’ll have canned fish for a quick lunch because it’s so darn convenient. One of my fave things ever? A small can of tuna, a spoonful (or two) of kimchi and some green olives. Random, right? So good, though.
When I’m not enjoying canned fish as is, I like to make something a little more substantial. Some canned fish recipes that we really enjoy are old-fashioned salmon patties and sardines on toast (also another great lunch, by the way!)
Today, I’m sharing super simple tuna potato patties (also known as tuna potato cakes). Much like my mom-in-law’s salt cod fish cakes, the base of these are, of course, seafood and mashed potato.
These tuna potato patties can be enjoyed for lunch as is, but they’re great for a simple dinner with a side, or even for brunch with some poached eggs.
Why We Love These Tuna Potato Patties
- Tuna potato patties are a great way to use any leftover mashed potatoes.
- They’re made with less than 10 ingredients (including salt, pepper and cooking oil).
- They’re made with simple ingredients that you probably have on hand.
- This recipe is pretty inexpensive to make.
- Of course, they taste absolutely delicious!
How To Make Tuna Cakes With Potato
Full details are in the recipe card below, but here are the basics:
- In a bowl, mix together cooled leftover mashed potato with canned tuna, egg, green onion, parsley, dill, salt and pepper. Tip: I like to leave some of the tuna a little chunky for some texture.
- Using a round ice cream scoop, form the tuna potato mixture into balls. Then gently flatten the tuna potato balls into patties.
- Working in batches, heat some avocado oil or vegetable oil in a skillet and cook tuna cakes until golden brown on one side.
- Flip to cook the tuna cakes the other side. Easy, right?
How Do They Stay Together?
Cooled mashed potatoes works as a great binder (along with egg). These tuna fish cakes are a little delicate, but fry up beautifully (and taste even better).
If you like, you can add a little flour to the mix if you feel you want them to bind a little more, but that’s totally optional.
What To Serve With Fish Cakes
Enjoy tuna potato patties on their own or with any of these:
- Tartar sauce
- Wedges of lemon
- Mustard pickles
- Simple bowl of soup
- Green salad
Tips and Variations
- Ensure that your mashed potatoes are cold. Warm mash won’t work well here.
- Instead of green onion, try some minced chives or a little finely chopped yellow onion.
- Use 3 times the amount of fresh dill as dried (as dried is more potent).
- Don’t have dill on hand? Try some dried thyme instead.
- A pinch of ground cayenne pepper works great here too.
More Yummy Canned Tuna Recipes
If you make these tuna potato cakes, be sure to leave a comment below!
Tuna Potato Patties
Ingredients
- 2 cups COLD leftover mashed potatoes
- 2 (6-ounce or 170-gram) cans solid white (Albacore) tuna in water, drained well
- 1 large egg
- ¼ cup chopped green onion, plus more to taste for optional garnish
- 2 to 3 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley, plus more to taste for optional garnish
- ½ teaspoon dried dill (dill weed)
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- 3 to 4 tablespoons avocado or vegetable oil, for pan frying the tuna potato patties
- Lemon wedges, for serving (optional)
- Tartar sauce, for serving (optional)
Instructions
- In a bowl, mix cold mashed potatoes with tuna, egg, green onion, parsley, dried dill, salt and black pepper until combined. Note: I like to leave some chunks of tuna for texture, but you can mix up more if you like.
- Using a round ice-cream scoop (about ¼ cup), make patties. Scoop up the mixture into a ball, and then flatten a little to form patties.Note: You will roughly yield 8 to 9 patties.
- To cook tuna potato patties, heat 2 tablespoons of avocado oil or vegetable oil in a 12-inch cast-iron skillet over medium-low to medium heat.
- Add 4 patties to the skillet. Cook the patties for 2 to 3 minutes on one side.Note: Cook in two batches, about 4 patties at a time.
- Flip the patties to the other side and continue to cook for another 2 to 3 minutes or until they're golden brown and crispy on the outside and cooked through. Be careful flipping as they are a little delicate. Once done, transfer to a serving plate.
- Repeat process to cook remaining 4 patties.
- Serve with some green onion and parsley on top and a wedge of lemon and tartar sauce (optional). Enjoy!
A note on times provided: appliances vary, any prep and/or cook times provided are estimates only.
Tried this recipe?
If you do make this recipe, thank you!! It would mean so much if you could leave a comment below. Love to know how you enjoyed it, and it helps other readers too!
Vickie
I tried making these & I’m not sure what I did wrong. They came out total mush & did not firm up at all. It basically was more of a patty scramble. Lol.
Dawn | Girl Heart Food
Hi Vickie! Sorry they didn’t turn out for you. A couple of things that I could think of is when forming the patties to make sure the tuna is well drained and your mashed potatoes are cold. Also, if your potatoes are extra creamy or looser, for example, then that would likely impact how well your patties come together. If you give this recipe a go again, you can certainly try mixing in a little bread crumbs or all-purpose flour to bind them a little more. Hope that helps!
Rosa
Made these tonight. They were ok but rather bland. They needed some more flavour. Probably won’t make them again.
Dawn | Girl Heart Food
I totally understand if they aren’t for you! If you do try them again, feel free to add a little more green onion, parsley, dill, salt or pepper.
Karen (Back Road Journal)
You are right Dawn, your tuna potato patties would be great for brunch with some poached eggs. Yummy.
Dawn - Girl Heart Food
Totally! Happy you agree! Thanks Karen!
Valentina
Dawn, these look fabulous. I love how perfectly they crisp up in the pan. I’m in! Have a great weekend. 🙂 ~Valentina
Dawn - Girl Heart Food
Happy to hear it! Thanks Valentina!!
Shashi at SavorySpin
I never seem to have any mashed potatoes left over but this is an excuse to buy more potatoes! These patties sound and look so delicious – I cannot wait to try them. Hope y’all have a great weekend! XO
Dawn - Girl Heart Food
Definitely! Thanks Shashi! Hope all is well with you! XO
Jennifer @ Seasons and Suppers
Such a great idea and they look so delicious! I have somehow managed to grow quite a collection of cans of tuna myself 🙂 Can’t wait to try these!
Dawn - Girl Heart Food
Thank you Jennifer! Hope you enjoy them!
Katherine | Love In My Oven
These look so substantial!! A perfect dinner. The addition of potato is perfect, they look so thick and hearty. Yum!
Dawn - Girl Heart Food
Totally! Thank you Katherine. They’re great for any meal!
David @ Spiced
This is indeed a great way to use mashed potatoes! We often make potato cakes with a bit of cheese, but going with the tuna route is calling to me – the lemon + tartar sauce is making my mouth water right now! I love this idea, and I’m totally stashing it away for the next time we have mashed potatoes!
Dawn - Girl Heart Food
They tend to do that, lol! Hope you enjoy these David! Thanks so much!
Laura
Dawn – you’re so right – what a perfect way to use leftover mashed potatoes – I love this idea! Definitely going to try this with those! Thanks for the easy recipe!
Dawn - Girl Heart Food
Thanks Laura! Hope you love them!
Michelle | Sift & Simmer
These tuna patties look so yummy! Love the addition of the herbs and potato to it, delicious!
Dawn - Girl Heart Food
Thank you Michelle! They certainly add a lovely flavour!
Jalee
Good recipe! 4 out of 5 only because I did have to add more seasonings to suit my family’s taste. I found this while looking for one to use up leftover mashed potatoes since I had no other protein available to accompany the leftover potatoes. It’s also a great gluten-free option.
I chose to do a higher tuna to potato ratio for mine. I substituted white onions for green as that’s what was on-hand. After reading a few comments, I added additional seasonings to my taste. I made sure to taste the mixture prior to adding the eggs.
My potatoes were fairly dry so there was no issue of mush as others experienced. Keeping in mind that eggs add some element of liquid, some tuna varieties drain better than others, and everyone makes mashed potatoes differently, my suggestion would be to keep a box of flakes handy in case your mixture becomes too wet. Using leftover prepared mashed potatoes, as opposed to only the flakes, also adds more flavor.
I thought my seasoning was acceptable but expected them, still, to turn out a bit bland. Pan frying them really brought out the flavor. My family, even my kids minus the finicky toddler, loved them. I served with cocktail sauce, because that’s what I had at home, and it paired well.
My biggest mistake was using too much oil and a little too high heat in the beginning. It even popped and splattered in my face. Of course I turned down the heat immediately. Once a few were made, and a little greasy, the oil level decreased and they turned out beautifully.
They do, however, need a decent amount of oil. For anyone trying to avoid grease and considering very lightly coating the pan or spraying it with an oil spray, I wouldn’t recommend it. They may cook through but I don’t believe you will achieve the beautiful color and flavor that comes from lightly pan frying. The last 2, out of probably a dozen or so, were cooked with the remaining oil, which was only enough to keep the pan nonstick, and they look bland and boring. Haven’t tried them yet but plan to reheat them in a little oil.
Dawn | Girl Heart Food
Thank you very much for the feedback, Jalee!! I’m so happy you enjoyed the recipe and, yes, you can certainly adjust the seasoning to your taste. 🙂