Spicy Tuna Cakes
- 15m Prep Time
- 25m Cook Time
- 40m Ready In
These spicy tuna cakes are made with canned tuna, sweet potato, and jalapeño, baked in a muffin tin for easy portioning. Serve with lemon wedges for a bright finish.
Ingredients
- 3 melted ghee divided
- 10 ▢ ounces canned albacore tuna packed in water drained
- 3 ▢ scallions thinly sliced (about ⅓ cup)
- 2 ▢ tablespoons finely minced fresh cilantro
- 1 ▢⅓ cup mashed baked sweet potato
- ▢finely grated zest from ½ medium lemon
- 1 ▢ tablespoon minced jalapeño pepper
- 2 ▢ large eggs
- ▢½ teaspoon red pepper flakes
- ▢Kosher salt
- ▢Freshly ground black pepper
- 3 ▢ medium lemons cut into wedges (optional)
Nutrition (per serving, estimated)
Estimated based off 9 of 12 identified ingredients (per 100 g food data, scaled by amount).
Vitamins & minerals
- Calcium: 127 mg
- Iron: 3.11 mg
- Magnesium: 70.1 mg
- Phosphorus: 298 mg
- Potassium: 887 mg
- Zinc: 1.17 mg
Let's Prepare
Collect
Gather these ingredients — no prep needed yet.
- 3 melted ghee divided
- 10 ▢ ounces canned albacore tuna packed in water drained
- 3 ▢ scallions thinly sliced (about ⅓ cup)
- 2 ▢ tablespoons finely minced fresh cilantro
- 1 ▢⅓ cup mashed baked sweet potato
- ▢finely grated zest from ½ medium lemon
- 1 ▢ tablespoon minced jalapeño pepper
- 2 ▢ large eggs
- ▢½ teaspoon red pepper flakes
- ▢Kosher salt
- ▢Freshly ground black pepper
- 3 ▢ medium lemons cut into wedges (optional)
Let's Cook
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Step 1.
Preheat the oven to 350°F, and use a brush to grease a 12-cup regular sized muffin tin with one tablespoon of melted ghee. (Or skip this part and just line the tin with parchment muffin liners!) In a large bowl, mix together the tuna, scallions, and cilantro. Add the mashed sweet potato to the tuna mixture, and gently combine. Then, mix in the lemon zest, jalapeño, the remaining two tablespoons of ghee, eggs, and red pepper flakes. Season with salt and pepper to taste. I normally use 1½ teaspoons of Diamond Crystal brand kosher salt, but your taste may vary. (Not sure if you’ve added enough S&P? Take a small portion and fry up a little pancake to see if the seasoning is right!) Use your hands to mix everything together because that way you can make sure that the fish chunks aren’t overly broken up. Scoop a ¼ cup of the mixture into each greased muffin tin cup and flatten with the back of a spoon. Bake the tuna cakes for 20-25 minutes or until an inserted toothpick comes out cleanly. Transfer the cakes to a wire rack to cool. The easiest way I’ve found to get them out is to put the wire rack on top of the muffin tin, flip everything upside-down, and tap them gently on the counter. Grab a lemon wedge and squeeze some juice on your tuna cake before your pop it in your mouth.