TUNA BREAD CUPS
Creamy, cheesy tuna bread cups are super moreish, easy to make and cost effective too!
The bread makes a simple, budget-friendly alternative to pastry. Basic (but nice and soft!) sandwich bread is best, and white, multigrain or wheatmeal varieties all work well.
Leaving the crusts on saves time, looks nice and rustic and helps to hold the filling in too.
The filling is creamy and delicious, and easily varied if you don’t like seafood. Try shredded roast chicken in place of the tuna, and pop a piece of bacon on top instead of prawns. Yum!
A Mediterranean-style chickpea salad is the perfect accompaniment, and a little bit more interesting than your standard side salad.
TUNA BREAD CUPS
Creamy, cheesy tuna bread cups are super moreish! The bread makes an easy and budget-friendly alternative to pastry. Serve with a Mediterranean-style chickpea salad.
Ingredients
BREAD CUPS
- Cooking oil spray
- 10-12 pieces soft sandwich bread
- 1 red onion, divided
- 2 cloves garlic
- 1 handful fresh parsley (optional)
- 25 g butter (0.9oz)
- 2 1/2 Tbsp plain flour
- 1 1/2 cups milk (375ml)
- 1 tsp chicken or vegetable stock powder
- 1 tsp Dijon mustard
- 3/4 cup grated cheddar cheese (75g)
- 400 g can whole corn kernels, drained (14oz)
- 185 g can tuna in spring water, drained (6.5oz)
- 12 shelled raw prawns (optional)
SALAD
- 1/2 telegraph cucumber
- 50 g pitted cocktail olives (1.8oz)
- 1 handful fresh parsley (optional)
- 100 g feta cheese (3.5oz)
- 400 g can chickpeas, drained (14oz)
- 60 g baby spinach (2.1oz)
- 2 Tbsp apple cider vinegar
- 2 Tbsp olive oil
- 1 tsp caster sugar
- 1 tsp Dijon mustard
Instructions
MAKE BREAD CUPS
Preheat oven to 180ºC (360ºF) fan bake and lightly grease 2 x 6-hole Texas muffin pans with cooking oil spray. Gently press bread into muffin pans. Bake for 5 minutes, until just lightly toasted.
Finely dice onion, crush garlic and finely chop parsley, if using. Melt butter in a large saucepan on medium heat, until bubbling. Add two thirds of the onion (set the rest aside for the salad) and garlic and cook until just soft. Stir in flour and cook for 1 minute. Gradually whisk in milk to form a smooth sauce.
Once all the milk is added, stir in stock powder and mustard. Cook for a few more minutes, stirring, until sauce has thickened and coats the back of the spoon. Stir in cheese to melt, then stir in corn, tuna and parsley. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
Scoop mixture into bread cups and top each one with a prawn, if using. Bake for 12-15 minutes, until golden brown.
MAKE SALAD
Meanwhile, dice cucumber and cut olives in half. Roughly chop parsley, if using. Place cucumber, olives, parsley and reserved onion in a salad bowl and crumble feta over the top. Add chickpeas and spinach.
Combine vinegar, oil, sugar and mustard in a small jar and shake well. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Drizzle over salad and toss to combine.
ASSEMBLE AND SERVE
Serve tuna bread cups with salad on the side.
Recipe Notes
WINE MATCH: A Sauvignon Blanc.
GLUTEN-FREE OPTION: Use gluten-free bread or wraps (choose the softest option you can find, and warm first if needed). Use plain gluten-free flour. Make sure stock powder is gluten-free.
INGREDIENT SWAPS / NOTES: Any type of soft sandwich bread can be used - white, multigrain or wheatmeal. If you don’t like tuna and prawns, try swapping for shredded roast chicken (about 250g / 8.8oz) and add a little strip of bacon instead of a prawn on top.
EQUIPMENT TIP: If you don’t have Texas muffin pans you could use ramekins instead. You can also try regular-sized muffin tins as an alternative (you may need to cut the crusts off the bread).
STORING AND REHEATING: Bread cups are best reheated in the oven (you can warm a little in the microwave first, to avoid over-toasting the bread before the filling is warm). I wouldn’t recommend reheating in the microwave alone, as they will be very soggy. Salad keeps well for 2-3 days in the fridge.
