Alyse Whitney's Tuna Melt Dip
The dip queen shares a recipe from her cookbook, "Big Dip Energy"
My favorite diner sandwich is a tuna melt, which elevates a humble can of tuna into something spectacular. Homemade will never taste as good as a diner... so I transformed it into a dip! It has a mixture of American and cheddar cheese (which is normally a surcharge at the diner) and a smidge of cream cheese to make it more of a creamy dip than just tuna salad. And in spite of my hatred of pickles (I know, I’m a monster—I just really dislike cucumbers), I added them to this dip, and they bring an acidity and brightness that nothing else could. If you love pickles, try using whole spears as dillicous dippers!
—Alyse Whitney
Check out Alyse’s cookbook!
Ingredients
1 can (5 ounces) tuna, preferably whole chunk in oil, drained
¼ cup mayonnaise
2 ounces cream cheese, softened at room temperature
¼ pound thinly sliced deli cheddar cheese, torn into pieces
¼ pound thinly sliced deli American cheese, torn into pieces
3 tablespoons minced red onion, plus more for garnish
2 tablespoons aggressively rough chopped dill pickles, plus more for garnish
¼ teaspoon kosher salt
10 cranks black pepper
2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh parsley leaves
4 slices rye bread, toasted and cut into sticks, for dipping
Method
Preheat the oven to 350°F.
In a medium bowl, combine the tuna, mayonnaise, cream cheese, half of the cheddar and American cheeses, onion, pickles, salt, and pepper. Mix gently to combine. Spread the mixture evenly in a 1-quart baking dish and top with the remaining cheddar and American cheeses.
Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, until golden brown and bubbly. Top with the parsley, and more onion and pickles, if you’d like, and serve with rye toast dipsticks.
FAQs
CAN IT BE MADE IN ADVANCE? It can be prepped in advance, but bake it off just
before serving.
HOW LONG WILL IT KEEP? Up to 4 days in the fridge, and it can be eaten cold as a schmear on a bagel or broiled atop bread for a tuna melt toast. Or mix it with some cooked elbow noodles for a version of tuna mac salad.
From Big Dip Energy by Alyse Whitney. Reprinted by permission of William Morrow, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers.
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