Paleo Baked Tuna Cakes – Paleo and Gluten-Free

You know that sense of dread you get when, as a mom, it dawns on you that you have nothing for lunch… and it is 10:40 hangry time? Yeah. Me too.

One major MAJOR downside to eating clean is that you have to actually spend the time to make it… meaning you usually need to plan a bit. Typically, I make enough supper the night before to eat for lunch. This particular morning, Warner woke up early, and decided to have the leftover ground beef and sweet potatoes for breakfast. No worries, a perfectly delicious breakfast.

About the only quick convenience food I keep around is tuna, which thankfully both the kids LOVE. As I mentioned, we have a plantain chip obsession, and tuna is one of those foods that falls into the “dip” category of food. Plus, it gets us a regular helping of those awesome Omega-3’s.

I did a bit of research, and the best canned tuna option I have found for us is Wild Planet Wild Skipjack Tuna. When finding a brand of tuna, it was really important to me that it be wild caught vs. farm raised. I was going to launch into a big paragraph about how much I love tuna, but this person on Amazon pretty much sums it up for me:

” I am a very careful shopper, and have realized that bigger prices do not always promise better quality. But I have come to realize that at least with SOME food products you get what you pay for, and you might pay somewhat more for this tuna…but it is truly worth it. The Tuna species “Skipjack” has one of the lowest mercury levels of all Tuna. And this one has no added water!! The 5 ounces is all tuna and it’s juices…you do not pay for oil or water. Opening the can you will find big solid chunks of tuna meat, not little semi-solid bits. Also because you don’t drain the juices, this little can gives you much more tuna flavor in your dishes.”

As the reviewer mentioned, it is pricey when you compare it to other brands of canned tuna. Even our local grocery store sells it, but I found the best price is on Amazon, using their Subscribe & Save plan.

So, we get our regular case of delicious tuna, each month. I’m happy knowing I have a really healthy option on hand for quick meals! Our go to is simply to mix up 2-3 cans with Primal Kitchen Avocado Mayo. If I have relish, I will add that in, or those rare days when we have an actual, real live ripe avocado!

Warner loves this combination so much, that I’m usually stocked up with these pantry staples. However, on the particular Monday (of course it was a MONDAY), things were aligning in a not looking good for lunch kinda way.

As I mentioned, Warner was chowing down on last night’s leftovers for breakfast. Wren would surely finish them off when she got up. Those leftovers were actually the very last of our grassfed cow, with the next one delivered some time next week. The only frozen food in our freezer at this point are whole chickens… and those take TIME.

I check the pantry- ONE can of tuna left. Our shipment of tuna was supposed to be here… today… except the post office is closed today.

So. How do you make one can of tuna stretch to fill three hungry (and in Warner’s case) particular tummies? You make tuna cakes!

These tuna cakes really pulled through and filled us all up in a hurry. Warner wanted Greek Yogurt on his, but I dipped mine in Primal Kitchen Chipotle Lime Mayo– and it was perfection!

The combination of almond flour, coconut flour, and mayo dipping sauce really fills you up. I ended up with 13 cakes, and we have a few leftover for 4 o’clock hangry snacks- which was perfect!

Are my kids the only ones who get hangry like, every hour?

I hope you enjoy these tuna cakes as much as we did! I’m planning on ordering a second case of tuna, and freezing a large batch of these. I love the idea of reheating a couple at a time for a meal, or for a quick snack… or even breakfast!

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