The boys requested burgers one week. I pulled up my files of Great-grandma’s recipes and searched for “burgers”. The only recipe for a more traditional burger was the Blast-Off Burger I recently posted. The rest were probably stretching the boys’ definition of burgers, but I’m not going to let their lack of vision slow me down. 
I have this sort of hate relationship with tuna. I enjoy it when it’s raw, like normal people do, but can’t stand it cooked. Not even a beautiful tuna steak that is perfectly seared on the outside. When I was a kid, I ate the tuna casserole that was on the hot lunch menu at school. I don’t remember hating that sort of greyish mass with noodles. It wasn’t nearly as good as the rectangles of cheese pizza, but it wasn’t the worst thing the hair-netted lunch ladies came up with. The gluey, flavorless macaroni and cheese was far worse.
When I announced that I was making this for dinner there was only one person at my house that was even slightly excited. My husband has fond memories of his mom’s Tuna Noodle. (Which I think is a cold pasta salad. My sweet husband’s strengths are not in describing food.) The boys groaned. The girl declared that she “hates tuna”. (I’ve never even served it to her, so…) Everyone declared they weren’t eating dinner before I had even started to prepare it. I just gave them an evil smile, told them that that’s all we were having, committed fully, and forged ahead.
I opened the cans of tuna and tried to not to gag as I drained them. I added the rest of the ingredients and realized that the proportion of tuna to the rest of the ingredients meant that there was minimal tuna in each patty. I carefully fried each one and ate a little crumb that had fallen off one of the cooked patties. It was crispy and melty and not a bit tuna-y. It reminded me more of a crab cake. Not one of those cheap crab cakes, either. Like a legit crab cake. I called John over to try another of the small pieces that had fallen off of the cooked patty. He looked surprised. “That’s really good!” he exclaimed. It wasn’t really a fair test. He likes most everything I cook and was the only one of us that liked tuna to begin with. 
I set to work combining the rest of the ingredients. Half into a pan to bake immediately and half into an aluminum tray that would get wrapped and thrown into the freezer. I left my beans frozen and figured they’d just cook in the oven. I might not skip that step next time, but really, the noodle/bean mixture was not the most interesting part of the meal. I’ve got some ideas of what I’d like to do next time and none of them involve cream of chicken soup and frozen green beans. 
I gently set the crispy brown tuna burgers on top of the creamy noodles, and covered with foil. I feared that my beautiful, flaky, delicately crunchy burgers would turn into unrecognizable, soggy pucks of sadness, but faithfully followed the recipe, dying a little inside as I did. I was already trying to combat the pre-judgement of my three biggest critics and the idea of serving them something that had once been good nearly had me reaching for a box of macaroni and cheese that they may or may not eat.
Thirty-Five minutes later, I pulled the hot casserole out of the oven and peeled off the foil. I poked at one of the burgers. It was still crackly to the touch. It didn’t give easily! I breathed a sigh of relief. Perhaps…
I brought the casserole to my perfectly set table and put it onto my brass pineapple trivet. Three faces glared at me. More than one bottom lip was out and the pouts turned to protests. “I’m NOT eating that.” declared the children. “This is what we are eating for dinner.” I responded calmly. I served each child a burger and a pile of noodles and green beans. As they took their first bites, they stared at me with rebellious squinty eyes and I watched each one of those faces change as they made their way through their first servings. I tried to hide my “told you so” face as some of them helped themselves to seconds.
There is currently a second tuna burger casserole in my freezer, ready to pull out an hour and a half before dinner some day.
The Recipe:
For more great make ahead dinners, check out my 7 Make Ahead Dinner Ideas for Busy Moms and Other Important People. Try some Cornflake Bars for dessert.
It is a cold pasta salad, and it was quite the treat in our family!
I’ll have to get the recipe from your mom and make it for you. But the real question is…Tuna noodle or hot chicken salad?
Elizabeth and I love tuna! It is the one food Dan doesn’t eat. The other day I made tuna burgers and, no surprise, we were the only ones who ate them. But they are a favorite of mine but only when I don’t have salmon or crab to make burgers! They are my first choices for alternative burgers. Fish On!! 😀
Your husband! He’ll eat Chunky Soup out of the can, but won’t eat tuna. These tuna burgers are much better than I was expecting them to be. I recommend trying them the next time you make tuna burgers.
I dislike all sea- and fresh-water food, but I will make an allowance for a tuna casserole, once in a rare while. However, these burgers look rather tasty. I might actually give ’em a try. Thanks!
I grew up on the shores of Lake Superior and have loved seafood forever. Tuna, however, is something I have a hard time getting around. These were way better than I was expecting them to be, even if the casserole part was ho hum.