Air Fryer Tuna Melt (Open Faced Sandwich Recipe)

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Air Fryer Tuna Melt (Open Faced Sandwich Recipe)

Making this Air Fryer Tuna Melt Sandwich couldn't be easier. The simple canned tuna mayonnaise filling is piled onto toasted bread, topped with cheese and then air fried until gorgeous and melty. If you're at all unsure about warm tuna and cheese, I promise you shouldn't knock it until you've tried it - it's a classic for a reason!

5 from 3 votes

Prep Time: 7

Cook Time: 8

Total Time: 15

Servings slices

Author Chloe

Equipment

Mixing Bowl

Ingredients

100 g Canned Tuna - drained weight
20 g Red Onion - optional
4 tbsp Mayonnaise - or Salad Cream
½ tsp Sea Salt Flakes
2 thick slices Bread
2 tsp Salted Butter
120 g Cheddar Cheese - grated/shredded

Instructions

If your air fryer requires pre-heating, start this setting now.
Drain 100g Tuna - use the lid to squeeze down onto the tuna chunks then tip to drain the brine, oil or water. Place in a mixing bowl.
Optional - Peel and very finely cut around 20g Red Onion. Add to the bowl with the tuna.
Also add 4 tbsp Mayonnaise and ½ tsp Sea Salt Flakes to the bowl.
Mix thoroughly breaking up the tuna chunks as you go.
If at this stage you feel like the tuna mix is too dry, add a little more mayo. You do want it to hold it's shape so don't go crazy.
Take 2 Slices Bread and put in the air fryer basket.
Air-fry for 3 minutes at 200c/390f.
Remove the lightly toasted bread from the air fryer and flip it over onto a board. Spread around 2 tsp Salted Butter onto the toast.
Pile the tuna mix onto the buttered toast. Divide it evenly amongst the pieces of toast.
Gently spread out the mixture to totally cover the slices - aim for an even layer rather than a mouth in the centre - this will help even cooking.
Divide roughly 120g Grated Cheese equally between the toasts. Again try to make sure you are making an even layer and all of the tuna mayo is covered with cheese.
Carefully place the toast back into the air fryer.
Air fry for 5 minutes at 180c/355f until the cheese is melted and bubbling.
Serve hot!

Notes

The air fryer version of this recipe is tested in a Cosori Lite (‎CAF-LI401S) with a 3.8 litre capacity. The square(ish) shaped basket is 21cm x 21cm and 24cm on the diagonal.
Not all models advise preheating is required. Please follow the recommended instructions for your model. Mine has a specific preheat setting which is 4 minutes at 205c.
For this recipe, I can just fit two thick 60g slices of bread in the basket at a time. This gives just enough room to allow air to circulate. But my bread happened to be long and thin so it fitted well. You may need to check the fit depending on what type of bread you're using.
As all air fryer models are a little different, you may find that you can fit more or less in at a time. Some models include stacking shelves which will increase capacity.
Required cooking times and temperatures can also vary between models and brands. If you know that your air fryer runs a little hotter than most recipes suggest, use a lower temperature. And vice versa. Equally if you find that food cooks more quickly in your machine than instructions usually state, reduce the cooking time (or check it earlier) and vice versa.

Nutrition (Approx)