Baked Tuna Meatballs
Baked tuna meatballs are a healthy seafood spin on your average meatballs. They’re easy to make with a few cans of tuna fish and perfect for a low-carb snack or topped on zucchini noodles for a full meal.
Think of tuna meatballs as tuna patties in ball form. These savory bites are a blend of canned tuna fish, fresh vegetables, and savory herbs. They’re light in flavor (so perfect for picky eaters), but just as juicy, tender and filling as your typical meatball.
Better yet, did I mention they’re super easy to make? All you need to do is mix a few ingredients, roll them into balls, and bake in the oven until lightly golden. And since they’re bite-sized, they make for the perfect healthy snack or delicious addition to a salad or bed of greens.
Tuna Meatballs Recipe Video
Want to see how I make this recipe? Watch the video below!
Who Needs Beef When You Have Tuna?
There’s no doubt tuna gives beef a run for its money when it comes to meatballs. And with the addition of garlic, herbs, and spinach, the flavors in these are pretty irresistible. To break it down, you’ll need…
- Olive Oil – Just a little to sauté some of the vegetables.
- Garlic – A couple of minced garlic cloves for savory goodness.
- Onion – We’ll sauté the onion so it’s mellow and not pungent.
- Spinach – A few cups of sneaky spinach boost this recipe
- Tuna – You can use canned tuna or fresh, cooked and cooled.
- Almond Flour – Just a little helps to bind these meatballs together.
- Eggs – Our liquid binder that works with the almond flour and other ingredients.
- Mayonnaise – Just a tablespoon keeps these meatballs incredibly moist.
- Lemon Juice – A splash of fresh lemon juice always pairs well with tuna.
- Fresh Parsley & Dill – You can use a variety of chopped herbs, but these are my favorite.
- Salt and Pepper – Because everything is better properly seasoned.
How To Bake Tuna Meatballs
Baking these meatballs keeps them healthy and low in oil. But before we start baking, we’ll need to quickly sauté the vegetables. Here’s the process:
- Sauté. Heat the oil in a pan over medium heat and give the diced onion and minced garlic a quick saute. Then add the chopped spinach and stir for 1-2 minutes, or until it’s slightly wilted.
- Let the spinach cool. Transfer the onion spinach mixture to a bowl to let it cool (this is important!). You can also pop it in the fridge for a bit.
- Prep. Preheat your oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Add ingredients. Drain your canned tuna and place it in a large bowl in with the cooled vegetables, almond flour, eggs, mayonnaise, lemon juice, herbs, salt and pepper.
- Get mixing. Dig in with your hands and mix everything together while breaking up large chunks of tuna. Remember: the finer the mixture, the easier it will stick together.
- Make the balls. Use a medium-sized cookie scoop to scoop the mixture and mold it into a ball. Then, place the balls in an even layer on the baking sheet.
- Bake. For about 20-25 minutes. Until they’re a beautiful golden brown.
- Serve. You can eat these right away or let them cool before storing away.
A Few Tips
Here’s a few tips to get the perfect meatballs.
- If your balls are too soft. Depending on the brand of canned tuna you use, your tuna may be more moist (even after draining). If so, just add a couple tablespoons of almond flour or coconut flour (which is highly absorbent). Or reduce the lemon juice by 1/2 tablespoon in the future.
- Want to cook on the stovetop? No problem. Place the first batch of meatballs in the pan with a little oil. Cook the meatballs for 2-3 minutes on one side, then rotate them, so that all sides are browned. This should take about 15 minutes. Then when the first batch is done, remove to a plate and start the next batch.
The Perfect Meal Prep Recipe
For those who love to meal prep on a Sunday night, you’re in luck. These tuna meatballs are great for storing in the fridge for 3-4 days and in the freezer for up to 3 months.
When you’re ready to eat, simply microwave them for a minute or so!
Fun Ways To Serve Tuna Meatballs
While these are the perfect bite sized snack or lunch idea, don’t stop there. Serve them as an appetizer or dress them up for a fancy dinner. Here’s a few fun ideas to get you started.
- Appetizer: Serve these balls on a plate with a spread of homemade tzatziki, vegan tzatziki or marinara sauce.
- Snack: Microwave a few for a quick high protein snack that will tide you over between meals.
- Lunch: Make a salad and place a few on a bed of fresh greens or zucchini noodles.
- Dinner: Serve these alongside roasted vegetables such as broccoli or sautéed greens like swiss chard and cabbage.
More Savory Bites
Need savory appetizers or quick snacks for the week? Here’s a few favorites that will work for just about anything.
- Falafel
- Classic Deviled Eggs
- Baked Zucchini Fries
- Baked Yucca Fries
- Soy Garlic Ginger Chicken Wings
- Pork And Fennel Meatballs
- Goat Cheese Zucchini Fritters
Baked Tuna Meatballs
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1/2 medium onion, finely diced
- 2 cups baby spinach, chopped
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 3 5-ounce cans tuna, or one pound cooked tuna
- 1/4 cup almond flour
- 2 beaten eggs
- 1 tablespoon mayonnaise
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
- 2 tablespoon chopped fresh dill, chopped
- salt and pepper, to taste
Instructions
- Heat the oil in a pan on medium heat. Add the diced onion and minced garlic and saute for a minute. Then add the chopped baby spinach and saute for another 1-2 minutes or until the spinach is wilted.
- Transfer the onion spinach mixture to a bowl and let it cool. You can place the bowl in the fridge to speed this up.
- Preheat your oven to 400 degrees fahrenheit.
- Drain the cans of tuna and add the tuna to a mixing bowl along with the cooled vegetables, almond flour, eggs, mayonnaise, lemon juice, parsley, dill, salt and pepper.
- Use your hands to dig in and mix everything together, breaking up any large chunks of tuna. The finer the mixture, the easier it will stick together.
- Use a medium cookie scoop to scoop out evenly sized amounts of mixture. Use your fingers to mold this into a ball, then place it on a parchment lined baking tray.
- Bake the tuna meatballs for 20-25 minutes, or until lightly golden.
Lisa's Tips
- The recipe makes 20 tuna meatballs.
- For picky eaters when it comes to seafood, this recipe is more mild in flavor than my salmon patties, so give it a try!
- If your meatballs are too soft you can add a little more almond flour or coconut flour (which is highly absorbent).
- This is the cookie scoop I use and love.
My favourite snack ever
Happy to hear this has made it to your favorite snack list :)
This is so great idea! Tuna balls are so tasty – warm and cold! For lunch and for snack! Love them
Hi Suzana – they really are the perfect snack! I’m so happy you love them!
These are so good!! I’ve made them 4 or 5 times now and I need to put them away quickly or I could eat a whole batch to myself!!!
Great hot or cold, a great snack to have on hand.
Happy to hear you’ve enjoyed these tuna meatballs! Definitely a great snack to have on hand.
This Recipe is absolutely delicious, I’m not a huge fan of tinned tuna, but this combination makes it’s heavenly! I have this almost weekly :)
Yay! Now you can find a way to enjoy canned tuna :)
Thank you Lisa for another wonderful recipe. We had these for lunch yesterday and they were very tasty and have a great texture. I took your tip and added extra coconut flour to hold the mix together as the tuna was still quite moist after draining (and squeezing in paper towels) and the balls did hold their shape beautifully. I’ll try them with your vegan tzatziki next time. Also, very easy to make. 😊
Amazing! Glad this recipe turned out to be a success Danica :) Can’t wait for you to try it with tzatziki next time!
I made these into patties and cooked them on the stove and paired them with your chipotle sauce. AMAZING! My family loved them.
Wonderful! And sounds amazing with the chipotle sauce :)
Thanks for this fantastic recipe, these are delicious, we had them with sautéd zoodles, might make a double batch next time and freeze them :)
Wonderful! Glad you enjoyed these tuna meatballs!
Hello Lisa,
They look delicious!
Do you think these would freeze well?
Thank you!
Absolutely! These would make for a great meal prep freezer recipe :)
I made these this week and have been munching on them all week with delight. Will definitely be in regular rotation. Might add a little chilli next time. Thank you Lisa.
Wonderful! These are seriously the best little savory bites to have stored in the fridge :)
Made these to try and they were delicious but on the dry side. Should I add more mayo next time to add moisture? Thank you and thank you for your YouTube channel and philosophy in the kitchen. You’re right up my alley with wanting to cook healthier, cleaner, and living simply. So, thank you.
Hi Brenda- Yes, you can try adding more mayo next time :)
Hi Lisa, love your recipes, easy to make and healthy. The mealprep idea was new to me, but I try to integrate it more and more. I personally love the tuna balls with marinara sauce, they fit perfectly together 😉. Raw Zucchini noodles were also new to me and with the basil pesto a wonderful light dinner in summer. Thanks and much success with your next projects.
Hi Claudia- I’m glad you loved these tuna meatballs with marinara! Haven’t tried that yet, but will do so :) Can’t wait to hear about more recipes you whip up this summer!
SO GOOD! I discovered your blog about two weeks ago and it’s like the food blog I always dreamed about – healthy, but not vegan and full of really easy, creative recipies that actually work. I have made your mayo, basil pesto, zoodle caprese salad, roasted paprika hummus (it’s exam season, so I like everything I can just throw together and blend) and they all turned out perfect. The tuna balls are my favourite
so far. They went really well with zucchini wedges! Thanks for all the inspiration and I’ll stick around :)
Wow, that’s amazing! Thrilled to hear you’ve enjoyed so many of my recipes already, including these tuna meatballs :) Can’t wait to share tons more Downshiftology recipes in the coming year!
I’m not going to lie…I was a little skeptical about a fish meatball. But these were tremendously easy to make with a lot of kitchen staples, and they turned out so good! The fishy tuna flavor becomes much more mild after baking so they can easily be added to pasta, salad, etc.
So glad I could change your mind about the idea of a fish meatball! :)
Perfect. They were soooo good! The first batch didn’t last long…
Making a second batch soon!
Always good idea to make a big batch of these :)
Holy crap these are great. My husband is raving about these. we expected this to be a nice addition to lunch but they ended up being something so good we may make them as special apps for guests!!
Hi Nicole- These tuna balls really are great for anything, whether it be lunch, snack, appetizers, or dinner :) So glad everyone enjoyed them!
I made these last night and was pleasantly surprised at how good they are! I don’t know why I was surprised as we have thoroughly enjoyed all the recipes we have tried and they have become keepers. My only note is that it takes me longer to prep than you but I did enjoy making these; your recipes are not only good but fun!
Hi Sharon- Happy to hear these turned out great! It was a recipe that I made on a whim, but after a few tests, I loved how delicious they came out.
This is (another) keeper! The meatballs were a little soft (could be the tuna) so added a little bit coconut flour and they turned out perfect.
Love the recipe- thank you Lisa!
Wonderful! Always finding new ways to cook with good ol’ tuna :)
These are going to be definitely a thing for me, as they turned out perfect and were delicious. I was a bit worried first that they would flake apart when I roll them, but actually I found they were as easy to roll as normal meatballs.
Hi Celine- Happy to hear you found these meatballs easy to make! Definitely another fun way to cook tuna :)
Can i replace almond flour with chickpeas flour/ quinoa flour?
Yes, that should work.
You wll cringe at the aproach I used. I am 83 male live alone. My meals depend what is in my pantry. So, Popeye can spinach, corn meal flour, dried dill and parsley. Looks bad but is yummy. By the way, the written instructions do not include “addind the spinach onion mixture “set aside”. Good reciipe!!
Hi Erich- Glad this turned out great with the things you had on hand. And thanks for the heads up! Just added that quick detail into the recipe card :)
I am going to make these with all the fresh tuna we caught, after cooking it of course. Lisa, have you stopped including metric weights in your recipes? I really appreciate it so much. Please reconsider. Great recipes and great channel!!
Hi Tia- Thanks for noticing that! I’ve actually just added in the metric conversion so it should appear now :) Hope you enjoy these meatballs!
Hi. We don’t have an oven. How can we cook it in the stove? Thank you!
Hi Brett- I’ve actually included stovetop instructions in the post! You’ll find it under the section: “A Few Tips”.
Delicious!! Thank you for this recipe. It was perfect as is, and I served it with a cucumber tzarziki.
Wonderful! The tzatziki with these meatballs is definitely a match made in heaven.
Dear Lisa, I tried this recipe today and the tuna meatballs turned out amazing! They are so easy to make and so delicious. We ate these with sriracha-yoghurt dip. Thank you for the recipe xxx
Hi Jade- Happy to hear your tuna meatballs were a success! Sounds great with a yogurt dip :)
What could we use instead of mayo?
Hi Elena- You can try using yogurt instead of mayonnaise!
Is there anything else that can be substituted for the almond flour for the binder? My husband is suppose to limit his intake of nuts, especially almonds due to kidney stones.
Hi Rose- You can probably use any gluten-free flour blend to help bind this :)