More of us are turning to canned meats and fish to help complete our dinner menus during this pandemic. Therefore, I thought you might enjoy trying my easy tuna jambalaya for a fresh spin on what to do with your canned tuna. With its mix of petite diced tomatoes, tomato soup, chili powder, finely chopped onion, tuna, thyme, rice, and just a tad of sugar, the tuna flavor isn’t as strong as in some casseroles, tuna patties or loaves from what I have noticed.
As promised, this tuna recipe is as simple as they come. Like I always say, I refuse to work harder than necessary when it comes to cooking and baking. The most work that you will do is opening a few cans, chopping an onion and browning it before adding the rice and the rest of the ingredients to heat through and then transferring to a hot oven.
To speed this uncomplicated recipe along further, here’s another cooking tip to chop your onion more easily. After peeling and washing the onion, I cut the onion vertically in half instead of across. Then I start cutting the dividing lines through it for chopping. This little change helps the chopping without having the onion pieces scatter and separate as it can when you cut it across. Try it and you’ll see improvement in that area.
Though a meal from canned tuna may not be your thing, utilizing it as well as other canned fish like salmon, mackerel and canned meats can be a wonderful save instead of venturing out to the grocery store if you can possibly avoid it. Furthermore, this recipe reheats well in the microwave, which is also a plus to save you a day of cooking another fresh meal.
Jambalaya originated in Louisiana in the 19th century using a variety of meats, fish and poultry with vegetables and rice. The interesting part of its history is the Creole version substituted tomatoes when searching for a saffron replacement while the Cajun variety of jambalaya skips the tomatoes.
You have a lot of creative freedom when making a jambalaya from throwing in some leftover meat, chicken or extra celery, peppers, garlic, and vegetables to economize. I hope that you try my version of jambalaya the next time that you are in the mood for tuna or want something different to serve. By the way, please browse my recipe category because I have some other family favorites using tuna that you may want to try such as my prized tuna casserole.
Easy Tuna Jambalaya Recipe
2 cans of tuna (5 oz.), drained
1 can of petite diced tomatoes (28 oz.)
1 can condensed tomato soup (10.75 oz.)
2 cups of uncooked rice
1 teaspoon salt
½ teaspoons of chili powder
½ teaspoons of thyme leaves
2 teaspoons of sugar
1/4 teaspoon of black pepper
4 cups of water
½ cups of finely chopped onion
3 tablespoons of olive oil
Gently brown the finely chopped onion in a heavy pot before adding the rice, water and the rest of the ingredients. You want this mix to briefly heat through before covering with a lid and transferring to your oven.
Bake in a 350-degree oven for about 30-35 minutes or until the rice is tender. You may want to check in on the tuna jambalaya after the first 15 minutes and give it a stir.
ENJOY!
- 2 cans of tuna 5 oz., drained
- 1 can of petite diced tomatoes 28 oz.
- 1 can condensed tomato soup 10.75 oz.
- 2 cups of uncooked rice
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoons of chili powder
- ½ teaspoons of thyme leaves
- 2 teaspoons of sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon of black pepper
- 4 cups of water
- ½ cups of finely chopped onion
- 3 tablespoons of olive oil
-
Gently brown the finely chopped onion in a heavy pot before adding the rice, water and the rest of the ingredients. You want this mix to briefly heat through before covering with a lid and transferring to your oven.
-
Bake in a 350-degree oven for about 30-35 minutes or until the rice is tender. You may want to check in on the tuna jambalaya after the first 15 minutes and give it a stir.
-
ENJOY!
