Make An Unforgettable Tuna Melt With An Easy Bread Swap

Tuna melts are a diner classic, offering a delicious comfort food that blends a heaping portion of creamy tuna salad with melted cheese and crunchy, crispy bread. This grill-top staple has graced the plates of Americans since the 1960s — but what if there was an easy way to amp up the classic recipe?

To elevate your simple tuna melt, swap the traditional slices of white bread for a crispy and delicious English muffin. It may seem like an unconventional choice, especially considering English muffins are generally viewed as a breakfast food, typically enjoyed with just butter or a bit of jelly. However, the nooks and crannies signature to English muffins provide a fantastic foundation for tuna melts, allowing the cheese to melt into the bread perfectly without getting soggy. Plus, its crunchy exterior is the perfect contrast to the sandwich's creamy texture. This, combined with the bread's slightly sour taste, helps to highlight the best aspects of the classic sandwich. Swapping your white bread for an English muffin can add a new twist to the classic, transforming the humble, and often overlooked, staple into something entirely new and unforgettable.

But what if English muffins aren't to your liking? Well, there are a few other bread alternatives that might be the perfect choice for your tuna melt. Rye bread, for instance, could be a wonderful selection. Rye bread is also a diner staple, and has a sour taste similar to that of an English muffin or sourdough, with a slightly earthy taste due to the inclusion of caraway seeds. These seeds add a slight licorice flavor that gives complexity to the hearty dish without overpowering it.

Of course, a tuna melt requires a more robust bread that can withstand the moisture of the tuna salad. A slice of hearty sourdough, for example, is up to the challenge. Its tart taste naturally enhances the flavors of the dish. Best of all, sourdough won't become soggy when grilled on a stovetop. This advantage applies to English muffins as well, which feature a crust on both sides, allowing for grilling without the bread turning into a mushy mess. And though swapping out your bread might seem like a minor change to a classic sandwich, it can make all the difference.