This healthy, easy tuna pâté is flavourful and well-balanced with a smooth creamy texture. The savoury tuna blends well with the velvety crème fraiche, the brightness from the herbs and zinginess from the lemon juice.
Homemade tuna pâté is a tasty and healthy option that is perfect as a snack or appetizer. It is low in calories and makes a refreshing change to the usual butter-laden pâtés.
Enjoy with other healthy snacks like celery sticks, carrot sticks or as a tuna spread on slices of rye bread fingers.
For more dips and sauces, try this easy beetroot hummus, rocket pesto and pistachio pesto.
What's to love about this tuna pâté
- Low calorie content at 90 calories per portion.
- Uses canned tuna which is economical and readily available.
- Gluten free snack.
- Very quick and easy to make, it takes no more than 5 minutes.
- Can be enjoyed with a variety of accompaniments.
- High protein.
- Good source of vitamin D. A 100g serving of tuna offers around 270 IU of vitamin D. That's over 30% of the daily recommended intake.
- Rich in folic acid.
- Tuna is also rich in vitamin B12, a form of vitamin B responsible for helping the body form new red blood cells.
- No butter.
- No mayonnaise.
- No cream cheese.
- No olive oil.
- No need for a food processer.
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Key ingredients and substitutions
Tuna - Which tuna to use? To keep things low calorie, use tuna in spring water or brine. The more expensive canned tuna tends to contain quite solid tuna chunks, whereas cheaper tuna is shredded. Since this recipe requires the tuna to be broken up, there is no need to splurge on the more expensive, 'solid' tuna.
If you're using tuna in brine, the tuna might already contain salt, so take care when adding any additional salt.
You can also use cooked and flaked tuna steak.
Crème fraiche - This will be the healthier 'binding' agent in this pâté whereas other pâtés tend to use cream cheese and/or butter.
Herbs - This recipe uses dill and chives, but you can add any of your favourite herbs. Good additions would be coriander, basil and fresh parsley. You can also add a pinch of chilli flakes for more of a bite.
Flavourings - Lemon juice, spring onion and garlic are added for extra zing. Adding a few chopped capers or lemon zest would also provide an extra flavour punch.
Variations
You can add a couple of tablespoons sweet chilli sauce to the tuna pâté. If you're opting to have this as healthy as possible, be mindful of the additional sugar in sweet chilli sauce, if using.
You can also add a splash of Sriracha sauce (chilli sauce), Tabasco, garlic powder or a pinch of red chilli flakes if you're after a bit of a kick.
Also consider incorporating finely chopped spring onions.
How to make tuna pâté
How to prepare the tuna:
- Drain any excess moisture from the canned tuna.
- Place the tuna in a small bowl and break it up as finely as possible with a fork. We don't recommend using a food processor as it will make the pâté too mushy.
Assemble the pâté:
- Add all the ingredients bar the chives and combine.
- Lastly, add the chopped chives and stir through. Test for salt and serve!
Serving suggestions
- Scatter over a sprinkling more chives, your choice of herbs and freshly ground black pepper.
Enjoy with...
- Celery sticks
- Carrot sticks
- Chunky red pepper slices
- Crackers
- Rye bread fingers
- Crostini
- Serve on top of a baked potato
- Baguette toast
- Fresh crusty bread
Storage
This tuna pâté will keep well covered in the fridge for up to 3 days. Store in an airtight container or tightly covered in plastic wrap.
Not suitable for freezing.
FAQ
You can have 2-3 portions of light tuna per week whilst pregnant. However, you should limit your intake of tuna because it contains more mercury than other fish.
It's usually advised not to consume pâtés while pregnant. This is because most pâtés are made from liver which contains high volumes of vitamin A which can be harmful to babies.
This recipe's main ingredient is tuna, so it would be safe to enjoy in moderate quantities.
More recipes to serve alongside tuna pâté
Recipe
Healthy tuna pâté
Ingredients
- 100 grams tuna - drained
- 3 tablespoons crème fraiche
- 1 teaspoon lemon juice
- 2 tablespoons spring onion - finely chopped
- 1 teaspoon minced garlic
- ½ teaspoon dill - fresh chopped, or dried from a jar
- salt and pepper to taste
- 2 tablespoons chives - finely chopped
Instructions
- Drain any excess moisture from the canned tuna. Place the tuna in a bowl. Break it up as fine as possible with a fork
- Add the crème fraiche, lemon juice, chopped spring onion, garlic, dill, salt and pepper. Combine well
- Add the chopped chives and stir through. Spoon into a bowl and serve
**Nutritional data disclaimer**
Please keep in mind that the nutritional information provided below is calculated by a third party and we cannot guarantee the accuracy. We try our best to give you the most accurate information, but we do not take responsibility for errors that may be present. Also, the nutritional value of the recipe may change depending on the exact brands and products used. We recommend that you consult with a qualified healthcare professional or registered dietitian for personalised advice on your dietary needs.
Nutrition
For food safety advice, including guidance on food allergies
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