BBQ Tuna (Tastes Like Pork--Really)

Submitted by grantg

"The mind boggled when I saw this recipe in a CHURCH cookbook... I thought "revolting" so why was I compelled to try it and why am I posting it here? For privacy reasons I will generalize to keep the church & location confidential but think in terms of the area in which you live. Imagine the oldest church in YOUR area having this recipe in its cookbook which was prepared under the guidance of 15 women in the church: all with prominent names in social and political circles spanning generations. WOULD these women include a terrible recipe? Would any of them LIE to you about its being worthy of making? HMMMMM... suffice it for me to say I'm not sure I'd declare it really tastes like pork! However, I will say that IF anyone served this BBQ does NOT know it has tuna in it, I suspect most will not guess tuna as the first guess. In fact, this IS fairly tasty IF you can get past the fact that TUNA is the basic ingredient! Are you brave enough to try? It is low cal, low fat, high protein, and diabetic friendly! (The book was old enough that I did have to tweak the ingredients because tuna is no longer in 6+ ounce cans.)"

 

• Ready In: 35mins
• Ingredients: 9
• Serves: 2-3

ingredients

• 2 (5 ounce) cans chunk tuna, in-water & well-drained (original recipe did not call for draining liquid)
• 4 (1 g) packages sugar substitute (brand of choice)
• 3 tablespoons wine vinegar (I used Red WV)
• 3 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce (I used L&P)
• 3 tablespoons prepared yellow mustard (French's)
• 3 tablespoons dried onion flakes
• 1⁄4 teaspoon chili powder
• 1⁄4 teaspoon liquid smoke (hickory... optional, my addition)
• 1⁄2 cup water (my addition to replace liquid drained off tuna)

directions

1. Open tuna cans, cutting fully around, and expel as much liquid as possible while pressing down upon lid very hard! (Necessary IF you want to improve odds that tuna will not be suspected.).
2. Combine ALL ingredients in a small saucepan and stir well to blend completely.
3. Bring to a boil over medium heat while stirring; then immedialely reduce to a low simmer for a few minutes. Keep stirring to prevent scorching!
4. Remove from heat and allow to rest a few minutes to assure onions rehydrate before serving.
5. Makes enough moist, not wet, BBQ for 3-4 sandwiches; serve on buns as any other BBQ.
6. I recommend using additional Carolina Style Mustard BBQ Sauce to moisten the Tuna BBQ to a preferred consistency more moist than this basic recipe. I'm partial to my own Caroline Style Mustard BBQ Sauce(Recipe #446238) -- a take off of Mike Mills' Mustard BBQ Sauce.

Reviews

[kathy30340]

I already know this recipe is great, and I want to thank you for posting it. In the 1970's, Weight Watchers required its members to eat fish five times weekly, and for people on a small budget, tuna was the thing, and it still is. With the new SmartPoints, what was old is new again because fish is one of the leanest proteins out there, and members get satiety for a low number of SmartPoints. Somewhere in a collection from those old days, I have a Weight Watchers booklet, stained with spills and yellowed with age, that contains this recipe and others. When I find it again, I'll calculate the SmartPoints and see how it works. Thanks again!

 

[Suseme]

This was originally a Weight Watchers recipe, and I used to fix it all the time about 25-30 years ago. It was originally printed on those yellow recipe cards WW handed out, that had three or four recipes to the page....I always liked it because it really hid the tuna flavor, and had a good flavored BBQ sauce with it! Thank you for posting it--I've been looking for it.

 

[dakotah]

I made this and I double the recipe. I fooled my daughter she ate it. That was great because she is a picky eater. I did, however put hickory BBQ sauce in it because I didn't like that it was still not dark enough. I didn't however fool my husband, but he kept asking what kind of meat is this. I would only say BBQ, because of my daughter was all ears. I think it was good. I don't think it quite taste like BBQ. My daughter loved it that is what counts. Thank you for a wonderful recipe. Chef#220151

 

[Lucky in Bayview]

I have to admit that I was a little skeptical. I have a hard time imagining tuna and bbq sauce being compatible, but I fully enjoyed my sandwich. Obviously the texture could never be the same as pork or chicken and won't fool anyone that way, but the flavor might. I wish I hadn't added as much water, the mixture was pretty wet. I thought it might ooze out of the sandwich as I ate it, but I let it sit on the bun a couple minutes and it stayed put. Thanks for sharing this fun and lighter version of a bbq sandwich, I would make it again.

 

[thinkfirst]

I had to tweak the recipe but I kept the general guideline of draining the tuna really well. I don't like so much vinegar and mustard. I will change that next time. I added sauted onions, green pepper and garlic. I added some catsup and regular BBQ sauce to get a good consistency. Flavor is great.