Give Your Tuna Melt A Flavorful Fiber Boost By Adding One Freezer Staple

When running down a list of ingredients that can be used to upgrade a tuna melt, there were some surprising additions — eggplant, anyone? Another veggie mix-in scanned as equally outlandish at first, and then we really got thinking about things. Why not put plump, sweet frozen peas in tuna salad for melts? Sure, we'd definitely cook them first (nobody wants to break a tooth on a frozen pea in their sando), but these verdant orbs are actually a hack for a sweeter, better-textured tuna blend. As a perk, they can help keep our tummies content.

Peas, which are actually a member of the same legume family that gives us beans and chickpeas, are found in many a home cook's freezer. Mixing tuna and peas isn't completely unprecedented ... we've seen these two ingredients starring in pasta salads that might have a happy home at a potluck or buffet lunch. Furthermore, "tuna wiggle" and some variations on Russian salad also combine canned tuna with peas to great effect. In melt sandwiches, the peas are tiny enough that they don't interfere with biting into the handheld, and the mayo and cheese in the sammie secure the peas in the mixture like a delicious glue.

Here's the really great part, however: per Healthline, half a cup of peas contains 4.4 grams of fiber. Now, it's unlikely that you'll squeeze a whole serving of peas in your sandwich, but any added fiber is always a perk in our book. Extra fiber is a macro that many diners can benefit from, promoting bowel health and good digestion as well as even blood sugar levels and a lower risk of several health conditions.

Many of the standard ingredients that you love in tuna salad already will go swimmingly with the addition of peas. Sharp red onion, for instance, offer a delightful contrast in both texture and flavor. Don't forget the salt ... salt and sweetness amplify one another and make for great-tasting food. Another crunchy addition that can play well with the sweetness of peas is red pepper, whether fresh or roasted from a jar. Of course, if a satisfying snap is what you're after, you also can't go wrong with some good ol' diced celery!

Tuna salad is usually mixed up with mayo or Greek yogurt. We might take a page from the bright green hue of peas and indulge in a green goddess tuna salad bound together with creamy, ripe avocado instead. Avo makes a great swap for mayo in tuna salad anyway, and a few extra ingredients can really bring out the best in both your fruit and your peas. Round out your tuna blend with plenty of fresh herbs and a generous dollop of your favorite salad dressing — holy yum.

To pivot in another direction entirely, we might also capitalize on the innate sweetness of peas. Adding sweet elements to tuna salad isn't new, judging from how much we enjoy stirring tart dried cranberries into our fish. A spoonful of brown sugar can mellow out your tuna salad and make it sweet and refreshing without taking things too far into cloying territory. For the melt, go ahead and pair your sweet tuna salad with a complementary cheese like manchego, cheddar, gouda, or gruyère.