Lemon tuna meatballs, an inexpensive, easy and quick main course for the whole family. Do you remember Pasta with butter, lemon and parmesan or lemon chicken meatballs and incredibly soft lemon beef meatballs? This time it’s the turn of canned tuna with lemon: but don’t worry, I’m not talking about a tuna salad but something much more delicious! To be honest, I’m not particularly fond of canned tuna unless I use it as an ingredient for other tempting recipes, so this time I used it for lemon tuna meatballs without ricotta, quick and easy to cook in a pan and great to make ahead. Want to try making them with me? Let’s go to the kitchen — I’m sure you have all the ingredients in your pantry, and if lemon is one of your favorite ingredients, also check out pan-fried sea bream with lemon and pasta with ricotta and lemon.

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Difficulty: Very easy
Cost: Very inexpensive
Rest time: 10 Minutes
Preparation time: 10 Minutes
Portions: 5
Cooking methods: Stovetop
Cuisine: Italian
Seasonality: All seasons

Ingredients to make lemon tuna meatballs

12 oz tuna in oil (drained)
to taste parsley
1.5 oz Taggiasca olives
to taste parsley
1 tbsp capers (desalted)
1/4 cup grated Parmesan (or Grana)
7 oz sandwich bread (or bread crumb/crumb)
2/3 cup milk
1 lemon (juice and zest)
3.4 fl oz water
as needed 00 flour
to taste salt
1 teaspoon sugar (for sweet-and-sour)
2 eggs
1 clove garlic

Tools

Bowl
Frying pan

Steps to make lemon tuna meatballs

You can make this recipe with either tuna packed in water, tuna in oil, or a mix of both. I prefer to use drained tuna in oil because it is more flavorful. You can replace sandwich bread with bread crumbs, but with classic sandwich bread the meatballs will be slightly less soft.

Remove the crust from the bread and cut it into pieces. Put it in a bowl and pour over the milk, let it rest for a few minutes and once soaked, break it up.
Chop the olives, parsley and capers with a knife.
Gather in the same bowl the bread, drained tuna, eggs, grated cheese, pepper, lemon zest, capers, olives and parsley. Mix until you obtain a homogeneous mixture.
With slightly oiled hands shape small meatballs a little larger than a walnut and roll them in the flour.
Brown a clove of garlic in a generous amount of oil. Add the meatballs and let them brown first on one side and then on the other.
Pour in the lemon juice, the water and let it cook for a few minutes.
Add the sugar (or sweetener), which will give a sweet-and-sour touch and cook over medium heat for another 10 minutes, adding a little water if needed; adjust the salt. You will soon see a delicious sauce form, which will accompany the meatballs.
After the time is up, turn off the heat, let them cool for a few minutes, add a little more parsley and serve still warm and creamy.
You can prepare the meatballs in advance and, a little before serving, pour in some water and wait for the sauce to reduce again. They will seem freshly made.