Tuna croquettes

How to make homemade tuna croquettes .

How about preparing these tuna croquettes with us? A classic at home. And is that croquettes in general is a food that has great versatility. It is an appetizer or tapas recipe , as an accompaniment to a main course or as a main course, as is our case. 

It has always been considered the queen of harvest cuisine, although today there are new and magnificent recipes that have nothing to do with croquettes of yesteryear. Those that our grandmothers used to us, classics with ham croquettes or delicious cod croquettes  are always a success.

Eating healthy and tasty should be something we can all do. It is true that the greats of the kitchen set the bar very high, but we must not underestimate the traditional and simple cuisine like the one I propose today. And I assure you that today’s recipe is well worth a prominent place in our everyday kitchen.

The tuna croquettes that we are going to cook will leave you with a very good taste in your mouth. Best of all, they can be frozen and pulled on for any day when you don’t have time to cook.

On the blog we have a wide variety of croquettes in our  appetizer recipes , perfect as a first or even as a yummy dinner. 

With some croquettes and a good salad you already have a delicious dinner. And with this, all I have to do is get down to work, as I already want to take a bite out of these tuna croquettes.

Preparation of the dough for future tuna croquettes

1. We cook the eggs. Once ready we let them cool. Then we chop them into very small cubes.
2. In a large frying pan or a low saucepan, put the olive oil to heat. We cut the onion into very small cubes and put it to sauté, without burning. Drain the tuna oil and add it crumbled to the saucepan where the onion is poaching. We also add the chopped egg.
3. We fry for a minute and add the flour. We remove and we are going to be adding little by little and without stopping stirring, the milk and then the liquid cream. Always on low heat. 
4. Add salt and nutmeg to taste. We test and rectify if necessary.
5. We continue stirring until we have a thick mass that will detach from the saucepan when stirring.
6. We pour the dough of the croquettes in a source so that it is extended, with about 3 cm. thick and let it cool to room temperature.
7. Cover with plastic wrap so that it does not form a crust and store in the fridge overnight to give it a hard consistency, at least 6 hours. I usually leave them overnight.

Shape and coating of tuna croquettes

1. Now we beat the eggs. With a spoon we take a little dough and give it a round shape (like a meatball).
2. Then we pass it through the egg. Then we pass it through the breadcrumbs, giving it the final slightly elongated shape of the croquette.
3. At this point we can do two things, fry them to enjoy them at the moment or freeze them to be able to do it when we want.
4. They admit the freezing perfectly, we will only have to remove them from the fridge and put them directly to fry, without defrosting, with the very hot oil, when we want to prepare them.
5. To freeze kibbles , place them in a platter without heaping. We put them in the freezer and after 12 hours and they are like stones. We separate them and put them in a clean and closed plastic bag.

Frying and final presentation of the tuna croquettes

1. In a high-walled saucepan, heat plenty of soft oil for frying.
2. To fry our croquettes it is not necessary to defrost them. Fry in very hot oil in 2 minutes, moving the pan back and forth to avoid having to touch them.
3. We are cooking the croquettes over high heat, regulating the temperature to avoid burning them. We remove to a plate with absorbent paper, to remove excess oil and serve directly, freshly made.
4. They are perfect as an aperitif for any family lunch or dinner. Do not stop preparing them if you like croquettes, the little ones at home will love them.

You can see all the photos of the step by step in the tuna croquettes recipe. Do not lose detail and they will be perfect.

Tips for perfect tuna croquettes

• When we remove the cream from the fire and pour it into a source. It is best to let the mixture cool down and cover it with transparent paper. Store the cream in the fridge, the best thing is that we leave it overnight, so that it solidifies, so it will be more manageable to prepare the croquettes.
• The tuna is important that it is of quality and that you drain the oil that the canned food that you buy well. You can use that oil in the béchamel, as it has all the flavor of the tuna and you will get great croquettes with more flavor.
• We must beat the eggs very well, shake it for a few minutes with the rods or a fork. It is essential that you do not have parts of the white without beating well, since they would stick to the croquette and fall to the breadcrumbs when you batter the croquettes, we want a perfect batter.
• If you do not want the bottom of the croquette to be slightly crisp, it is best to prepare them round and of a smaller size. Also if at the end of frying you use a large strainer to support the croquettes on the plate, we avoid that the fat they release can end up softening them on the side that they rest on the absorbent paper.
• For this preparation I have used a can of tuna in olive oil, but if you have prepared some tuna stew and you have left over, you can use these leftovers to prepare your croquettes.