Smoked fish dip is a classic summer vacation food if you lived anywhere in the southeast US and vacationed around the Gulf of Mexico. This is the best Smoky Tuna Dip when you don't have a huge smoker on the beach! It's an easy party appetizer for all your favorite pescatarian friends and family.
Local restaurants all over Panama City, Florida smoke their own fish for seafood dip. Since I don't have a smoker, we're creating smokiness with one of my favorite spice drawer warriors - smoked paprika. It is the easiest way to add richness and a delicious smoky flavor without spending an hour of smoking on my non-existent green egg.
Saltine crackers are the traditional dipper, but I'm also fond of toast points and fresh veggies like carrot and celery sticks in this smoked and creamy tuna dip recipe. For a special occasion, I like to use a buttery, toasted bread bowl to hold the dip.
What you need to make this recipe:
Before we get to the step by step directions, a few notes about the ingredients:
Canned tuna: tuna in olive oil brings more flavor and a better texture than light tuna in water. But use what you have, and plan to add more salt and pepper before serving.
Hot sauce: the recipe calls for a small amount of hot sauce, which adds a balanced spice to the dip. Omit for a completely mild experience.
Smoked paprika: smoked paprika is my favorite ingredient for adding smokiness to recipes. Substitute a few drops of liquid smoke if you have it.
Small bread bowl, optional, for serving: use a butter-brushed bread bowl for serving. If you're in a rush, serving it out of a dip bowl works just as well!
Full ingredient list and measurements included in the printable recipe card below.
Step by step instructions:
1. Prep bread bowl
If using a bread bowl, preheat oven to 375℉. Cut a circle into the bread round and hollow out the loaf, leaving a thick shell to hold the delicious dip. Cut the hollowed out bread pieces into cubes for dipping.
Melt butter with one crushed garlic clove in a small saucepan. Brush inside and outside of the bread bowl with the garlic butter. Brush each bread cube with the garlic butter.
Bake for 10-12 minutes, until bowl is toasty and brown and bread cubes are crispy. Remove from oven and set aside for a few minutes to allow the bread bowl to cool just a bit.
2. Make seafood dip
While bread is heating, add drained tuna, cream cheese, mayo, Dijon, lemon juice and zest, Worcestershire, hot sauce and smoked paprika in a medium mixing bowl. Combine well.
Taste and adjust seasoning, adding salt and pepper, as needed.
3. Serve and enjoy
Scoop the delicious smoked tuna dip into the toasted bread bowl. Top with diced fresh chives and additional lemon zest.
Serve with crispy bread cubes, saltines, pita chips or veggie sticks.
Looking for more easy and impressive appetizers?
FAQ's and Serving Suggestions:
If tuna in water is a pantry staple in your house, you can substitute it here for the tuna in olive oil. Be sure to taste and adjust seasoning before serving, as you will likely need to add additional salt or an extra dash of Worcestershire sauce to enhance the flavor.
The paprika is what adds the smokiness to this easy tuna dip, so if you don't have any smoked paprika, you'll need to add a few drops of liquid smoke to the tuna mixture. You can also use a pouch of smoked tuna, usually located in the canned meat aisle near the cans of tuna.
You sure can. I was determined to make sure this recipe tasted like a smoked fish dip, and not tuna fish salad. So I avoided all the classic diced veggies. But if you're comfortable blurring the lines between sandwich filling and dip, feel free to add finely diced celery, red onion, even red bell peppers if it suits your fancy.
I've used this smoked tuna dip as a spread inside a veggie wrap for lunch, and as the base for an extra-special tuna melt. It's also delicious on any number of crackers, chips or in mini-phyllo shells.
To store, wrap tightly or transfer to airtight container and keep in refrigerator for up to 3 days.
Easy Smoky Tuna Dip
- Total Time: 25 minutes
- Yield: 6 1x
Description
Rich, creamy and smoky, this tuna dip is the seafood party dip everyone loves.
Ingredients
3 cans tuna (preferably in olive oil, drained)
6 ounces cream cheese
3 tablespoons diced chives, plus more for serving
1 tablespoon mayonnaise
1 tablespoon worcestershire, plus more to taste
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice + zest from one lemon
2 teaspoons hot sauce + more to taste
1 ¼ teaspoons smoked paprika
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
Kosher salt and pepper, to taste
Optional, for serving:
1 bread bowl
3 tablespoons butter, melted
1 clove garlic, smashed
Instructions
- For the bread bowl: If using a bread bowl, preheat oven to 375℉. Cut a circle into the bread round and hollow out the loaf, leaving a thick shell to hold the delicious dip. Cut the hollowed out bread pieces into cubes for dipping. Melt butter with one crushed garlic clove in a small saucepan. Brush inside and outside of the bread bowl with the garlic butter. Brush each bread cube with the garlic butter. Bake for 10-12 minutes, until bowl is toasty and brown and bread cubes are crispy. Remove from oven and set aside for a few minutes to allow the bread bowl to cool just a bit.
- For the dip: while bread is heating, add drained tuna, cream cheese, chives, mayo, Worcestershire, lemon juice and zest, hot sauce and Dijon into a medium mixing bowl. Combine well. Taste and add salt and pepper.
- For serving: scoop the smoked tuna dip into the toasted bread bowl. Top with diced fresh chives or green onion and additional lemon zest. Serve with crispy bread cubes, saltines, pita chips or veggie sticks.
Notes
If substituting tuna in water be sure to taste and adjust seasoning before serving, as you will likely need to add more salt or an extra dash of Worcestershire sauce to enhance the flavor.
- Prep Time: 15
- Cook Time: 10
- Category: Appetizer
- Method: Oven
- Cuisine: American
Janice
Loved this! Reminds me of growing up on the California coast. My dad made a great tuna dip and we would eat it with crackers. Such a great memory. I'll be making this often.
Christina Jolam
That's beautiful, Janice. So glad you loved the recipe and that it brought up good memories for you. That's the best part of cooking, right? Thanks for coming back to leave such a lovely comment.