The 1970s Baked Potato Topping You Wouldn't Expect Today

Baked potatoes are an underrated dish. The fun thing about a baked potato is that almost any topping works, even though today we've settled on a few popular variations, including the loaded baked potato, chili and cheese, sour cream and chives, or just butter. We even put together a list of the best loaded baked potatoes you can find at a chain restaurant if you're looking for something different from more run-of-the-mill fries. Back in the day, however, one unexpected topping was tuna, and it's definitely something still worth trying.

In the 1970s, recipes for tuna baked potatoes could be found in several cookbooks. These weren't just tuna salad recipes either, as one from McCall's Great American Recipe Card Collection called for the tuna to be mixed with condensed cheddar soup. With the addition of some seasonings like paprika and hot sauce, the potatoes were topped with slices of American cheese, turning them into something closer to a tuna melt than a tuna salad potato. Another version of the recipe required you to scoop out the potato, making it more like a tuna-stuffed potato skin. The cooked potato was then whipped with cream cheese, milk, and seasonings before being spooned back into the potato skins, topped with more cheese, and baked again.

Back in the 1970s, a can of Chicken of the Sea tuna cost about 49 cents. Potatoes were 13.4 cents per pound in 1975, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. A meal featuring tuna baked potatoes could have fed a family for just a few dollars.

Across the pond in the U.K., tuna is not an unusual topping for a baked potato. You may hear it called tuna mayo instead of tuna salad, and jacket potato instead of baked potato, but there are chains like SpudBros Express that sell baked potatoes dressed with tuna as part of the regular menu. The chain's version is also topped with coleslaw.

A quick and simple version of a tuna-stuffed baked potato involves mixing cooked potato with tuna before sprinkling it with cheese and baking until the cheese becomes crispy. To elevate it further, use one of our tuna salad recipes instead of plain tuna to add some new flavors. For example, you could try a Mediterranean-inspired tuna salad made with Greek yogurt instead of mayo. Add some lemon juice, garlic, red onion, dill, black pepper, and olives to the stuffed spuds, if you like. You could also make a Buffalo tuna salad by mixing the mayo with ranch and then adding hot sauce, minced onion, celery (or other crunchy mix-ins), and sharp cheddar. Like potatoes, tuna can work with a lot of different flavor profiles, so there are dozens of versions you could try.

Along with being a tasty topping, tuna is packed with protein. Depending on the type you choose, you could be getting 30 to 40 grams per can. Protein needs vary from person to person, but the Mayo Clinic recommends 50 to 175 grams per day, meaning a single can of tuna served over a spud provides a substantial portion to reach nutritional goals.