The classic camp comfort dinner — canned tuna + creamy white sauce + mash + cheese, baked golden in the camp oven. Generous, kid-friendly, uses pantry staples + leftovers brilliantly. Take a slice for lunch the next day.

The infused milk sauce is the magic — bay + peppercorns + mace + onion = a creamy white sauce with serious depth. Then the tuna, the mash, the cheese — pure comfort.

Photo by Mahmoud Fawzy on Unsplash

Serves: 4-6 · Prep: 30 minutes (incl. infusing milk) · Cook: 45-50 minutes · Equipment: camp oven OR baking dish, saucepan, masher

Photo: Angèle Kamp / Unsplash

Pie base:

• 800g canned tuna in spring water OR oil (drained well)
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 2 onions, finely chopped
• 750g potatoes (Sebago, King Edward, or Maris Piper — fluffy varieties)
• Splash of milk + 1 tbsp butter (for mashing)
• Salt + pepper to taste
• 1 cup grated tasty cheese

White sauce:

• 1 cup full-cream milk
• Pinch ground mace (OR substitute nutmeg)
• 1 stick celery, roughly chopped
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 tsp whole black peppercorns
• 1 small onion, sliced
• 1½ tbsp butter
• 1 tbsp plain flour
• Salt + pepper to taste
• Pinch fresh nutmeg
• 1 tbsp wholegrain mustard

To serve: green salad, peas, sliced tomato, crusty bread, leftover slices for tomorrow's lunch.

1. Infuse the milk. In a small pan, slowly heat milk with mace + celery + bay leaf + sliced onion + peppercorns until JUST below simmering (first bubbles form at the edge).
2. Off the heat. Remove from heat + stand 20-30 minutes. The milk soaks up all those aromatics = depth of flavour.
3. Strain milk into a bowl. Discard the solids.
4. Make the roux. In the same pan, melt butter over LOW heat. Stir in flour. Cook 1 minute, stirring constantly — until smooth + just changing colour (don't brown).
5. Add the milk slowly. Off the heat, slowly pour in the strained infused milk, whisking constantly. If lumps form + can't be whisked out, push through a strainer.
6. Back on the heat. Stirring continually, bring to the boil + simmer 5 minutes — until thickened to coating consistency.
7. Season. Salt + pepper + fresh grated nutmeg + wholegrain mustard. Set aside.

Photo: Rob Wicks / Unsplash

1. Boil the potatoes. Peel + chop into rough 3cm chunks. Boil in salted water 20 minutes — until knife-tender. Drain. Stand 5 minutes off heat (steam-dry = fluffier mash).
2. Mash. Add splash of milk + 1 tbsp butter + salt + pepper. Mash until smooth.
3. Cook the onions. In the camp oven (or large baking dish set on a stove), heat olive oil over medium. Add chopped onions. Cook 5-7 minutes — soft + translucent.
4. Add the tuna. Drain tuna well. Flake into the onions. Heat through gently.
5. Add the white sauce. Pour the prepared white sauce over the tuna + onions. Stir GENTLY (don't break up the tuna too much). Allow to cool slightly.
6. Top with mash. Spread the mashed potato evenly over the tuna mixture. Use a fork to fluff the surface (catches browned bits = more delicious).
7. Top with cheese. Sprinkle grated tasty cheese evenly over the mash.
8. Bake. Cover + bake 25-30 minutes — until cheese is golden + the filling is bubbling at the edges. Camp oven over coals (with coals on the lid for top heat) OR in a regular oven at 180°C.
9. Rest 5 minutes before serving — easier to slice. Serve with green salad + peas.

• Fresh tuna or salmon works brilliantly — cook + flake for a more upmarket version
• Smoked fish version: swap tuna for smoked haddock or smoked trout — incredible depth
• Add vegetables: cooked peas, sweetcorn, or chopped capers go beautifully into the tuna mix
• Boost the cheese: mix gruyere or parmesan into the cheddar topping for sharpness
• The infused milk technique works on dozens of dishes — risotto, white sauces for lasagne, mash, fish poaching liquid. Worth memorising
• Don't skip the roux step — direct flour-into-milk = lumpy disaster. The fat-coated flour granules disperse smoothly
• Sweet potato mash variation instead of regular spuds — sweetness contrasts the savoury tuna
• Make ahead: assemble up to step 7 in the morning; bake before dinner. Save 30 minutes of campsite work
• Leftovers reheat brilliantly — wrap a slice in foil, warm in the camp oven for 10 minutes. Or eat cold from the esky as picnic food
• Camp version: the camp oven over coals is the original method (lid coals = top browning); a Weber Q with the lid down also works (indirect heat)
• Drink pairing: dry Riesling, Pinot Gris, or a cold lager

The pie that proves canned tuna is the underrated camp pantry hero. Combined with a properly infused white sauce + mash + cheese = a generous family dinner that costs about $12 for 4-6 serves.

Take a slice + foil-wrap it for tomorrow's lunch — cold tuna potato pie is somehow even better than hot. The kind of recipe that becomes part of the camp rotation forever.