Ina Garten is known for making simple foods taste phenomenal by using stellar ingredients. For her tuna sandwiches, this translates into using oil-packed Spanish or Italian tuna.

When the chef makes her signature tuna melts, she has said that they're like a tuna sandwich, except the volume is "turned way up," thanks to the Spanish or Italian tuna she uses.

Oil-packed tuna usually tastes stronger because the fish retains its flavor when immersed in oil. However, in water-packed tuna, the water holds the flavor, not the fish itself.

Although Spanish tuna is packed in olive oil, its flavor is mild and isn't overpowered by the oil. Made up of big chunks of moist fish, the product, per Garten, tastes "delicious."

As for Italian tuna, it takes two months of marinating, cooking, and prepping to let its flavors bloom. Plus, it uses yellowfin or skipjack tuna, which come with multiple benefits.

Skipjack has a strong fish flavor and lots of salty overtones, whereas yellowfin is mild and sweet yet meaty. Both taste good and contain less mercury than the usual albacore tuna.