Tuna Noodle Casserole

8 servings
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 35 minutes
Total Time 45 minutes

Tuna Noodle Casserole is a CLASSIC dinner made from tuna, peas, onions, and noodles in a creamy sauce topped with a crunchy layer of breadcrumbs and parmesan cheese, ready in under 45 minutes!

We love serving classic comfort foods, and this week we are loving this Tater Tot Casserole, One Pan Chicken Brown Rice Vegetable Casserole, and Broccoli Casserole!

Tuna Noodle CasseroleTUNA NOODLE CASSEROLE

Tuna Noodle Casserole is an old fashioned recipe made with canned tuna, veggies, and noodles with a crispy top and a creamy center. It’s an American classic comfort food, and most of us have some memory of our moms serving it to us in a big casserole dish as kids.

You can make this tuna casserole recipe with or without cheddar cheese. This dish takes a total time of 45 minutes to prep and bake, but you can make this ahead and freeze it, too. This is a great recipe to bring to a potluck, or keep on hand for busy weeknights!

HOW DO YOU MAKE A CHEESY TUNA NOODLE CASSEROLE RECIPE?

If you want to make a cheesy tuna casserole, add 1 cup of shredded cheddar cheese when you’re mixing everything together. The crust already contains grated parmesan cheese, but you can also add extra cheddar with the crust as well.

HOW LONG IS LEFTOVER TUNA CASSEROLE GOOD FOR?

Tuna noodle casserole will last 2-3 days in the refrigerator, when stored in an airtight container.

You can also freeze tuna casserole for up to 5-6 months. Make the casserole, then freeze it uncooked. When you want to cook it, take out the day before and defrost in the refrigerator, then bake until warmed through and the topping is crispy.

Leftovers can also be frozen, but the top may not get as crispy as the first time, and the noodles may soften.

DO YOU BAKE TUNA NOODLE CASSEROLE COVERED OR UNCOVERED?

You can bake this tuna casserole uncovered. We’re adding the crunchy topping at the end and then just baking until it becomes golden brown and crispy. If you start to notice anything browning too much or burning, you can cover the casserole with tinfoil until the very end, but you shouldn’t need to.

VEGETABLES YOU CAN ADD TO TUNA CASSEROLE

  • Carrots
  • Zucchini
  • Broccoli
  • Mushrooms
  • Bell peppers
  • Frozen mixed veggies

WHAT TO SERVE WITH TUNA NOODLE CASSEROLE

TIPS FOR MAKING TUNA NOODLE CASSEROLE

  • I like to use egg noodles because they’re a classic ingredient, but you can use any small pasta noodle you have in your pantry.
  • I recommend using solid white albacore instead of chunk light tuna, as the pieces will hold up better in the oven. I also use water-packed tuna because we don’t need to add any extra oil to this dish.
  • You can also make this recipe with cream of chicken or cream of celery soup.
  • You can use canned cream of mushroom soup, or if you want to make this from scratch you can try my cream of mushroom soup recipe.
  • Using canned tuna is one of the easiest parts of this recipe. But if you’d prefer, you can cook fresh tuna and chop it into pieces for this recipe.
  • If you don’t have Ritz crackers, you can use potato chips or breadcrumbs.
  • Add ¼ cup of sour cream to add a tangy flavor to the sauce. You can also cook the egg noodles in chicken broth instead of water to add some extra flavor.

Tuna Casserole with Egg Noodles and Peas

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Tuna Noodle Casserole

Tuna Noodle Casserole is a CLASSIC dinner made from tuna, peas, onions, and noodles in a creamy sauce topped with a crunchy layer of breadcrumbs and parmesan cheese, ready in under 45 minutes!
Yield 8 servings
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 35 minutes
Total Time 45 minutes
Course Dinner
Cuisine American
Author Sabrina Snyder

Ingredients
 

  • 1 tablespoon canola oil
  • 1/2 yellow onion chopped
  • 1 celery stalk chopped
  • 2 cans condensed cream of mushroom soup 10.75 ounces
  • 1 1/2 cups evaporated milk
  • 2 cups frozen peas
  • 3 cans tuna drained (15 ounce total)
  • 4 cups egg noodles cooked 1 minute shy of the directions
  • 32 Ritz crackers crushed into crumbs
  • 4 tablespoons unsalted butter melted
  • 4 tablespoons parmesan cheese

Instructions

  • Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
  • In a frying pan add the canola oil on medium heat and cook the onion and celery for 2-3 minutes until the onions are translucent.
  • Add the onion mixture to a large bowl with the mushroom soup, evaporated milk, and peas and toss well then carefully mix in the tuna and noodles.
  • Pour into a baking dish then and bake for 20 minutes then in a small bowl mix the cracker crumbs, butter and cheese and sprinkle over the baking dish and bake for 10 more minutes.

Notes

Note: click on times in the instructions to start a kitchen timer while cooking.

Nutrition

Calories: 304kcal | Carbohydrates: 31g | Protein: 9g | Fat: 15g | Saturated Fat: 7g | Cholesterol: 46mg | Sodium: 205mg | Potassium: 304mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 8g | Vitamin A: 600IU | Vitamin C: 15.9mg | Calcium: 192mg | Iron: 1.5mg

Easy Tuna Noodle Casserole

About the Author: Sabrina Snyder

Sabrina is a professionally trained Private Chef of over 10 years with ServSafe Manager certification in food safety. She creates all the recipes here on Dinner, then Dessert, fueled in no small part by her love for bacon.

Sabrina Snyder is a professionally trained personal and private chef of over 10 years who is the creator and developer of all the recipes on Dinner, then Dessert.

She is also the author of the cookbook Dinner, then Dessert – Satisfying Meals Using Only 3, 5 or 7 Ingredients, published by Harper Collins.

She started Dinner, then Dessert as a business in her office as a lunch service for her coworkers who admired her lunches before going to culinary school and becoming a full time personal chef and private chef.

As a personal chef Sabrina would cook for families one day a week and cook their entire week of dinners. All grocery shopping, cooking and cleaning was done along with instructions on reheating. As a private chef she cooked for private parties and cooked in family homes in the evenings for families on a nightly basis after working as a personal chef during the day.

Sabrina has been certified as a ServSafe Manager since 2007 and was a longstanding member of the USPCA Personal Chef Association including being on the board of the Washington DC Chapter of Chefs in the US Personal Chef Association when they won Chapter of the year.

As a member of the community of food website creators Sabrina Snyder has spoken at many conferences regarding her experiences as a food writer including the Indulge Food Conference, Everything Food Conference, Haven Food Conference and IACP Annual Food Professionals Conference.

Sabrina lives with her family in sunny California.

Dinner, then Dessert, Inc. owns the copyright on all images and text and does not allow for its original recipes and pictures to be reproduced anywhere other than at this site unless authorization is given. Read my disclosure and copyright policy. This post may contain affiliate links.

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Comments

  1. Hi Sabrina…so I bought everything needed to make this casserole. I didn’t love it but I did like it. My husband wouldn’t even eat it. The first 2 bites and he was done. For me, the evaporated milk wasn’t to my liking but the rest was good. I could really taste that milk and I’ve never been fond of that milk to begin with. Could you recommend a substitute?
    Presentation was wonderful!!

    1. 1 1/2 cups of evaporated milk is basically one can as you probably discovered. If you’re substituting evaporated milk in a recipe that calls for one can, you can use 1 ? cups of milk or 1 1/2 cups of half-and-half or cream. Half-and-half has a similar creamy consistency to evaporated milk, but it doesn’t have the same slightly caramelized flavor. Heavy cream has a similar consistency and can be used in both sweet and savory dishes, but it has a blander flavor. Let us know if you try the recipe again using these substitute dairy options.

  2. thank you for the recipe i will be trying it next month when i can go to store to buy some of the ingredients, i live alone so i will be cutting it in half and will be using chicken instead of tuna(for some don’t like it all of a sudden) but will be using the rest. so thank you for a recipe i can cut in half with ease.

  3. I grew up eating tuna casserole, however I didn’t ask my mom for the recipe. I googled it and chose this one.
    This recipe was fantastic!!! Everyone loved it. I give it a 5??. I used solid white albacore tuna. Simply to die for.
    Thank you much for this recipe, this one will be passed down.

    1. Aw, I’m humbled by being included in the family recipe legacy! That’s why I do what I do. Thank you for sharing!! 🙂

    1. I’ve not tested using it but I would assume it would work, though the crackers offer a more buttery taste than panko would offer. Enjoy!

  4. I want to make this recipe but I have 1 concern. I am Severely allergic to mushrooms can I still make the casserole just with out the cream of mushroom soup?

    1. You could use any other “cream of whatver” soup. I would suggest cream of celery soup. It will change the flavor a bit but not enough to make a big difference. Enjoy!

  5. Chopped green bell pepper is also a nice option, especially if celery or peas are not used. I would also recommend the use of celery salt in the initial mix (for some nice taste) and some pepper; otherwise, it is my experience that this dish will be bland, which is why many don’t like this dish. Yes, also, a necessity are the Ritz Crakcers and Cheese (although a sharp cheddar shredded cheese is a great option, using up to an entire 2-cup package even. I also layer the cheese (first), crushed Ritz (2nd) and butter slices (third), across the entire casserole and cook with this topping for the entire 30 minutes (not 20-minutes in). Also, I use elbow macaroni (1 lb box) instead of longer egg noodle strips. Bon Appetite!

  6. I’m seriously into casseroles at the moment and you can’t go wrong with a classic tuna noodle casserole. Sounds delicious!

  7. You can’t go wrong with a classic like Tuna Noodle Casserole! I went to find your homemade cream of mushroom soup recipe and it doesn’t seem like you linked it. Just letting you know so you can fix it!

    1. One the same line as the soup, there’s a link to my homemade version of the canned soup to use. Hope this helps!