Tuna Casserole is right up there with meatloaf and scalloped potatoes when it comes to comfort food. It’s been a family favorite for generations!
Flaky tuna is tossed with egg noodles, peas, celery, and mushroom soup. We top this with a buttery breadcrumb topping and bake it until it’s bubbly. Serve this easy recipe with some quick Homemade Buttermilk Biscuits and a side salad for the perfect meal!
We love belly warming casserole recipes. From Cheesy Chicken Casserole to Beef Taco Casserole, there is something so comforting about a bubbly warm meal from the oven.
It’s no surprise that this tuna noodle casserole has held its place at the top of so many family favorite recipes. It is easy to make, but it’s affordable, tasty, and versatile. Nearly any leftovers or any kind of veggies can be tossed right in! Be creative with this tuna fish casserole recipe!
It can go from prep to presentation in no time at all! Need a quick potluck entrée for work or a neighborhood event? This is hands down the best tuna noodle casserole recipe out there!
How to Make Tuna Noodle Casserole
The best part of this tuna casserole recipe is that it takes minimal effort to put together and once it’s in the oven, toss a simple caesar salad to round out the entire meal. Simply combine the ingredients while the noodles are cooking and mix everything together. Sprinkle on the crumb topping and pop into the oven!
Be sure to cook the noodles ‘al dente’ since they will continue to cook in the oven and you want to avoid mushy noodles! I make this tuna casserole with egg noodles, but you can use any kind of pasta you’d like. We use simple vegetables including onion, celery, and peas. This recipe is great with any veggies including leftover Green Beans, roasted carrots or steamed broccoli.
This tuna casserole recipe can be made ahead of time as well so it’s great to prep now and bake later. The creamy, cheesy, mushroom sauce that will satisfy even the pickiest of palates!
How to Freeze Tuna Casserole
It is super easy to freeze a casserole, before or after it’s cooked! It is important to fully thaw a frozen casserole before putting it in the oven to avoid overcooking some areas and undercooking others, especially if the casserole was uncooked to begin with. Just leave it overnight in the fridge to allow it to thaw safely and then bake until it reaches 165°F.
If the casserole is fully baked, let it cool completely before wrapping it and freezing it. Another great tip is to line assemble the casserole in a foil lined pan and freeze after it’s been fully wrapped and sealed. Save that casserole pan for another use! Properly wrapped and sealed casseroles can be frozen for up to 6 months without damaging flavor or texture.
Equipment
Ingredients
- 3 cups egg noodles measured dry *approx 6 ounces
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 1 small onion diced
- 2 ribs celery diced
- ⅔ cup frozen peas thawed
- 1 (5 ounce each) can tuna drained
- 1 (10.5 ounce each) can condensed cream of mushroom soup
- ⅓ cup milk
- 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
- 1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley or 1 teaspoon dried parsley
Crumb Topping
- ½ cup panko bread crumbs
- 1 tablespoon melted butter
- ½ cup shredded cheddar cheese
- 1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley or 1 teaspoon dried parsley
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425°F. Combine topping ingredients and set aside.
- Boil noodles al dente according to package directions. Drain and rinse under cold water.
- Cook onion and celery in butter until tender, about 5-7 minutes.
- In a large bowl combine noodles, onion mixture, peas, soup, milk, cheese, tuna and parsley. Mix well.
- Spread into a 2qt casserole dish and top with crumb topping.
- Bake 18-20 minutes or until bubbly.
Notes
Nutrition Information
Nutrition information provided is an estimate and will vary based on cooking methods and brands of ingredients used.
Course Casserole, Dinner
Cuisine American© SpendWithPennies.com. Content and photographs are copyright protected. Sharing of this recipe is both encouraged and appreciated. Copying and/or pasting full recipes to any social media is strictly prohibited. Please view my photo use policy here.
I have made this recipe quite a few times just they way it’s written and we have loved it each time. I’m thinking to make it again today. The only thing I don’t have is the egg noodles. Do you think it would be better with elbow or pene? I might just have to go to the store!
I can’t say from experience but other readers have used elbow noodles with great results! We would love to hear which you choose and how they turned out for you.
Can I make this with gluten free noodles? I looked through several reviews, but didn’t see any comments pertaining to it.
Hi Rae, it should work with gluten-free noodles. I would check it before it about halfway through the cooking time as gluten-free noodles don’t take as long to cook. We would love to hear how it turns out for you!
Quick, easy and good meal!
It worked! I added a little extra milk, but it turned out beautifully.
I used to make a casserole similar to this one, but I didn’t remember the recipe. This one is better. The topping is fantastic! I wasn’t sure how cheese and bread crumbs would work, but it really does!! The panko is nice and light, and it doesn’t dry out the casserole. My previous recipe used cracker crumbs, which also tasted good, but the crackers absorbed some moisture.
So happy this recipe lived up to your memory and better, Nina!
The best tuna noodle casseroles I’ve ever made!
my tuna cassarole is in the oven now, easy to make. Can uneaten portions be frozen for later use?
Definitely, tips for freezing the casserole are right above the recipe card! Hope you enjoy it!
My family are not cheese eaters, what can I replace the cheese with in the casserole, I can just eliminate it from the topping. Thanks
Hi Ran, you can just leave it out of the recipe. We would love to hear how it turns out.
Made this tonight and it was delicious! I did double the recipe and added some extra tuna, soup and topping, but my hubby loved it and he is hard to please :)
So glad you both enjoyed this recipe, Rachelle! Your additions sound great.
Didn’t really enjoy this recipe very much. It was extremely dry and the cheese crumb topping was all brown and hard by the time it was done cooking. My kids wouldn’t even eat it, and they love tuna. Sorry, but I’ll have to pass on this one next time.
Sorry to hear that, Lisa! We haven’t had that issue with this recipe. If the top is drying out you could try covering with foil to help prevent that.
This turned out too dry. I was disappointed as it was an easy recipe.
Sorry to hear that you found the casserole dry, Heather. Thank you for trying it!
I wanted some tuna noodle casserole today but didn’t care for the stuff my wife made, seen this recipe and it looked like something that I would like. I had everything here but the onion so I went out to the store just a couple of minutes away and bought one. I put this together just as the recipe explained and it’s the best tuna casserole that I’ve ever had. I print the recipe out so it will be handy for the next time I make it.
Delicious with a few tweaks! As far as the noodles go, three cups came to two bags of uncooked noodles. Needless to say, we were able to double this recipe from the noodles alone. We added two cans instead of one for tuna and added extra peas. As far as flavoring, I just figured it was common knowledge to season as you go. We added salt and pepper to the onion/celery mixture. It was awesome! We love having extras as well.
Simple low-cost recipe that was delicious. I added mushrooms and used frozen mixed vegetables instead of just peas. Also added some dried oregano.
Can I combine all the ingredients in a bowl the night before (except the crumb toppings), so all I have to go is toss it in the oven when I get home?
Hi Shannon, that would work well. Hope you enjoy!
This is a delicious recipe! My family ate the entire pan in one sitting!
This was so easy and yummy! Thanks for the recipe!
Is the 3 cups of egg noodles pre-cooked? Or, 3 cups of cooked noodles?
Thanks
Hi Sharon, we use 3 cups uncooked for this recipe.
Hello… I am making this now. But is it really UNCOOKED noodles like you answered in your reply? If so, why does it say to boil noodles al dente? I did boil them, thinking you must have meant COOKED. I’ll let you know how it comes out – it sounds delicious! Thanks!
They are measured uncooked first. Once measured they are cooked and then added to the casserole (3 cups uncooked will equal about 4-4½ cups cooked depending on the brand).
Super easy and a family favorite! We usually have leftovers as well, and it’s just as good heated up!
Do you mean 3 cups of cooked or uncooked egg noodles? Thanks!
3 cups uncooked. Enjoy!
Terrible. One of the worst tuna casseroles I’ve ever had. It was so bland and tasteless that I had to look at it twice to make sure that I hadn’t missed any ingredients. Even covered in s&p it still had no flavor besides the salt n pepper you couldn’t even taste the tuna. Try a different recipe
I’m surprised to hear that Mark and sorry that you didn’t enjoy it as much as we do. This tuna casserole recipe has a rating of 4.91 from almost 700 votes. Thank you for trying the recipe.
What type of tuna do you recommend for this recipe? Chunk light or albacore?
Hi Niya, a can of light chunk tuna would work great for this recipe.