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.
This is my go to recipe for tuna casserole- I followed the recipe except for adding sautéed mushrooms. Easy, quick and tasty!
It’s pretty good, but next time I will definitely be adding more spices. I do absolutely love the Panko crumb topping!
Super tasty. I didn’t have cream of mushroom on hand, so I subbed a concoction of cream/milk/sour cream/mayo. It was a decent holdover but I’m looking forward to making the recipe as written next time. Regardless, so yummy and filling!!
This was delicious! Personally, I upped the tuna to two cans rather than one but everything else was unchanged. Will definitely make again!
As a long time lurker on this website, This is the recipe that finally got me to make an account and leave a review. If that tells you anything! Rarely have I found a recipe on here that I haven’t liked to use as a base recipe and then make it my own. This one is no exception-and the only things I do differently are that I saute some sliced baby bella mushrooms and minced garlic along with the butter, celery and onions. Then I use cream of celery or cream of chicken soup instead of cream of mushroom and when you mix it together I throw in a dollop of mayo or full fat Greek yogurt. Trust me. And sometimes, instead of bread crumbs, I use crushed Better Made potato chips (It’s a Michigan thing!) and of course it’s not complete until you serve it on your plate and add a healthy douse of Worcestershire sauce. Ultimate comfort food!
Thank you for your kind words and thank you for leaving a review Destinée. I’m so glad you loved this recipe, mushrooms would be delicious in it – I’ll have to try the Worcestershire sauce!
quit the gabbing and show the recipe.
The “gabbing” is to answer common questions for those that needs it but you can use the JUMP TO RECIPE button at the top of any post to jump right to the recipe.
why are you so rude?
I wanna use cream of celery soup instead of cream of mushroom. any comments?
That would work great, Eve! I would love to hear how it turns out for you
I’ve used cream of celery ,chicken and mushroom soup for my casserole dish. each one was fabulous! used 2 cans of albacore tuna! yummmy!
Delicious & easy! I used a 10 oz. can of tuna and Italian panko bread crumbs, but followed everything else as written. I highly recommend this recipe!
Absolutely wonderful! I made it gluten free and instead of the soup, I have fried mushrooms and added vegan cream replacement. Worked well. Highly recommend it for ease of preparation and a great taste!
I love this recipe as a base. I made changes to it and it’s perfect! 1. I HATE celery it ruins food and overpowers every other flavor. 2. I’m allergic to mushrooms so I just use cream of onion in place of the cream of mushroom. 3. I LOVE cheese so I use mostly mozzarella and then whatever I have on hand (and add more) 4. I absolutely love the topping so I use 2 cups of panko and about 5 tablespoons of butter and it makes a perfect crumble. 5. I add a little extra seasonings for our taste.
Hi. How does it taste with the mozzerella, instead of cheddar?
I haven’t tried this recipe with mozzarella but other readers have and enjoyed it a lot!
I never thought of using cream of onion thank you love new food
Great recipe! Just like my Mother made! Thank you!
So easy and absolutely delicious!
made it and really good
Very good basic recipe for tuna pasta casserole. There is no need to bake the casserole at 425 degrees. Everything is already cooked. 350 degrees is my go-to temp for casseroles.
delicious! I used crushed croutons, because I was out of bread crumbs, added 1/2 tsp of garlic powder, 1tsp of crushed black pepper, and used old bay hot sauce (at the table). I definitely recommend adding spices, but you don’t have to.
My store sells egg noodles in 12 oz bags. They don’t sell by the cup. Why not tell us in ounces?
Hi James! 3 cups of dry egg noodles is approx 6 ounces, I have updated the recipe card. Thanks so much for leaving a comment!
If the bag is 12 oz, you could use approximately half of the bag to get 6 oz. it’s a great recipe, I hope you are able to make this soon!
Back in the 70’s, my ex wife used to combine a 12 Oz bag of potato chips, 1 can of Cream of Mushroom soup, and 1 can of tuna.
no noodles,onion or celery.
called it Tuna casarole.
this is much…no comparison, better than that.
I made it! Thank you for the recipe. Fairly easy :) Haven’t eaten it yet, but it looks good.
Thanks for leaving a comment, Scott! We would love to hear what you think of it when you try it
I don’t think 1/3 cup of milk is enough so added another 1/3 & 1/4 cup of mayo Still wasn’t creamy enough when done. I also crushed onion rings to the bread crumbs. Lastly the 425 degree oven browned the bread crumbs after 10 mins so I to cover it for 15 mins. Sorry, not good recipe.
Thank you for trying our recipe, Jojo! I am so sorry that was your experience. This recipe is usually so creamy and delicious!
Was the best one I have tried, will definitely make it again. Thanks for sharing.
I doubled the tuna (2) cans, and added more peas. It was delicious and even better as a leftover two days later!!
I wanna use cream of celery soup instead of cream of mushroom. any comments?
You can definitely use cream of celery soup rather than cream of mushroom, Eve!