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.
Delicious !just opted for frozen mixed veggies and didn’t do celery (was just lazy) still turned out amazing ! And toddler even loved it .
This was absolutely delicious! I used cream of chicken and Kinders buttery garlic panko. I added a bit of extra butter to the panko topping.
I like the cream of chicken because it cuts the fish taste from the tuna. Her measurements for the ingredients were spot on. My dad even made a special comment about how good it was (he’s hard to win over).
This is an excellent recipe ! I’ve made it twice now and the first time it turned out great. The second time I made it I used more narrow noodles and I think that was the problem. I weighed the noodles out to be 6 ounces and I think that 6 ounces of a larger noodle is actually less volume than the more narrow noodles and that caused my casserole to be a bit dry. And I made a mistake the first time baking it – baked it at 350 degrees for 17 minutes and then realized that the temperature should have been 425 degrees so I upped the temperature to 425 and baked for about 8-10 minutes and it got nice and golden crumbs on the top. So I will continue to do that ! But buy the extra broad noodles – like Holly mentions.
I make my own “cream of soup” by making a butter+flour roux and adding cream and chicken broth. Cheaper and yummier, then I use rotini pasta if I don’t have egg noodles on hand, and I’ve used crushed ritz crackers and panko bread crumbs with good success. If I’m out of just peas, I use frozen mixed veggies. Tastes just the same but more veggies!
Dog Gonnit I didn’t see the “note” about the measurement of the egg noodles until I had already made and put together all the ingredients because it was at the END of the recipe 😫😩 maybe try putting the *notes* at the beginning of the recipe.? I donno , now what am I to do???
Oh no Laura! I’m sorry this happened. I do explicitly say in the ingredients it’s 3 dry cups which is 6 oz. This is the exact same information in the notes. In addition there is an asterisk in the ingredients calling to the notes.
We absolutely love this recipe! It is incredibly versatile. Out of peas? Leave them out. No time to sauté onions and celery? Use onion powder. No panko? Top with crushed potato chips instead. It is easy, flexible, and completely delicious!