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 used the packs of tuna rather than canned and I omitted the onion because my boyfriend did picky but I used frozen peas and carrots instead of just peas. I also used half a can of mushroom soup and added a can of cream of chicken because I don’t care much for mushrooms. I doubled the milk because of the extra soup I had an do make it more creamy. I used Italian breadcrumbs instead of the panko because that’s what I had on hand and couldn’t find panko breadcrumbs at the local grocery store here. I haven’t made this at all in my adult life but decided to finally make it because my boyfriend was talking for about a week about how much he wanted it. He loved it. And it brought me back to my childhood when my mom would make this for dinner. Will make again.
So glad you loved it Kimberly, your additions sound great!
Simply the best tuna casserole ever! Followed recipe except added a little chopped red pepper and used onion powder instead of chopped onion. Thank’s for sharing.
Kid pleaser, husband pleaser – on the list to make again!
I made several substitutions, cream of celery soup instead of mushroom and carrots and green pepper for the celery, plus I had no cheddar so I put in mozzarella. I had a bit of cooked spinach so I mixed that in instead of the parsley in the casserole itself and had a bit of leftover zucchini from the day before and threw that in too. It turned out great! So to those who asked about substitutes, you can treat this recipe like a base formula and tweak it and it will still be good. My toddler liked it too.
Is this supposed to use cream of mushroom soup? The recipe says 10.5 oz can condensed mushroom soup but I feel like this is a typo…
Yes Travis, for this recipe we a can of condensed cream of mushroom soup. You could also try making your own condensed mushroom soup.
This recipe was easy to put together. I already had most of the ingredients .
My husband loved it. I will be making it again soon!
Does this recipe hold up well to substitutions? My husband doesn’t like mushrooms or tuna, so I was thinking of subbing shredded chicken and cream of chicken soup. Thanks!
I am sure that would turn out delicious Carrie!
Don’t mess with a good recipe. There is too much extras in this one. Made it hoping to get a good comfort supper, before I even took a bite my husband was ordering pizza asking what I had put into this… awesome.
Sorry to hear that Megan. This recipe, as written, is a reader favorite!
I am a 43 year old bachelor with 0 cooking skills but anyone should be able to see this recipe is solid. Follow the recipe then add to make it appeal to your taste buds. I followed the recipe to a T but added and subsituded. I added green onion in place of the parsley, added some fresh chopped mushroom, garlic, and used shake’n’bake for a little spice in place of the bread crumbs. All the measurements were bang on and so was the time to cook. Super happy with this recipe and I will definitely make it again. Thank you.
Easy and quick to make with ingredients already in my pantry. It was delicious! My family loved it.
Family loved it!
I substituted to peas for carrots.
My family really liked this recipe!!
Hi can I use cream of celery soup in place of fresh celery
Hi Susan, you could try replacing the cream of mushroom soup with cream of celery soup and omitting the celery.
fabulous version of an old favorite…from my mom…and every other jewish mom…who made tuna casserole with cream of mushroom soup.
This was very good! I only used 2 cups of pasta since there are only three of us, used a combination of extra sharp cheddar and medium cheddar for the cheese, added about 2/3 cup milk, and added some salt. This was so good that we all went back for seconds and just about finished the whole thing. Thanks for a great recipe!
This was delicious! I skipped the onion and celery and added another can of tuna. We loved it!
I have wanted to try a classic tuna casserole recipe for a while now because I like tuna. This was excellent! Such a great comfort food. I agree with some commenters that it could have used more liquid. I think some of it depends on how well you drain your tuna. I drained mine really well so I should have added some more milk to make it more creamy. Overall the flavors were wonderful and the textures were excellent. Thank you!
Too dry another can of soup and maybe more milk
Are the 3 cups of noodles cooked or uncooked?
They are uncooked Celeste.
We loved this! I doubled the tuna (10oz) and peas to make it a little heartier and it was a huge hit. Thank you!
I made this for dinner last night, I followed your recipe to the letter and it was a hit. Thank you!