Creamy, comforting, and incredibly savory - this homemade canned tuna casserole hits all the right notes.
With a crispy, cheesy panko topping covering a luscious tuna-veggie filling, it's a family-friendly classic made from affordable pantry staples. One bite of this delicious baked pasta bake, and you'll understand why tuna casserole is such an enduring favorite.
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My kids are not a huge fan of canned tuna so I will make them spaghetti muffins or deep dish pizza when I make this tuna casserole recipe. Serve this casserole with some skillet potatoes and serve red velvet crispy treats as dessert.
Ingredients needed:
Here is a visual overview of the ingredients in the recipe. Scroll down to the recipe at the bottom for quantities.
Ingredient notes:
- Canned tuna (½ lb): Look for chunk light tuna packed in water for a lighter flavor and easy draining. Tuna provides the primary protein and savory, briny notes.
- Boiled pasta: Use a short pasta shape like elbow macaroni, wide egg noodles or shells. The pasta adds texture and helps bind everything together.
- Condensed Cream of Mushroom Soup: A quality canned/condensed soup provides a rich, creamy base and savory mushroom flavor.
- Panko breadcrumbs: Panko gives an extra crispy, crunchy topping when baked. Look for coarser panko crumbs.
- Grated cheddar: A sharp cheddar adds a tangy, salty-savory cheese flavor that complements the tuna.
- Chopped onion: Adding onion brings an aromatic, slightly sweet backdrop.
- Chopped celery: Celery contributes fresh, crisp vegetal notes and textural contrast.
- Green peas: Frozen peas or fresh peas add a pop of color, sweetness, and vegetable component.
- Chopped parsley: Fresh parsley brightens up the flavor with herbal, grassy notes.
- Salt: Enhances and balances all the other flavors.
- Paprika: Adds a subtle smoky, sweet, and colored backdrop.
- Granulated garlic: Garlic contributes aromatic, savory depth.
- Black pepper: Brings a touch of heat and earthiness.
- Dried herbs: Herbs like thyme or Italian seasoning layer in earthy, herbaceous base notes.
- Olive oil: For sautéing aromatics and adding richness.
What kind of canned tuna for tuna casserole?
The ideal tuna for casserole is chunk light tuna packed in water from cans or pouches. This provides the right flavor, texture and ease of preparation.
Tips on choosing the best tuna for tuna casserole:
- Chunk light tuna - This is made from smaller tuna species like skipjack or yellowfin. It has a lighter color and milder flavor compared to white/albacore tuna. The chunk style provides a nice texture for casseroles.
- Water-packed tuna - This has less calories and fat than oil-packed tuna. The water-packing liquid is easier to drain off completely before using in the casserole.
- Canned vs pouched - Either canned or pouched/foil-packed tuna works fine. Pouches allow you to avoid can liners/BPA.
- Avoid albacore/white tuna - While delicious, the flavor of albacore/white tuna can overpower the other ingredients in a casserole. It's also more expensive.
- Choose chunk over solid pack - Chunk tuna has a better texture once mixed into the casserole compared to very firm solid pack tuna.
Substitutions
- Switch out condensed cream of mushroom soup for cream of celery soup or cream of chicken condensed soup.
- Substitute crushed potato chips for the bread crumbs.
- Green beans are a delicious substitute for peas when you make this recipe.
How to make tuna noodle casserole
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Cook onion and celery in olive oil for 5-6 minutes over medium heat, stirring occasionally.
- In a large bowl, mix together the cooked pasta, drained tuna, 1 cup cheddar cheese, salt, paprika, garlic powder, pepper, and dried herbs.
- Add the cooked onion, celery, peas, and mushroom soup to the pasta mixture. Mix well.
- Spread mixture into a 9x13 baking dish.
- Bake for 20 minutes.
- In a small bowl, mix remaining cheddar with panko crumbs.
- After 20 minutes, take casserole out and top with the cheesy panko crumb mixture.
- Return to oven and bake 10 more minutes until top is golden brown.
- Remove from oven and let cool 5 minutes. Garnish with chopped fresh parsley before serving.
Can tuna casserole be frozen?
Freezing is a great way to save any leftover tuna casserole or make it ahead of time for easy future meals. It's best to either freeze it before baking or freeze the leftovers after baking. An unbaked frozen casserole will have better texture when reheated.
- Allow the casserole to cool completely before freezing. Freezing a hot casserole can make the texture mushy.
- Use an airtight, freezer-safe container or wrap the casserole dish tightly in a double layer of aluminum foil or plastic freezer wrap. This prevents freezer burn.
- Unbaked tuna casseroles can last 2-3 months in the freezer. Baked tuna casseroles last 1-2 months frozen.
- When ready to bake a frozen unbaked casserole, there's no need to thaw it first. Just add some extra baking time.
- For frozen baked leftovers, let thaw overnight in the refrigerator before reheating.
- Reheated tuna casserole may have a slightly more dried out texture but is still safe and palatable after freezing properly.
Storage Tips
- Let the casserole cool completely before refrigerating. Storing hot leftovers can cause bacteria growth and make the texture soggy. Once cooled, cover tightly with plastic wrap or transfer to an airtight container.
- Refrigerate leftovers within 2 hours of cooking and consume within 3-4 days for best quality and safety. Tuna casserole doesn't freeze well after being baked due to the potential for separating and drying out.
- When reheating, avoid letting the casserole spend more than 2 hours total at room temperature. Reheat portions in the microwave or oven until piping hot throughout to kill any bacteria. Adding a splash of milk can help re-moisten a dry casserole.
Reheating tips
Oven Reheating:
- Preheat oven to 350°F (175°C).
- Transfer leftover casserole to an oven-safe baking dish and cover with aluminum foil.
- Bake for 20-30 minutes, until heated through, removing foil for the last 5 minutes to re-crisp the top.
Microwave Reheating:
- Transfer a single portion to a microwave-safe dish and cover loosely with a paper towel or wax paper.
- Reheat for 1 minute, then stir and continue heating at 30-second intervals until hot in the center.
- Let rest for 1 minute before serving to allow temperature to even out.
Air Fryer Reheating:
- Preheat air fryer to 350°F (175°C).
- Transfer leftover portions to an air fryer safe dish or aluminum foil boat.
- Reheat for 5-7 minutes, shaking halfway, until heated through with a crispy top.
- For a whole casserole, you may need to reheat in batches depending on air fryer size.
Frequently asked questions, answers and tips:
Draining ensures your tuna casserole isn't watery and has just the right amount of tuna flavor without being overly fishy from the packing liquid. Most recipes call for drained, flaked tuna to get the proper texture.
- Transfer the tuna chunks from the can/pouch into a colander or mesh strainer over a bowl.
- Let drain for 2-3 minutes, gently pressing with a spoon to remove excess liquid without breaking up the tuna.
- For tuna in water, just drain off the water.
- For tuna in oil, draining prevents a greasy casserole.
- After draining, flake or chunk the tuna with a fork before mixing into the other casserole ingredients.
Tuna Casserole
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon Olive Oil
- 1 Onion chopped
- 1 celery stalks chopped
- 2 cups pasta cooked
- 2 cans tuna, canned drained (8 ounces)
- 1 ½ cups Sharp Cheddar Cheese
- ⅓ teaspoon Salt
- ⅓ teaspoon Paprika
- ⅓ teaspoon granulated garlic
- ⅓ teaspoon Black Pepper
- ⅓ teaspoon dried herbs
- ½ cup green peas
- 1 cup cream of mushroom soup
- ½ cup panko breadcrumbs
- 2 tablespoon Parsley chopped
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350F. Saute onion and celery in olive oil for 5-6 minutes, stirring occasionally.1 tablespoon Olive Oil, 1 Onion, 1 celery stalks
- Mix cooked pasta, tuna, grated cheddar (1 cup), salt and all spices in a bowl.2 cups pasta, 2 cans tuna, canned, 1 ½ cups Sharp Cheddar Cheese, ⅓ teaspoon Salt, ⅓ teaspoon Paprika, ⅓ teaspoon granulated garlic, ⅓ teaspoon Black Pepper, ⅓ teaspoon dried herbs
- Add fried onion and celery, green peas and mushroom soup.½ cup green peas, 1 cup cream of mushroom soup
- Mix everything thoroughly.
- Transfer to a 9 * 13 baking dish. Bake in the oven for 20 minutes.
- Mix remaining cheddar with panko breadcrumbs.½ cup panko breadcrumbs
- Spread the cheese and breadcrumbs over the casserole and bake for another 10 minutes.
- The casserole is ready. Garnish with fresh herbs before serving.2 tablespoon Parsley
Nutrition
Nutritional facts are estimates and are provided as a courtesy to the reader. Please utilize your own brand nutritional values to double check against our estimates. Nutritional values are calculated via a third party. Changing ingredients, amounts or cooking technique will alter the estimated nutritional calculations.
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