Food doesn’t get much more comforting than this tuna noodle casserole! Easy to make, this baked casserole is wonderfully creamy and is a great family meal that you can make ahead of time (and with pantry staples).
Easy Tuna Noodle Casserole
Noodles, creamy sauce and a crunchy topping – life doesn’t get much better! Tuna noodle casserole is a traditional comfort food and it’s a classic for a reason.
This is a great pantry recipe, and it’s a great freezer meal too. So prep this delicious dish, then grab a fork and dig in!
How To Make Tuna Noodle Casserole
You can jump to the recipe card for full ingredients & instructions!
- Prep: Pre heat the oven. Spray a casserole dish with non stick spray and cook the noodles al dente.
- Combine: Process the cheese, chips, bread, butter and seasonings in a food processor. Mix the tuna, oil, lemon juice and seasonings together in a bowl.
- Cook: Sautee the onion until soft and add to the tuna mixture. On a medium heat whisk together the flour and butter and add the milk, broth and wine and boil until thickened. Add the cheese and soup and mix well.
- Make: Add the milk and cheese mixture to the tuna and then stir in the cooked noodles. Add the frozen peas and pour into the casserole dish.
- Bake: Bake until golden and bubbly.
What are the best noodles to use?
I like to use wide egg noodles for this tuna casserole. Use nice wide ones that are able to collect all of that wonderfully creamy sauce. If you are in a pinch you could use a long pasta such as linguini or spaghetti.
Can you make it ahead of time?
This tuna noodle casserole can be made ahead of time and also frozen for make ahead meals.
Store in the fridge: Let the casserole cool to room temperature. Cover it in plastic wrap or foil and place in the fridge for up to 4 days. Reheat the casserole in a pre heated oven at 325F for 20 to 30 minutes.
To freeze: Let the casserole cool, wrap it a couple of times in foil and place in the freezer. Once frozen (about 2-3 hours) transfer it to a freezer safe bag to prevent freezer burn. You can cook the casserole from frozen at 325F for about an hour or you can thaw it in the fridge overnight first.
The Perfect Comfort Food!
This tuna noodle casserole is the perfect family dish – I’ve never had a complaint! The sauce is so wonderfully creamy and the topping is wonderfully crispy.
Oh, did I mention cheesy?! It’s a real crowd pleasing supper and everyone will ask for it again!
Tips!
- Make this casserole in a 9×13-inch oven proof casserole dish and grease it before you add the ingredients.
- Bake the casserole in a preheated oven so that it cooks evenly.
- If the top of the casserole starts to brown too quickly you can cover it with foil.
More Casserole Recipes
- Mexican Tater Tot Casserole
- Turkey and Rice Casserole
- Frito Pie Casserole
- Cheesy Sausage and Potato Casserole
- Taco Casserole
- Sour Cream Noodle Bake
- Loaded Cornbread Casserole
If you make this recipe be sure to upload a photo in the comment section below or leave a rating. Enjoy! You can also jump to recipe.
Easy Tuna Casserole Recipe
Ingredients
- 12 ounces egg noodles
- 12 ounces shredded cheeses; Gruyere Sharp Cheddar or Monterey Jack; divided
- 2 cups ruffled-style potato chips roughly crushed
- 2 slices hearty white bread torn into 1-inch pieces
- 5 tablespoons cold unsalted butter divided
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt divided
- ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper divided
- 1 teaspoon dried herbs divided; Fines Herbes, parsley or Herbes de Provence work well
- 1 12-ounce can solid white albacore tuna packed in water
- 1 8 ounce can sliced water chestnuts, drained
- 2 tablespoons olive oil divided
- Juice of 1 lemon
- 3 tablespoons flour
- 2 cups Half ‘n Half or heavy cream
- 1 14.5 ounce can unsalted chicken broth
- ½ cup medium-dry white wine
- 1 10½ ounce can cream of mushroom soup
- 1½ cups frozen peas
- Garnish: chopped fresh parsley
Instructions
- Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 375°F.
- Spray a 9×13-inch casserole dish with nonstick cooking spray.
- Cook the noodles, to al dente, according to package directions. Drain and set aside.
- While the noodles cook, combine the cheeses in a medium bowl and mix to combine. Scoop out ¼ cup of cheese and set the remainder aside.
- In the bowl of a food processor, fitted with the metal blade, add the ¼ cup shredded cheese, potato chips, bread, 2 tablespoons butter, ¼ teaspoon salt, ¼ teaspoon black pepper, and ¼ teaspoon dried herbs.
- Process the mixture about 10 pulses or until the mixture becomes medium-coarse crumbs; set aside.
- Drain the tuna in a fine-mesh strainer and press with a rubber spatula to extract as much water as possible. Place the tuna in a large bowl and use a fork to separate the chunks into smaller pieces.
- Add water chestnuts, 1-tablespoon oil, lemon juice, and the remaining ¼ teaspoon kosher salt, ¼ teaspoon black pepper and ½ teaspoons herbs. Mix lightly; set aside.
- In a large skillet set over medium-low heat, add 1-tablespoon oil, 1-tablespoon butter and chopped onion. Cook and stir occasionally until onion is translucent and soft, about 6-8 minutes. Add the onions to the tuna mixture.
- Melt 2 tablespoons butter in the same skillet set over medium heat. Add flour and cook, whisking constantly, until flour is golden, 1-2 minutes. Slowly, while whisking constantly, add the Half ‘n Half, chicken broth and wine.
- Bring to a boil and reduce the heat to medium-low; simmer 5-7 minutes or until slightly thickened.
- Remove from the heat and add the remaining cheese and the mushroom soup; stir until cheese is melted and mixture is smooth.
- Add the milk/cheese mixture to the tuna mixture and mix well.
- Add the drained pasta and toss until noodles are coated with the creamed mixture.
- Taste and season with salt & black pepper, if needed.
- Add frozen peas and stir to incorporate.
- Pour the mixture into the prepared casserole dish and top with the bread-crumb mixture.
- Bake at 375°F for 35-45 minutes or until golden and bubbly. Allow casserole to cool 5-10 minutes before serving.
- Garnish with chopped fresh parsley, if desired, and serve with toasty bread and simple salad.
- Enjoy!
Last step! Don’t forget to show me a pic of what you made! Upload an image or tag me @thecookierookie on Instagram!
Nutrition Information
When making this for a freezer meal, is it best to bake and then cook and freeze or freeze it and bake when ready to eat?
We usually freeze before baking, then bake for 60-75 minutes straight from frozen!
Loved this recipe!!! It was delicious. Just took a little long to prep. Excellent freezer meal!! You have the nutrient information but what is the serving size??
Hi Rebecca, it’s difficult to give an accurate serving size, but a serving is about 1/8th of the finished pan!
I haven’t made this yet. But what can I subsitute for the white wine?
You can use more chicken broth or just plain water!
Being in a family of 9 kids, I practically grew up on tuna noodle casserole. I can’t wait to make this version!
I hope you enjoy it!!
Hi Becky,
I’m a diehard fan of all your recipes but this one stumped me a little. Your instructions call for onion but there is none listed on the ingredients. I winged it and added a large onion. Turned out delicious!!
I’m sorry about that! I’m glad you enjoyed the recipe still!!
This recipe is soooo delicious!! I will be making this for the rest of my life!! Only thing is, there is onion in it, but not listed in the ingredients aspect of it..only if you read the directions it says to saute the onion….I’m like, what onion..so I chopped one medium! Also, I used chopped water chestnuts! Loved it!!!
I’ll look into that!! I’m glad you still enjoyed it!!
I haven’t made this recipe yet but purchased all the ingredients for tonight. In reading the directions step 9 says “In a large skillet set over medium-low heat, add 1-tablespoon oil, 1-tablespoon butter and chopped onion. Cook and stir occasionally until onion is translucent and soft, about 6-8 minutes. Add the onions to the tuna mixture.” But, I don’t see onions in the ingredients and would like to know how much/many “chopped onions” you suggest I use.
Had to rate it before I could enter any comments…might be better than 3 stars?!
One large onion will be enough!
this recipe sounds amazing! I have to let you know that in the directions, step #9, you have chopped onions sautaing ( do not know how to spell, sorry) in melted butter. there are no onions listed in the ingredients. how much onions do you use in this recipe? I would really like to try this!!!
One large onion will work!
I really like to try and cook new recipes for my family ,they really love it and i enjoyed cooking and eating new recipes food .
I’m glad you all enjoyed it so much!!