Skip to Content

Best Tuna Casserole Recipe

Every cook in America has his or her own tuna casserole recipe. It is truly a classic. I love how this easy tuna noodle casserole tastes both creamy and fresh, but the absolute best part is the crunchy topping. You won’t believe how crunchy and delicious it is! In my opinion, it makes it the best homemade tuna casserole ever.

Best Tuna Casserole Recipe

Ingredients you’ll need:

  • Egg noodles: these curly noodles are soft and make the casserole look and taste amazing
  • Mixed veggies: you can use any veggie you love. I used chopped onions, red bell pepper, celery, and peas. I love how their different colors make the dish come alive
  • Canned tuna: water-packed tuna is my tuna of choice
  • Cream of mushroom soup: the condensed kind. It will be the base for the sauce
  • Milk: helps dilute the cream of mushroom
  • Cheddar cheese: please shred your own cheese, the difference between freshly shredded and store-bought pre-shredded cheese is enormous. You will use it for the filling and the topping
  • Parsley: I love the freshness it provides to both the filling and the topping
  • Panko breadcrumbs: please don’t use regular breadcrumbs, the topping will not be as crunchy!
  • Butter: it helps bind together the topping ingredients.

Best Tuna Casserole Recipe

How to Make Tuna Noodle Casserole?

To make this tuna casserole recipe, follow these instructions:

  1. Preheat the oven to 425 F. Make the topping and reserve. Cook the noodles according to package instructions, drizzle them with a little oil to prevent them from sticking to each other and set them aside.
  2. Melt ½ tablespoon of butter over medium-high heat and saute the onion, celery, and red bell pepper.
  3. In a large bowl, mix together the cooked noodles, sauteed veggies, peas, condensed cream of mushroom, milk, one cup of shredded cheddar, tuna, and one tablespoon of parsley.
  4. Spoon the mixture into a 9×13-inch baking dish and sprinkle the topping evenly over it
  5. Bake for 20 minutes until golden brown.

Best Tuna Casserole Recipe

How to Freeze Tuna Casserole?

If you have any leftovers, let them cool completely and place them in an airtight container and freeze them for up to three months. If you don’t have an airtight container, wrap the leftovers twice in plastic wrap and once in foil.

How to reheat Tuna Casserole?

Thaw any leftovers overnight in the fridge and let them stand at room temperature for 30 mins to one hour. Reheat them in a 350 F oven until bubbly. You can use the microwave to reheat them, but the topping will not be crunchy.

What to serve with Tuna Casserole?

Tuna casserole is a complete meal in itself, but I like to serve a side salad with almost all my meals. My family’s all-time favorite is Tomato Cucumber Onion Salad. It’s super fresh and whenever I have them on hand, I add chopped avocado as well.

For dessert, I either surprise them with my amazing Pineapple Uside-down Bundt Cake Recipe or if I really want to indulge, I go for my Chocolate Peanut Butter No-Bake Dessert.

Best Tuna Casserole Recipe

Best Tuna Casserole Recipe

A classic creamy tuna noodle casserole with the most amazingly crunchy topping!
5 from 1 vote
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 20 minutes
Total Time 35 minutes
Course Main Course
Cuisine American
Servings 6 Servings
Calories 325 kcal

Ingredients
  

For the casserole:

  • 3 cups egg noodles
  • ½ tbsp butter
  • ½ cup onion, diced
  • ½ cup celery, diced
  • ½ cup red bell pepper, diced
  • 1 cup frozen peas, defrosted
  • 1 tsp dried oregano
  • 1- 5-6 oz can tuna packed in water, drained
  • 1- 10.5 oz can condensed cream of mushroom soup
  • cup milk
  • 1 cup cheddar cheese, freshly grated
  • 1 tbsp parsley, freshly chopped

For the topping:

  • ½ cup Panko breadcrumbs
  • 1 tbsp butter, melted
  • ½ cup cheddar cheese, freshly grated
  • 1 tbsp parsley, freshly chopped

Instructions
 

  • Preheat the oven to 425 F. Cook the egg noodles according to package instructions, drain, drizzle a little olive oil over them so they don’t stick together, and set aside.
  • Make the topping by combining all ingredients in a small bowl until well mixed together
  • Melt the butter over medium-high heat and saute the onions, celery, and red bell pepper until tender. Season with salt, pepper, and oregano
  • In a large bowl add the sauteed veggies, cooked noodles, drained tuna, peas, soup, milk, cheese and parsley, mix until well combined
  • Spoon mixture into a 9x13-inch casserole dish
  • Sprinkle the topping evenly over the casserole and bake for 20 minutes or until golden brown

Nutrition

Calories: 325kcalCarbohydrates: 25gProtein: 19gFat: 15gSaturated Fat: 9g

 

Recipe Rating