Banish those Spring shower blahs with the ultimate Tuna Casserole!
It’s been really cold and wet lately in Toronto, so while I would love to be thinking about summer salads, I’m still craving comfort food. When it’s dreary outside, the fridge is bare and I need dinner in a hurry, what comes to mind? Mom’s Tuna Casserole!
Mom’s Tuna Casserole checks all my boxes: simple pantry ingredients, to the table in 45 minutes, and delicious every time. Although I know this simple recipe off by heart, I looked it up on EatInEatOut and, OMG, it was not there! I can’t believe I missed sharing this staple for casserole lovers. My apologies for all the lost yumminess… enjoy.
This time around I had a can of Cream of Wild Mushroom on the shelf – I loved it. You can use any cream soup you like; chicken, broccoli, celery, go wild. They each contribute a unique flavour and I’ve tried them all and each one is delicious.
Now my thoughts on elbow macaroni, I know, not a trendy pasta shape. You can swap out for penné or fussili, but good old macaroni is the bomb. I have used all the store brands, but have settled on the one most pros like – Barilla. Not a sponsor (shout out), but I love it and recommend it.
I use a 1.5 qt round baking dish for this recipe and it serves up to 6 smallish servings. You can easily double the recipe to serve 8 in a larger 2.5 qt oval dish. Sometimes I add a cup of blanched broccoli or fresh baby spinach right into the casserole mix. It’s a great way to sneak in the veg so you don’t have to make sides!
- 1 ¾ cups elbow macaroni, uncooked
- 1 284 mL can condensed cream soup – mushroom, chicken, celery, broccoli
- 1 170 g can flaked light tuna
- ½ cup milk
- ⅓ cup red onion, finely diced
- 1 cup shredded old cheddar cheese, divided
- ¼ tsp EACH salt and pepper
- Preheat oven to 400ºF.
- Cook pasta according to package directions, just to al dente.
- In a bowl mix cooked pasta, soup, tuna, milk, onion, ½ cup cheese and spices. Pour mixture into a greased 1.5 qt. casserole dish and sprinkle remaining ½ cup cheese on top.
- Bake for 30 minutes until bubbling.
Lori loves to create simple and delicious meals that are ready in 30 minutes or less!
I made this with cream of mushroom and added some fresh mushrooms to it. It was simple, quick and delicious!
I made this and it turned out delicious. I do have an aversion to canned soup so I sauteed fresh chopped mushrooms in butter and added 1cup of chicken stock, 1 tbsp corn starch and about 1/4 c of milk.
Love that idea Catherine! Thanks for coming back to tell us about it!!
This was amazing thank you so much for the receipe! (I did add more cheese because I have a cheese addiction LOL)
Thanks Melissa, I have it memorized… I love it too much!
Was very good, thank you, I have tried making this recipe exactly the same, with mushroom soup, but I made it with hamburger, was excellent, tastes like a cheeseburger
I love that you made your own mushroom sauce Catherine
Is that 1 3/4 cups macaroni or 3/4 cup
That is 1-3/4 cups. Most of the time I even go up to 2 cups cooked.
This is the 3rd time I’m making it! The family loves. My daughter wishes that she could bring it as a school lunch . I didn’t have red onion, so I’m trying it with a bell pepper. See how it goes!
This recipe sounds delicious, I’m going to try it tonight.
Does it last well enough for next day leftovers?
For 2 people I have left overs. It serves 4 -5.
We have 3 people and if we pace ourselves we can get 2 meals out of it. It’s great cold too, like tuna macaroni salad!
Try sliced olives in the mix. Delicious
Great recipe! Thank you!
Not a can of soup to be found in my pantry, so I sautéed some onion,
Leeks, garlic, frozen peas and green beans in some olive oil and added a bit of Alfredo sauce to thicken. Topped the casserole with ground crumbs from a baguette gone hard. And a bit of feta. Went for some colour with some thinly sliced red pepper on the top.
I hope they like!!
One of the first things we learned how to make in home ec class circa 1972. Still a Family favorite. In the oven as we speak. The leftovers are great cold too!