Best Tuna Noodle Casserole

  4.6 – 55 reviews  • Tuna

Toasted in the air fryer for optimum crunch, crispy, delicious bagel chips. Combine with your preferred party dips or a cheese board. The ideal bagels for this recipe are unsliced, day-old, stale bagels.

Prep Time: 20 mins
Cook Time: 35 mins
Total Time: 55 mins
Servings: 8
Yield: 1 9×13-inch casserole

Ingredients

  1. 1 (12 ounce) package egg noodles
  2. 4 ¼ teaspoons kosher salt, divided
  3. 4 tablespoons salted butter, divided
  4. 5 teaspoons olive oil, divided
  5. 1 (8 ounce) package sliced fresh mushrooms
  6. 1 small white onion, minced
  7. ¼ cup all-purpose flour
  8. 2 cups milk
  9. 1 ½ cups chicken stock
  10. 2 tablespoons lemon juice
  11. 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
  12. ½ teaspoon ground black pepper
  13. 1 ½ cups shredded white Cheddar cheese
  14. 1 cup frozen sweet peas
  15. 2 (6 ounce) cans tuna, drained
  16. 1 cup panko bread crumbs
  17. ¼ teaspoon ground paprika
  18. 2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh parsley

Instructions

  1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Grease a 9×13-inch baking dish.
  2. Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add egg noodles and 3 teaspoons salt to the boiling water; cook until tender yet firm to the bite, about 6 minutes. Drain noodles. Return to pot and set aside.
  3. Heat 2 tablespoons butter and 1 tablespoon oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add mushrooms and onion and cook until mushrooms are softened and onions are translucent, about 4 minutes. Add remaining butter; stir constantly until melted. Sprinkle flour over vegetable mixture and cook, stirring constantly, for 1 minute. Stir in milk and stock and bring to a simmer, stirring often. Simmer for 5 minutes. Stir in lemon juice, Dijon mustard, 1 teaspoon salt, and pepper.
  4. Add sauce mixture to reserved noodles. Stir in 1 cup Cheddar cheese, peas, and tuna. Pour mixture into the prepared baking dish and sprinkle remaining Cheddar cheese over the top.
  5. Stir together bread crumbs, remaining 2 teaspoons oil, remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt, and paprika in a small bowl. Sprinkle bread crumb mixture evenly over the casserole.
  6. Bake in the preheated oven until golden and bubbly, 25 to 30 minutes. Sprinkle with parsley and serve.

Nutrition Facts

Calories 481 kcal
Carbohydrate 51 g
Cholesterol 91 mg
Dietary Fiber 3 g
Protein 28 g
Saturated Fat 10 g
Sodium 1481 mg
Sugars 6 g
Fat 20 g
Unsaturated Fat 0 g

Reviews

Ashley Palmer
I see the recipe was updated recently, so it may be that the chef altered the salt content. I say this because given all the salt comments, I was surprised to find this casserole to be a little bit bland. I made two batches, so for the second batch I used adobo seasoning in place of the salt to give it a little bit more flavor, and I also used sweet corn instead of peas. It turned out pretty good! I also crushed a few Lays potato chips and added those to the top simply because that’s how my mom used to do it and it tasted good on the original Better Homes & Gardens version of the tuna casserole when I was little. This is a solid recipe and everyone’s tastes are going to differ. Thanks to the chef for posting it!
Jose Noble
This was pretty good. I’m glad I read the comments first so I doubled the sauce, cut back on the salt, and added more peas. I also split it between two pans, one to cook now and one to freeze. The sauce on its own was delicious – I think I’m going to make cream of mushroom soup soon.
Robert Morgan
Very good but was pretty dry. Next time I’ll use fewer noodles and/or make more sauce.
Brian Powell
Not bad. Made a few adjustments. Didn’t have fresh mushrooms. Used cream of mushroom soup instead. Mixed the tuna, peas, soup, 1/2 cup of milk, lemon pepper in a small bowl. Italian parsley adds a nice touch. Everything else was pretty much the same. Made add more cheese & breadcrumbs next time
Kara Barker
I made 1/2 the recipe for my husband. He thought it was okay, I thought it was nasty & SUPER DRY. I WILL NOT MAKE AGAIN.
Crystal Francis
This is the best recipe I’ve found for this. Single guy at 49. Don’t really cook, but I’m changing that getting older. I’m sick of condensed in everything. I want to keep things as fresh as possible. This lasts me 3 -4 days eating it twice a day because it is so good. Next up… is spaghetti all fresh if anyone knows a good recipe for that.
Tina Ayala
I added more peas. Delicious!
Michael Davis
After reading reviews I only added salt to the boiling noodles and the onions and mushrooms. I also upped chickem broth to two cups. It was not dry and I thought pretty good. However I think something added could make it great. Not sure what. Maybe a spice? Or maybe wine? Maybe a vinegarette? I am not a chef but I am willing to try this again and try to find something to bump it up a notch
Ashley Jones
I used 1/4 C less salt after reading reviews, recipe calls for too much salt! I did not like this casserole at all.It was dry and not as tasty as I had imagined.
Lisa Larson
This was so delicious!! I also made it using leftover chicken instead of tuna and it was also wonderful. This is a keeper recipe.
Leonard Young
My family loved it! Even I loved it and I have never liked hot tuna fish in any form. Did take more time and a bit more effort but was worth it.
Gary Peterson
I saw this recipe in an email, knew right away I wanted to make it because it reminded me of a casserole my mom used to make for us 4 boys and our Pops! I doubled the Dijon and bumped up the cheese, and it tasted awesome! I’ll make it again!
Jacob Ortiz
Love this! Doesn’t take long to make and includes several of my favourite foods!
Donna Anderson
Way too much salt used. For those who have to be tight with sodium intake, don’t add salt to noodles cooking or anywhere else in the recipe. Use unsalted butter. There is plenty of salt in the cheese itself and the tunafish to make the dish very nice. You might be surprised at how fresh it tastes without loading it with salt!
Julia Garcia
The recipe as printed contains way too much salt for the average person. I would use unsalted butter, unsalted broth to cook the noodles in, and no added salt to the recipe. The tuna, and the cheese contain all the salt a person needs.
Gabriel Mcclure
For those wanting to try something different with the “crust”, I suggest sliced almonds.
Ryan Jensen
Omg this is the best tuna casserole I have ever made and have ever had, I followed the recipe exactly except I did add a little red pepper flakes for a bite but didn’t notice any and I added a tiny bit of chopped celery, I didn’t double the sauce but I did the amount it called for and a half and the consistency was perfect it wasn’t dry and it wasn’t too wet it was absolutely perfect and for the topping I mixed a half a cup of panko with a half a cup of bread crumbs because I ran out of panko and I mixed that with oil and butter and sprinkled my cheese on top and then the panko and bread crumb mixture and then I added some of the french fried onions on top of that, it came out absolutely perfect, next time I might double the sauce and add an extra can of tuna but, like I said, it was the best tuna casserole I have ever had, was a lot of work but it was definitely worth it in the end… Soooooooo good…. I’ve already had two helpings and I live alone so I don’t know what I’m going to do with the rest of it but I guess I’m going to freeze it in little containers lol
Jason Dean
This was great! Will add a little more peas next time.
Miss Carly Hill MD
Made a half recipe as we are only two and wasn’t ready to share a first time with a new recipe (for me). It makes enough for a couple of days plus so use a large pot. The good news is that it was really tasty and I think it can be sealed and frozen. I saw the reviews saying it was a bit dry so I bumped up the chicken stock and deglazed with a large splash of dry white wine. I also agree with the addition of celery as it added a nice crunch in addition to the panko. We really like the ability to reduce the amount of salt by not using canned soups. The best tuna casserole that I have had and I am not sure if it is the Dijon or the lemon juice or just fresh stuff. We loved this, will probably try the recipe with crab next time.
Nicole Lee
It was very good, although I think I would make extra sauce next time
Dana Garcia
It was just delicious. Very flavorful, creamy and rich. The Panko topping mixed with the cheese gave a tasty crunch. My husband loved it.

 

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