Jennifer Lambert

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You are here: Home / Recipes / The Best Homemade Tuna Casserole

The Best Homemade Tuna Casserole

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April 18, 2014 By Jennifer Lambert 6 Comments

I’ve eaten my fair share of tuna casseroles in my time – some good, some bad, and some ugly.

Most casserole recipes have canned soup in them for the sauce and other ingredients that I would rather not eat. We prefer all natural, real food ingredients.

I think I have perfected the tuna casserole recipe to eliminate all the yuck factors.

This is a great frugal lunch for our homeschool family.

For my two who don’t care for fish? They still love this! It doesn’t taste fishy at all. You can always substitute chicken or turkey or salmon! And I love all the “hidden” vegetables.


I rarely make this for dinner since my husband doesn’t care for it.at.all. But if he’s out of town or busy of a night, it’s a pinch to throw together.

The Best Homemade Tuna Casserole

Procedure:

I have friends who keep the cream soup base in a jar or can in their pantry. I haven’t been that proactive. It’s really just not that hard to make it fresh each time and I have little storage space.

I make a béchamel sauce and boil pretty noodles. (White Sauce – Approx: Melt a stick of butter, add 1/3 c flour, whisk, add 1 pint cream, whisk.)

Boil noodles to al dente. They’re gonna bake in that casserole and you don’t want mush.

Tuna (water and all from the can or pouch – or leftover grilled, roasted, baked tuna steak is very yum!)

Chopped veggies in a big bowl. I love, love, love roasted peppers. We canned our own last fall and wow! does that add a lovely flavor.

Lots of shredded cheese. Usually whatever I have on hand – Parmesan is a must though. A Mexican cheese blend melts just beautifully.

Here’s the casserole beauty, ready for the oven:

Tuna Casserole Ready for the Oven
Print

The Best Homemade Tuna Casserole

Course Main Dish
Cuisine Casserole
Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 30 minutes
Total Time 50 minutes
Servings 6

Ingredients

  • 2-4 T butter
  • 1/4-1/3 c AP flour
  • 1-1.5 c milk or cream or half and half
  • 1 small onion chopped
  • 2 stalks celery chopped
  • 2 medium carrots chopped
  • 1/4 c roasted red peppers (pimientos) chopped
  • 1/4 c bell pepper (any color but green is pretty) chopped
  • 1 large can tuna or a cooked tuna steak, chopped
  • 12 oz noodles prepared al dente
  • 1.5 c shredded cheese I like a Mexican blend + Parmesan
  • 1 pinch salt to taste
  • 1 pinch black pepper to taste
  • 1 pinch garlic powder to taste

Instructions

  1. Boil noodles according to directions.
  2. Chop onions, carrots, and peppers.
  3. Saute vegetables in butter with a drizzle of olive oil.
  4. Sprinkle 1/4 c AP flour over vegetables, then immediately whisk in cream until smooth and thick.
  5. Combine Bechamel sauce in a bowl with tuna and noodles and cheese.
  6. Spread in a large baking dish. Sprinkle with cheese.
  7. Bake at 350* for about 30-45 minutes, depending on how crispy you like the top.
Linking up: The Sassy Slow Cooker, Home to 4 Kiddos, Crystal and Co., Kids Activity Blog, The Recipe Critic, Our Table for Seven
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Filed Under: Recipes Tagged With: casserole, frugal, recipe, tuna

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INTJ. Only child. Military Wife. Homeschool Mom. Geek. Naturalist. Traveler. Questioning authority since 1976.

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Comments

  1. Lisa says

    April 28, 2014 at 1:05 pm

    Thanks so much for sharing with “Try a New Recipe Tuesday.” This was one of the most viewed posts from last week’s hop! :-) Therefore, you are being featured this week! Congrats! :-) Be sure to stop by and grab an “I’ve been featured” button from my sidebar for your blog. The post should go live shortly.

    Reply
  2. Christy says

    March 5, 2017 at 10:27 pm

    I’m not sure if I’m missing something? What size dish? What temperature do you bake at? For how long? All I can see is the ingredients and to make a bechemel sauce and cook noodles al dente.

    Reply
    • Jennifer says

      March 6, 2017 at 8:20 am

      Sorry about that. It’s updated now. Bake in a large rectangle dish at 350* for about 30-45 minutes.

      Reply
  3. Debora boeck says

    March 1, 2018 at 2:51 am

    I should have read that paragraph about your husband not liking the dish first. I had fresh tuna which may have been the problem. Frankly it was dry and tasteless. I added a few pockets of milk and broth and cooked a little longer but nevertheless most will be going out to the chickens tomorrow

    Reply
    • Jennifer says

      March 1, 2018 at 2:43 pm

      My husband doesn’t like any fish really. Sorry it turned out dry and tasteless. Maybe overcooked and underseasoned?

      Reply

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