Tuna Noodle Casserole

This Quick and Easy Tuna Noodle Casserole recipe is a fantastic supper for nights when you're short on time! Tuna Noodle Casserole is a family favorite comfort food filled with pasta, tuna, peas, a cream sauce, and topped with shredded cheese and optional crunchy topping!

Looking for a more grown-up or from scratch tuna noodle casserole recipe? Try my delicious Creamy Tuna Noodle Casserole with Panko Topping!

Tuna Noodle Casserole Recipe

I may have to give Mom a call and double check on this...but I do believe this Quick and Easy Tuna Noodle Casserole recipe was the first ever actual meal that I cooked up for the two of us! When it came time to try my hand at dinners, casseroles were an easy choice and this was one my Mom had frequently made.

So, it was a first for me growing up then, and is now a go-to quick comfort food meal that my own family enjoys! It's a wonderful last minute dinner idea since, typically, all of the ingredients are on hand in the pantry!

Like so many classic recipes, this cheesy tuna noodle casserole recipe has as many variations as there are moms that make it. I've tried to include quite a few interchangeable ingredient suggestions, stir-ins and add-ons in my notes below!

How To Make Tuna Noodle Casserole

Start with preparing your wide egg noodles ( or your preferred pasta ) according to the package instructions, minus about two minutes. This will yield an al denté texture ( firm to the bite, but cooked through ) that will absorb flavor from the casserole while baking...without ending up with mushy noodles!

Drain and rinse your pasta in cool water when it is done cooking, then set it aside until you are ready to combine the pasta and cream sauce.

While your pasta is cooking, preheat your oven to 400 ºF ( 205 ºC ) and add all of the remaining ingredients ( except for the cheese and topping ) to a large casserole dish or Dutch oven. Stir all of the ingredients until you have a smooth, creamy sauce mixture.

Then add the cooked, rinsed pasta and stir until well coated. Top with grated cheddar cheese and optional Ruffles Cheddar Sour Cream chips.

Cover the casserole dish with aluminum foil, or the lid of your Dutch oven, and bake at 400 ºF ( 205 ºC ) for 30 minutes, or until the casserole is bubbling around the edges and the topping is golden browned. I usually remove the cover for the last 10 - 15 minutes of the cooking time.

Remove from the oven when cooked, and serve immediately. I like to serve my tuna noodle casserole with a side salad, a vegetable side, or some fresh fruit for a complete meal. Enjoy!

Interchangeable ingredients and variations:

Pasta -

The pasta varieties that could be used are endless! I have always used wide egg noodles, but I also really love the way that small to medium sized pasta shells keep some of the cream sauce tucked inside.

Medium/short pasta varieties like Elbow Macaroni, Penne, Rotini, Farfalle (bowtie), Cavatappi are just a few other ideas. In a pinch, there's nothing to say that long pasta like Spaghetti, Linguine, Fettuccine, or Angel Hair pasta couldn't also be used.

Tuna -

I prefer albacore and yellow fin tuna, even though I grew up on using light tuna. Any of these will work, as will canned pink or red salmon. Using salmon is a wonderfully tasty alternative to the usual tuna!

Peas -

Pretty much any vegetable you like can be swapped out for the peas, or stirred in for additional vegetables. Many times, I will use a higher vegetable and tuna content with less pasta to sneak more of the 'good stuff' in on my daughter!

Cream of Chicken or Cream of Mushroom Condensed Soup -

Once you add the milk back to these condensed soups, you have a really easy sauce to make a homemade version of. It's what I use in my other tuna casserole recipe.

I like to use heavy cream for my sauces ( there's very few sugars and you don't need to use flour to thicken your sauce, it also means that gluten free is an option with the appropriate noodles ). If you don't have heavy cream on hand, use milk with flour to sub out the heavy cream in my from scratch tuna casserole.

Other sauces for tuna noodle casserole are sometimes made with mayonnaise, a mayo and sour cream combination, sour cream, alfredo sauce, or a cheese sauce ( like a mac and cheese recipe with tuna and peas ).

Cheddar Cheese -

I typically use a medium, sharp, or extra sharp cheddar cheese on my tuna noodle casserole recipes. You can use a combination of white ( Mozzarella, Monterey Jack ) and yellow cheeses ( Cheddar, Colby or Colby Jack ) with great results. Plus, sometimes I like to sprinkle freshly grated Parmesan over the casserole or mix it in with crumbled crackers for a topping.

Ruffles Cheddar Sour Cream Chips -

Crumbled normal potato chips, Ritz crackers, Club crackers, and bread crumbs or Panko all work as an extra crunchy topping option.

When using crackers, I like to crumble them to a finer bread crumb consistency. For crumbled crackers, bread crumbs, or Panko use some melted butter to mix in with the dry ingredient for a topping that will brown beautifully!