Easy Tuna Casserole
This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure policy.
No canned soups in my version of Tuna Casserole! This American classic comfort food dish has egg noodles tossed with a homemade cheese sauce, traditional canned tuna, peas and is topped with crushed jalapeño potato chips.
Truth be told I had always heard of this dish, but had never tried it.
I did quite a bit of recipe testing on this one and think my made from scratch, Easy Tuna Casserole is a really good version with a homemade sauce, no canned soups and it doesn’t take long to make. It’s about 36 minutes start to finish. Easy.
I used 3 cans of albacore tuna, drained, and it came to almost a pound, 15.3 ounces! I kept the tuna in chunks instead of mashing it completely, making it almost unrecognizable as most recipes do.
This is one tasty recipe and I am so happy to share with you my version of tuna casserole!
I used egg noodles and frozen peas were added as it seems to be a classic ingredient. I also added onion, garlic and celery in the cheese sauce base mixture with thyme and a nice spice favorite, berbere.
Berbere is a chile and spice blend used to season many Ethiopian dishes. If you can’t find it, substitute with 1 teaspoon of Tabasco for this dish to give it a little kick. Note to self: that reminds me I need to share with you my berbere spice blend…
Many recipes had a breadcrumb topping and others had potato chips. I opted for the added crunch of potato chips and took it a step further with Kettle brand (not sponsored) and crushed up their Jalapeño potato chips for my topping.
Hope you like my Easy Tuna Casserole and give it a try. Enjoy!
Subscribe to my Newsletter, follow me on Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram and YouTube for all my latest recipes and videos.
Easy Tuna Casserole
Ingredients
- 12 oz egg noodles
- 1 tbsp olive oil (plus 2 tsp)
- 4 tbsp butter
- 4 stalks celery chopped
- 1 medium onion diced
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp thyme leaves
- 1/2 tsp berbere spice blend (See Note 1)
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp black pepper
- 1/4 cup all purpose flour
- 2 cups chicken stock
- 2 1/2 cups milk
- 1 cup sharp cheddar cheese shredded
- 1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
- 1 tsp Dijon mustard
- 1 cup peas frozen, thawed
- 3 cans albacore tuna in water (7 oz cans) , (15.3 oz total drained)
- 4 oz Jalapeno Potato Chips Kettle, crushed (See Note 2)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375°F. In a Dutch oven, cook noodles in heavily salted water for 7 minutes. Drain and transfer to a large bowl, do not rinse. Toss with 2 teaspoons olive oil so the noodles don’t stick.
- Heat tablespoon olive oil and butter in Dutch oven over medium. Add celery, onion and garlic powder. Cook until tender, about 4 more minutes. Add thyme, berbere spice (or Tabasco), salt and pepper and cook for 2 more minutes, stirring constantly.
- Whisk in flour and cook for about 1 minute. Whisking constantly, add chicken stock, milk and cheese. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to a simmer and whisk in Worcestershire sauce and mustard. Simmer 4 minutes and sauce should be thickened.
- Drain the tuna and crumble into the Dutch oven. Add the noodles and peas, tossing all to incorporate and get coated.
- Pour into 13×9″ baking pan coated with cooking spray and bake covered with aluminum foil for 10 minutes. Remove foil and evenly distribute potato chips on top. Return to oven, uncovered, and bake another 5 minutes. Serve immediately.
Notes
- Berbere is a chile and spice blend used to season many Ethiopian dishes. If you can’t find it, substitute with 1 teaspoon of Tabasco in this dish to give it a little kick.
- I get an 8 oz bag of Jalapeno Potato Chips (Kettle) and use half of the bag.
Nutrition
The information shown is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
When do we add the celery?
If you read my steps you should spot it in step 2. I hope you enjoy the recipe! Thank you!
This looks awesome, Kevin! I great up eating this, but it was always made with canned soup. So excited to have a homemade version to try!
Just putting a spin on a classic!
Like you, before creating this lovely recipe, I (still) have never had tuna casserole! You’re about to change that for me!! This looks amazing! And come on – jalapeno potato chips? YES!!!
Thanks Annie. BIG jalapeño chip fans over here. 🙂
You are bringing back memories of my childhood Kevin! Tuna noodle casserole was my favorite dinner during Lent! Your recipe looks delish!
Oh, thanks Mary Ann. The chips are a great add instead of breadcrumbs. 🙂