Tuna Casserole
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Tuna casserole recipe is what comfort food eats when it’s sad. Creamy pasta with flaky tuna, noodles, and bright peas is the perfect pick-me-up dish!
Tuna Casserole
Tuna Casserole
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Ingredient Notes for Tuna Casserole
- Egg noodles – Wide egg noodles.
- Peas – We use frozen, but canned works too. Frozen peas will be firmer and have a brighter green color.
- Tuna – Canned/drained.
- Condensed soup – We like cream of mushroom or cream of celery for this recipe.
- Milk – Preferably whole milk, but low fat or fat free will also work.
- Cheddar cheese – Shredded. Mexican or fiesta blend is good too.
- Bread crumbs – Panko. Traditional or Italian seasoned are also yummy.
- Butter – Salted/melted.
- Salt & pepper – To taste.
How to prepare the best tuna casserole
Can you make tuna casserole ahead of time?
Yes! I love to prep this a day or two in advance and then pop it in the oven when we’re ready to eat it. This is a perfect meal planning dish.
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Do I have to cook the noodles before baking?
In this recipe the noodles should be boiled first. You can do them al dente (slightly firm) because they will continue to cook in the casserole, but you do not want to add them dry.
What kind of condensed soup for tuna noodle casserole recipe?
We typically use cream of mushroom or cream of celery, but any of the “cream of” soups will work.
Storing your leftovers
How long does tuna casserole with noodles last?
Leftovers will keep in the refrigerator for 3 – 4 days or in the freezer for several weeks.
Can you freeze tuna noodle casserole?
Yes, you can freeze it before or after baking. When freezing before baking it’s best to use a disposable pan (so your baking dish isn’t stuck in the freezer for months!).
Cover tightly with at least two layers of foil. If freezing for an especially long time it helps to also wrap the entire dish in saran wrap. Freeze for up to 6 months.
Can you cook tuna casserole from frozen?
Yes, to cook the casserole from frozen add 45 – 60 minutes to the baked time. Bake covered with foil for the extra initial cook time, uncover during the last 20 minutes.
Tuna casserole tips
🧅 Try topping the casserole with crunchy onions like we do in our green bean casserole recipe.
🔥 Add some heat by stirring in a tablespoon or two of sriracha or Frank’s Red Hot sauce.
🥶 Make your future self happy by whipping up a double batch and freezing one pan for later.
🥕 Try it with mixed vegetables instead of peas, or canned chicken instead of tuna!
More noodle casserole recipes to enjoy
- Baked spaghetti casserole recipe
- Meatball noodle casserole recipe
- Taco noodle casserole recipe
- Pizza casserole recipe
- See all our easy casserole recipes
Other tuna recipes you’ll love
- Tuna pasta salad recipe
- Tuna patties recipe
- Tuna stuffed tomatoes recipe
- See all our recipes with seafood
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How to Make Tuna Casserole
Tuna Casserole Recipe
Ingredients
- 16 ounces wide egg noodles
- 1 cup frozen peas
- 10 ounces canned tuna drained (2 small cans)
- 2 cans condensed cream of mushroom soup* 10.5 ounces, each
- 1 cup milk
- 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
- ½ cup panko bread crumbs
- 1 tablespoon butter melted
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Boil egg noodles according to package directions, drain and return to pot.
- To the noodles, add the peas, tuna, soup, milk, and shredded cheddar. Stir to combine. Add salt and pepper to taste.
- Press noodles into a 9×13 inch buttered casserole dish.
- Mix together the panko crumbs and melted butter and sprinkle over the noodle mixture.
- Bake at 375F for 15 to 20 minutes, until bubbling and browned on top.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Did You Make This Recipe?
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Tuna Casserole
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Tools we love
- Glass casserole dish with lid – I love this dish, it can go from freezer to oven!
- Metal spatula – We like a metal spatula for getting heavy piles of noodles out easily.
Originally published: 1/11/2021, Updated: 5/15/2025
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Very good! After reading the comments about it being dry, I didn’t want to take a chance. I just added a little extra milk (1/2 cup or so) and about 3/4 cup of the pasta water. It was perfect! Not dry at all. A definite make again.
It was same experience for me
This was very tasty. I did make substitutions because of dietary restrictions. I am not a cheese fan. So I omitted cheese. Instead of salt, used an alternative since I have high blood pressure, and cashew milk instead of milk. I tasted the product before pouring into a casserole dish and adjusted the salt alternative before putting on the panko topping and opted for a smaller deeper casserole dish for baking. I was not disappointed and the casserole was not dry. I think my casserole was not dry, as other reviewers noted, because I opted for a smaller deeper baking dish. I chose this recipe because it had a few simple ingredients that had interchangeable ingredients based on my dietary needs. Defiantly will make again and would 100% take to an office/neighborhood potluck.
Can cream of mushroom be substituted with cream of celery or sour cream; suggestions?
I used cream of broccoli before and it was delicious
I used cream of celery because I’m allergic to mushrooms and it tasted amazing! lol
I just made this, and even with 1/2 cup more milk it was still dry – not “bubbling up” in the oven, as stated in the directions.. there was nothing to bubble. 🙁
I’m hoping an easy fix to this will be to use a 12 oz bag of egg noodles instead of 16oz. – there are just too many noodles takin’ up the space in the pan, plus, a 12 oz bag is much easier to find in the stores than 16 oz.
Good flavor, but we got too filled up with all the noodles, it just needs a little less. Can’t wait to try it again!
I like your recipes
This recipe is really good. I had all the ingredients, and I think a 12-ounce bag of noodles was perfect, and canned peas are more flavorful than frozen. The bread crumbs were taking forever to brown even though the casserole was bubbling. On a portion I was packing up for a friend to take out, I melted the butter in a small pan and added bread crumbs. I stirred them constantly and they browned up great. They were nice and crunchy for a topping.
This will definitely be saved with my saved recipes.
This is the recipe I’ve always used except I put crushed potato chips on top. I’ve also substituted mushroom soup with cream of celery which works well.
Easy as can be. I was out of peas so I used a can of LeSuer green beans. Of course I had to add onion powder and garlic powder. I put it in everything! Turned out great!
you put tuna casserole on this page all 10 times and nothing else
once would have been enough
I’m not sure what you mean by that?
I used this recipe as a base and, after reading the comments altered it a bit. I used 12oz of egg noodles instead of 16, 1 can of cream of shrimp plus equal amount of mayo, and 2-10oz cans of tuna. I did not have milk so I used 1 beaten egg and 1- 8oz bottle of snows clam juice. 2 cups of cheese, 2 cups frozen peas and carrots, and about 1/3 cup grated parm/romano. Seasoned with dill, natures seasoning and onion powder and a little pepper. Baked for 30 min to cook the egg. It was delicious.
try adding sour cream to your tuna and soup I also use sauteed onion and celery this is great gives the casserole a great flavor Wendy Huntsville AL
Use less noodles or more ingredients. If I had an extra soup I would have used it. I doubled the cheese and used two large cans of tuna (12 oz each) because the tuna seemed so minimal. I added onion and garlic powder (because who doesn’t use that??). The end product was simply delightful. This recipe was a fine “base” for me to work off of, but I don’t think it would be very flavorful if it was made as is.
I like to use sauteed onion and celery then add the soup and tuna and noodles frozen sweet peas and sour cream depending on how much I make and top it with crushed Ritz crackers and pour melted butter over that and bake until hot and bubbly
Delightfully easy to create, delicious going down, marvelous as a left-over! And if you hate peas, substitute corn and/or beans.
Made this tonight! I read the comments first. Used about 10 oz of egg noodles, used a cup and a quarter of milk, two cans of cream of mushroom, added shredded sharp cheeses, I had to cook it 30/35 min to see “bubbly” and then I broiled the top for about five min just kept checking so it would not burn. I also used onion powder, garlic powder, celery seed bc I didn’t have fresh, sautéed a small sweet onion and added that to the mix! It was moist and flavorful!!!!