This tuna noodle casserole is the best… it’s my mom and grandma’s recipe! A creamy, cheesy sauce coats egg noodles, dotted with green peas and flake tuna, topped with melty cheesy and buttery breadcrumbs. This classic recipe is rich and creamy, made from scratch but so quick and easy to throw together. No canned soups here! A true budget meal but indulgent at the same time.
Why This Tuna Noodle Casserole Recipe Is The Best
- Growing up, we ate my mom’s tuna noodle casserole recipe all the time, and it’s still one of my favorites. Mom’s been making it for over 40 years, and her mom made it for her when she was a kid. As Catholics, they had it every Friday (It was that or fish sticks, ha!).
- Even now, whenever I need a quick and cheap comfort food meal from the pantry and freezer, this one comes to mind. I admit, it’s not totally the casserole from my childhood. I upgraded it to be super creamy and saucy, with some veggies.
- This recipe doesn’t use any canned soups like most tuna noodle casserole recipes. No cream of mushroom – just real roux, milk, and cheese!
Key Ingredients for Tuna Noodle Casserole
Tuna – You can use tuna in water or oil, whichever you prefer. Water-packed tuna will be a little lighter when it comes to calories and fat. If you want to double up on the amount of tuna used in this recipe, you absolutely can!
Noodles – Egg noodles are the classic noodle-of-choice when it comes to tuna noodle casserole, but you can use any type of noodle you like best. If you’re looking for a noodle-less option, check out our recipe for Whole30 Tuna Zoodle Casserole (Paleo, Dairy Free)!
Chef’s Tips
- For a gluten free version, substitute the egg noodles with an equal weight of gluten free noodles. Use the same amount of gluten free flour.
- You can use gluten free breadcrumbs if you can find them, but if not, it’s super easy to make some out of gluten free bread. Or just leave them out! They are totally optional.
- If you don’t have peas or just don’t like them, you can leave them out. You can also sub basically any other veggie you like in their place. Chopped broccoli? Asparagus? Spinach? Corn? All great options.
- Since the noodles get cooked twice (once on the stove, again in the oven) you want to make sure they’re just barely cooked when you take them off the stovetop. This will keep them from overcooking in the oven.
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- Chicken Cordon Bleu Casserole
- Whole30 Casserole with Chicken, Broccoli, Rice, and Mushrooms (Paleo, GF)
- Vegetarian Enchiladas with Goat Cheese
- Healthy Authentic Seafood Gumbo (Gluten Free, Whole30, Paleo, Low Carb)
- Cranberry Rosemary One Pan Chicken (Paleo, Whole30 Option)
- Cheesy Ham and Potato Casserole
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Mom’s Best Tuna Noodle Casserole
Equipment
- 2.5-quart Baking Dish
- medium saucepan
Ingredients
- 1 5-ounce can chunk light tuna drained and flaked
- 8 ounces egg noodles see Notes for gluten free
- 6 tablespoons butter divided
- 5 tablespoons flour See Notes for gluten free
- 2 ½ cups whole milk
- ½ teaspoon salt plus extra to taste
- ¼ teaspoon pepper
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon dried parsley optional
- 1 ½ cups shredded cheddar cheese divided
- ¾ cup frozen peas
- 2 tablespoons breadcrumbs see Notes for gluten free
- fresh parsley chopped, for garnish, optional
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350º Fahrenheit.
For the Noodles
- Cook according to package directions in heavily salted water, for shortest amount of time recommended.
- Drain and transfer to baking dish. Set aside.
For the Sauce
- Melt 5 tablespoons butter in heavy medium saucepan over low heat. Add flour. Stir until smooth.
- Cook 1 minute, stirring constantly until mixture bubbles and turns golden. Slowly add milk, whisking constantly. Cook over medium heat, whisking constantly, until thickened and bubbly.
- Stir in salt, pepper, garlic powder, and dried parsley. Remove from heat. Add 1 cup shredded cheese, stirring until melted
For the Casserole
- Pour sauce over drained noodles in baking dish. Add tuna and green peas and stir to combine. Bake in oven 15 minutes.
- While casserole is baking, melt remaining tablespoon butter in small bowl. Stir in breadcrumbs and large pinch of salt.
- After casserole bakes 15 minutes, sprinkle remaining ½ cup shredded cheese on top, then sprinkle buttery breadcrumbs over cheese.
- Return to oven and bake 5 minutes or until bubbly. Garnish with chopped parsley, if desired.
Video
Notes
- Make it Gluten Free: Substitute egg noodles with equal weight gluten free noodles. Use equal parts gluten free flour instead of regular flour. Use gluten free bread crumbs, make some out of gluten free bread, or omit.
Nutrition
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Cheryl Malik is the recipe developer, writer, and photographer behind the healthy, flavorful, family friendly recipes at 40 Aprons. She’s been a blogger for 10+ years and is known for her delicious recipes and detailed recipe instructions. Cheryl is a mom of three who lives in Memphis, TN.
Adorisa says
My family liked this MUCH better than the same recipe using condensed soup. The flavors were spot on and the crisp topping was excellent.
Cheryl Malik says
That’s great! Thank you for the review.
David Johnston says
I make the same. I add peas and corn. Complementary. Sesame seeds combined with breadcrumbs. Think Bread rolls. Nuttiness. I used wheat pasta but use egg vermicelli for my spaghetti bolognaise with basil. This one works cause it has pasta, protein and nice veg. Good winter filler.
Susan says
Omg!! I made this for dinner tonight..Hands down its the best I’ve had. Quick and easy to make. I will pass this on to my Daughters so they can make it for their Families.
Diana says
I hadn’t made tuna noodle casserole in years and decided to give this recipe a try. It was simple, quick and satisfying. I did modify it by using: 2 cans of albacore tuna to increase the protein, farfalle pasta instead of egg noodles, 4 tablespoons of butter in which to cook the flour (just to cut back a bit on the fat), and instead of buttered bread crumbs for the topping I used fried onions (like the ones used on green bean casserole). It was a success. Thank you!
Kimberly Kuhn says
I’ve made this 3 times in 2 weeks. My family adores it. It definitely a family favorite at our house! So much healthier than canned soup versions tastes so much better. Thank you so much for sharing.
Cheryl Malik says
Thank you for the great review! I am so happy your family loves this recipe.
Celeste says
I made this for dinner tonight and it the perfect comforting and filling meal for a cold snowy day. I loved how quick it was to throw together after a long day of work and everybody asked for seconds. I added a bit of cayenne pepper to the sauce and used a combination of white cheddar, Swiss and Pecorino Romano cheese. I also served with a simple green salad which was the perfect combination.
Patty says
Made this for my husband’s birthday which happened to fall on Ash Wednesday so needed to make a meatless meal. He had never had tuna noodle casserole so this was his first time. I have made it before but with cream of mushroom soup so thought I would give this a try and make it without the soup. I didn’t have frozen peas but I did have frozen mixed vegetables so I used that. He loved it! Between the two of us, we ate over half! Leaving just enough for our daughter when she comes home from work. I think I will be making this one again!
Miah says
I came to find this recipe again to make tonight because I can’t get myself to make Tuna Noodle Casserole any other way now! Your way is out-of-this-world delicious. This recipe is just fantastic/perfect and I wanted thank you so much for sharing!
Brittany Burgess says
This recipe turns the humble tuna noodle casserole into quite an impressive dish. My husband and I both loved it. I can’t wait to make it again!
Donald Williams says
I haven’t made a tuna casserole in so long that I didn’t have a recipe in my computer file, so I did some searching, and this looked intriguing. I never buy “chunk light tuna,” so I used the solid albacore tuna on hand, and I used two cans because when I opened the first can, it didn’t look like enough compared to the noodles and cheese. And I only had fat-free milk, but I added a bit of half-and-half to make up for it. I sprinkled on some panko bread crumbs right out of the package, maybe 1/3 – 1/2 of a cup, and no melted butter. This was SO GOOD. According to the recipe, it’s supposed to be 8 servings, but my wife and I ate just over half of it, with some sautéed kale and onions alongside. A truly wonderful dinner. I really liked the outcome with the 2 cans of tuna, so I’ll probably stick to that. I’ll definitely be making it again.
Savannah | 40 Aprons Team says
Thanks for sharing, Donald!
Martha Fea says
Delicious! Will make again. Thank you!
Savannah | 40 Aprons Team says
Good to hear!!!
AKollo says
We loved it! Sooo creamy and delicious.
Savannah | 40 Aprons Team says
We are so glad to hear that!
frank says
Really good and easy to make
Savannah | 40 Aprons Team says
Thanks for the positive review!
Jennifer Coleman says
I loved that this recipe didn’t use cream of mushroom soup. I wanted to make a tuna casserole for the family, but mushroom anything turns my kiddos off. Everyone raved about this dish! Will definitely be a comfort-food staple in our house!
Savannah | 40 Aprons Team says
Thanks for sharing!
Brianna says
I absolutely loved how this recipe turned out! Only issue I had was when you press 2x it doesn’t calculate in the instructions as well. Luckily I’m good at basic math lol. Will definitely be making it again!
Erin says
My husband LOATHES tuna noodle casserole, but I love it and has been craving it. So I made this for dinner and he gave it 2 thumbs up, went for seconds, and asked me to make it again soon! This recipe converted him from a tuna casserole hater to lover! I used GF noodles, flour, and breadcrumbs and doubled the tuna for extra protein! Definitely making this again and again.
An says
Not a green peas fan in this house. What could you suggest in place of it?
Cheryl Malik says
You can always just leave them out!
Kathy says
I would add celery and maybe shredded carrots.
Isabell Zaretti says
Occasionally, I use green beans.
Ish says
This was fantastic! I didn’t have egg noodles so I just used bow tie pasta. So yummy!!!
Cheryl Malik says
Nice, I love bow tie noodles!
Becky says
would 2% milk work okay?
Sharon says
I have never made a “tuna casserole” due to the yuck memories of my and my husband of 34 years childhood memories…NOT ANYMORE! This was so delicious. Due to current pandemic shortages at the grocery, frozen peas are impossible to find but I found an 8oz pkg of English peas in our produce section and substituted them…they kept their crunch which won over my pea avoiding adult child…I also ribboned half a large carrott for color but that’s not what made this so fantastic… it’s the sauce! Thank you for converting us…
Chris says
This was SO GOOD! We had tuna in the pantry and it was easy to throw together. Super creamy, loved it
Cheryl Malik says
YAYYYY! I’m so glad you liked it as much as my whole family does 🙂