Fall

Tuna Noodle Casserole - Redux

January 27, 2011
4.4
10 Ratings
  • Serves 4
Author Notes

For some reason last night I had the sudden realization that tuna noodle casserole - that classic piece of Americana and staple of Midwestern church basement potlucks - is technically a seafood pasta dish. This struck me as hilarious, and I felt I had to submit a recipe. I've updated it, swapping out the canned soup for a homemade sauce with some herbs and laced with sherry. And I recommend using oil packed tuna, which I've only recently discovered, and which has much better texture and flavor. - fiveandspice —fiveandspice

Test Kitchen Notes

This is not your mother's tuna noodle casserole from the sixties! With some simple steps, fiveandspice takes this homey classic into a whole new league. It is hard to imagine how good this really tastes until you just make it. The butter, fresh mushrooms, shallot, fresh herbs, lemon zest, and sherry contribute to this cast of characters to make stars out of tuna noodle. The garlic panko topping adds a dramatic finish. Brilliant. Bravo, fiveandspice! —Sagegreen

What You'll Need
Ingredients
  • 5 1/2 tablespoons butter, divided
  • 1 cup sliced shiitake mushrooms
  • 1 cup diced portobello mushrooms
  • 1 small yellow onion, diced
  • 1 shallot, diced
  • 1 celery stalk, diced
  • 1/2 tablespoon fresh rosemary, minced
  • 1 tablespoon fresh thyme, minced
  • 1 tablespoon minced chives
  • 1/4 cup dry sherry
  • 1/4 cup flour
  • 1 cup milk (whole)
  • 1/2 cup chicken stock
  • 1 teaspoon lemon zest
  • 2 cans oil packed tuna, drained
  • 8 ounces egg noodles, cooked until al dente and drained
  • salt and fresh ground pepper to taste
  • 1 clove garlic, minced
  • 1/2 cup panko
Directions
  1. Preheat your oven to 350F. In a large sauté pan, heat 1 Tbs. of butter over medium-high until foaming. Stir in mushrooms and cook until mushrooms have given off all of their liquid and cooked through (10 or so minutes). Season lightly with salt and pepper, transfer to a bowl and set aside.
  2. Add another 1/2 a tablespoon of butter to the frying pan, then cook onion, shallot and celery together for about 5 minutes, until softened. Stir in the chopped herbs and the sherry and cook for another 2 minutes. Stir the mushrooms into this mixture, then set this aside.
  3. In a saucepan, heat 3 tablespoons of butter over medium-high until foaming. Stir in the flour to make a roux and cook for about 2 minutes. Then whisk in the milk and chicken stock, bit by bit, to make a smooth sauce. Cook, stirring, until just slightly thickened (another minute or two). Then add the lemon zest and season with salt and pepper to taste.
  4. Flake the tuna and combine the tuna, the white sauce, the mushroom-onion mixture, and the noodles all together. Grease an 8 X 8-inch baking pan and transfer the casserole mixture into it.
  5. In a small pan, melt the last tablespoon of butter. Stir in the minced garlic and the panko breadcrumbs and cook, stirring, until the panko is golden brown. Sprinkle this all over the casserole. Put the casserole in the oven and bake until it is bubbly, about 30 minutes. Serve! (And if you are in a church basement, you might have to throw together a reduxed jello salad as well!)

See what other Food52ers are saying.

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  • Andrea K
    Andrea K

84 Reviews

Maryann S. March 3, 2024
I meant to leave 5 stars! Made as written, although with fewer pans, and I did add an extra 1/2 cup of broth as suggested.
We loved it. Great homemade version of a classic. Will make it again. I would plan on feeding 4 with this dish but I can imagine 3 could polish it off.
I recommend!
 
Rosa October 17, 2021
This is a great recipe! .... made it many times with different types of tuna and it is always delicious! ...... this is our favourite winter meal.
Thank you!
 
Lisa Y. March 8, 2020
I made several modifications to accommodate dietary restrictions - and this holds up nicely. I used olive oil instead of butter, cashew milk instead of dairy, rice macaroni instead of egg noodles. I used millet flour for the roux, and a full cup of broth to make the sauce sufficiently creamy. Very tasty.
 
margaret G. March 11, 2018
Please: tuna cans come in 5 oz and 12 oz sizes - how much tuna is needed for this recipe?
 
Dianne J. September 26, 2016
This is a good recipe, but somewhat involved. I was a bit more generous with most of the ingredients. The biggest danger is that it will be dry. I used an entire cup of chicken broth and A little reserved pasta water. Be sure to add the noodles immediately after draining. Also, I used an entire cup if panko.
 
enyaj October 28, 2015
I made this a second time now, and it is a great basic recipe to work with. Due to an uncharacteristically bare larder and getting home late from work, I left out the sherry, garlic and lemon zest and used all whole milk instead of milk/stock, and all Crimini mushrooms. I also used powdered rosemary and thyme and topped it with crumbled potato chips, and it still tasted like gourmet shit (sorry if my Pulp Fiction reference offends). Creamy, delectable, comforting, and with a heaping side of lemon butter Brussels sprouts, I felt it was a good calorie splurge. I'm working at home tomorrow so will re-heat leftovers and roast some broccoli to serve on the side. Fall weather is setting in where I live, and this is just what the doctor ordered. I understand these might be major changes, but when you just want to mindlessly whip up tuna casserole, let this be your starting point.
 
jane January 11, 2015
Unfortunately I did not enjoy this. I found the lemon and garlic breadcrumbs overpowered the dish. I told my husband it was tuna casserole and he asked where the tuna was. As well the pasta was quite dry.
 
Pegeen January 6, 2015
I forgot to say:

Boil your noodles just before you're ready to mix everything together (I think it's step 4), so that you drain and dump the noodles right away into the tuna and mushroom mixture. Don't make your noodles ahead and let them sit in a colander, because they'll just clump up and you'll have to tear them into pieces with your hands to separate them.
 
Kimberly W. May 13, 2016
If they clump, just run water over them. It washes the starch off and they fall apart in seconds.
 
Pegeen January 6, 2015
I recently made this and it was delicious. A few comments:
- I doubled the recipe and it fed 3 teenagers and 3 adults, along with a green salad (and bread for the teenagers! Talk about starch). So it took a lot of pots and pans to feed not that many people. It’s not a “fast” casserole.
- Regular Albacore tuna packed in water would have been fine. The expensive oil-packed tuna I used was too “fishy” for most of the group’s taste, but they devoured it just the same.
- I wound up using a lot more butter than mentioned in recipe, to keep things moist and looking right.
- I added more chicken broth in the mixing stage because it seemed too dry, and concerned that it would dry out further in the oven. It turned out to be a good call.
- It was delicious.
 
enyaj December 15, 2014
This was good! I had to sub dry white wine for sherry and otherwise made the recipe as indicated (except for increasing by about 1/3 to make a bigger pan. Really delicious! (Oh, and I forgot to put the breadcrumbs on, so when it was almost done, I evenly browned panko and some garlic powder in butter and layered that on top, and it did a fine job of adhering while the dish cooled enough to eat.)
 
Ralph February 26, 2014
Made this recipe. Great flavor better tuna noodle than I remember and great leftovers.
 
deanna1001 January 10, 2014
Yum! My tuna tins are 7 oz so I upped the rest a bit. 4 servings? We pigged and it served more like 3 1/2 even with slightly higher quantities. Thanks for getting me to do a childhood comfort food with such great results.
 
lorie B. November 17, 2013
I have made this twice in the past week, so that says it all. I did add anchovies to both batches. About 6 filets mixed in with the tuna. Aside from the pasta, I used one pan and just added things in and out. Also used the oil from the tuna to saute the mire pox and the panko. Sub'ed preserved lemon for the zest and got a much more intense favor, but I am a big citrus fan. Gave it a light sprinkle of porini finishing salt at the end too. Way yummy! Perfect comfort food to console us after the 5" of snow this am.
 
Andrea K. November 12, 2013
Fan-freakin-tastic. The man loved it too. Followed recipe except for using buttons because that's all I had and doubling the panko. We like panko. I just hope I wake up in the middle of the night to eat some more but it does also sound good for breakfast.
 
Mas J. October 27, 2013
The Food52 link from Facebook showed 6 photos with anchovies being added to the recipe, though I don't see it here???
 
fiveandspice October 27, 2013
I think maybe they were suggesting you offroad from the recipe adding in anchovies on your own, since they called it "your own secret ingredient." It's kind of a good idea and I might try it myself, though of course I like my recipe as is! :)
 
Charles P. October 27, 2013
Would love to try this and taste with some Oregon White Truffle sprinkled on top.
 
fiveandspice October 27, 2013
That sounds amazing.
 
mlsparks October 8, 2013
This looks absolutely fantastic, and I can't wait to try it this week! I shall report back! The only thing i'll be changing is the mushrooms, as my significant other is allergic to all but truffles and button mushrooms. So button mushrooms it is! Very excited for this!
 
fiveandspice October 10, 2013
Button mushrooms will be just fine, I'm sure. Enjoy!
 
Amyliz September 16, 2013
I had already overhauled my mom'd tuna noodle casserole by adding fresh veggies instead of canned and oil packed tuna. This took it to the next step. So much better than condensed soup. I substituted white wine for the sherry and made the white sauce in the same pan to get all of the mushroom-y goodness.
 
fiveandspice September 23, 2013
Glad you liked it!
 
Pat E. June 7, 2013
Just tripled this for my bookclub dinner. Very nice and well recieved. I made 2/3 with tuna and the other third with chopped artichoke bottoms for a quasi-veggie version...which everyone loved! You could easily use veg or mushroom broth to be fully veggie. Next time I will probably make the bechamel a little looser for a creamier finished product....but that's just a personal preference. Thanks for a great and versitle recipe.
 
fiveandspice June 7, 2013
That's great! Glad it went over well. I like the suggestions for the additional veggies.
 
Waterobin May 15, 2013
I'm in my 71st year and still hold a hate for my mother's tuna-noodle cassarole made with canned cream of mushroom soup and topped with crushed potato chips. However, this recipe may get me to loosen up, what with all the nice mushrooms, sherry and lemon. Who says "an old dog . . .?"
 
fiveandspice May 16, 2013
Here's to loosening up! ;-)
 
Risa B. February 27, 2013
This looks great! Do you think I could make it a day ahead and heat it up in the oven before dinner?
 
fiveandspice February 28, 2013
Yes, I think that should work fine.
 
adele93 February 5, 2013
how many grams in total for the 2 cans of oil packed tuna?
 
fiveandspice February 5, 2013
I used two 5 oz. cans, sooo, let's see, I think 5 oz. is around 140g, so total would be between 280-300ish grams.
 
fiveandspice February 5, 2013
Of course, that's un-drained. No idea how many grams of tuna it actually is once it's drained. I didn't measure that.
 
adele93 February 5, 2013
thank you
 
SMSF February 4, 2013
This is a great take on a classic! I added some leftover smoked ham that I had on hand - yum!
 
SMSF February 4, 2013
To clarify: I used the smoked ham instead of tuna - the sauce sounded so good for a ham-noodle casserole, and it was!
 
fiveandspice February 5, 2013
Sounds awesome!
 
Boop G. May 13, 2019
You had me going there, for a moment 😋
 
rhubarb_season January 3, 2013
Hands down, best tuna noodle dish I have ever had! I added some frozen peas on my boyfriends request and they fit in nicely. Thank you for the fantastic recipe!
 
fiveandspice January 3, 2013
So glad it worked out for you!
 
Nancy D. December 9, 2012
I hope this turns out ok without mushrooms. I hate mushrooms!
 
fiveandspice December 9, 2012
Hmm, I think it will be quite different without mushrooms since they add a lot of flavor, but I can't imagine it being bad without them, just different! And, since you don't like mushrooms, you wouldn't like all that flavor they lend anyway!
 
SaltyLips August 24, 2012
Greetings from Argentina!
Here we gave it a try... http://www.saltylips.com.ar/2012/08/cazuela-de-fideos-y-atun.html
Thanks for sharing :)
 
fiveandspice August 26, 2012
That is SO cool! Thanks for sharing!
 
Locomoco May 16, 2012
I made this last night and finally got a chance to use fresh thyme and rosemary from my windowsill for this fabulous recipe. Lemon zest is freakin' genius! Shamelessly this serving-for-4 almost didn't survive the night between the two of us. My husband love, loves this. Next time only thing I'll do different is double the roux -- cause we're sauce crazy like that .
 
fiveandspice May 16, 2012
No shame in being sauce people. :) Glad you liked it!
 
janedans March 7, 2012
I'm 76, but i love this dish (no muchrooms) my grandmother topped this with leftover mashed potatoes (firm) I like it better than panko
 
fiveandspice March 7, 2012
Thank you! Love the sound of mashed potato topping! It's like tuna casserole meets shepherd's pie. Yum!
 
SKK February 19, 2012
Had this again last night and it is divine. One of the things I love about this recipe is it is also easy to add more vegetables if you want without chaning anything. This is such a great recipe and thanks for sharing it!
 
fiveandspice February 20, 2012
Thank you!! I'm so thrilled to hear that!
 
Dr. S. January 30, 2012
This was so good I blogged about it! Thanks for the recipe!

http://chezsmokey.blogspot.com/2012/01/tuna-noodle-casserole-redux.html#!/2012/01/tuna-noodle-casserole-redux.html
 
fiveandspice January 30, 2012
That's so cool! Thanks for sharing!
 
BlueKaleRoad January 24, 2012
We had this for dinner and all loved it! I doubled the recipe and didn't have sherry, so I substituted a combo of lemon juice and white wine. My husband and sons were delighted to have leftovers the next day, too. I'll be making this again soon!
 
fiveandspice January 24, 2012
Thank you!!! I'm so completely psyched you guys liked it! I'm just itching to have the chance to make your delicious sounding broccoli-apple soup. It will be happening very soon!
 
BlueKaleRoad January 25, 2012
I hope you enjoy the soup! :)
 
adele93 February 5, 2013
i like the idea of lemon juice and white wine, i was just wondering if you remember the ratio/quantities that you used?
 
sophieDC January 23, 2012
I made this casserole tonight and it was really tasty! Cooks should now, however, that you might feel like you've used every pot and tool in the kitchen. I only used 1/2 cup panko breadcrumbs and it was more than enough.
 
fiveandspice January 23, 2012
I'm happy to hear you liked it! And thanks for letting me know! It's so true, it uses kind of a lot of pots. I'm one of those people who creates a total catastrophe in the kitchen, just grabbing everything I need, rather than trying to streamline. However, a bunch of people had a discussion on a different thread here and figured out great ways to streamline the pan usage, including using a smallish Dutch oven for the sauce, that you then stir the tuna, mushrooms, noodles, etc, into and use for baking. And, using the same pan for the breadcrumbs as you did for the mushrooms and onions. (You could even do all of that in the Dutch oven, if you ordered everything right!).
 
Boop G. May 13, 2019
That's what I was thinking, streamline the order - fewer pots.
 
jlhogan December 31, 2011
This is a fantastic recipe. Tuna casserole is my husband's favorite comfort food so I'm always looking for tasty recipes that don't include cream of mushroom soup. This was really flavorful--the fresh herbs are genius. I added some frozen peas right before baking. I also added some grated cheddar to the white sauce because my husband's platonic idea of tuna casserole includes cheese, but next time, I think I'll skip--the sauce was very good as is. Finally, I didn't have any sherry so i used white wine. It was fine, but next time, I will make the trip to buy some sherry.
 
fiveandspice January 2, 2012
I'm so happy you guys liked it so much! Thank you for letting me know!
 
Adelucchi November 23, 2011
The tuna casserole was beautiful as it came out of the oven. The flavour was a mystery to me. It
had an Asian taste. Can't figure out why. Actually had a" ginger" taste. Any idea what happened?
We enjoyed the dish even with it's surprise taste.
 
fiveandspice November 24, 2011
Hmmm. That's a total mystery to me too!
 
Adelucchi November 22, 2011
Just finished this recipe for dinner tonight. It was a pretty intense preparation. Much more than the canned soup version which I have not prepared for at least 25 years!! Already the results are in- the aroma is great so says my husband who is waiting patiently for the serve moment. I'll let you know our final thoughts later.
Thanks again for bringing back pleasant memories. Maybe I'll work on the jello!
 
fiveandspice November 23, 2011
Thanks Adelucchi! I hope the end results met with approval! And, if you come up with a jello salad redux, please do let us all know!
 
VanessaS April 22, 2011
Made this for dinner last night and it was a hit! I didn't have enough fresh mushrooms on hand, so I used some peas to get to the same volume of vegetables. Love the rosemary in it!
 
fiveandspice April 22, 2011
I'm so glad to hear you liked it VanessaS! And the peas sound like a delicious - and totally classic - addition. Thanks for the feedback! :)
 
StephAngle March 13, 2011
What size cans of tuna do you use? Chunk light or Albacore?
 
fiveandspice March 14, 2011
5 oz. Cans. I use the kind packed in olive oil. But, really you could use any type you prefer. But isn't chunk light environmentally better?
 
emmanation February 28, 2011
This was so delicious. I had it ready for some friends when they got home from a ski trip, and it was perfect - comforting and filling and interesting enough to make me proud to serve it.
I did have to make a couple of substitutions because I apparently wasn't paying attention in the grocery store. I used fresh bread crumbs instead of panko and parsley instead of chives. Still, it was fantastic. I uploaded a couple of pictures - the breadcrumb switch is probably pretty obvious.
 
fiveandspice February 28, 2011
So glad to hear you and your friends enjoyed the casserole! Your substitutions sound tasty! (also I'm totally jealous of the idea of their ski trip.)
 
Vstarr71 February 27, 2011
Love this recipe! Going to enjoy it tonight, while watching the Oscars, with a glass of bubbly. Why not?! I used Trader Joe's egg pappardelle pasta and it turned out great! Thank you for the redux!
 
fiveandspice February 28, 2011
Glad you like it! And I hope you had a lovely time with the Oscars :).
 
Sagegreen February 5, 2011
This is a wonderful redux. I had hoped to upload a great photo of the dish I just made...but when I reached to pick it up to take it outside for a photo in the snow, I forgot that it was still ovenhot... it went flying all over the the mudroom entry rug. My photo of some salvaged on a small plate is not very flattering. But it is a brilliant redux!
 
fiveandspice February 6, 2011
Thanks so much Sagegreen! And, I kind of love the photo of the salvaged dish - it captures some of the mushy homey feeling that casserole gives you :)!
 
Sagegreen February 20, 2011
You should ask the editors to upload their wonderful photos of this, since they are so much better than mine! You are able to copy their photo and then upload, but then the credit reads as your photo, which is not really the case...I just tried and removed to avoid confusion!
 
fiveandspice February 20, 2011
That's a great thought Sagegreen. I'll look into it! I do actually really like your photo though :).
 
Greenstuff February 3, 2011
How funny that you've only just discovered that tuna can come packed in oil! For those of us baby boomers, tuna packed in water was a new "healthier" option. The fact that it was also relatively tasteless didn't seem to matter to a lot of our generation. How sad is that?
 
fiveandspice February 3, 2011
Haha, no way! You make me feel like such a greenhorn. :) So funny how food trends come and go...thank goodness we're finally actually starting to get over the myth that fat = evil. Fat = flavor!!!
 
AntoniaJames January 27, 2011
Yum. Especially the sherry. Actually, that's kind of a retro touch. A lot of seafood recipes back in the 50's and 60's, when tuna casserole was so popular, had a splash of sherry in them. Great recipe! ;o)
 
fiveandspice January 28, 2011
Wow! I love it when I'm retro without even realizing it - then I can pretend I'm hipster, haha!
 
mrslarkin January 27, 2011
Delicious! Very clever! Brings back memories...
 
fiveandspice January 28, 2011
Good memories I hope! ;)
 
hardlikearmour January 27, 2011
This sounds so much better than the canned soup version!
 
fiveandspice January 27, 2011
Haha, thanks. I think it is! :)