Quick and Easy Stove-Top Tuna Noodle Casserole
By Addie
"This recipe is as easy as making a box of macaroni and cheese (almost), and it's a one dish comfort meal. I've been making this as long as I can remember, and don't think I ever had a recipe for it. When I made it this week, I looked to see if it was posted, and I could only find recipes with "cream of whatever" soup or sour cream, and most of them required baking in the oven. This recipe is creamy and delicious from the simple bechamel (white) sauce. This is a flexible recipe, too. I love to use a generous amount of a mixed pepper blend, freshly ground, for seasoning because I don't like bland food. I've also used lemon pepper seasoning, and/or freshly snipped chives and parsley. It's up to you to choose your favorite seasoning or herbs to go nicely with the tuna. Tuna noodle casserole is one of the most popular American casseroles, and is common is any region of the U.S."
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 2 cups whole milk
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/2 teaspoon ground pepper, less if you prefer less spice
- 1 -2 tablespoon of chopped fresh herbs, such as chives (optional) or 1 -2 tablespoon parsley (optional)
- 2 (6 ounce) cans tuna, drained ( I prefer albacore solid packed in water)
- 1 1/2 cups frozen peas
- 8 ounces wide egg noodles, cooked
Preparation
Step 1
Cook the egg noodles. During the last few minutes add the frozen peas to the simmering noodles; then drain.
Meanwhile, melt the butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat
Whisk in the flour, and continue whisking for about 2 minutes or until the flour butter mixture starts to turn a beige color (a very light colored roux).
Continue whisking and slowly add 1 of the cups of milk, incorporating the liquid as you whisk; then add the remaining 1 cup of milk.
Let it come to a gentle boil, stirring regularly to keep from burning on the bottom of the pan as it thickens. When it's thick enough to coat a spoon and leave a strip behind where you ran your finger through the coating on the spoon, it's ready to add the drained tuna.
Break up the solid tuna chunks with a fork and mix throughout the sauce. Add the salt, pepper, and any seasonings or herbs. Pour the tuna sauce over the noodles and peas, and serve.
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REVIEWS:
This was pretty simple to whip together. I cut the recipe in half and baked in an 8x8 dish at 350 for about 15-20 mins. I put a little layer of crushed chips on top. I skipped the peas and instead of salt and pepper I used Old Bay Seasoning and a dash of cayenne pepper. Very yummy! I think next time I make this I may add in some minced dill pickle or some dill relish.
This was a great and easy recipe! Fast to fix, easy to adapt, and, best of all, my 5-year old daughter, who is a very picky eater, loved it so much that she ate it all up without I or my wife having to tell her to "eat her food"!!! The only changes I made were replacing the noodles with wheat penne pasta, adding 1/4 tsp of dried garlic, and 1/4 cup of Parmesan cheese in the end. I didn't use pepper either, since my child doesn't like it. Thank you so much for a great-tasting recipe!
Quick go to mac and cheese recipe without cheese! Yay! Substituted spinach for peas and used fresh parsley. :)
I loved this recipe. I had great taste and it was easy to prepare. My kids enjoyed this too. I will make again, I really like the sauce for this.....yummy. Thank you for sharing with us.
I always used to love the tuna noodle my Mom used to fix. But I've decided that I don't ever want to make any recipe that calls for a can of "Cream of Crap" soup. This recipe tasted just as good as Mom's without the crappy soup!! Loved it!! Cheap and easy, great for a weeknight. Thanks!!
I just made this for tonight's dinner. I wanted to use up some leftover chicken, so I will admit I cheated and used that instead of tuna, but this is such a good basic recipe you could add lots of different "leftover" meats. I think it would taste good with ham too. I did cook some onion, green pepper and celery too before adding the flour and milk. I was inspired by your suggestion to spice it up, and also added little bits of leftover frozen veggies too!, red pepper flakes and a tad of parmesan cheese. This is a good solid recipe for lots of quick dinner ideas!
Followed the recipe exactly, and added a good deal of spices (dill, parsley, salt, pepper, cayenne, garlic powder and some celery salt), then cooked it on the stove, transferred it to a casserole dish and topped it with some shredded cheese. Unfortunately, we also found it awfully bland. But by the time we made this discovery we had all already taken a bite out of our servings, so I came up with a quick fix, that made the dish EXTREMELY delicious (and the kiddos even asked for seconds - actually, my son begged for thirds). To each person's serving I added about a tablespoon of mayo and a good amount of fresh ground pepper. I know it sounds weird, and my kids sure made plenty of faces at the idea, but it turned this dish into something spectacular.
Love this! My husband hates sour cream and mayo, which is usually a component of every other tuna casserole recipe I've ever found in the past so he absolutely loved this. My picky 2 yo son loved it as well. Thank you!
This base recipe is my favorite for Tuna Noodle. What a great "What can I make tonight???" meal! I keep the peas separate and don't add all the seasonings, and my bland food loving children devour it. I use skim milk most of the time and it still turns out great, though not as creamy.
This was very, very good. I know this was a "stove top" tuna casserole, but I put it in the oven anyway, but before I did I crushed up a few potato chips put in on top of the casserole and then I sprinkled it with some cheddar cheese. Mmmm... So good. Just like when I was a kid. I also liked this recipe b/c you make your own sauce and dont use a "cream of whatever" soup. Wonderful, delish, and easy!!
This is not as good as baked tuna noodle, but it works in a pinch. One thing I did differently was to add the seasonings to the roux with the flour. I also added some sharp cheddar cheese to the sauce and I think these two changes enhanced the flavor.
This is a good basic recipe that you can make your own with your favorite veggies, spices, etc. I added extra tuna, used mixed veggies, added onion. You have to use your imagination to add stuff though.
Not bad but not great.
Honestly, I'm really surprised this recipe was rated so highly. I thought that it was bland and boring. I am more than willing to put more work and ingredients into a more complicated recipe than have the ease and short cook time leading to the less than appetizing final product. I followed the recipe except I used Whole wheat egg noodles instead of regular. I won't make this again.
This really was a delicious tuna noodle casserole without the bake. I added a half a minced red onion with the melted butter before I stirred in the flour, I also added about 1/3 cup of parmesan cheese to the sauce. I used half and half and water instead of milk, and used garlic powder, celery salt, and old bay seasoning because I didn't have any fresh herbs. Thanks so very much for posting, we'll be having this again on busy weekday nights. Oh I wanted to mention, it's better the next day too!
I was so glad to see that this doesn't have a cream soup in it!My children have just started to like tuna so I cut back to just one can so that it would not be over-powering, and they thought this was good so that is a big compliment indeed! (They weren't too fond of the peas but that isn't a surprise) I really like the flexibility of this dish as I added cheese and spices that my family like and I can see alot of possibilities to change things up. The fact that I can do it all on the stove top is a bonus too since I don't wish to heat up the house during the summer. Thx a bunch!
The bf liked this better than I did but I'm also not a huge fan of tuna. I added some garlic salt to the dish because it was a little bland.
I made this dish for my fiancee, who had asked me to make him a TNC. I've never made this dish before, and am probably one of the few out there who didn't have it while growing up. So, when I tried it, I would have to say, it tasted like Tuna Noodle Casserole. My fiancee seemed to enjoy the dish, as well, so I'm pleased with that. I did make a few modifications -- using 1 cup of 1% milk (which broke a bit in the cooking) and 1 cup of buttermilk. I also added a teaspoon of two of worcestershire sauce, some garlic powder, and a few handfulls of shredded cheese, and sauteed mushrooms in lieu of peas. All-in-all it tasted good, and was fairly easy to prepare (definitely NOT as easy as a box o' mac 'n cheese -- but much healthier, which I like). I might try this one again with the modifications, and perhaps will throw it under the broiler for a bit to thicken it up. But, for a TNC first timer, I think it went pretty well.
This hit the spot!! I was so hungry for tuna casserole. I used salt, pepper, and garlic powder as seasonings. I also stirred in a few chunks of Velveeta to make it really cheesy & creamy. I will make this again & again - so much easier than baking it!
I was looking for something different to do with tuna and did not want a soup based one - then I came across this recipe which is the way I always made my tuna, so thanks for posting and jogging my memory! I had forgotten how nice it was. I also saute some mushrooms and capsicum and add mustard powder, which gives it a nice kick.
I was looking for a recipe that didn't use canned soup - I never eat the stuff. This was really good, and it turned out to be pretty versatile. I made a few changes - replaced half the milk with buttermilk powder and water, added some broccoli and a bit of worcestershire sauce, and put some grated cheese and breadcrumbs on top before baking it in the oven for a bit. Yum.
This was very good and easy. I used peas and carrots instead of just peas. I made as is except used fat-free evaportated milk instead of milk. I also added about 1/4 c of parmesan cheese to the sauce. Great alternative to the "cream of" recipes.
It was nice to find a recipe that didn't call for can of yucky soup! I really liked the bechemel sauce and added cheese and chopped jalepenos to mine.I used some veggies I needed to use up. Mushrooms,bell peppers. I did make the sauce on the stove but then I mixed it with rotini noodles and the veggies and mixed in the tuna and popped it in the oven for 10 mins cause I like it a little crispy. My husband loved it! Thanks.
Mmmmm, good stuff. I love that there's no cream of blah soup. I added about 1/4 tsp onion powder and a few scrapes of fresh grated nutmeg along with the parsley. I also threw in about a 1/2 c of mozzarella and 1/4 c of parmesan. Tasty! Thanks so much for posting this.
A great recipe! The entire gang at work loved it. The only thing I did different was to add 3 ounces of Philly Cream Cheese. Another peer from work furnished a salad another homemade bread and to top it off.... peach cobbler. All send their thanks for sharing a wonderful recipe.
Thank you PanNan for this wonderful recipe! My Husband and I both thought this was excellent. It is very flexible in accommodating what is on hand. I borrowed a few suggestions from my fellow Zaarians and added a couple of my own . I used 1 can albacore tuna and 1 can of salmon, 1% milk, fresh chopped Italian parsley, garlic salt in place of kosher salt, baby peas, and some shredded Parmesan cheese. I also sauteed a few sliced fresh mushrooms in the butter. Thank you again for the recipe and the inspiration!
DB says he doesn't like casseroles but he liked this one. I didn't have peas, so I used green beans instead. I'll definitely make this again.
This was a great tuna noodle casserole. My husband said this was the best he has ever had. My kids loved in too. Very simple to make. This recipe is a keeper.
5 Stars! I loved it! I searched through every recipe at zaar for tuna casserole that did not contain cream of something soup. I sprinkled panko bread crumbs on the finished product and this was just what I was looking for. Thanks!
Thank you for the recipe. I use to make this long ago with my mother and needed a memory jogger. The only difference was that she use to use a capful of lemon juice and not the lemon pepper. I'm sure it's for the same reason! Thanks again, I like this better then the baked variety.
I did everything according to the recipe and found it very bland. I added cheese and extra spices which didnt help. It was edible but will not make again.
This was a nice change from the typical casseroles that call for "cream of anything" soup. I added about a cup or so of shredded cheddar cheese along with some onion & garlic powder. Thanks for the yummy dish!
I made this with skim milk, low-fat margarine, and reduced carb pasta (rotini), and it was excellent! Thanks for the recipe.
This is so easy and so delicious! My daughter is always after me to make tuna helper, and that's just not happening, lol. So I made this one for her and I while my husband was out of town. We loved it! I didn't add the peas to the boiling noodles, just heated them with the white sauce. For spices, I add garlic powder, onion powder, and dill, to taste--also, about 1/8 of a cup of grated parmesan cheese. We've had it twice, and will make it again. It's a quick, easy and delicious meal for busy nights. Thanks!
This is how I make my tuna casserole for lunch. When I make it for supper, I go the extra mile and put the "finished casserole" in a casserole dish and melt cheddar cheese on top. I like the cheeseless version with a little squirt of fresh lemon but my children will use the bottled stuff.
YUM!!! I whipped this up last night for DH and myself. What an easy and delicious little number to put together when you are short on time. PanNan, this was wondertful! I added some frozen chopped Italian parsley that I had in my freezer from my summer's crop, also threw in a couple of tablespoons of grated Romano cheese, and just a little fresh minced garlic to the sauce. We really enjoyed this with a side salad. Thank you for sharing!