Easy Tuna Noodle Casserole Recipe

This Easy Tuna Noodle Casserole Recipe uses just a few simple ingredients and comes together to make a great comforting dinner!

Growing up, I thought my mom was the best cook. And, don’t get me wrong, she knew her way around the kitchen and even developed a lot of her own recipes (like her crazy popular Crab Pasta Salad). But I was thinking the other day and realized that she made a lot of boxed casserole dinners. But I swear, now looking back, that one of the reasons I thought she was such a great cook was because of the love she infused into the food. She really did feel so much love and joy in making dinner for us.

#GOALS

So today I’m going to teach you how to make an Easy Tuna Noodle Casserole without a box. This recipe is seriously so simple and easy that you can do make it and still answer math questions, clean out back packs and break up fights at the same time.

How to Make a Tuna Noodle Casserole Recipe

There are just a few simple steps to this recipe.

1. Make some egg noodles. You need to cook them before you put them in the casserole dish, but while they cook you can do everything else.
2. In the casserole dish (no need to get another bowl dirty), mix together the condensed cream of chicken soup (either homemade or store bought), milk, seasonings, tuna and peas.
3. Add the noodles when they are done, bake.
4. Add the topping at the very end.

Four simple steps and very little hands on time. I made this for my family after a Cross Country meet and it was a no fuss dinner perfect for a busy weeknight.

Make this Easy Tuna Noodle Casserole Ahead of Time

If those steps all sound like too much right after you take the kids to soccer practice, or when you are walking through door from work, no fear. You can make this tuna casserole ahead of time. Just stop right before you put it in the oven (skipping the topping making step too).

Cover it and store it in the refrigerator for up to 24 hours. When you are ready to eat it, throw it in your preheated oven. Then make your topping.

Freezing Tuna Noodle Casserole

You can also freeze it and make it later! If you are doing that, make it up until the topping step in a disposable oven proof container. Wrap it in two layers of aluminum foil. Freeze it for up to three months. 

When you are ready to cook it, take it out of the freezer, remove the foil, and bake it for 35 minutes at 400 degrees or until the middle is warm and the sides are bubbly. Top with your bread crumbles or cracker crumbs and bake for another 10 minutes.

We use a disposable container so that it can go right from freezer to hot oven without cracking. If you use a ceramic or glass container, put it in the cold oven and then turn it on. You will need to bake it for slightly longer than 35 minutes.

Making this Recipe from Scratch

There is absolutely no shame in making tuna casserole using store bought condensed soup. You can really use any flavor you want but I would recommend condensed cream of chicken or condensed cream of mushroom soup. But if you want to make this from scratch, try my homemade condensed cream of chicken soup. It makes the exact amount you need for this recipe.

Bread Crumbs or Crackers for Topping

I feel like this is going to be a do we call it ‘soda’ or do we call it ‘pop’ conversation. Bread crumbs or crackers for topping your tuna noodle casserole recipe?

The good news is I’m going to tell you how to do it either way. And both are delicious.

For a bread crumb topping, chop up two pieces of bread. Use a food processor to crumble them and make them fine pieces. Toss with melted butter and add to your easy tuna noodle casserole at the every end. This is delicious but a little putsy.

For a cracker topping, crush a cup worth of Ritz crackers (about 16 crackers). Toss them with melted butter and then throw them on the tuna casserole at the end.

How much does this Easy Tuna Noodle Casserole Make?

This casserole is on the smaller side and makes about 5 1/2 cups. The nutritional information is for 1 heaping cup (about 6 ounces).

Other Delicious Casseroles

If your family thrives on casseroles, try some of these other delicious ones:

This Baked Ziti was just posted yesterday and I am craving it all over again.

My Southwestern Chicken and Rice Casserole is easy and so comforting.

This Philly Cheesesteak Casserole is a viral recipe so many people have loved, and that has angered the entire city of Philadelphia.

If you make my easy tuna noodle casserole recipe or any of my other recipes, please leave me a comment and let me know!