Tuna Casserole (No Soup)

Tuna casserole no soup is your favorite casserole from your childhood, but fancy! We’re skipping the canned condensed soups (because eeyuck!), and making our own roux sauce. You’ll be tempted to double this recipe to have the leftovers the next day!

I’m ready to admit this is my comfort food from my childhood. But I am very ready for a version of it without a canned condensed soup, aren’t you?

So instead, we’re making a white sauce that uses a roux (a flour-fat thickener) stirred into some milk and cream. We’re essentially making our own homemade condensed soup, and it is SO MUCH BETTER THAN anything in the can.

Personally, I grew up with condensed mushroom soup for this classic tuna casserole recipe, so that’s why I included chopped mushrooms in the veggies part of this recipe. If you don’t like mushrooms, leave them out.

Yes, this recipe serves two people in two individual casserole dishes (or one small one), but you can double it to bake in an 8-inch square pan, too!

Ingredients

• Butter. Two tablespoons of butter forms the base of the white sauce, and we’ll need an extra tablespoon to saute the veggies in later on.
• Flour. For thickening the white sauce, two tablespoons of flour.
• Milk. The roux here is made up of 1 cup of milk and a splash of heavy cream.
• Heavy Cream. One-quarter cup of heavy cream, to be exact. You can use half and half as a substitute (or even more milk, it’s fine!).
• Salt and Pepper. The sauce needs 1/2 teaspoon salt + 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, and the noodle filling needs an additional 1/8 teaspoon of each.
• Nutmeg. The smallest sprinkling of freshly grated nutmeg really makes a white sauce pop with flavor.
• Egg Noodles. Two cups of dried egg noodles. I prefer the ones labeled ‘medium’ because they fit in the small casserole dishes best.
• Onion. One-half cup of diced onion.
• Mushrooms. One-half cup of diced mushrooms, either cremini, white button, or your favorite type of mushrooms.
• Celery. It takes one medium stalk of celery to make one-half cup of finely diced celery.
• Peas. It’s entirely optional, but I love 1/2 cup of peas in my tuna cassrole no soup!
• Lemon Zest. A very small amount (1/4 teaspoon) of lemon zest brightens up the flavors of this casserole and makes it worlds better than the canned soup version!
• Tuna. One 6-ounce can of tuna packed in oil, drained. You can use the tuna packed in water, but the oil pack is so much richer and more flavorful.
• Bread Crumbs. If you like your tuna casserole (no soup) with a crispy breadcrumb topping, portion out 1/2 cup of bread crumbs and an additional tablespoon of butter for melting and drizzling on top.

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How to Make Tuna Casserole No Soup

What to Serve with Tuna Casserole (No soup)

I love this cozy comforting tuna casserole no soup recipe with a side salad, but honestly, it’s great on its own, too! Because it has pasta, protein, and veggies all in the same pan, it’s a complete meal.

Print

Tuna Casserole No Soup

Small batch tuna casserole for two made without canned soup.

Course Main Course

Cuisine American

Keyword tuna casserole no soup

Prep Time 35 minutes minutes

Cook Time 20 minutes minutes

Total Time 55 minutes minutes

Servings 2

Calories 768kcal

Ingredients

For the sauce:

• 2 tablespoons butter
• 2 tablespoons flour
• 1 cup milk
• 1/4 cup heavy cream*
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper
• 1/8 teaspoon nutmeg

For the tuna casserole:

• 2 cups dried egg noodles
• 1 tablespoon butter, plus extra for topping
• 1/2 cup diced onion
• 1/2 cup chopped cremini mushrooms
• 1/2 cup finely diced celery
• 1/2 cup peas
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon lemon zest
• 1 6- oz. can tuna drained
• 1/2 cup bread crumbs
• 1 tablespoon butter melted

Instructions

• Preheat the oven to 350.
• First, make the sauce. Melt the 2 tablespoons of butter over medium heat in a saucepan. Whisk in the flour slowly and cook for 1-2 minutes while constantly stirring. Next, slowly pour in the milk and cream while whisking. Continue to cook over low heat until mixture thickens and comes to a bubble. Stir in salt, pepper and nutmeg and pour into a large mixing bowl (you’ll mix everything together later).
• Next, boil the egg noodles in plenty of salted water until al dente. Drain and set aside.
• In a skillet, heat the butter over medium heat. Once hot, add the diced onion, mushrooms and celery. Saute while stirring occasionally for about 8-10 minutes, until the vegetables are tender. Add the peas, salt, pepper, lemon zest and drained tuna and remove from heat.
• In a medium bowl, combine the sauce, filling and noodles. Stir well to combine, then divide the mixture between 2 10-oz. ramekins or other small baking dish. Sprinkle the breadcrumbs on top, drizzle with extra melted butter and bake for 20 minutes, or until bubbling.

Video

Notes

*You can use all milk if you don’t have heavy cream.

Nutrition

Calories: 768kcal | Carbohydrates: 70g | Protein: 37g | Fat: 38g | Saturated Fat: 21g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 3g | Monounsaturated Fat: 10g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 161mg | Sodium: 1364mg | Potassium: 839mg | Fiber: 6g | Sugar: 14g | Vitamin A: 1634IU | Vitamin C: 19mg | Calcium: 288mg | Iron: 5mg