Today I am sharing an old school classic and family favorite – Old Fashioned Tuna Noodle Casserole! Comfort food at its best!
Egg noddles in a delicious creamy mushroom soup sauce tossed with tuna, sauteed onions, peas and cheddar cheese, topped with crushed potato chips then baked to perfection…just like grandma used make. Old school comfort food.
Read rave reviews from people who tried this recipe on Pinterest! This is the BEST tuna casserole recipe!
If you were a kid growing up in the 70s and 80s, there’s a good chance this casserole was served often at the dinner table – it was a staple in our home. This recipe was passed down from my grandma and has changed a smidgen over the years but still remains a classic.
Old school comfort food at its best! Simple to make, so good.
To make you will need: Egg noodles, cream of mushroom soup, mayonnaise, sour cream, milk, solid white albacore tuna, yellow onion, butter, peas, cheddar cheese, salt, pepper and potato chips.
Place casserole on middle rack of oven and bake for approximately 30 minutes uncovered, until casserole is completely heated through. Enjoy!
Pinnable Image
- 12 ounces wide egg noodles (not extra wide), slightly under cooked with a little firmness *under cook about 2 minutes less than according to package
- 1/2 cup yellow onion, diced
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 12 ounce can solid white albacore tuna in water, drained well
- 2 cans (10.5 ounces) condensed cream of mushroom soup – OR make homemade condensed cream of mushroom soup
- 1/3 cup mayonnaise (like Hellmann’s – not Miracle Whip)
- 1/3 cup sour cream
- 1/3 cup milk
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon pepper
- 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
- 1 cup peas
- 1 cup crushed potato chips
Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray a 9×13 baking dish with non-stick cooking spray. Prepare egg noodles, making sure to slightly under cook them by 2 minutes so they are slightly firm. Drain well.
Place casserole on middle rack of oven and bake for approximately 30 minutes uncovered, until casserole is completely heated through. Enjoy!
Tips
There are many variations for tuna casserole – you can easily adapt this recipe to your liking:
- I love tuna casserole served with a wedge of lemon to squeeze on top
- omit onion and peas if you do not care for them
- add some sauteed celery if you like
- instead of potato chips, top with bread crumbs, French fried onions or top with extra cheddar cheese if you want it super cheesy
- use cream of chicken soup instead of cream of mushroom or mix in a can of cream of celery with cream of mushroom or cream of chicken
- jazz it up with spices
- not a fan of tuna…substitute with chicken
Thanks so much for stopping by!
Cheers!
Can i add corn and diced carrots to this…will it taste right?
For the noodles and cheese I use Velveeta Mac and cheese of Shells and cheese it turns out nice and creamy.
My family loves this tuna noodle recipe! It’s better than any we’ve had or tried!
This is now our go-to recipe for tuna casserole. Thank you for publishing it.
Just noticed your recipe and was checking out the ingredients. I do make a rich tasting tuna casserole as well. I’ve used cream of chicken or cream of mushroom and softened cream cheese instead of mayo. I blend cream cheese, soup, sour cream, tuna in oil pouch (Lg.) lots of sharp cheddar, s&p, garlic powder, dried minced onion, dried parsley poured out into palm of hand and rub to awaken the herb, a bit of half&half or whole milk, taste for seasonings and lastly I use canned Leisure Early Spring Peas 50% less sodium, love the delicate bitty peas that pop when you bite into them. Cook egg noodles in well seasoned water, a minute or two shy of directions, saving a cup of the starchy cooking water to add to the tuna mixture and drain, BUT DO NOT RINSE then blend everything in a large greased casserole dish. Add lots of crushed potato chips on top and bake till bubbly and just when the chips start turning golden but not browned otherwise the chips taste burnt. I also use a hand mixture up till I add the peas. basically like your recipe except the C.C., dried onion, parsley and peas.
Also the above mixture will be very creamy and will seem like a lot but will not be dry…..perfect.
I really think that you could entirely skip the part about sauteing the onions in butter and dirtying an extra pan just for this. I think you could just add the raw onion and butter to the casserole since it cooks for 30 minutes. The onion should cook during this time. I have a broccoli cheese dip that is made entirely in the microwave and for that you saute the onions in the microwave which would be another way to do it quickly. Use the same casserole that you are making the tuna noodle in but make the first step to saute the onions in butter in the microwave on high for a couple of minutes. Just a thought to save washing a pan.
I use crushed croutons instead of chips and it’s so good
My husband and I really like this. I usually always have all the ingredience on hand. Great flavor. Easy.
I did not see how many servings this was, I need to make for a crowd of 20-25
A 9×13-inch pan usually yields about 6-8 servings. If this is the only main dish you probably should make three 9×13 pans of it.
my mom also included diced celery and on a good week – a big handful of cashews!
I made it and loved it!! I am not a fan of noodles so I used long grain rice instead. Still awesome!And I loved the idea of durkee onions instead of chips. Thanks!
Can you use macaroni or rotini instead of egg noodles? I made this on Sunday and it was so good that I want to make again but have no more egg noodles.
I use a variety of pastas. As long as they are bite sized they work great.
This was the tastiest tuna noodle casserole I remember every making!
This was the absolute best tuna casserole I’ve ever had. Been searching for one like my sister used to make for about 40 years. No joke. But this one is sooo much better. The search is over! Thanks so much! One question. Can u freeze this?
Made this last night. It is wonderful, decadent, rich and so reminiscent of one my Mom used to make with a cream sauce. I associate Tuna casserole with mushrooms, so I served peas on the side and in place of peas and sautee’d an 8 oz pkg of sliced fresh baby bella’s. Oh so good! I made two casseroles and froze one (minus the crush chips) and will bake it off at a later date. Thank you for sharing this recipe
Your mushroom addition sounds delicious!
I made this tonight I substituted the cream of mushroom for cream of chicken (I’m the only one who like mushrooms) and added some garlic powder and I have to say the was THE BEST tuna noodle I’ve had! Thanks for the recipe!
could canned chicken be used in place of tuna? Hubby allergic to fish!
Yes! 🙂
Guess we must have grown up poor, lol, our tuna noodle casserole only had tuna, macaroni, cream of mushroom soup, a handful of frozen peas and a bit of butter. No cheese, mayo, or sour cream!
Me too but we also put hard boiled eggs in too. I didn't see anyone else mention that.
I’d forgotten about the hard boiled eggs, My Grammie used to make something similar. I’ll have to try it sometime, because this recipe will be made many times! I”m going to try it with chicken next.
That's about how ours was too…but we added a can of mushrooms and no peas. I add peas to mine sometimes now and occasionally add French's Fried Jalapenos on top.
Just took this out of the oven. Oh gosh this is wonderful. I plan to split it up and freeze so will add the topping when each meal is baked. So good. Really really good. Glad I found you !!
I grew up eating this casserole dish. I have been making it for years. I use 3 cans of Tuna with water drain. 2 cans Cream of Mushrooms soup. Onion chopped. 1 Can of Peas drain.1 Cup of Milk. 1 Cup of Crushed Potatoes Chips. 1 bag of Wide Egg Noodles Cooked. Mix together in bowl, Soups, Peas, Tuna Fish, Milk, Onion. Salt and Pepper to taste, Mix it together good. Gently stir in the the Noodles Spray 9/13 Baking Dish, Add the Hot Dish. Sprinkle the Potato Chips on top. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes. I use Foil for 20 minutes,then I remove foil cook it 10 minutes more. Poke fork in middle taste it. Make sure it's done. Enjoy!!
We always have jellied cranberries on the side. Now I'm Hungry.
I'm going to make this tonight. But I'm going to use fresh tuna that I have left over from grilling and french fried onions to top instead of chips. Thanks for the recipe.
Does this freeze well?
Could I substitute cream cheese instead of Mayonnaise
Interesting to see what the sour cream will do the flavor. Never used sour cream before
Never heard of this and I raised 2 children in the 70-80's. I made mine very differently. Made a home made cream sauce, no canned soup. Bread crumbs or butter cracker crumbs topping. Never , ever potato chips, granny would have turnt over, lawd!
How do you make the cream sauce? I would love to try!
This looks really good. Always make it on top of the stove and never used cheese or potato chips. Going to try this but have to reduce the recipe as only cook for myself now. Wish all recipes would just serve four. It would be easy to reduce or expand them.
awesome! i haven't seen any recipes similar to this. I cant wait to try it! thanx. Kk
For quite a while now I've been using cream of chicken soup instead of cream of mushroom soup. And I don't put the potato chips on until I remove the casserole after baking and even then we put them on each serving individually. That way the chips remain crisp.
Tuna Noodle Casserole is a family favorite at my house! Looks delicious.
This looks wonderful.I did it, its delicious. Thanks for share this recipe.
For the noodles and cheese I use Velveeta Mac and cheese or Shells and cheeseit turns out great.