Quick Tuna Noodle Casserole Recipe to Die For!
Tuna Noodle Casserole
Last night my daughter made Tuna Noodle Casserole, a really easy and quick to prepare dish – and this got me thinking about the various ways of preparing it. Basically anytime you make a casserole you just have to think about the five basic items it will contain:
- The noodles
- The sauce
- The vegetables
- The meat
- The crust
Of course – all of those 5 things are completely interchangeable allowing you to create a myriad of casseroles depending on what you like and what’s available in your refridgerator at the the time. Instead of focusing on an explicit recipe per se, I’m going to give you some suggestions, allowing you to create a casserole all your own to suit your own taste(s). I’ll talk about a tuna noodle casserole in this example…
Here we go:
The Noodles: Personally for Tuna Casserole I would use egg noodles every time, usually ‘wide’. This is my personal preference. However, if you have small ones available it won’t hurt the taste any. You might also want the kind free of egg ‘yolk’ if you are watching cholesterol. If I didn’t have egg noodles on hand, I have been known to make Tuna Casserole using elblow macaroni on occasion. For other casseroles (italian based) you might choose rigatoni, ziti, mostaccioli, etc. Whatever you use – get the noodles boiling on the stove until tender, drain, and rinse. Now – this part is also depending on taste – but what makes it for me is after I rinse the noodles, I toss them in a few tables of extra virgin olive oil, and add some salt and freshly ground pepper. I’ve also been known to add freshly grated parmesan cheese (while the noodles are hot), about 1/3 cup, and sometimes a few table spoons of italian seasoning. Again – this is entirely to taste, I’m just giving suggestions as I go.
The Sauce: If you want really easy (and traditional) Tuna Noodle Casserole then you will just use condensed Cream of Mushroom soup. I’m going to say one can per bag of noodles (depends on how much you’re making). If you don’t like Cream of Mushroom, you could also use Cream of Chicken, but I’ve also used Cream of Broccoli or Cream of Celery as well. If you don’t like either of those, you can also substitue a can of condensed (nacho) cheese – which is really fun (and really cheesy). Any way you do it, I usually start with a can of condensed something as a base. I dump the noodles in a mixing bowl, and dump in the condensed soup, and mix. At this point if you’re going on the quick and cheap, just adding a (soup) can of water will get you going. But I like to add flavorful things when I can…so instead I’ll add say a cup of fat free milk, and a cup of light sour cream and mix thoroughly. Now, add anything else you like to taste. Four ounces of shredded cheese is nice. You could use mozzarella, co-jack, colby, whatever you prefer. My finishing touch is usually a teaspoon or powdered garlic. If you like garlic and go this, be sure to use garlic powder and not garlic salt (blech!). A nice option for those non-garlic lovers is a teaspoon of onion powder.
The vegetables: Well, this is Tuna Casserole so we’re going to open, drain, add, and mix in a can of sweet peas! I have added in broccoli rarely in the past, and sometimes some shredded carrot (about 1/3 cup) is nice. Add in what you like to the mixing bowl, you might even like 1/4 cup (or more) of diced onion.
The Meat: Well, in this case we’re just going to open, drain, and add one can of tuna packed in water. Mix into the bowl well (unless you actually like big chunks of Tuna).
The Crust: This always seems to be a point of contention among the ranks of any household. I love a crunch top crust – my kids hate it (my wife loves it). I love nothing more than to layer some cheese and breadcrumbs on top to have it cook to a nice crispy crunch!! I’ve seen a few people use saltines on top in the same way with great success. However, a great compromise is to get yourself a tube of biscuits at the store, flatten them out a bit, and put them on top instead. This way you get a crunch top, but the kids can rip it off and the casserole is nice and tender right beneath it. Usually we butter the biscuits and the kids eat ‘em anyway – so you get the best of both worlds here! And sometimes I sprinkle some cheese on top of the biscuits before baking. So your choices for top crust are a.) none, b.) a topper like breadcrumbs or saltines, or c.) biscuits!
Bake that sucker in a 9×13 pan for about 45 minutes on 375 degrees F.
Now this is a great multi-purpose recipe that you can use for just about any casserole. Switch the veggies to mixed veggies in the can and switch the meat to chicken and you’ve got Chicken Noodle Casserole! Switch the noodles to Rigatoni or Penne Pasta, the sauce to Ragu, the veggies to zucchini and a little shredded carrot, the meat to lean hamburger or italian sausage, and the crust to canned pizza crust (Pillsbury) brushed with butter and garlic powder and you’ve got a killer Italian Casserole!
The possibilities are endless…please do comment below with your questions or suggestions on what you would add or how you would make this better!
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