The Cozy Cookbook is here! 
This classic Tuna Noodle Casserole has canned tuna and egg noodles smothered in a creamy mushroom soup filling with cheese and peas. Top it off with buttery Ritz crackers, crispy fried onions, or potato chips.
BONUTS: This is an easy make-ahead meal and freezer food!
Tuna Noodle Casserole
Nothing beats a classic creamy casserole recipe, and this Tuna Noodle Casserole is right at the top of our favorites list.
This meal comes together SO quickly and can even be prepared without using the oven. (Although I love a nice crispy topping!)
Scroll down to see how easy this is to make and be sure to read through my PRO tips for helpful info with this recipe!
How to Make it
**See recipe card below this post for ingredient quantities and full instructions.
Sauté the celery and onions in butter. Add Garlic and cook for 1 more minute.
Add seasonings, tuna, cream of mushroom soup, half and half, and sour cream. Stir until combined.
Add frozen peas and shredded white cheddar until combined and heated through.
Add cooked egg noodles and mix until combined. Transfer to a lightly greased casserole dish if your skillet isn’t oven safe.
Cover and bake at 400°F for 20 minutes. Combine Ritz crackers and melted butter. Add to casserole.
Bake uncovered for 5-7 minutes. Garnish with green onions and serve.
Make-Ahead Method
1-2 days ahead:
- Tuna Noodle Casserole can be made 1-2 days ahead of time and stored in the fridge until ready to bake.
- If baking from a cold state, add 15 additional minutes of covered baking time.
1-3 months ahead:
- Let it defrost in the fridge for up to 24 hours prior to baking or bake from frozen and add 1 hour to covered baking time.
Topping Options
- Crushed Ritz Crackers, Crispy Fried Onions, Breadcrumbs, and Potato Chips all make great topping options for tuna noodle casserole.
Pro Tips
- Half and Half is made of half milk, half cream. You can also use evaporated milk.
- Frozen carrots, corn, and green beans may also be added.
- Sliced mushrooms can also be used and sautéed with the onions and celery.
- For best results, shred the cheese from a block instead of using bagged shredded cheese, which contains cellulose and doesn’t melt as well.
- My homemade Condensed Cream of Mushroom Soup or cream of chicken soup can also be used instead of a can.
- 2 cups of leftover chicken makes a good substitute for the Tuna in this casserole.
- This recipe is in The Cozy Cookbook on page 186!
To Prepare as a Skillet Meal (Without Baking):
- Boil the noodles until fully cooked (vs. boiling for 1 minute less).
- Top the casserole with Parmesan cheese. Cover and simmer over medium heat until warm and bubbling, 5-10 minutes.
- Add a topping that doesn’t require baking to become crispy, such as crushed Ritz (without melted butter mixed in), or potato chips.
Storage
- Store in an airtight container and refrigerate for up to 3 days or freeze for up to 3 months.
Tools For This Recipe
(Amazon affiliate links)- Check out all of my kitchen essentials here.
- A 14-inch oven safe skillet is perfect for this recipe.
- Box Cheese Grater– Always shred cheese from a block for creamy/melty results. Bagged shredded cheese contains cellulose and prevents it from melting as well in soups/sauces.
- 9 x 13 baking dish The perfect size for almost any casserole recipe.
Try These Next!
-
- One Pot Taco Pasta
-
- Chicken Noodle Casserole
-
- Chicken Broccoli Rice Casserole
-
- Olive Garden Alfredo Sauce
-
- French Onion Chicken
-
- Creamy Chicken and Noodles
Get My Free Meal Plan
I’ve got a Free Meal Plan with 7 of my super popular recipes (complete with grocery list)! Sign up for my email list and I’ll send it over now along with weekly dinner recipes!
And follow me on Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest!
Tried This Recipe?
Leave a review, I love hearing your feedback! ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Tuna Noodle Casserole
Ingredients
- 3 cups dry egg noodles, about 4 cups cooked
- 2 chicken bouillon cubes, optional
- 8 oz. shredded White Cheddar cheese
- 2 Tablespoons butter
- 1 rib Celery, diced
- ½ yellow onion, diced
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 cans solid white albacore tuna in water, drained. (5 oz. per can)
- ½ teaspoon Salt
- ½ teaspoon celery salt
- ¼ teaspoon Pepper
- 1 (10.5 oz.) can condensed cream of mushroom soup, or try my homemade version
- 1.5 cups half and half, see notes
- 1/2 cup sour cream, at room temp
- 1 cup frozen peas
- 1/3 cup Parmesan cheese, shredded
Casserole Topping
- 1 cup Ritz crackers, crushed
- 2 Tablespoons butter, melted
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400°F.
- Shred the cheese and set aside to allow it to come to room temperature.
- Melt the butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the diced onions and celery and cook for about 5 minutes, until softened.
- Add the minced garlic and cook for an additional minute.
- Decrease heat to low. Add the drained tuna, salt/pepper, celery salt, cream of mushroom soup, half and half, and sour cream. Stir until combined. Gradually sprinkle in the White cheddar and stir until well-combined and smooth.
- Cook the egg noodles 1 minute shy of what the package instructs. Add 2 bouillon cubes to the boiling water to enhance the flavor of the egg noodles if desired.
- Add the peas and drained egg noodles to the cream sauce and use a silicone spatula to gently stir until combined.
- If not using an oven safe skillet, transfer to a lightly greased 9 x 13 casserole dish.
- Top with Parmesan cheese. Cover and bake for 20 minutes.
- Combine the Ritz crackers and melted butter and sprinkle over the casserole. Bake uncovered for 5-7 minutes, until the top is brown and crisp.
- Garnish with diced green onions and serve!
Notes
- Half and Half is made of half milk, half cream. You can also use evaporated milk.
- Frozen carrots, corn, and green beans may also be added.
- Sliced mushrooms can also be used and sautéed with the onions and celery.
- For best results, shred the cheese from a block instead of using bagged shredded cheese, which contains cellulose and doesn't melt as well.
- My homemade Condensed Cream of Mushroom Soup or cream of chicken soup can also be used instead of a can.
- 2 cups of leftover chicken makes a good substitute for the Tuna in this casserole.
- This recipe is in The Cozy Cookbook on page 186!
Make Ahead Method: 1-2 days ahead:
- Tuna Noodle Casserole can be made 1-2 days ahead of time and stored in the fridge until ready to bake.
- If baking from a cold state, add 15 additional minutes of covered baking time.
- Let it defrost in the fridge for up to 24 hours prior to baking or bake from frozen and add 1 hour to covered baking time.
can i use regular cheddar cheese and add potatoe chips to it, looks delicious.
Yes and Yes! 🙂
i will buy your cookbook instead of printing this, it will be easy that way.
Thanks Susan, I like that plan!❤️
Loved this dish. Will definitely make again!! I used potato chips but next time will use Ritz. I also had to use Extra Sharp Cheddar and 3/4 whole milk & 3/4 cream because I didn’t have half and half. For our taste I added a little more pepper and celery salt. Oh and I added sliced hard boiled eggs (4) instead of peas. Thanks for sharing this great dish which reminds me of when I was a kid. (71 yr old)
I’m going to try freezing half. It was only got 2 people.
I love that this brings you back to your childhood Beverly!💗 Thanks for sharing how you tweaked it, and thanks so much for taking the time to leave a review!
I forgot to tell you that it’s so great that you give so much information on all your recipes (I’ve browsed a few that I will definitely make) Info like how to freeze and thaw out and reheat leftovers, etc. Alternatives in case you are out of some ingredient or just don’t care for one.
Can you tell me though how to know what portion you are basing your calorie count?
The tuna noodle was so good we had it again for dinner tonight!!!
Hi Beverly! I am so sorry for the delay in my response! 🙂 I am so happy that you are enjoying the information provided in my recipes and that you loved the Tuna Noodle Casserole, I love that one too!! The nutrition information in my recipes is per serving, and the number of servings are at the top of the recipe card in the middle. So for the Tuna Noodle, that’s a 6-serving recipe 🙂
I liked this recipe, it was tasty. Next time I will reduce the salt by a little as it was a bit to salty for my family’s taste, but very good. I agree with other reviewers, it is much better than Campbell’s
Thanks for the great feedback and for taking the time to leave a review Jennifer!💖
I was blown away by how truly delicious this casserole is! Trust me, go for the ritz cracker topping (you could even crunch up extra) it simply bring the dish together. This casserole feels like it adds a hint the idea of rich white cheddar Mac and Cheese (with the Vermont White Cheddar Cheese *worth the splurge) We’ve made it quite a few times and love it 🙂
Thanks so much for the great comments and review Kate! I agree, the Ritz Cracker Topping is a yummy one, that’s my daughters preference! Thanks again!💖
My only comment (as I just made it and haven’t eaten it yet) is that it calls for topping the casserole with parm and baking. No where in the recipe does it call for parm in the ingredients only white cheddar which is in the sauce. The topping does call for parm but mixed with butter and the ritz crackers ??
Hi Linda! The 1/3 cup Parmesan is not combined with the Ritz and Butter, it’s added to the casserole prior to baking, and then the Ritz and Butter are combined later and added to the top. I can see how that is confusing as the Parmesan is in the same section as the Ritz and the butter, so I’ll move it out of that section! 🙂
Very good! Will definitely use this recipe again.
Yayyy! Thanks so much for the great review Lorraine, happy to hear you enjoyed it!💗
Very good and easy to make for a quick supper 👍
Yayyy! I’m so happy you like the Tuna Noodle Casserole Tina! I’ve been making this one as a side dish lately and it’s always a hit. Thanks so much for the great review!💗
Absolutely delicious!!
Thanks so much Jessica! I’m so happy you liked it!😃
Delicious!!
Yayyy! That’s such good news Rian, I’m so happy you liked it. Thanks so much for the great comments and for taking the time to leave a review!💖
I don’t like tuna from a can so my fiance had to do a lot of convincing for me to try this recipe the first time. She even used fresh tuna fish instead of canned. Well, that worked. I loved it.
Now I willingly suggested that we have it again. I personally came back to make it now. However, this time I used canned salmon. That too worked like a charm. So yummy.
Thank you so much for such a wonderful recipe.
I bet this would taste great with canned salmon, great call! Happy to hear you enjoyed this one ken, thanks so much for the great review!😃