Tuna noodle casserole is the comfort food you know and love. But, with this easy one-pan stovetop version, you can make it in only about 30 minutes, without having to heat up the oven! And, this stove top tuna casserole is made entirely from scratch (without canned soup).
Note: this post was originally published in 2020. In 2025 I updated the recipe to make it one-pot, and also added new photos.
Tuna noodle casserole is a quintessential comfort food: tender noodles, creamy sauce, tuna and a bit of veggies all mixed together, with a buttery, crumbly topping.
As delicious as it is, it can be time-intensive to make tuna casserole from scratch. What if you want tuna noodle casserole on a random Wednesday? With this recipe for stove top tuna casserole, you can have it, in only about 30 minutes, and with only one pot to wash after!
This tuna casserole recipe is also made from scratch, without canned soup (just like my chicken tater tot casserole). (Nothing against canned soup by the way, I just don't usually keep it in the house!)
I hope this stovetop tuna casserole makes your random Wednesday a bit more cozy!
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Ingredients
Ingredient notes
- Pasta: any short shape will do (fusilli, orecchiette, shells, etc.). Look for pasta that will cook within 9 - 11 minutes. If you can get bronze-cut pasta, that works very well in this dish!
- Canned tuna: I like using solid white albacore for stove top tuna noodle casserole because you get bigger chunks in the finished dish, but chunk light works great too.
- Milk: for richness, I recommend using whole milk. But I have made this with 2% milk and that also works well.
Step by step photos
Here's how to make this quick and easy stovetop tuna noodle casserole, step by step!
1. Toast the panko breadcrumbs in a pan with the butter and a pinch of salt. Remove breadcrumbs and set aside.
2. In the same pan, add the milk, water, salt and pasta. Bring to a gentle boil.
Top Tip
This one-pot recipe works really well with a sauté pan if you have one. A sauté pan has a wide, flat bottom and straight sides that are about 3 - 5 inches tall. The lower sides help the water to evaporate and make it easier to stir the pasta. But, if you don't have one, a large pasta pot also works well.
3. Gently boil the pasta until it's tender. About 1 ½ cups of liquid should be remaining. Turn off the burner.
4. Add the frozen vegetables, shredded cheddar cheese, pepper, onion powder, and garlic powder.
5. Mix everything together until combined. (The heat from the boiling liquid will fully thaw and heat the veggies.)
6. Add the drained tuna to the noodles.
7. Mix in the tuna gently, to keep the tuna from breaking apart too much.
8. Top with the reserved toasted panko breadcrumbs and serve!
Tips and tricks
- Drain the tuna very well before adding it to the sauce. Especially if you are using chunk light tuna, which is more watery compared with albacore.
- As I mentioned in the Ingredient notes, bronze-cut pasta works especially well in this type of one-pot pasta dish. Bronze-cut pasta has a rougher surface which helps the sauce cling better to the pasta, and also releases more starch into the cooking water, leading to a creamier sauce.
- As the tuna casserole sits, the sauce will thicken up. This is good if your sauce is a little too thin at the beginning. However, if your sauce has thickened up too much, you can stir in an extra splash of milk.
Substitution and addition ideas
This stove top tuna casserole is flexible, so feel free to adjust the ingredients to suit your tastes. Here are some substitution and addition ideas you can try:
- Instead of tuna, try canned salmon, canned chicken, or even chopped up ham!
- Instead of the frozen peas and carrots, try just frozen peas, frozen spinach, or frozen mixed veggies.
- Feel free to use canned vegetables instead of frozen. Just make sure to drain them well before adding them to the noodles.
- If you don't have panko breadcrumbs, you can use 1 cup of leftover bread torn into small chunks. Or, just crumble potato chips over the top!
Storage and reheating
- Leftovers can be stored in a covered container in the fridge for 3 - 4 days.
- You can reheat individual portions in the microwave for 1 - 2 minutes on high until heated through.
- Or, place the leftover tuna casserole in a small saucepan, with a splash of milk, and cover. Cook on low heat, stirring occasionally, until heated through.
Recipe FAQs
Yes, you can safely freeze this tuna casserole for up to 3 months. However, because it contains milk and cheese, the texture of the sauce will not be as smooth after thawing. For best results, thaw overnight in the fridge, and then gently warm over low heat on the stovetop, or in the microwave at 50% power. If needed, stir in an extra splash of milk.
While traditional tuna noodle casseroles usually use egg noodles, for this one-pot recipe you will need a short pasta shape that cooks in 9 - 11 minutes.
Most egg noodles I have found cook in 7 - 9 minutes, which won't give enough time for the liquid to evaporate to form the base for the sauce. However, there are some types of extra-wide egg noodles that cook in 9 - 11 minutes, and those would work.
I also really suggest using bronze-cut pasta if you can find it, this kind of pasta holds sauce better, and also releases more starch into the cooking liquid, leading to a creamier sauce.
If your tuna casserole tastes bland after you've made it, I highly suggest adding in more salt. With this type of milk-based sauce, having enough salt to bring out the flavors is really important. If you like, you can also add in more black pepper, cheese, onion powder, and garlic powder. Finally, if you appreciate a little spice, add in a sprinkle of cayenne pepper or hot sauce!
What to serve with tuna casserole:
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Print📖 Recipe
Stove Top Tuna Casserole
A comfort food classic ready in about 30 minutes! You can make this creamy one-pot pasta dish, that's like a homemade tuna helper, with only your stove top. And, it even includes a buttery breadcrumb topping!
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 15 minutes
- Total Time: 30 minutes
- Yield: 6 servings 1x
- Category: main course, entree
- Method: stove top
- Cuisine: American
Ingredients
For breadcrumb topping:
- ⅓ cup (20 g) panko breadcrumbs
- 1 tablespoon butter
- pinch salt
For tuna casserole:
- 12 ounces (340 g) dried short pasta (see notes 1 - 2)
- 4 cups (946 ml) water
- 1 ½ cups (355 ml) whole or 2% milk
- 1 teaspoon salt, plus more to taste
- 8 ounces (227 g) sharp cheddar, shredded
- 2 cups (270 g) frozen carrots and peas
- 1 ½ teaspoons onion powder
- 1 ½ teaspoons garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
- three 5-ounce cans tuna, well drained
Instructions
- Add the butter to a sauté pan (a wide pan with straight sides that are about 3 - 5 inches tall) or large pasta pot set over medium heat. When the butter is melted, add in the panko breadcrumbs. Stir the breadcrumbs to evenly coat the pieces in butter, and season with a pinch of salt. Let the crumbs cook in a single layer, stirring occasionally, until the breadcrumbs are golden brown (about 1 - 2 minutes). Remove the breadcrumbs onto a plate.
- In the same pot, add the pasta, water, milk, and 1 teaspoon salt. Stir. Turn the burner on high to bring the liquid to a gentle boil, then turn the heat down as needed to maintain the gentle boil. Gently boil the pasta for 11 - 13 minutes, or until tender, stirring occasionally (see note 2).
- When the pasta is done cooking, turn off the burner. You should have about 1 ½ cups liquid remaining. (You can just eyeball this - the pasta should be about ⅔ uncovered). If the pan is too dry, add a splash of milk or water.
- Add the cheddar cheese, frozen carrots and peas, onion powder, garlic powder, and black pepper to the pasta. Stir to combine.
- Add the drained tuna and gently stir to combine.
- Top with the toasted panko and serve.
Notes
- This recipe is designed to work with short pasta shapes that cook in 9 - 11 minutes. The recipe will also work with short pasta shapes that take longer, but you will need to adjust the cook time. You may also need to add in more milk or water as the pasta cooks, to ensure you have about 1 ½ cups liquid once the pasta is done.
- For best results I suggest using bronze-cut pasta. De Cecco is my favorite easy-to-find brand.
- Although we chose a pasta shape the cooks in 9 - 11 minutes, when using this one-pot method, it takes a little longer to cook the pasta, because it's gently boiling in a smaller amount of liquid (rather than a rapid boil).
The nutrition information below is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator, and should not be considered a substitute for professional medical, health, or nutritional advice. The nutrition counts of your dish will vary based on the brands and exact amounts of ingredients used. See our full nutrition disclosure policy.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: ⅙ recipe
- Calories: 604
- Sugar: 4.4 g
- Sodium: 757 mg
- Fat: 17.8 g
- Saturated Fat: 10.8 g
- Carbohydrates: 47.9 g
- Fiber: 2.5 g
- Protein: 59.1 g
- Cholesterol: 101 mg
Kathy says
Delicious and fast
Kate says
Thank you! 🙂 🙂
Lucy says
I made this for a quick lunch one day and it was a hit! the sauce was just enough like my homemade alfredo sauce that the picky teens who hate tuna actually ate some. i didn't have any bread so i didn't add any crunchy toppings but next time i will make a topping, maybe add some parmesan for extra flavor. It went much quicker than I expected so having everything lined up and ready to go would be my added tip 🙂
Kate says
Thank you Lucy I'm so glad you and your family enjoyed the recipe. And adding parmesan is a great idea, I will have to try that next time I make it! Also, thank you for sharing the tip to get everything ready beforehand, I myself need that reminder! I have to admit I am totally guilty of NOT doing that and then having to scramble when I can't find something in my pantry! Haha 🙂
Tracie says
I just made this tonight for dinner. I had some mushrooms to use up, so I skipped the broccoli and added the sliced mushrooms into the sauce just before adding the cream cheese. I also skipped the bread portion, and added some crushed garlic parmesan croutons on top with a healthy dose of minced chives from my garden. This is a very delicious, versatile go to recipe. My husband especially loved it. Thank you!
Tracie Carlson says
P.S. I also noticed that the 12 ounce measurement for the pasta was definitely not a dry pasta measurement. I find it less confusing to go with 1 1/2 cups dry pasta. I initially measured 12 ounces on my digital baking scale and found it to be over 3 cups!
Kate says
Hey again! Thank you for your note about the measurement - I actually used 1 box of 12 oz. pasta which is measured by weight, so I think that would be close to 3 cups depending on the shape you use. Either way I'm glad it worked for you, it sounds like your version would have more sauce, which I am all for! 🙂
Kate says
Hi Tracie I'm delighted that you and your family enjoyed the recipe! And thank you for sharing the tweaks you made to the recipe, they sound delicious!