I get recipes from all over the place. This tasty tuna noodle casserole recipe came from a woman who used to shop a lot in our gift store. We reconnected recently. 🧡 I had the best time chatting with her about growing up in the sixties. I hope we can stay in touch because I really enjoyed our visit!
I'm not sure how we got on the subject, but she shared this five-can tuna noodle casserole recipe with me, and it sounded crazy, to be honest. I couldn't imagine how it would work. Her older sister brought this recipe home from her Home Ec class in 1963.
She grew up in a small town in Nebraska like me, and back then, Home Ec was still a thing! Ever since that day, Laurel has been cranking out this casserole to the delight of everyone who has the privilege of eating at her table! I mean three generations of happy casserole eaters!
So far, so good, right?
I decided to try it because we like tuna noodle casserole, and we're in a super busy stretch getting ready for our annual antique event. True to form, I forgot the evaporated milk the first time I ran to the store, but today, I made it! And you know what? It's really, really good!
This recipe could not be any simpler. I just dumped the contents of all five cans of stuff into my trusty Pampered Chef Bowl, gave it all a good stir, and poured it into this casserole dish I had sprayed with Pam.
To be honest, it was pretty beige-looking, and I couldn't stop myself from giving it a sprinkle of parsley for color because that's what I do. I'm a garnish freak.
I popped this baby in a 350-degree oven for about an hour, and when I took it out, I loved what I saw! Somehow, part of those Chinese noodles magically floated to the top and made a wonderful crunchy crust! I had no idea those crispy noodles were so smart!
It turned out to be a pretty casserole, even without parsley, but I will always put parsley on it. I put parsley on everything! 😉 And while it was baking, the kitchen smelled amazing!
The true test came when we spooned it onto our plates. It's a winner! Laurel was right; it is delicious! It baked up thicker and creamier than I thought it would. I was very pleasantly surprised!
All we needed was a green vegetable for a tasty lunch, and I fell back on my old standby, french-cut green beans. I always drain them and drizzle them with olive oil and a sprinkle of kosher salt. They tasted so good and were perfect with this cozy tuna noodle casserole!
This is a throwback recipe from the 1960s: a tuna casserole made with five cans of food. Simple and very tasty. The leftovers reheat well.
Tuna is still a fairly affordable source of good quality, lean protein. You might also enjoy these Stuffed Tuna Melts!
If you enjoyed this recipe today, please share it on your social media accounts like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Pinterest. I'd sure be tickled and ever so grateful; thank you!
If you haven't already, check out my Facebook page, where I'll post easy, delicious, and family-friendly recipes every week!
Love, GB (Betty Streff)
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It was very tasty but I couldn’t find a 6oz can of tuna. They appear to all be 5oz.
I will amend the recipe, good catch (every pun inteneded) I'm guessing that might be the size of a can of tuna in the 1960s when this recipe appeared. It is way better than it sounds. I was skeptical, it is great and I also did it with canned chicken just substituting cream of chicken soup!