Ever since I posted a photo of my tuna casserole on Instagram, you guys have been messaging me asking for the recipe. Thanks to all of your requests, I decided to share how this delish casserole is made. Lucky you! It’s super delish, and I know you’re going to love it.

Admittedly, I’m not a casserole-type of girl. I’ve just never been into the saucy, one-dish meals. My kids love them though – especially if they involve tuna with some sort of pasta. This dish is one of their faves, and with good reason: it’s creamy, noodle-y, and has their favorite ingredients, including broccoli.

As a mom, it always makes me happy when I can open the fridge or freezer and grab a ready-made dinner that my kids will love. Between swimming lessons and far too many hockey practices, our family is busy enough. I sometimes can’t face making a meal when we have 30 minutes to spare between one thing and another.

On mornings that I can’t handle making lunches (which sort of happens a lot, TBH), I stuff their thermoses with a casserole like this one. They always eat it all. 

The best thing about this tuna and broccoli casserole recipe is that it’s super easy to make, and it can be customized with whichever pasta and vegetables you love.

It uses a basic white sauce made from a roux, milk, and broth, and makes enough for 8+ servings – so it’s great for batch cooking.  It freezes well and reheats perfectly, and it has lots of veggies – you can stuff more in there if you want!

I used whole wheat pasta in this version, but you can use white pasta, and I’m thinking that legume pasta would work too. Use whichever cheeses you want, and you can also switch up the toppings to breadcrumbs, or nothing at all. It’s all up to you.

Best Creamy Tuna and Broccoli Casserole Recipe

Sometimes, you just need a warm, comforting casserole at the end of a long day. This tuna casserole recipe is the perfect make-ahead dish!

Servings: 8
Ingredients
  • 500 grams pasta
  • 1/3 cup salted butter
  • 1/4 cup flour
  • 1 onion diced
  • 1 clove garlic minced or pressed
  • 2 cups milk 2% or whole
  • 2 cups chicken broth
  • 3 cups of fresh broccoli florets or any other raw vegetable you’d like
  • 4 oz cheese of any type - I use 2oz each of cheddar and parmesan
  • 4 small cans or 2 large cans of tuna drained - I use Italian-style in olive oil
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 350F.
Pasta
  1. Set a large pot of water on high heat and add pasta. Cook until pasta is barely al dente (it will cook more in the oven). When pasta is ready, remove from heat and plunge broccoli into the water with the pasta. Drain pasta and broccoli together, place back into the pot and add drained tuna.
Sauce
  1. While the pasta is boiling, heat the butter in a medium saucepan, then add the onions and garlic.
  2. Cook onions and garlic until soft, around 2-3 minutes, then add flour and stir to coat
  3. Add broth and milk to the saucepan and, whisking constantly, bring to a slow boil until mixture thickens.
  4. Remove from heat and add the cheeses, stirring to melt.
  5. Pour the sauce over the pasta mixture and stir well to combine.
  6. Place pasta and sauce mixture into a casserole dish or cast iron pan, and sprinkle with parmesan.
  7. Bake at 350F for 30 minutes.