Everybody's favourite pasta dish - Creamy Tuna Pasta Bake - is one of those dishes that we come back to time and time again. And for a good reason! Creamy mornay sauce (call it cheesy bechamel or simply white sauce) covering beautiful al dente pasta with delicious tuna and pops of juicy sweetcorn all hidden under a layer of melted browned cheese. Serve this comfort food with a healthy side dish for an ultimate satisfying meal! Easy recipe for the whole family!
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Why You Will Love This Classic Recipe
- Tuna pasta bake is a perfect recipe for beginners and requires no special skills or knowledge of cooking.
- A handful of simple ingredients that you can find in your cupboards and freezer - perfect "raid-your-store-cupboard-ingredients" dinner meal on the last day before your weekly shop.
- There are a bunch of substitutions for the ingredients we used (more on them in the section below).
- It's a family favourite: both adults and children typically like a good old Tuna Pasta Bake.
- An easy meal for those occasions when you need to feed a crowd of hungry people, just like our Chicken Pesto Pasta Bake!
Fancy something a little different? We highly recommend trying our 15-Minute Tuna Pasta with Olives and Capers.
Basic Ingredients and Substitutes
This Tuna Pasta bake is a great recipe to use a day before your weekly grocery shop. It mainly uses pantry items and frozen foods.
- pasta: choose your favourite shape, but ideally one that is more intricately shaped, so that all the nooks and crannies can hold more sauce.
- butter: salted or unsalted, you choose.
- flour: plain (all-purpose) flour.
- milk: we use dairy milk, or unsweetened soya milk, whichever we have in the fridge.
- cheese: use mature cheddar for best results. It melts well and adds heaps of flavour.
- nutmeg: this is our not-so-secret ingredient for a flavoursome cheesy tuna pasta bake. Just remember, a little bit goes a long way!
- canned tuna: read more about tuna in the section below.
- sweetcorn: tinned sweetcorn or defrosted frozen sweetcorn.
What Kind Of Pasta To Use?
When it comes to pasta, you can use pretty much anything you have in your cupboards. Use cheap and cheerful regular dried pasta or go for a healthier option and choose wholewheat pasta. Fresh pasta, unfortunately, will not work in this recipe.
Ideally, you want the shape that has more intricate shapes, with nooks and crannies to hold the mornay sauce. Penne pasta, rigatoni, farfalle, conchiglie will all work very well. Avoid spaghetti, linguine and pappardelle in this recipe.
What Kind Of Tuna To Use?
Canned tuna is typically one of three types: in spring water, in brine or in oil. For this cheesy tuna bake, we recommend using tuna in spring water or tuna in brine.
Tinned tuna also comes in either tuna chunks or flakes. We personally prefer chunks, as we like leaving bigger pieces of tuna in our pasta bake (you must not overmix the pasta if you want that), but tuna flakes will work as well.
Need more ideas? Head to our Canned Tuna Lunch Ideas to find the right recipe for you!
Suggested Extras
Can this creamy tuna pasta bake recipe be made better? Absolutely! Here's a list of suggestions of what to add to your tuna casserole to make it even better:
- Add fresh parsley or fresh basil leaves to the bechamel sauce.
- Scatter thinly sliced spring onions on top of the bake.
- Sprinkle the top with chilli flakes. We highly recommend Aleppo pepper.
- Tear a ball of mozzarella cheese and mix pieces of it into the pasta for an extra creamy and decadent bake.
- Add a couple of peeled garlic cloves to the pasta pan whilst it is cooking to add a subtle garlic flavour to the dish (just don't forget to take them out before mixing with tuna and sauce). Alternatively, add ¼ teaspoon of garlic powder to the bechamel sauce.
- Skip the nutmeg and mix in a teaspoon of Dijon mustard into the sauce instead.
- Mix cheddar cheese with parmesan in a 1:1 ratio for the cheesy top. Parmesan cheese adds so much salty tangy flavour to this pasta bake and is a great addition!
Method
Step 1: Boil Pasta
Read the package instructions and cook pasta in boiling salted water for a couple of minutes less than the packet instructions suggest. You want your pasta to be undercooked, as it will continue cooking in the sauce in the oven. Use a large pot and ensure to use plenty of water, so that your pasta cooks evenly and doesn't stick to each other.
When your pasta is cooked (or should we say, undercooked?), drain it.
Step 2: Make Creamy Sauce
Add butter to a large saucepan and place it on low heat until the butter melts. Add the flour and stir continuously to incorporate the flour into the butter.
As soon as the flour cooks and the mixture starts to come away from the sides, gradually start adding the milk. Turn the hob to medium heat and stirring continuously with a whisk, carry on cooking until the mixture thickens to a custard consistency. This is your bechamel sauce.
To make it into the mornay sauce, take the mixture off the heat, add ⅓ of the grated cheddar and stir until the cheese melts. Add the nutmeg. Taste your creamy cheese sauce and adjust the seasoning (salt and black pepper) if needed.
Step 3: Assemble and Bake
Preheat oven to 180°C Fan.
Add the cooked pasta, defrosted or tinned sweet corn and drained tuna chunks to the sauce and mix gently trying to leave some larger tuna bits intact. Tip everything into a large baking dish (make sure it's an ovenproof dish). Cover the surface with the remaining cheese.
Bake tuna pasta until the top of the pasta bake turns golden brown, for approximately 20 minutes.
Take the whole dish to the table and serve it with delicious vegetable sides (see suggestions below).
What To Serve With Tuna Pasta Bake?
Tuna Pasta in a creamy cheesy sauce is a decadent satisfying meal, but a nice healthy side salad or some cooked green veggies do wonders for this dish:
- Quick Roasted Cherry Tomatoes
- Italian Green Bean Salad
- Courgette Ribbon Salad
- Lemon and Garlic Tenderstem Broccoli (Broccolini)
But if you're extra hungry, serve some garlic bread to mop up any leftover sauce at the bottom of the bowl.
Recipe FAQs
Mornay sauce is a bechamel sauce with cheese added to it, although bechamel, mornay and white sauce are often used interchangeably these days.
You can use canned or frozen sweetcorn in this recipe, however, if using frozen, we highly suggest you defrost it first. If you add the sweetcorn frozen to the mix, it will dilute the creamy cheese sauce as it thaws. Once defrosted, make sure to drain the sweetcorn well.
Storing and Reheating Leftovers
If you have any leftovers, cool the tuna pasta bake to room temperature. Then scoop the leftovers into an airtight container and store them in the fridge.
How Long Does Tuna Pasta Bake Last In The Fridge?
Your leftovers will last for 3-4 days in the fridge.
Does Tuna Pasta Freeze Well?
Yes! Make sure to cook your tuna pasta bake to room temperature and use a freezer-safe container to store your leftovers. It will keep in the freezer for up to 3 months.
Can I Reheat Tuna Pasta Bake?
Yes! The best way to reheat your tuna pasta bake is in the microwave for 2-3 minutes. Alternatively, you can cover an ovenproof dish with foil and reheat it in the oven. Note though, that after reheating, your pasta will soften further. If your pasta dish is looking extremely dry, add a splash of milk to the bottom of the dish before reheating. Some extra cheese on top will also make it tastier!
Other Ways To Use A Can Of Tuna
If you are wondering about other good ways to use a can of tuna, you are in the right place. We love an inexpensive tuna-based meal here at Somebody Feed Seb. Here are some of our favourites:
- Easy Mexican Tuna Salad
- Classic Creamy Tuna Pasta Salad
- Tuna Rice Salad With A Twist
- Tuna Cucumber Sandwich or Tuna and Sweetcorn Sandwich
- Better Tuna Nicoise With Honey Mustard Dressing
- Tinned Tuna Fishcakes
- Tuna Melt Wrap
More Delicious Pasta Bake Recipes
Pasta bake lover? Why not try our Pasta al Forno or Tuna Pesto Pasta Bake next? Or prepare the most decadent vegetarian meal by making this Vegetable Lasagne with Courgette & Aubergine or Vegetarian Cannelloni With Kale And Feta.
Creamy Tuna Pasta Bake
Equipment
- Ovenproof dish
Ingredients
- 400 g dried pasta like penne, farfalle or conchiglie
- 25 g butter
- 25 g flour
- 450 ml milk
- 200 g mature cheddar grated
- ⅛ teaspoon nutmeg
- 2 145 g cans of tuna in spring eater or brine drained
- 200 g frozen or tinned sweetcorn defrosted and drained
Instructions
Boil Pasta:
- Cook pasta in boiling salted water for a couple of minutes less than the packet instructions suggest. You want your pasta to be undercooked, as it will continue cooking in the sauce in the oven.
Make Creamy Sauce:
- Add butter to a large saucepan and place it on low heat until the butter melts.
- Add the flour and stir continuously to incorporate the flour into the butter. As soon as the flour cooks and the mixture starts to come away from the sides, gradually start adding the milk. Turn the hob to medium heat and stirring continuously with a whisk, carry on cooking until the mixture thickens to a custard consistency.
- Take the mixture off the heat, add ⅓ of the grated cheddar and stir until the cheese melts. Add the nutmeg. Taste your creamy cheese sauce and adjust the seasoning (salt and black pepper) if needed.
Assemble and Bake:
- Preheat oven to 180° C Fan.
- Add the cooked pasta, defrosted or tinned sweet corn and drained tuna chunks to the sauce and mix gently trying to leave some larger tuna bits intact. Tip everything into a large baking dish (make sure it's an ovenproof dish). Cover the surface with the remaining cheese.
- Bake tuna pasta until the top of the pasta bake turns golden brown, for approximately 20 minutes.
- Take the whole dish to the table and serve it with delicious vegetable sides. See suggestion in the notes.
Notes
- Quick Roasted Cherry Tomatoes
- Steamed Green Beans
- Courgette Ribbon Salad
- Lemon and Garlic Tenderstem Broccoli (Broccolini)
Nutrition
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