My Mom’s Tuna Casserole Recipe – A Family Favorite!

Comfort food, and a family favorite!

We’ve been having my mom’s Tuna Casserole Recipe for as long as I can remember. Sometimes she would jazz it up with bread crumbs on top and put it into the oven to make it super fancy. But… I am all about fast and easy, so you are getting the stove top version from me today! This has always been a family favorite in our family, and I am hoping that I can carry on the tradition of it being a family favorite now that I have a family of my own.

Fair warning… these are all pretty much estimates

My mom probably gave the the recipe over the phone when I was living on my own in Ventura County. She doesn’t measure, just like her mom doesn’t measure so… I tried to eyeball my estimates as I typed this up today.

Grandma Terri’s Tuna Casserole Recipe

1 – tsp of butter
1/2 – tsp of celery salt
1/2 – tsp of salt
1 – 12 oz bag of Anthony’s Extra Wide Egg Noodles
1 – 10 1/2 oz can of Cream of Mushroom Soup
1/2 – can of milk
1 – 5.4 ounce of Kirkland Signature Albacore Solid White Tuna in water (drained) (Buy it direct from Costco for the best price)
2 – Tbsp of Best Foods Mayonnaise
Salt – to taste
Pepper – to taste
Celery Salt – to taste
1.5 cups of shredded cheese (we use colby jack)

Steps:

I used my 6 quart Calphalon Stock Pot and filled it a little more than half way full. Add in the 1 tsp of butter, 1/2 tsp of celery salt, and 1/2 tsp of salt and bring your water to a boil. Once your water is boiling you can add in your entire 12 ounce package of Extra Wide Egg Noodles. Stir occasionally and let boil for 9 minutes.

Drain your noodles in a strainer, and do not rinse.

While your noodles are sitting in the strainer in the sink, add 1 can of cream of mushroom soup, 1/2 a can of milk, 2 Tbsp of mayonaise, 1 can of tuna (drained), and salt, pepper, and celery salt to taste to your warmed stock pot. Turn the heat to medium to get your soup mixture bubbly. Once you see bubbles, add a handful of shredded cheese and stir together until melted. Turn off the flame.

Add your warm noodles back into the mixture and stir until well coated.

Once it’s all coated, sprinkle with more cheese, cover with the lid, and let the cheese melt on top for about 2 minutes.

Dinner is served!

My mom would usually make a can of corn, and we’d have a piece of white bread, not toasted, with butter on the side. I am actually making bread for the first time, but I think the kids are going to devour their tuna casserole before the bread has time to bake. Maybe they can have it together for leftovers.

I ended up waiting to eat dinner until the bread was done… I took my Balance about 30 minutes before the bread would be ready so I would be ready to go! It was sooo good! I’ll post that next.

And I think I have a video of my mom making Tuna Casserole. She and my mother in love came to our house in Camarillo after our first was born 4 weeks early due to HELLP Syndrome. They both made some recipes, and we recorded them, so that we could share them with the kids when they got older. Thankfully we did, because we lost my mother in love to Pancreatic Cancer just 4 months later. When I find the video of my mom, I’ll add it to this post!

If you’ve been on the lookout for a really yummy tuna casserole recipe that the whole family will enjoy, you should try my mom’s tuna casserole recipe! I think you’ll enjoy it!