Healthy Tuna Noodle Casserole
Tuna noodle casserole is comfort food. There’s just something about this hearty hot dish that brings back memories of childhood.
Think of this recipe as a gourmet grown-up version of the tuna noodle casserole you grew up eating. We’re switching out noodles for spaghetti squash and replacing canned cream of mushroom soup with a spicy and flavorful homemade version.
I think the only thing that’s the same in my version vs. the mostly processed version is the peas. And, if you don’t like peas, I suppose you can substitute them for something else.
The great thing about using spaghetti squash as a base for this casserole is that it’ll stretch the dish for several meals. I’d say this dish could easily feed six people. I’ve already had it for like 4 meals and there’s more than half left. It’s so delicious that you’ll look forward to leftovers. This with some hot sauce (cholula, please) – ohh man, what a combination.
A note about my homemade cream of mushroom soup – when you blend this together, I suggest blending the soup until it’s nice and thick so that it better coats the “spaghetti” strands.
When you put this in the oven, it’ll get nice and bubbly. After it’s done cooking, top it with a mix of almond flour and butter or ghee and bake until golden on top!
“Another stellar recipe; thank you Ashley! I’m basically snowed in here in eastern Washington and was scouring the pantry for dinner ingredients. With the last spaghetti squash from my summer garden and some “vintage” dried porcini mushrooms, I pulled it together. WOW that mushroom soup is AMAZING in itself – next time I’m making it to eat on its own. We’ll enjoy this delicious and healthy dish for a few meals; thanks again.”
Irene G.
Ingredients
Tuna Noodle Casserole
- 2 5 ounce cans of canned tuna (I like the Wild Planet brand)
- 2 cups homemade mushroom soup
- 2 cup peas
- 1 large spaghetti squash 4-5 pounds
- 1 teaspoon fine sea salt
- ½ teaspoon turmeric powder
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
Topping:
- ½ cup almond flour
- 1 tablespoon butter or ghee
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
- Combine the tuna, cream of mushroom soup, peas and cooked spaghetti squash strands and spices in a casserole dish.
- Bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes, or until the casserole is bubbling.
- In the meantime, combine the butter and the almond flour in a small bowl and mix well.
- Once the casserole has finished cooking, sprinkle the flour mixture on top of the casserole dish.
- Put the dish back in the oven, and bake for 10 more minutes, or until the top is golden brown (broil for a minute if needed).
To prepare squash using the oven method:
- Preheat oven to 375.
- Cut the squash in half, scoop out the seeds, and add a little oil, salt and pepper to cut sides.
- Place squash cut side down in a baking dish.
- Bake for 30-45 minutes or until you can easily pierce the skin with a knife (cooking time depends on size of squash).
Christa says
How many servings does this make?
Irene G. says
Another stellar recipe; thank you Ashley! I’m basically snowed in here in eastern Washington and was scouring the pantry for dinner ingredients. With the last spaghetti squash from my summer garden and some “vintage” dried porcini mushrooms, I pulled it together. WOW that mushroom soup is AMAZING in itself – next time I’m making it to eat on its own. We’ll enjoy this delicious and healthy dish for a few meals; thanks again.
Ashley - My Heart Beets says
Thanks, Irene! I’m glad to hear you liked this so much 🙂
Cate says
How random, I just found this recipe and I was snowed in last week in eastern Washington! I think you are further east than me, I’m in Tri-Cities and we got a Chinook and an overnight thaw. I make my own tuna noodle casserole all the time, but just prepared my last winter spaghetti squash yesterday and wondered if anyone ever made a casserole with those rather than pasta noodle. So Googling I went and found a recipe almost identical to my own, with the substitute I wanted to use. Nice to see others enjoy this dish too. Just wanted to say hello…LOL!
PattyG says
Hi, could the Miracle noodles or Shirataki noodles be substituted for the spaghetti squash?
My Heart Beets says
Hi Patty, I haven’t tried it that way so I can’t say but if you do please let us know how it goes!
Aimee Schnipke says
I’ve been dying to try this recipe. I’m starting the mushroom soup and getting the spaghetti squash in the oven, but I have a question: we don’t do any dairy. including ghee. I think coconut oil would probably work, but we also try to limit oil. Any ideas for the topping? And thank you so much for the recipes. 🙂
My Heart Beets says
Hi Aimee, sorry for the late reply! Yes you can use coconut oil instead of ghee! How did it turn out for you?
Alyssa Bilton-Smith says
I just made your mushroom soup in preparation for this and it’s amazing! But I was wondering what size Casserole dish you used for this?
My Heart Beets says
Alyssa, I’m so glad you like the soup! I used a 9×13 but any size dish will work 🙂
Laura says
This recipe looks amazing and I can’t wait to try it! One question: I’ve recently discovered that almonds do not like me. Do you have a suggestion on a substitute for the almond meal? I’m having to relearn how to be paleo without almonds.
My Heart Beets says
I would think that another nut or seed would work, but I haven’t tried this so I can’t say for sure – if you do, please let me know!
Catherine says
This looks great…I can’t wait to try it! What size casserole dish did you use for this?
My Heart Beets says
Catherine, any size casserole dish will work! 🙂
Shannon says
This recipe was delicious and a huge hit with our family. I’m very excited to have a healthy alternative to add to our list of school night quick meals.
My Heart Beets says
Great to hear, Shannon!! I’m so glad you and your family liked the recipe 🙂
Janet says
Let me just say that I consider myself a shameless food snob and this recipe was just outstanding. My kids have always LOVED my husband’s tuna noodle casserole which KILLED me since it was a Campbell’s recipe. So, last night my daughter wanted to learn it which was truly adorable. To make sure I joined in the tuna noodle fun, I searched and found this recipe. I couldn’t stop talking about how good it was during dinner. Plus, this was the first time I used spaghetti squash in a casserole dish and now I’m hooked.
Thank you on many fronts! I can’t wait to try your other stuff. The “Nacho” cheese recipe has me SO intrigued!
My Heart Beets says
Wow, thanks so much for the review, Janet!! So so happy you loved the tuna noodle casserole! Hope you’ll let me know what you think of any other recipes that you try 🙂
Liz says
I loved this recipe! I made it on the fly for lunches for the week at the end of a busy weekend with what I had around, after some googling. I used a GF cream of mushroom soup I’ve been hoarding for thanksgiving casseroles, since I didn’t have everything to make your mushroom soup (and added an egg, since the canned version was pretty watery). It was so good, and I can’t wait to try it again with your soup recipe because I know it’ll be even better! This one is going in the arsenal.
My Heart Beets says
So happy to hear that, Liz!! Thanks so much for letting me know how it turned out 🙂 And yes, when you get a chance def try it with the homemade soup!
Sarah says
Hi! I want to try this recipe but I am not paleo. Could I use regular wheat flour in place of almond flour? Thanks!
My Heart Beets says
Hi Sarah, if you are not paleo, then just use breadcrumbs 🙂 Hope that helps!
Tonstantweader1 says
Delicious, easy, and fairly quick to make–used your method on the spur of the moment because someone in the household suddenly had a craving for Mom’s Tuna Delight, which for us these days would be like eating dessert for the main course. I don’t even keep pasta or canned soup in my pantry. But I had a big spaghetti squash on hand, so I crossed my fingers, searched the web, and found your method. (I’m calling it a method, rather than a recipe, because I couldn’t trace the link to your mushroom soup recipe, so I improvised my own with evaporated milk and chicken stock.) I’ll make this often. Thank you for sharing!
My Heart Beets says
Glad to hear you made it work for you. If you have more time the next time you make it, I suggest trying my mushroom soup! I’ve fixed the links so I’m sorry you had trouble finding that recipe.
Lisa says
Delicious!!!! I used a mix of frozen peas/carrots and your cream of mushroom soup and this was OUTSTANDING. I am heading to the farmers market tomorrow and will pick up plenty more mushrooms to make more of your soup for more casseroles. PS- The last 5 or 6 meals I’ve made have been from your recipes..I LOVE everything on here! .
My Heart Beets says
Lisa, that is awesome!! I’m so glad that you like my recipes!! Thanks for letting me know how the tuna noodle casserole turned out 🙂
Pamela says
Great recipe. I always add copious amounts of black pepper as my Grandmother always did.
Kristen says
Hi. This recipe looks great. One point of clarification: In your ingredient list, you have the topping as being only almond flour and butter, but in step 4 of your instructions, you mention tapioca flour as well. Is tapioca part of the topping? Thanks!
My Heart Beets says
Kristen, thanks so much for pointing this out! I ended up not using tapioca flour but forgot to delete it from the directions. I just fixed this – thanks again!