A few weeks ago, Tory posted a recipe for Goulash, one of her favorite comfort foods and given my dislike of goulash wanted to know what I would eat when I wanted a nostalgic dish. Here’s your answer:
When I’m craving comfort food, tuna casserole is one of my go-to meals to make. It really reminds me of being a kid and Friday’s during Lent. Part of the reason I might have loved it so much was the fact that I got to play with my food – see all those chips on the side of my plate, those are going to be my utensils. Yep, I’m going to scoop it all up with the chips. Can’t believe mom and dad used to let us do that! Oh and the chips HAVE to be Old Dutch Rip-L-Chips, other ripple or ruffle chips just don’t have the strength to dip, they just break.
Nowadays, I only get to make it when my husband is gone since he doesn’t like it. I am making a full batch today and freezing the leftovers to take to work. But you could also divide the recipe between 2 casserole dishes and put one in the freezer. It needs to thaw overnight in the fridge but cooks up just as good as fresh. It sure is great to have a dinner waiting for you in the fridge.
This dish might be simple (it only has 5 ingredients – if you count the potato chips) but for me it is so comforting and satisfying.
Here’s what you need:
First boil and salt some water. Then add 2-1/2 c elbow macaroni. Drain and rinse the pasta. Return to the pan. Add the cream of mushroom soup and the tuna (I like to break the tuna up with a fork as I add it in to make sure I don’t get any huge chunks of tuna.
Stir together, then add the peas (otherwise the peas will get smashed) and stir again.
Pour into a 2 qt casserole dish (or 2 – 1-1/2 quart casserole dishes if making two batches)
Cover and bake at 350 degrees for 50 minutes (if making the half batch, I bake at 325 instead)
It’s done when it’s bubbly and brown around the edges.
Dish it up and be sure to include plenty of potato chips. My parents liked to crush them on top of their casserole. Me, I prefer to scoop up each gooey, yummy bit on a chip. Yum! Best of all the leftovers are great!
Can you believe Tory isn’t a big fan? Something must be fundamentally wrong with my sister.
- 2 pouches/cans of tuna
- 1 can peas
- 2-1/2 c elbow macaroni
- 2 cans cream of mushroom soup (I use the heart healthy 98% fat free version)
- Potato Chips – if you want to use the chips to eat like I do – it has to be Rip-L chips, anything else I’ve tried breaks.
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Cook the pasta according to package directions. Drain and rinse under cool water and return to the pan you cooked them in.
- Stir in tuna and cream of mushroom soup and mix. Gently stir in the peas.
- Pour into a 2 qt casserole dish.
- Cover and bake at 350 degrees for 50 minutes (bake at 325 if halved).
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