Tuesday, January 19, 2010

A Tuna Noodle Casserole that Will Make Even Mad Men Smile

At the risk of becoming a social outcast, I'll admit to having never watched Mad Men. I mean, it's on the television while I'm working, and Michele seems to thoroughly enjoy it, but I just haven't gotten into it. However, when I see the sets, clothes, cars, and other iconic imagery of that era, I can't help but think the characters are probably enjoying tuna noodle casserole on a regular basis.

Below the photo you'll see the written recipe for this retro-chic classic, which is going in the cookbook. I really love this recipe, and hope some of you give it a go and tell me what you think. Enjoy!



































Tuna Noodle Casserole

Makes 6 Portions

12 ounce package dry egg noodles
3 tablespoons butter
1/2 yellow onion, finely diced
3 tablespoons flour
3 1/2 cups cold milk
1 (10-oz) can condensed cream of mushroom soup
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 (7-oz) cans tuna, well drained, crumbled
3/4 cup frozen peas, thawed, drained
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1/2 cup shredded Monterey jack cheese
1/2 cup plain bread crumbs
2 tbsp olive oil

Melt the butter in a medium saucepan, and sauté the onions over med-low heat for about 4 minutes, or until translucent. Turn up the heat to medium; add the flour, and cook, stirring, for another 2 minutes. While whisking vigorously, slowly pour in one cup of the cold milk.

When the mixture begins to simmer, add the rest of the milk, can of mushroom soup, salt, and pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the sauce thickens, and comes to a simmer. Remove from heat, and reserve.

Cook noodles in boiling salted water, one minute less than the directions call for. Drain well, and add to a large mixing bowl. Add the sauce, tuna, peas and about 2/3 of the cheese. Mix with a spatula to combine.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Pour the mixture into a lightly oiled 9 x 13 casserole dish, and top with the rest of the cheese. Mix the breadcrumbs and olive oil together in a small bowl until combined. Sprinkle evenly over the casserole. Bake for 35 minutes, or until browned and bubbly.

35 comments:

blogagog said...

Not as fun as watching a video, but it DOES sound tasty!

blogagog said...

Sorry to double post, but here's a great idea. Make a video of every recipe in your cookbook, and attach a dvd of the videos to every book. I'd buy one!

Alternately, you could put them online on a special website for purchasers of your book.

Unknown said...

Made this almost immediately after seeing the post. It really hits the spot!
Made no modifications except for maybe a touch more cheese.
Really, really good. Thank you!

Tony said...

I watched the first episode of madmen and thought it was intriguing albeit a little dull. Love the tuna casserole dish, will definitely make it once I actually buy a casserole dish le sigh.

Anonymous said...

I haven't made tuna casserole for years and this sounds really good. I'm going to make it tonight but it looks like the tuna cans are about 5 ounces now. I couldn't find a
7 ounce can anywhere. I guess they went the way of the corner drug store and the gas station where they cleaned your windshield and checked your oil. Hope the book does well Chef John! You've got a lot of followers these days and you do a great job! Thank you for all the great recipe videos.

Anonymous said...

Can I try this with can chicken instead of tuna? I don't care much for can tuna. I love this site!!!

Anonymous said...

No. You cannot use Chicken, as you will set the kitchen on fire if you use do so.

PukaDog said...

OK, I'm ready to attempt the Tuna Casserole and while I realize this is a dumb question for a chef, in the spirit of there's no such thing as a stupid question, does it make any difference at all if I use all-purpose or self-rising flour? We have self-rising in the pantry for whatever reason.

Chef John said...

it will thicken the sauce, BUT SR flour has baking powder in it, so I wouldn't use it for this as it may give it a weird taste.

Iffrit said...

*sigh*

/me is waiting for the delivery of his new kitchen... (approximately 4 weeks from now...)

*doublesigh*

rideandcook said...

Tuna noodle casserole is one of my faves, it's nice and cold here so I need to make it soon. I use shallots, and gorgonzola for the cheese. Been too busy with a new job to visit your site, it's good to be back.

PageRank Check said...

looks so delicious love to try it

Carina N said...

Thank you Chef John for such fabulous recipe! I tried this yesterday and it turned out so delicious.. Thank you for this <3

Unknown said...

Hi Chef John and thanks for this and other great recipes!

In many of your recipes you're using this Jack Cheese. Now, in UK it's hard to find. Sainsbury's Supermarket stock it, sometimes, but it's not easy to come by. I'd like to ask you what cheese would be the best substitute for it, in your opinion. I googled this and got some various opinions from "red cheddar" to "gouda" but I'd love to hear what you say.

Cheers and again, thanks for your great food ideas!

Chef John said...

yes, a mild gouda would do nicely! or even all cheddar.

Unknown said...

Mature cheddar seem to be a good substitute cheese, for this dish and for me anyway (I love tasty cheeses). I cooked it tonight and it was very delicious!

Anonymous said...

I am not a big fan of hot tuna recipes but this was great.I like to try different things and this was well worth it.

Johnny Scott-Georgia

Unknown said...

I made this dish tonight, made a couple of changes I used mixed vegetables instead of just peas and a can of cheddar cheese soup instead of cream of mushroom and I used 2 cans of chunk chicken instead of tuna......not fond of hot tuna....the good news is it was great!....the bad news is my kitchen burned to the ground!

My family loved it!

Anonymous said...

Oh boy. I just made a double batch of this to scale with the size of my mushroom soup can; going to be eating it for a WEEK! I'm in college, so I've had to compromise a lot of the ingredients (All cheddar, no peas, flavored breadcrumbs, used just plain ramen instead of "Egg noodles" since I figured they were close enough) Still good!

Thor said...

Simple and tasty. I used the broiler for the last few minutes to give it a nice crunch.

Anonymous said...

Where is the video tutorign, the bypass???... lol, at least I really need it

Axel14222 said...

I love this recipe too, Chef. Great comfort food. The only thing that I did differently was add a few more peas and some sliced pimento for color. I bet this would be good with chicken too and maybe some diced cooked carrots.

Thanks for another winner, Chef.

Anonymous said...

This was very good. Will definitely fix again!

axel14222 said...

It was just cool enough today to fire-up the oven and make this again. It's so much better than the tuna casserole I enjoyed as a kid. Today, I used whole wheat noodles (Ronzoni brand) and, to my surprise, it was just as good.

Freddie Rivera said...

Wheres the video? I am visual person, that is why I come here a lot, but will try this.

Chef John said...

Really? I've posted over 800 videos and you're complaining!

Olgalii. said...

i once made this, maybe a year and a half ago, and my boyfriend loved it - he doesn't eat much seafood. but this one is really a go-to! making it for lunch (i'll take some with me since i have to go to work in an hour), but this is such an easy, actually pretty quick dish... love it! thank you so much for all your recipes, my friends and family think i'm a really good cook, and you are a big part of the reason why! <3

Judy said...

I ordered your cookbook off Amazon a few days ago--I am seriously wanting it to arrive so bad! I love love love your site (as you may know by now since I have told you a few times lol) and wanted to do something supportive, so I bought it. I am excited right now, tho--because I want to see this recipe in the book! ;) <3 Ya Chef! Keep on being awesome!

bettaninja said...

http://foodwishes.blogspot.ca/2008/04/asparagus-and-chicken-noodle-casserole.html

The method is similar to the asparagus and chicken casserole which does have a video...

Michele Cryan said...

Lyndon, do you freeze it after it's baked? Or do you just put it all together and freeze "raw" and bake once after it thawed?

Btw, CJ no video? How is going to keep me company while I make this?

Michele Cryan said...

Lyndon, do you freeze it after it's baked? Or do you just put it all together and freeze "raw" and bake once after it thawed?

Btw, CJ no video? How is going to keep me company while I make this?

Unknown said...

This recipe is amazing. I made two small additions. I added about 1/4 of good sherry to the sauce and about 3/4 cup chopped fresh mushrooms.

Thanks for all the great recipes. I'm in love with the sloppy joes and the potato pancakes were awesome!

Jan Weiss said...

I'm having a Mad Men going away party tonight and needed a retro dinner. The description of this recipe included Mad Men so I know it's going to be great. I'm going to add fresh dill which really enhances tuna dishes.

Amy said...

I just made this, was great! I used italian breadcrumbs, only because it's what I had. I've never mixed breadcrumbs and olive oil before- great tip! Thanks!!

William Peloquin said...

Your the Betty Draper of this tuna caper... Had to do it. I could not think of any family suitable quip for Christina Hendricks.