Simple pantry ingredients and a perfect balance of flavors come together to make this easy gluten free tuna casserole. Tender slurpy noodles punched up with melted cheese and crispy crumb topping will have you diving in with your fork again and again.
You Should Make this Easy Weeknight Meal. Period.
If you're looking for a completely easy dinner recipe that the whole family will love, you have landed on the right post. Stop the scroll - this classic tuna noodle casserole is IT, baby!
Nobody is going to believe you when you tell them this comforting dish is gluten free. It's full of the same amazing flavor as a classic tuna casserole, but this one is special. It has a rich, creamy and mild sauce - the tuna flavor is really toned down by the cream of chicken soup. It's creamy, saucy, rich and wonderful.
Ingredients 🥘
- Gluten-free egg noodles or other gluten free pasta
- 2 cans of tuna - I prefer water packed for this recipe
- Gluten free cream of chicken soup ( cream of mushroom is also good in a pinch)
- Plain, nonfat Greek yogurt - this replaces half of the mayonnaise for a healthier tuna noodle casserole
- Mayonnaise - it has to be mayonnaise. Just accept it and enjoy every bite.
- Prepared yellow mustard
- Frozen peas and carrots - my casserole go-to and a great time saver! I also use this in my shepherd's pie recipe
- Cheddar cheese - pre-shredded, or grate your own
- Salt and pepper, to taste. Tasting is the best part of making tuna casserole 🙂
- Gluten-free breadcrumbs (or check out the Casserole Toppings below)
Gluten Free Cream Soup 🥫
There are 3 brands of cream soup that I love for this recipe:
- Walmart's Great Value gluten free cream of chicken (or cream of mushroom)
- Campbell's gluten free cream of chicken (also comes in cream of mushroom)
- Pacific Foods gluten free cream of chicken or cream of mushrooms soups.
Which cream soup is best for your recipe? Take a look at "Best Gluten Free Cream of Chicken/Mushrooms Soup Brands" where we taste test the 3 soups and rate them on taste, texture, and how well they do in a recipe.
I'm sure you could use homemade cream soup in this recipe, but it does need to be in its concentrated, thick state. I haven't used homemade cream soup (so far). I think it's because being gluten free, I have to make SO many things from scratch already! When I can get some canned soup to save me some time I go for that instead 🙂
Gluten-Free Noodles
There are many brands of gluten free pasta that you can use in this recipe. Just check the box to make sure there will be enough for this recipe (you need 12 oz.). I used Trader Joe's gluten free tagliatelle pasta in most of the pictures, and Jovial brown rice pasta (bow ties) in the step by step images. You can use many different pasta shapes in this recipe - macaroni, bow tie, fusilli - even spaghetti if that's what you have.
I have used both brown rice pasta and corn and rice pasta in this recipe and they have both been delicious. I'll put links to some gluten free tagliatelle and bow tie pastas that you could get from Amazon below, but you can probably find some delicious gluten-free pasta at your local grocery store.
Casserole-Tested Gluten Free Pastas
- Jovial brown rice tagliatelle
- Trader Joe's corn and rice tagliatelle
- Jovial brown rice farfalle (bow tie pasta)
- this one looks amazing, and you can't beat the price (at the time of writing this post)
How to Make Gluten Free Tuna Noodle Casserole
You can make this recipe from start to finish in well under an hour - perfect for a busy weeknight when you're craving some classic comfort food. Look over these steps and make this for dinner tonight! Read the recipe card below for all the details.
Step 1. Boil the pasta according to the package directions.
Step 2. Combine soup, yogurt, mayo, mustard, and salt and pepper.
Step 3. Close to the end of the boiling time, add the frozen peas and carrots. Bring back to a boil and then drain.
Step 4. In a buttered baking dish combine pasta mixture and tuna mixture.
Step 5. Top with shredded cheese and crispy breadcrumb topping.
Step 6. Cover with foil and bake. See recipe card for baking time, etc.
Casserole Topping Considerations
- Gluten Free Crispy Breadcrumb Topping - so delicious it has its own recipe. This is the golden, crowning glory to so many dishes - I think you'll love it!
- Crushed potato chips - my husband's childhood favorite.
- Toasted gluten free panko breadcrumbs - I recommend tossing with a little melted butter before topping the tuna casserole.
- Toasted almond flour - crunchy and crusty! It adds some nutrients and cuts down on the carbs (a little).
Gluten Free Baking for Beginners
Let's say you've tried the easy tuna casserole recipe, your family loved it, and now you want to know what else you can make that's gluten free. I've got you - sign up for my FREE little PDF, Gluten Free Baking for Beginners. It will cover just the basics of what you need to know to get started baking some very simple traditional recipes - biscuits, cornbread, and flatbread (which makes an excellent and super fast pizza crust). Plus some more info in there to help you along the way - just go get it and see what I mean! Click on the image below to go to the sign up page:
Quick and Easy Gluten Free Tuna Noodle Casserole
Simple pantry ingredients and a perfect balance of flavors come together to make this easy gluten free tuna casserole. Tender slurpy noodles punched up with melted cheese and crispy crumb topping will have you diving in with your fork again and again.
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 25 minutes
- Total Time: 40 minutes
- Yield: 6 servings 1x
- Category: dinner
- Method: bake
- Diet: Gluten Free
Ingredients
- 12 oz. gluten free noodles or other pasta shapes
- 2 cans of water-packed tuna, 5 oz. each
- 1 can of gluten free cream of chicken soup, 10.5 oz.
- ¾ cup plain, nonfat Greek yogurt
- ¾ cup mayonnaise
- 1 teaspoon prepared yellow mustard
- 1 cup frozen peas and carrots
- ½ - ¾ cup shredded cheddar cheese,
- salt and pepper, to taste
- gluten free crispy breadcrumb topping
Instructions
- In a large saucepan, bring water to a boil. Add the pasta and boil according to package directions, about 7-10 minutes.
- In a medium sized bowl add the soup, tuna, yogurt, mayo, and mustard. Stir to combine. Add salt and pepper to taste.
- Close to the end of the pasta boiling time, add the frozen peas and carrots to the water. Bring back to a boil and then drain the pasta, peas, and carrots.The peas and carrots will continue to cook in the oven.
- In a buttered baking dish, stir together the pasta mixture and the tuna mixture.
- Top with shredded cheese and toasted breadcrumbs (or other topping of choice)
- Cover with foil and bake at 350℉ for 20 minutes. Then remove foil and bake a little longer until cheese bubbles, about 5 minutes.
Notes
Cream of chicken soup is my first choice for this recipe, but cream of mushroom soup can also be used.
This recipe can easily be made with regular (wheat) pasta and cream soup.
What to Eat with Tuna Casserole
Recipe creator: Kristie Winget, mother of four, grandmother of three. Gluten free cook for over 20 years.