Easy Tuna Pasta Bake (Creamy, Cheesy & So Good)

I love a good pasta bake recipe, don’t you?

Everyone has their take on what makes a great tuna bake. For me, it’s the creamy bechamel sauce combination of cheddar cheese, corn, and tuna. I just LOVE it. For me, this is the perfect Sunday night dinner. I have this rule in our house that all jobs need to be finished by 3 pm on Sunday. After that is my me time. A time for everyone to rest, whether that be a long bath or a movie, popcorn, and be ready for the new school week. So, Sunday dinners are usually prepped earlier in the day, for a quick finish at dinner time. Plus, there’s always leftovers, so Monday night is sorted too!

What you need to make this creamy tuna pasta bake recipe

• Pantry staples- all-purpose flour, extra virgin olive oil, sea salt flakes, and black pepper
  
  
  
• Dairy – butter, full cream milk, vintage cheddar cheese, and Reggiano Parmesan cheese.
  
  
  
• Canned Tuna in spring water
  
  
  
• Sweet corn kernels
  
  
  
• Vegetables – Brown onion, garlic, carrot, frozen peas
  
  
  
• Bread crumbs. Either homemade (what I use) or store-bought is fine. If you are using store-bought, look for panko breadcrumbs. They are lighter and stay crispier than regular breadcrumbs, which will give a delicious, crunchy texture topping to your cheesy tuna pasta bake.
  
  
  
• Pasta. I use Rigatoni pasta for Tuna Mornay. Many people use penne pasta; however, I find that penne is too small for the chunky vegetables and sauce of the Tuna Mornay to get inside the cooked pasta. Whereas rigatoni is a little bit bigger, allowing more Mornay sauce to get inside to fully coat the pasta.

The nitty gritty

1. In a cast-iron enamel Dutch oven, add one tablespoon of oil to the pot along with the diced onion and carrots. Sauté on low heat until the onions are translucent. Add the crushed garlic cloves and stir for one minute until fragrant. Transfer to a prep dish and set aside.
   
   
2. Preheat the oven to 180°C/356°F.
   
   
3. Cook the pasta according to package instructions, drain, and set aside.
   
   
4. To make the bechamel sauce (creamy white sauce). In the Dutch oven, melt the butter on low heat. Add the flour to the melted butter and stir to combine into a paste. Cook, stirring continuously, on low heat for 5 minutes.  This is needed to cook out the flour.
   
   
5. Add 1 cup of milk, continually stirring to allow the milk to incorporate into the flour mixture (or roux). At this stage, change from using your wooden spoon to a whisk. It will make it much easier to get a smooth, creamy sauce. Gradually add the remaining milk a little at a time, stirring continuously until the mixture resembles a thick, creamy sauce. A bechamel sauce can take a lot of liquid, so don’t be afraid if it looks really runny. Cooking the sauce will cause the sauce will thicken. If it thickens too much, just add more liquid.
   
   
6. Strain the tuna, keeping the liquid. Using the tuna liquid, continue to cook the sauce, adding it in the same way as the milk. The sauce should coat the back of a spoon but not be too thick. It will continue cooking/thickening while in the oven, so I like to start with a thin sauce.
   
   
7. Strain the corn kernels, keeping 2 tbsp of the liquid for the mornay sauce.
   
   
8. Add the cheese and stir through to let it melt in.
   
   
9. Add the onion, garlic, and carrot mixture as well as the drained tuna, frozen peas, corn, reserved corn juice, and cooked, drained pasta. Stir and combine thoroughly. Either continue to bake the tuna bake in your Dutch oven or transfer the mixture to a large oven-proof baking dish.
   
   
10. For the topping… In a small bowl, combine breadcrumbs and remaining parmesan and grated cheddar cheese. Give a quick mix to combine.
    
    
    
11. Top the pasta mixture with the topping crumb and bake in the oven for 30 minutes or until golden and bubbly.

Make your own breadcrumbs with yesterday’s bread.

Just pop some torn-up bread into a food processor with a multipurpose blade and pulse until the bread becomes breadcrumbs. You can also do this in a blender.

Why I love cooking this tuna bake in a Dutch oven

If you’ve got an enamel cast-iron Dutch oven, this is exactly the kind of recipe it shines in. You can make the sauce, stir everything together, and bake it all in the same pot — which means less washing up (always a win with me!).

But more than that, cast iron holds heat beautifully and frankly just makes me a better cook. The sauce cooks evenly, the pasta doesn’t dry out, and the top gets that golden, bubbling finish without overcooking the middle.

Equipment you’ll need for this classic tuna bake recipe.

A large pot of water to cook the rigatoni pasta, as well as a large saucepan or stovetop casserole dish. You will also need a cook’s knife, a chopping board, a whisk, and a wooden spoon.

I primarily cook in cast-iron cookware, so for this recipe, the bechamel sauce was made in a 24cm Le Creuset enamel cast-iron casserole. If, like me, you cook in enamel cast iron, you can also bake the tuna casserole in the same dish. Most days, I’ll just bake it straight in the same Dutch oven I made the sauce in for less hassle. A 30cm shallow casserole will also work. However, if I’m serving a crowd, I’ll transfer it to a baking dish to make it easier to portion.

How do I store any leftovers?

If you baked this tuna mornay recipe in an oven-proof, ceramic dish, you could leave the leftovers in it, then just cover it with either plastic wrap or a silicon lid. Alternatively, you can also transfer the leftovers to an airtight container. Always be sure to leave any leftovers to cool completely before transferring them to the fridge. Tuna bake casserole will keep in the fridge for up to 3 days.

To reheat, cover and warm in the oven so it doesn’t dry out, or microwave in portions in a microwave-safe container.

FAQ’s

Here are a few more comfort food classics for you…

• Slow-cooked beef stroganoff
• Pasta Boscaiola
• Chicken and chorizo risotto
• Mexican pulled beef
• Herbs de Provence roast chicken

Do you have a favourite comfort food dish? Let me know in the comments

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