You either love it or hate it. Canned tuna that is. In my case I love it. When I was in college my mother would make a Tuna Noodle Casserole for me every time I came home. It was comfort food for me. It made me feel loved and at home. Some of you are probably thinking that I was probably starving and I would have loved anything that mother made for me, but that was not the case. We had great food in the college cafeteria and believe me I ate my share of it. We never had dessert growing up and I quickly learned after eating dessert after every meal in college that I had to give it up because I was too broke to buy new clothes!
This is not my mother’s recipe. It is better! It is also comfort food at our house. The Athlete has been known to eat a large portion of the casserole in one sitting ruining my menu planning for the week because of no leftovers.
I made it for my students on Tuesday and many of them after learning that I was preparing Tuna and Shells turned up their little noses and made remarks that no halfway decent cook wants to hear. But to their surprise with the exception of 2 students they loved it! So will you. It is easy, inexpensive and just plain comforting. This is another one of my favorites made with canned soup. This is just the way that I look at it. If Paula Dean can publish a cookbook that has been on the bestseller list with recipes using canned soup then by gosh I can blog about it!
So here is the recipe that I could not tell you where it came from. I thought that I got it from the box of Mueller’s pasta, but I searched their site and could not find it. If you love canned tuna you are definitely going to love this and even if you don’t love it and love macaroni and cheese it could become a favorite.
Tuna and Shells
- 1 Tablespoon Butter
- 1 small onion minced
- 1 can cream of mushroom soup
- 1 1/4 cups of milk
- 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
- 1/2 teaspoon prepared mustard
- 1/4 teaspoon pepper
- 2 cups (8 ounces) shredded Cheddar cheese
- 1 12 ounce can of Albacore Tuna packed in water drained
- 8 ounces small shells or 2 2/3 cups (cook 11 min.)
- 1 cup of crushed potato chips
Cook onion in butter about 3 minutes until soft. Stir in soup, milk, Worcestershire, mustard and pepper. Cook over medium heat stirring constantly until boiling. Remove from heat. Stir in cheese and add tuna. In a 2 quart dish combine sauce and shells. Sprinkle with chips. Bake at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes. Makes about 6 servings.
This is also great the next day, but the chips will not stay crispy. I always add a few more when reheating. I love potato chips!
Now here is what my angels cooked up today. Some good stuff!
1st Block Kitchen 1
1st Block Kitchen 2
1st Block Kitchen 4
- 2nd Block Kitchen 3
1st Block Kitchen 5
1st Block Kitchen 6
2nd Block Kitchen 1
2nd block Kitchen 2
2nd Block Kitchen 3
- 2nd Block Kitchen 4
2nd Block Kitchen 5
2nd Block Kitchen 6
The Teacher Cooks 
For the tuna noodle dish, how much pasta do you use? Am I overlooking the amount?? Thanks!
What amount of pasta, what kind? Is the pasta cooked before adding to the rest of the ingredients?
Just fixed it. Thanks for letting me know!
Just added it. Thanks.
I must confess, I dislike canned tuna. I just won’t eat it. And I don’t like tuna salad either. But…I do like tuna noodle casserole (don’t ask me why) and love the idea of using shells in it. It looks very tempting. Especially 2nd Block Kitchen 4!
I love canned tuna in simple tuna melts! I love all the photos of the student’s food – you seem like the best teacher!
I’ve never been a fan of canned tuna, but I must admit that looks really creamy and delicious. I will *think* about trying it 🙂
Tinned tuna?
EWWWW
I’m with your two students.
Otherwise that sounds tasty.
My super-secret-favorite-comfort food is baked tuna casserole. Yum. Hmmmmmm.
tuna casserole is an easy dish to make. i think it is best to have all ingredients prepared ahead of time so it doesn’t take as long to cook everything.
When you first mentioned that we were going to be cooking tuna casserole and described it, it didn’t sound too appetizing. I learned later (when I tried it) That it was delicious! I never would’ve thought to use crushed potato chips as a topping.
Okay, so I must admit, I absolutely despise tuna! When you mentioned this dish, I was like”heck no!” and I wasn’t too fond of the smell either, but when I tried it, the dish was absolutely delicious! (:
I didn’t know you could use potato chips as a topping!
I learned that anything that sounds not good can be very delicious
I didnt know that putting chips on something like tuna casserole would be good. but it was delicious:)!
ya….it was good 😀
I learned that you should not turn your nose up at something just because it doesn’t sound good.Also trying new things will surprise like this dish did for me, I really enjoyed it and helped myself to seconds:)
This was sooooo good!(: I love tuna and pasta so this is perfect! I learned that this dish is easier to make if you prepare some ingredients ahead of time and that potato chips can be used as a topping!
I learned that you need to cook the ingredients a head of time so that it won’t take that long to cook.
i learned that pre-cooking your sauce will provide you with enough time to cook everthing else and to slowly continue cooking at a low temperature.
i thought this was going to be sooo gross but i turned out enjoying it . i learned how to make something easy simple and enjoyable.
I was not to excited about cooking this at first, but it turned out to be really good! I learned that its easier to prepare some ingrdients ahead of time if you know your going to be short on time.
I learned that tuna asserole doesn’t just consist of tuna and noodles, but that you can put much more into it.
this tasted delicious! and were easy to make.
i thought that i honestly would not like this dish … but it turned out to be better than i expected!!! 🙂
I learned that you can crush chips and use that as a topping on a baked dish. Yummy. 😀
i thought it would taste bad because the smell was so strong but it turned out to be really good
I learned that anything can be a topping as long as the taste is delicious.
I learned that you should try new things.
I learned that you can use potato chips for toppings and I normally don’t eat those kinds of chips, but it wasn’t bad.
i learned new toppings for a casserole thats really interesting.
love the salty crisp taste of the potatoe chips they added a little bit of umph
im really not a big tuna fan, but from looking at these pictures i would give these tuna shells a shot
I learned that you can add different toppings too add a unique texture and flavor.
i learned how to make this and it change me to liking tuna now cause i didn’t like tuna at all but its a reallyy good dish to make if you just at home by yourself and have nothing else to do
Canned tuna…….is spot on……….. i never……would…. have. thought. of…putting shells and. chips….together.
i learned that you can use chips as a topping.
i didnt know you could but lays potatioe chips on a tuna caserol .. But now i know it gives it a crunchy taste .:)
i was sad that i missed out. i’m sure it was great. from reading this i have learned that you can use chips to top a casserole.
boy, the green garnish really pops out at ya, doesn’t it! what an easy and appetizing dish. 🙂
i cannot stand tuna & i am a VERY picky eater but this just tasted like mac&cheese to me. (:
i learned that tuna and shells taste great together. i wonder, if you wanted could you add cheese on top inside of chips?
I learned that cooking the onion in the butter first makes the onion barely noticable and it barely has aflavor in the dish!
kitchen 1 1st peroid
it looks very intesting i got to try it