While looking at the shelves in my kitchen that I use for a pantry, my eye was caught by the large stack of tuna cans.  “I’ll make a tuna casserole to use up some of that, ” I thought.  I’ve never had tuna casserole before…unless you count Tuna Helper.  I’ve certainly never made a tuna casserole before, so I consulted cookbooks and the internet for a recipe.  There’s certainly no shortage of Tuna Casserole recipes on the world wide web, but to be honest, none of them really got me excited.  Each one had the same structure and basically the same ingredients and I just was not wowed.

First of all, most of these recipes called for peas.  I hate peas.  They are too sweet and when they hit the back of my mouth, I start gagging just as I do when I try to eat sweet potatoes.  I just can’t stand that weird starchy sweetness.

Second, most of these recipes only contained a sparse sprinkling of cheese.  Umm, excuse me, I thought Tuna Casserole was supposed to be a cheesy dish!  Why are these recipes telling me to skimp?  Not me.  No way.  I decided it was time to play mad scientist of the casserole community (ok, not really but I like that title) and make up a casserole recipe of my own.  It wasn’t a terribly ambitious undertaking.  It’s Tuna Casserole for crying out loud.  My two-year old could do it with relative ease.

Cheesy Tuna Casserole

My Recipe

2 cans of albacore tuna in water

1 can of cream of mushroom soup (cream of chicken will also work)

2 cups frozen chopped broccoli

2 Tblsp. butter (NOT margarine, you need real butter)

1-1/4 cup milk

1 tsp. onion powder

1 tsp. garlic powder

salt and pepper to taste

6 slices American cheese

1-1/2 cups uncooked rice

Shredded cheese to top (about 1-1/2 cups)

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F.

Cook your rice.  You can use quick cooking or instant rice, but I use regular old rice that takes about 15 minutes to cook.  Because it’s cheaper and comes in bigger packages.  That’s not only economical, but keeps me from having to buy rice every time I go shopping.

In a large pot melt butter.  Add condensed soup and milk.   Stir to break up the soup.  Add salt, pepper, onion powder and garlic powder.  Add frozen broccoli and heat through.  Drain tuna and add.  Add American cheese one slice at a time.

Beware!  This smells really freaking good.

Now add your cooked rice and stir to combine.  Pour into a casserole dish.

Sprinkle shredded cheese over the top.  Be as sparse or as liberal as you like.  I like the top pretty much covered.

Place in your oven and bake for 15-20 minutes.

Mmmmm.  Melted cheeeeeese.   Mmmmmmm.

Trust me on the addition of the American cheese.  It adds a very mild “cheese” flavor, but more importantly it adds a rich creamy flavor.  It’s just something extra.

I used rice instead of egg noodles….mostly because I had rice and not egg noodles.  Boy am I glad that it worked out that way.  This whole casserole was super creamy and smooth and was just so palate pleasing.  It really was very good and tasted much more interesting to me than a lot of the recipes that I looked at seemed.

I don’t have a final product picture because, well, it’s a casserole!  It basically just plopped on the plates and sat on the plates in a very un-pretty lump (delicious, but not pretty).  I do, however, have this picture:

Because I’d rather look at that than an overly thought out presentation of culinary mastery any day.  Also, I suck at pretty plating and I thought a picture of my beautiful family would be better!

I hope you try this recipe.  It’s easy, quick, and very economical.  It’s also a classic dish that anybody would appreciate at a potluck dinner.  Have a friend who just had a baby?  Make this for them.  You’ll be the best friend they have for like a year!  Enjoy!

Related posts:

1. Chicken Enchilada Casserole
2. Red Beans and Rice

Here is a picture of the finished product and we’ll break it down from there:

On this platter is sliced watermelon, sliced Bartlett pears, sliced green apples, strawberries, sliced salami, toasted French bread, Roquefort (blue) cheese, Chevre (goat cheese), and a gorgeous French Brie.

When you are indulging in heavier tasting cheeses, it is important to accompany these cheeses with palate-cleansing fruits.  Grapes are usually the generic fruit for this, but I really prefer green apples and pears.  And there’s no better pairing in the food world than strawberries and Brie.  (Brie is one of my favorite cheeses to schmeer on some bread.  It’s like butter, but with some FUNK mixed in.  And people, FUNK is a good thing where cheese is concerned.)

I don’t like to put crackers on a gorgeous platter like this.  I just go to my local grocer and buy a loaf of French bread.  There’s more body to it and it stands up better to some of the strong cheeses.

Just slice the bread, drizzle with Extra Virgin Olive Oil, and toast in a 400 degree F. oven for 10 minutes.

I also really love the pairing of this platter with white wine spritzers.  I know most spritzers will be served with seltzer water or sparkling water, but I use lemon lime soda.  I buy a HUGE bottle of an inexpensive, fruity wine and a 2 litre bottle of lemon lime soda.  Just put ice in your glass and do half and half of the wine and soda.  It’s a light and sweet drink that goes great with the cheese and fruit.  Also, I buy the big bottle of wine because I will drink these babies until the bottle is empty.  They are spectacular.

Of course if you choose to make a fruit and cheese platter, I would expect that you use your favorite fruits and cheeses.  This is just my personal pick for favorites.  It’s a great dinner, brunch, picnic, cocktail party serving, appetizer, etc. meal.  Enjoy!

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