This healthy tuna pasta bake is a quick and easy dinner, perfect for busy weeknights!
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Pasta bake, or pasta casserole, is a fantastic dish where pasta and other ingredients are covered with a sauce, topped with cheese and baked in the oven. The result is a dish with a lovely texture and fantastic flavors.
In this recipe we combine pasta with tuna. Tuna and pasta go great together (I've even combined them before in my Tuna Pasta Salad), and since this recipe uses mainly shelf stable pantry ingredients, chances are you already have everything you need to make it.
This dish is perfect for quick and easy weeknight dinners, and since the leftovers keep well for a few days, it's also great for preparing several meals ahead of time.
Ingredients
You will only need a handful of ingredients to make this dish. Here is what you need:
Tuna: Canned tuna in water is my favorite, but any unflavored canned tuna works well. Tuna is such a great staple, and I recommend keeping a can around for quick and easy, simple meals
Pasta: I prefer to use short types of pasta, such as fusilli or penne, as opposed to longer types of pasta like spaghetti. As the pasta must be cooked before the dish is assembled, you can also use leftover pasta from yesterday's dinner! Use gluten free pasta if you want to make the dish gluten free.
Cheese: Use your favorite shredded cheese. We tend to use cheddar or mozzarella, but any shredded cheese can work. You can also easily make the dish dairy free by using a dairy free cheese alternative.
Scallions: Also known as green onions or spring onions, these give the dish a little extra flavor. They can be omitted or substituted with leek or onions if you prefer.
Canned diced tomatoes: These form the base of the pasta sauce. I always keep plenty of these cans in my pantry, and I use them several times a week. You can also use tomato sauce or even store bought pasta sauce instead.
Instructions
Pre-heat your oven to 400 °F / 200 °C / 180 °C fan oven.
Boil pasta in water on the stove top following the instructions on the package. Drain off any excess water, and transfer the cooked pasta to a square 9-inch casserole dish.
Add the seasoning, drained tuna, canned diced tomatoes and chopped scallions to the casserole dish, and stir to combine the ingredients thoroughly.
Lastly, cover the top of the dish with shredded cheese, and place it in the oven. Bake for 20-30 minutes, or until the cheese on top is melted and slightly golden.
Remove the tuna pasta bake from the oven, and leave it to rest for 10 minutes before serving it with your favorite side dishes.
Top tips
Here is my best advice to succeed with this recipe:
- Cook the pasta al dente before adding it to your casserole dish. If you add it to the oven raw, it will unfortunately not cook through, and will remain solid.
- Make sure to drain the tuna thoroughly, and the same with the cooked pasta. If not, the pasta bake could be very watery.
Serving suggestions
Here are some side dishes you can pair with the healthy tuna pasta bake:
- Roasted Broccoli and Carrots - You can't go wrong with traditional roasted veg.
- Oven roasted green beans - Green beans go with anything, and this is the best way to prepare them.
- Air Fryer Mushrooms - Air fried mushrooms are really simple, but tasty.
- Mediterranean Roast Vegetables - Roasted vegetables are always a good side, and the flavors in this recipe pair incredibly well with the tuna pasta.
- Healthy Spaghetti Sauce - Replace the canned tomatoes with this simple but delicious homemade sauce instead.
Variations
Added vegetables: You can add parboiled or raw vegetables to the dish if you want. Broccoli, corn, peppers, riced cauliflower and green beans are particularly great options which taste great paired with tuna.
Using canned salmon: You can replace the canned tuna with canned salmon or any other fish that you like.
Leftovers
You can store leftover tuna pasta bake in a sealed container in a refrigerator for up to 4 days, or in a freezer for up to 6 months. Defrost and reheat, and serve the leftovers warm.
This dish is a great alternative for meal prep or make ahead meals, as you can prepare a large quantity and store it in portion sizes for quick and easy future lunches or dinners.
Frequently asked questions
Some pasta bake recipes call for dry pasta to be used. In this case, a large amount of liquid must also be added, so that the pasta can cook through in the oven. In this recipe you must cook the pasta first, before you assemble the pasta bake.
You can use fresh tuna fillets if you like, but I recommend cooking these before assembling the pasta bake. Please note that the texture and flavor of the dish will be quite different.
You might also like these recipes
- Chicken and Bacon Pasta Bake
- Buffalo Chicken Pasta Bake
- Eggplant and Mozzarella Pasta Bake
- Minced beef pasta bake
- Chicken Curry Pasta
- Arrabbiata Spaghetti
Recipe
Healthy Tuna Pasta Bake
Ingredients
- 2 cups dry fusilli (200 g / 7 oz)
- 2 (12 oz) cans of tuna (1 cups / 250 g / 9 oz drained)
- ¾ cup shredded cheese (90 g / 3 oz)
- 1 (14 oz) can of diced tomatoes (400g)
- 1 scallion (spring onion)
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon pepper
Instructions
- Pre-heat your oven to 400 °F / 200 °C / 180 °C fan oven.
- Boil pasta in water on the stove top following the instructions on the package. Drain off any excess water, and transfer the cooked pasta to a square 9-inch casserole dish.
- Add the seasoning, drained tuna, canned diced tomatoes and chopped scallions to the casserole dish, and stir to combine the ingredients thoroughly.
- Lastly, cover the top of the dish with shredded cheese, and place it in the oven. Bake for 20-30 minutes, or until the cheese on top is melted and slightly golden.
- Remove the tuna pasta bake from the oven, and leave it to rest for 10 minutes before serving it with your favorite side dishes.
Video
Notes
- Cook the pasta al dente before adding it to your casserole dish. If you add it to the oven raw, it will unfortunately not cook through, and will remain solid.
- Make sure to drain the tuna thoroughly, and the same with the cooked pasta. If not, the pasta bake could be very watery.
- You can store leftover tuna pasta bake in a sealed container in a refrigerator for up to 4 days, or in a freezer for up to 6 months.
Mandy
Hi I have just made your tuna bake which went down really well with my lot! Could I ask how you got it to be 178 Calories per serving? We are on a calorie deficit diet and working it out it’s coming out as double that?
Tonje
Hi Mandy! Thank you for your lovely comment. I use a program called Spoonacular to automatically calculate the nutritional value of my recipes. I double-checked the pasta bake, and you're absolutely right that there was an error. I have updated the recipe, and it turns out that there are 268 calories per serving. Please note that this is approximate, as it depends on which type of cheese you use etc. I'm very sorry about that, thank you for pointing it out to me!