Stovetop Tuna Casserole

 

While we do have the luxury of time these days at home, we don't necessarily have the ability to run out and buy special ingredients for a meal at the drop of a hat. For that reason, we decided to use what we already had in our pantry to make one of our all-time favorites, stovetop tuna casserole! And as a bonus, we found a way to achieve the same level of crunch and flavor stovetop as in the oven...and all under 28 minutes!

Use those pantry's staples!

If there were ever a time when you needed to be creative with what you already have in the house, it’s now! Maybe your store is out of everything or maybe you don’t want to risk your health going to the store. Whatever the case may be, we want to help you with some simple recipes using pantry staples. We consider pantry staples to be, for example, canned goods, shelf stable veggies (potatoes, onion, garlic, carrots, etc.), soups and stocks, oils, spices, spreads, crackers, etc. But we know that everyone’s different and may have different essentials in the pantry.

For this meal, we used the following key pantry items: canned tuna, pasta, cream of mushroom soup, chicken broth, and Panko bread crumbs. We threw in some butter, seasoning, and frozen veggies. And voila, we had everything we needed for this delicious dish.

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A Stovetop casserole, who knew?

Typically, I've made tuna casserole in the oven. With the oven, I'm guaranteed to have a crisp and bubbly final product. This time, however, we made our own crunchy topping for our casserole, on the stove, and achieved a pretty similar effect! Here's how we did it:

Step 1: 

We browned some Panko bread crumbs in butter and set them aside.

Step 2: 

Then we brought our broth and cream of mushroom soup to a boil and cooked our noodles and veggies.

Step 3: 

Finally, we seasoned our pasta, stirred in the tuna, and topped with our crispy bread crumbs!

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hold on to those tuna cans

We love reusing our cooking supplies for crafting! So, while making our Stovetop Tuna Casserole, we repurposed our tuna cans to make these adorable Spring Bunny Candy Dishes! If you wanna give it a try, just make sure to wash out those cans really well before crafting!

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have a family cooking session

The longer we hunker down at home, the more it seems like a perfect time to invite kids to help out in the kitchen (assuming everyone is healthy and properly washing their hands!). Not only will cooking together help pass the time, but cooking with your kids has some real educational benefits. For example, cooking with kids can boost self-esteem and foster healthy eating habits.

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Final Tips To ensure smooth sailing!

Mimi's Tips 🍅 Add more chicken broth if your pasta seems too dry, but remember, the pasta will soak up some of the excess liquid as it cooks. 🍅 Strapped for time? Cover your liquid with a lid to bring it to a boil faster.

Our Kidify Tips... 🍅Kids pick the pasta! We used whole wheat penne, but almost any pasta will work fine in this dish! Let kids choose their favorite. 🍅Kids choose the frozen veggies! Broccoli, peas, green beans...kids can choose the veggies they like best. 🍅Add a side dish! Garlic bread, a side salad or toast would be a great addition to this meal.

 

What Can Kids do While Grown-ups Cook?

 

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Craft for this Recipe:

Spring Bunny Candy Dishes! Your kids can make this Spring Bunny Candy Dishes Craft while you prepare our Stovetop Tuna Casserole. Lately we need to celebrate the little things. Like, Springtime! To get in the spirit, check out this adorable, tin can bunny craft. You can also turn your old tuna cans into little squirrels in the fall or other animals for the different seasons!

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Other Pasta Dishes you might like

🍅 Mac and Cheese Casserole with Ham and Broccoli

🍅 One Pot Easy Pea-sy Cheese Tortellini

🍅 Three Cheese Pasta with Lemon, Tomatoes & Asparagus 

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