Quicker than Takeaway: Easy Tuna Pasta Recipe

Once upon a time, before parenthood and the move to one income, feeling completely unmotivated about cooking dinner would result in eating out or takeaway. Nowadays when those moments strike, we aren’t as quick to jump to either of these options.

What has been my saving grace on a number of such occasions is a quick and easy tuna pasta recipe which is actually an adaptation of a tuna casserole which my Mum and Dad used to make. I swear my adaptation is quicker than takeaway and can be made in little more than the time it takes the pasta to cook! I have included both versions, as I thought the original casserole might be of interest to those without quite the same aversion to cooking which I have 🙂

Easy Dinner Recipes: Tuna Pasta

Quick and Easy Tuna Noodles

3 cups of your favourite small pasta
125gm cheddar cheese, grated
60gm margarine
3T flour
1 3/4 cups water
2T soy sauce
425gm tinned tuna

1. Cook pasta until tender.
2. Melt butter in saucepan. Remove from heat, add flour, stir until smooth. Return to heat, cook 2 minutes, stirring constantly.
3. Remove from heat, add water gradually, return to heat, stir until thickens and boils.
4. Add soy sauce and 3/4 of the cheese. Stir until cheese melts.
5. Combine sauce, drained and flaked tuna and cooked pasta.
6. Serve with a sprinkle of cheese.

I like to make lots of the sauce and adjust the butter/flour/water measurements accordingly, and I often add extra soy sauce as I love the extra boost of flavour. I would suggest playing around with the quantities until you find the version which best suits your family.

The Original Family Tuna Casserole Recipe

1 1/2 cups small macaroni
1 small green pepper
125gm cheddar cheese
60gm margarine
3T flour
1 3/4 cups water
2T soy sauce
425gm tinned tuna

1. Cook macaroni until tender.
2. Seed and chop pepper, grate cheese, drain tuna.
3. Melt butter, add pepper and cook until tender, remove from heat, add flour, stir until smooth. Return to heat, cook 2 minutes, stirring constantly.
4. Remove from heat, add water gradually, return to heat, stir until thickens and boils.
4. Add soy sauce and 3/4 of the cheese. Stir until cheese melts.
5. Combine sauce, drained and flaked tuna and cooked pasta in a casserole dish. Sprinkle with reserved cheese.
6. Bake uncovered for 20 minutes in a moderate oven.

I would love to hear your suggestions for quicker than takeaway recipes which you fall back on on those nights when you just can’t bear to cook!

6 Comments

  1. Mine involved tuna too! Cheats Tuna Mornay:

    1 onion, diced and cooked in butter
    add in a tin of tuna, drained. Wizzle it around a bit then add in about a cup of frozen peas/corn. More wizzling.

    In a seperate pan, mix a small jar of Kraft cream cheese spread and some cream to a thick creamy consistency. Add it into the tuna mix. Add salt/pepper to taste.

    Cook up some pasta to go with it. The tuna mix serves 2 hungry adults and 2 hungry kids.

  2. Thanks for this recipe – I'm always on the lookout for quick and easy meals =)

  3. Anonymous says:

    Tuna makes life much easier in the kitchen.

    Only problem I have is that my partner doesn't eat it, but my 2 year old will and she always has.

    When she was smaller I used to mix cous cous, tinned tuna and creamed corn and she loved it.

    If I was cooking for myself my favourite is

    cooked pasta
    bottle of pasta sauce
    tinned tuna

    mix all together and then
    lots of grated cheese on top.

    yummy

  4. My fav. quick and easy dinner is home made pizza. My girls never want much more than ham and cheese on top. So a quick swipe of tomato sauce over the pizza base – or slice of bread if we are out of pizza bases. Shred up some ham a sprinkle some cheese on top. Stick it in the oven for a few minutes, ta-da pizza.

  5. Tacoes
    Fajitas
    Quesadillas

    (just follow instructions on the kits – v quick and easy, can even do the taco mince in slow cooker or cook and freeze so can do later

    I do the meat in 2 batches one milder for the children and then spicier for us

    The other fall back is chicken pasta (I guess a little like a carbonara?)

    Cook your pasta (penne or fettucine nice)
    Dice onion (either red or brown) finely and brown with some garlic in a non stick pan with little bit of oil, add thin slices or small cubes of chicken (about half a chicken breast per person) and brown, add diced bacon if you wish or fine slices of sun dried tomatoes, pour in some lite cream (small container? quantities depend on how many you are making for), season with salt and pepper, pinch/sprinkle of Vegeta or other powdered chicken stock if you wish, bit of basil or oregano or rosemary or parsley if you have and want to

    Serve over pasta with finely chopped parsley and freshly grated/shaved parmesan

    All takes about 10 mins (if you are a fast chopper upper-r and the kids are occupied – watching Dirt Girl episodes recorded earlier in the day or picking herb leaves off for you as you go etc)

Comments are closed.