Creamy Tuna Pasta Bake - tuna with pasta, peas and sweetcorn in a a lovely creamy, cheesy sauce. It's an easy meal that everyone loves - made with mostly store-cupboard ingredients!
There's something about a pasta bake that just seems to make everyone so happy. Possibly the promise of a luxuriously filling meal, topped with cheese and oozing with some kind of sauce 😍.
📋 What do we need?
This creamy tuna pasta bake is a store cupboard saviour. Pasta, sweetcorn, tuna fish - all make up the bulk of the meal. Frozen peas are a great addition too - but you can use canned or fresh if you like.
Apart from that, we're really just talking milk, cheese and a bit of butter from the fridge.
📺 Watch how to make it
Full recipe with detailed steps in the recipe card at the end of this post.
👩🍳PRO TIP Use albacore tuna if you can - it has a lovely creamy-meaty taste. If you haven't got it, don't worry, regular tuna works great too.
I would always suggest using tuna fish in oil (drain it before adding to the dish) as it has more flavour and a richer texture. However, you can use tuna in water or brine if you prefer.
🍽️ What to serve it with
- Parmesan Carrot Fries or Oven-Baked Potato Fries
- Homemade Garlic Bread
- A nice crisp salad
🍲 More fantastic Pasta Bakes
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Creamy Tuna Pasta Bake
Ingredients
- 400 g (14 oz) rigatoni pasta
- 3 tbsp butter
- 1 onion - peeled and chopped finely
- 40 g (⅓ cup) plain (all-purpose) flour
- 600 ml (2.5 cups) milk
- 250 g (2.5 packed cups) strong cheddar, grated
- ¼ tsp salt
- ¼ tsp pepper
- 320 g (11 oz) canned tuna (albacore tuna if possible) - drained and flaked
- 330 g (11.5 oz) canned sweetcorn - , drained
- 150 g (1 cup) frozen peas
- chopped parsley to serve
INSTRUCTIONS
- Heat oven to 180C/350f.
- Boil a large pan of water, add the pasta and cook for 10 minutes.
- Whilst the pasta is cooking, melt the butter in a saucepan, add in the onion and cook on low for 6-8 minutes until the onions are very soft.
- Turn up the heat to medium and stir in the flour. Cook for 1-2 minutes. Slowly add the milk, using a whisk to stir (just stir, don’t whisk) it in.
- Once all the milk is incorporated, continue to heat whilst stirring until the sauce thickens. Then stir in ⅔ of the cheese until melted. Season with the salt and pepper.
- Drain the pasta and pour into a 20x30cm baking dish. Pour over the white sauce, then add the tuna, sweetcorn and petit pois.
- Mix together, then sprinkle on the remaining cheese.
- Bake in the oven for 15-20 mins until the cheese is golden brown. Top with a sprinkling of parsley before serving.
Video
✎ Notes
Nutrition
This post was first published in Feb 2016. Updated in May 2021 with new photos, video and FAQs.
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Elisa says
Our favourite pasta bake. We used canned pink salmon instead of tuna as we prefer salmon.
Lotty Bowman says
Absolutely delicious!! Myself, hubby and our toddler hoovered it down. The creator’s family definitely have big appetites though, I followed the recipe to the letter and had enough for 12 portions!!
Jay says
Made this for my partner. Absolutely delicious. Easy to make and very creamy.