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Creamy Tuna Pasta Bake

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Creamy Tuna Pasta Bake – a classic meal that everyone loves – made with mostly store-cupboard ingredients!Side shot of a Creamy Tuna Pasta Bake in a glass dish on a blue and white striped cloth with plates and forks in the background

There’s something about a pasta bake that just seems to make everyone so happy. Possibly the implied promise of a luxuriously filling meal, topped with cheese and oozing with some kind of sauce.

Let’s take a closer look at a couple of scenarios:

Scenario 1

My kids:
‘What’re we having for dinner mummy?’
Me:
‘Baked cod’ / ‘ceasar salad’ / ‘parmesan & asparagus risotto’
Kids:
‘Blurgh! do we get pudding if we eat it?’

Scenario 2

Kids:
‘What’re we having for dinner mummy?’
Me:
‘Creamy Tuna pasta bake’ / ‘Chicken pasta bake’ / ‘Tomato and bacon pasta bake’
Kids:
‘Yesssss!’ (with added fist pump)

No requests for pudding as a reward for eating it. Dinner is a reward in itself. They’ll even eat the salad that goes with it – no cajoling necessary.

Overhead shot of a Creamy Tuna Pasta Bake in a glass dish on a red and white striped cloth with plates and forks in the background

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.

Close up shot of a Creamy Tuna Pasta Bake in a glass dish on a red and white striped cloth

I serve it with a big plate of salad leaves (usually romaine and pea shoots or spinach) to add some fresh crunchiness.

If you can get hold of albacore tuna, it’s definitely worth paying a bit more for it. We don’t see it very much in the UK (in fact I’d never had it until we went to the US a couple of years ago and I had the best tuna-cheese toasty I’ve ever experienced!). If you’re in the UK, they sell it in tins in Sainsburys.

Don’t worry if you can’t get hold of it though, any regular good-quality tinned tuna will do.

If Creamy Tuna Pasta Bake is not your thing and you are after some other one pot or pasta bakes why not try one of these;

Big Batch Beef Ragu with pasta

Or

Cheesy Pasta Bake with Chicken and Bacon

The Creamy Tuna Pasta Bake Recipe:

Creamy Tuna Pasta Bake

Creamy Tuna Pasta Bake - a classic meal that everyone loves - made with mostly store-cupboard ingredients!
5 from 11 votes
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Prep Time: 10 mins
Cook Time: 45 mins
Total Time: 55 mins
Course: Dinner
Cuisine: British, Italian
Keyword: Any Time Of the year, Family Meal, homemade
Servings: 6 servings
Author: Nicky Corbishley

Ingredients

  • 400 g rigatoni pasta
  • 3 tbsp butter
  • 1 onion peeled and chopped finely
  • 50 g plain/all purpose flour
  • 600 ml milk
  • 250 g strong cheddar, grated
  • Salt and pepper
  • 320 g canned tuna (albacore tuna if possible) drained and flaked
  • 330 g canned sweetcorn drained
  • 150 g frozen petit pois
  • large handful chopped parsley
UK (metric) - **Convert to US Measures**

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 2/3 of the cheese until melted. Season with black pepper and a little salt if required (the cheese is quite salty though).
  • Drain the pasta and pour into a 20x30cm baking dish. Pour over the white sauce, then add the tuna, sweetcorn, petit pois and all but 1 tbsp of parsley. Mix together, then sprinkle on the remaining cheese.
  • Bake in the oven for 15-20 mins until the cheese is golden brown. Top with the reserved parsley before serving.

Recipe Notes

Nutrition info is for one serving of this recipe.

Nutritional Information

Nutrition Facts
Creamy Tuna Pasta Bake
Amount Per Serving
Calories 690 Calories from Fat 252
% Daily Value*
Fat 28g43%
Saturated Fat 15g75%
Cholesterol 78mg26%
Sodium 547mg23%
Potassium 528mg15%
Carbohydrates 66g22%
Fiber 3g12%
Sugar 9g10%
Protein 40g80%
Vitamin A 990IU20%
Vitamin C 11.4mg14%
Calcium 447mg45%
Iron 2.7mg15%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.
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Equipment:

In order to make this Creamy Tuna Pasta Bake you will need:

Reader Interactions

Comments

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    • Chris Corbishley says

      September 18, 2018 at 9:52 am

      Thanks Kylie,

      Creamed corn is not something we have cooked with really so cant advise too much. You could give it a try but remember with creamed corn you are adding more liquid so you might need to adjust the amount of milk to ensure the pasta bake isn’t ‘sloppy’.

      If you give it a go please let us know how you get on.

      Thanks

      Chris & Nicky

      Reply

  2. Donpa'le says

    April 2, 2018 at 11:23 am

    Tried this one tonight. I am not a big fish eater but being Easter thought l would give it a go..
    Substituted the corn with celery and carrots.
    Included a packet of french onion soup mix into the cheese sauce. Sprinkled some breadcrumbs over the top before baking..
    It was totally demolished. 2nds for everybody including me…

    Reply

  3. lorraine carruthers says

    March 6, 2018 at 11:36 pm

    love this dish…i double the quantities for my hungry crew.. i use 4 tins of tuna extra cheese in the sauce including a good handful of parmesan no peas or corn some dried breadcrumbs on top and small diced bacon pieces for crunch i serve with garden salad with just a small amount of dressing and homemade garlic bread….just the best meal i love it

    Reply

  4. Kathryn Clayton says

    February 19, 2018 at 7:24 pm

    Love pasta bakes, so easy to make them gluten free and no one seems to notice the pasta has been replaced for GF Pasta.

    Reply

    • Nicky Corbishley says

      September 9, 2017 at 10:52 am

      That’s so lovely Tatjana, I’m so glad you and your family like it. I’ve not made it for a while, I must make it again soon!!

      Reply

  6. Geraldine Pellekooren says

    August 8, 2017 at 6:00 am

    tuna bake was one of the few things that my mother excelled in (dad was a picky eater!) but she put a layer of cornflakes on top with some butter curls and then in the oven for a crispy top, it was delish, i still make it for my kids (all grown up now) would love to hear if you try it 🙂

    Reply

  9. pattysaurrus says

    December 15, 2016 at 8:02 am

    It’s in the oven right now ! This was the easiest pasta bake I have ever made, and the least amount of cleaning up 😀 I’m loving the smell that emanating from the oven. Man I hope i did good. First time, wish me luck 😀 Thanks for this recipe Nicky. Greetings from Australia <3

    Reply

  10. Fiona. says

    September 26, 2016 at 4:17 pm

    I would like to thank you so much for this recipe,Nicky! Originally from Scotland, we moved to the Middle East about 15 years ago. Iused to shop at ASDA, and I often prepared a funa pasta bake recipe which was on the back of the penne pasta pack. I lost the recipe ages ago and have tried to recreate it from memory. Your pasta bake is almost exactly the same. Stumbled upon your blog and I am so glad I did.
    Thank you so much,
    Fiona.

    Reply

    • Nicky Corbishley says

      June 27, 2016 at 5:51 am

      Arghhh sorry for the late reply Diane. The leftovers can be cooled, covered and frozen for this. The defrosted version will be a little drier, as the pasta will absorb more of the sauce, so if you know you’re going to freeze some next time, I think it’s worth making a little extra sauce too.

      Reply

    • Nicky Corbishley says

      March 19, 2016 at 1:08 pm

      Thanks Charlie 🙂 I tend to make bolognese type bakes more often, but this one’s definitely a winner!

      Reply