Crock Pot Tuna Casserole

By
Diana Rattray
Diana Rattray
Diana Rattray
Southern-cuisine expert and cookbook author Diana Rattray has created more than 5,000 recipes and articles in her 20 years as a food writer.
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Updated on 09/8/21
Crock Pot Tuna Casserole

The Spruce / Diana Chistruga
Prep: 15 mins
Cook: 4 hrs
Total: 4 hrs 15 mins
Servings: 4 to 6 servings
Nutrition Facts (per serving)
282 Calories
7g Fat
25g Carbs
28g Protein
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Nutrition Facts
Servings: 4 to 6
Amount per serving
Calories 282
% Daily Value*
Total Fat 7g 9%
Saturated Fat 3g 15%
Cholesterol 55mg 18%
Sodium 368mg 16%
Total Carbohydrate 25g 9%
Dietary Fiber 3g 12%
Total Sugars 5g
Protein 28g
Vitamin C 7mg 34%
Calcium 122mg 9%
Iron 2mg 13%
Potassium 633mg 13%
*The % Daily Value (DV) tells you how much a nutrient in a food serving contributes to a daily diet. 2,000 calories a day is used for general nutrition advice.
(Nutrition information is calculated using an ingredient database and should be considered an estimate.)

Tuna casserole is a classic comfort food dish. It's also an excellent way to feed a family when you're on a budget. This dinner excels at making use of pantry items you can stock up on in bulk at the superstore, or buy when they go on sale at the supermarket. The best part is that it's a fairly hands-off process, thanks to the use of the slow cooker.

For this recipe, grab canned tuna and cream of celery soup from your pantry and frozen peas from your freezer. You'll need to cook the egg noodles separately before you add them to the slow cooker toward the end of the cooking process. The noodles will retain their texture best if they're cooked separately from the casserole.

This tuna casserole is easy to throw together and offers lots of variation with substitutes you might have in the pantry. Consider a cream of mushroom soup, for example, along with dried thyme, or a mix of frozen peas, carrots, and broccoli instead of just peas.

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Ingredients

  • Cooking spray

  • 2 (10.5-ounce) cans cream of celery soup

  • 1/3 cup chicken broth

  • 2/3 cup milk

  • 2 tablespoons dried parsley

  • 1 (10-ounce) package frozen peas, thawed

  • 2 (7-ounce) cans  tuna, drained

  • 10 ounces medium egg noodles, or pasta, cooked until just tender

  • 3 tablespoons buttered breadcrumbs

Steps to Make It

  1. Gather the ingredients.

    Crock Pot Tuna Casserole ingredients

    The Spruce / Diana Chistruga

  2. Use cooking spray to grease the bottom and sides of the slow cooker insert (a 4- to 5-quart crock pot).

    Greased crock pot

    The Spruce / Diana Chistruga

  3. In a large bowl, combine cream of celery soup, chicken broth, milk, parsley, peas, and tuna.

    Cream of celery soup, chicken broth, milk, parsley, peas, and tuna combined in a bowl

    The Spruce / Diana Chistruga

  4. Fold in cooked noodles or pasta.

    add pasta to the mixture in the bowl

    The Spruce / Diana Chistruga

  5. Pour mixture into the prepared slow cooker.

    tuna casserole in a Crock Pot

    The Spruce / Diana Chistruga

  6. Top with buttered breadcrumbs. Cover and cook on low for 4 to 6 hours.

    Crock Pot Tuna Casserole

    The Spruce / Diana Chistruga

Recipe Variations

  • Switch to canned chicken, turkey, or salmon or use leftover rotisserie chicken instead of tuna.
  • Substitute cream of mushroom or chicken soup for the cream of celery. Consider adding some chopped celery to the mix, or chopped green onion tops.
  • Instead of buttered breadcrumbs, use potato chip crumbs or crushed saltines or Ritz crackers.

How to Store and Freeze Tuna Casserole

Casseroles will keep in the refrigerator if they're in a sealed container for three to four days. You can also freeze this casserole for future use if it's tightly sealed off, for up to six months. Reheat in the oven until completely hot.