No Noodle Tuna Casserole Recipe
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This No Noodle Tuna Casserole recipe is now, officially, my go-to tuna casserole!
I used to make tuna casserole with pasta and tons of cheese. That’s how my mom taught me to make it, and it was total comfort food. But since I really didn’t want to do the carb/fat combo, I thought I’d try a no-noodle version just to see how it would turn out. And turn out, it did. It was delicious.

Tuna Casserole Without Noodles
Tuna casserole doesn’t need noodles or rice or any other carby addition to be delicious. In fact, it’s quite good without it, as you’ll see if you make this.
However, if you are a die-hard noodle fan, feel free to mix in about 2 cups of cooked pasta to make this a tuna noodle casserole recipe. I’ve used egg noodles in the past, and I cook them al dente so they can finish cooking in the oven.
I know that for some of you, this may end up being a tad on the dry side. I personally like it that way. But for those of you who don’t, mixing in a bit more mayo before or after baking does the trick nicely!
Low Carb Tuna Casserole
If you are watching your carbs, this dish might be a perfectly delicious fit for your eating plan. At only about 1 net carb per serving, it’s super easy to fill up on this dish without being worried about your carb intake. So enjoy!
Mercury In Tuna
Every time I post a recipe that uses tuna, I can count on getting at least one comment admonishing me for “promoting tuna” when it’s such a direct source of mercury.
I get that this is a concern for many people. And if you don’t want to eat tuna, simply don’t eat tuna. This casserole can also be made with chicken. Otherwise, I have many other recipes here you’ll enjoy.

About The Ingredients
Garlic cloves – If your cloves are larger, you’ll still want to use 2 cloves. However, if they are smaller, you’ll want 3 or 4 of them.
Celery stalk – You’ll want to chop this as fine as possible.
Red bell pepper – Chop this just as finely as the celery.
Red onion – Chop this fine as well. The finer you chop, the better the texture of the finished casserole will be.
Green beans – I used frozen/thawed, but fresh works too. These don’t have to be chopped as fine as the celery, pepper, and onion, but you still want to chop them on the smaller size.
Olive oil – You can use any oil you prefer. Olive oil is simply what I had on hand.
Water-packed tuna fish – This was 4 standard cans. Make sure it’s water-packed, not oil-packed. I use albacore tuna, but use what you prefer. Drain the water well. If you prefer, you can substitute with canned or fresh, shredded chicken instead.
Mayonnaise – store-bought or homemade – see links above
Grated cheddar cheese – It’s best to hand grate from a block of cheddar.
Almond flour – You can use almond meal too, but almond flour will give you better consistency.
Salt and pepper – I added these to taste after cooking.
Optional Ingredients
I did not use these for this recipe, but you could add them if you like.
1 cup frozen peas – Do not sauté these with the veggies. Just pour them into the mixing bowl frozen.
4 oz. sliced mushrooms – Toss them in to sauté with the veggies above.
1 tablespoon butter – or more, as you like.
How To Make No Noodle Tuna Casserole

Preheat the oven to 350° F. Collect all your ingredients in one place.

In a medium skillet, sauté the onions, garlic, celery, bell peppers, and green beans in the olive oil over medium heat to low heat until the onions are translucent. Allow to cool.

In a medium to large mixing bowl, stir the veggie mix, tuna, mayo, and cheese (and cooked noodles if you want to use them) in a medium mixing bowl to combine. Transfer the mixture to a casserole dish or baking dish and spread it out evenly.

Sprinkle the almond meal over the top of the casserole and bake for approximately 20-25 minutes (just enough to get the cheese melted.)

Remove from oven and allow to cool slightly before serving. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Pairs well with a salad or other veggies.
How To Store No Noodle Tuna Casserole
You can either keep it in the casserole dish and cover that with plastic wrap, or you can transfer it to an airtight container with a lid. This will keep in the fridge for up to three days.
Can You Freeze No Noodle Tuna Casserole?
It’s not recommended. Mayo does not freeze well. So it’s best to eat this all within three days.
How To Reheat No Noodle Tuna Casserole
You have a couple of options for reheating.
- Microwave – Heat in 30-second intervals. Overheating this in the microwave will give you rubbery tuna.
- Oven – Simply place this into the oven at 350 F. for approximately 10-20 minutes or until warmed through. But again, don’t over-warm it. It’s already cooked.
More Healthy Tuna Recipes
RECIPES USED:
STORE-BOUGHT MAYO:
- Store Bought Clean Mayo (amazon affiliate link)
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No Noodle Tuna Casserole
Ingredients
- 2 medium garlic cloves
- 1 large celery stalk chopped fine
- ½ large red bell pepper chopped fine
- ¼ large red onion chopped fine
- 1 cup green beans cut into small pieces (I used frozen/thawed, but fresh works too)
- 1 tbsp. olive oil
- 20 oz. water packed tuna drained
- ¼ cup mayonnaise (store bought or homemade – see links above)
- 1 cup grated cheddar cheese
- 2 tbsp. almond meal or flour
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350° F. Collect all your ingredients in one place.
- In a medium skillet, sauté the onions, garlic, celery, bell peppers and green beans in the olive oil over medium to low heat until the onions are translucent. Allow to cool.
- In a medium to large mixing bowl, combine the veggie mix, tuna, mayo, and cheese (and cooked noodles if you want to use them) in a medium mixing bowl. Transfer mixture to a casserole dish or baking dish, and spread out evenly.
- Sprinkle the almond meal over the top of the casserole and bake for approximately 20-25 minutes (just enough to get the cheese melted.)
- Remove from oven and allow to cool slightly before serving. Add salt and pepper to taste.
- Pairs well with a salad or other veggies.
Notes
Nutrition
Recipe from the Gracious Pantry archives, originally posted 5/20/15.
Can I use another type of cheese?
Phyllis – Sure! Whatever sounds good to you! 🙂
I am making this tonight for dinner. I love tuna casserole. I have shied away from them since I am GF AND LF in the last few years. Sounds yummie!
Jan – Great! Let me know how you like it! 🙂
Tiffany, I made your tuna casserole…Holy Moley, delicious!! I did tweak it a bit. I didn’t have green beans so I added chopped spinach and no almond meal so I topped it with sliced almonds and I added a couple of shakes of Cayenne pepper for a little POP. I added some GF pasta by Tinkyada (my favorite) shells. I also added CABOT LF cheddar cheese (from VT). I will be making this again…thanks! I love tuna casseroles!
Jan – Fabulous!!! I’m so happy you enjoyed it! 😀
Is there a way to know the nutrition facts? Like calories, fat and so on?
Vanessa – There are a lot of online calculators where you can easily enter the recipe. I recommend MyFitnessPal.com because all you have to do is copy the recipe page url into the appropriate box and it will import the entire recipe for you. It’s awesome! Hope that helps.
What should the oven temperature be?
Paula – 350 F.
My husband liked this except for the green beans. Hr is not a big veggie person and is very sensitive to texture issues with veggies – somehow he didn’t like the ways the beans were cooked. I could either boil and cook them or possibly just try french style green beans for him.
Patti – Sorry he didn’t care for them! You could leave them out all together if you prefer.
Tiffany, is there any NON Facebook way to read your Low carb recipes?
Connie – I’m not sure I follow. If you mean a recipe index, simply click that link at the top here. In the sidebar, you will see drop down menus. Search by category for my low carb section. Here is the direct link: https://www.thegraciouspantry.com/category/recipes/special-diets/low-carb/. I also have a low carb blog: http://www.thatslowcarb.com. Hope that helps!
Have you ever tried to make this and freeze it? Either before baking or after baking and cooling?
Jessica – No I haven’t. Technically, you can freeze anything. But I’m not sure what the texture would be like after thawing.
This is AMAZING. I really didn’t think it would be as good without pasta, but somehow this is even better than the classic!
E – Thank you so much! I’m so happy you loved it!! 😀
This would probably be good scooped into a half of a cooked spaghetti squash too
A – I hadn’t thought of that, but you might be right! 🙂
I want to try this recipe but just so i am correct..it calls for 4 5oz can tuna, right?
Kay – Yes. 4 cans that are 5 oz. each can. So 20 oz. total. I hope you enjoy it! 🙂
This sounds delicious! How many cups or ounces is a serving?
Anne – I never measured. Because it’s in a casserole dish, I just cut it into 8 equal potions. I’ll try to measure next time. Sorry about that!
It sounds great, but everything I make it, I can’t get past Instruction 2. No matter how long I sauté the garlic, celery, bell peppers and green beans in the olive oil over medium to low heat, the onions never turn translucent. They just sit there on the counter. I’ve had to give up several times.
Terry – Bwahahahahahaha!!!!!!! That was awesome! Thank you! Recipe updated!!! LOLOLOLOL!!!!!
Thumbs up!
Terry – Fantastic! Glad you enjoyed it!
This was so unbelievably good. I tweaked a bit. I did not have green so I substituted chopped broccoli and added slivered almonds. This will be our go to tuna casserole. Husband loved it. Thanks much for sharing.
Teresa – How wonderful! I’m so happy you both enjoyed it! 😀
Love this recipe. I used fresh green beans. I also used Old Bay seasoning and Slap Yo Mama Cajun seasoning for a slight kick.
Juanda – I’m so happy you enjoyed it! 😀
This is a brilliant recipe and very flavourful I didn’t have beans so swapped for peas and corn and used panko breadcrumbs on the top instead. To add more flavour for us whilst also appealing for my 4 year old, I added some homemade plum jam on the top with panko breadcrumbs before baking. Delish!
Cherie – I’m so happy you enjoyed it! 😀