I don’t know why it is.
I write five blog articles each week, and you would think deciding which recipe to share would be the easy one.
It isn’t.
Some weeks I can sit down and know exactly where I want to take you. Maybe it is somewhere Vicky and I visited, something we learned while pulling the fifth wheel down the road, or one of those memories that has been following me around for most of my life.
Then it comes time to decide what we are going to cook.
Suddenly, I am right back to answering one of life’s most difficult questions:
“What do you want for dinner?”
Closely followed by its equally frustrating cousin:
“Where do you want to eat?”
Who knew deciding what to eat—or what recipe to share—could be more difficult than answering, “Why is the sky blue?”
At least that question has an answer.
The sky appears blue because gases in Earth’s atmosphere scatter the shorter wavelengths of blue sunlight in all directions more readily than the longer wavelengths of other colors. Scientists call it Rayleigh scattering.
There.
One of life’s mysteries solved.
I still don’t know what I want for dinner.
Sometimes the Answer Is Sitting in the Pantry
When I couldn’t decide which recipe to share this week, I finally quit trying to come up with something different.
Instead, I thought about something familiar.
Something we ate as kids.
Something our kids ate.
And something our grandkids have eaten.
Tuna Noodle Casserole
There probably isn’t anything fancy about Tuna Noodle Casserole, and maybe that is precisely why it has hung around for so long.
Egg noodles, tuna, a couple cans of soup, peas, cheese and a crunchy topping don’t sound like much individually. Put them together, though, and you have one of those old-school dinners that can make a kitchen smell familiar before you ever take the first bite.
For campground cooking, that simplicity is hard to beat.
Most of the ingredients can ride around in the RV pantry until you need them. Tuna, soup, breadcrumbs and seasonings don’t take up valuable refrigerator space. Frozen peas are easy enough to keep on hand, and the remaining refrigerated ingredients are things we commonly carry anyway.
Better yet, from start to finish, dinner can be on the table in about 30 minutes.
That matters on the road.
There are days when campground cooking is part of the adventure. We pull out the grill, sit outside and take our time.
Then there are days when we’ve been exploring since morning, pulled into camp later than expected, or simply don’t feel like making dinner an event.
Those are Tuna Noodle Casserole days.
An Old-School Family Favorite
I suppose “comfort food” gets thrown around enough that it has almost lost its meaning.
To me, comfort food isn’t necessarily rich, elaborate or even particularly pretty.
It is food that doesn’t need an introduction.
You recognize it.
You know what it tastes like before it reaches your plate because somewhere along the way it became part of the family.
That’s Tuna Noodle Casserole for us.
This version is creamy without requiring much work, and it leaves plenty of room for those little substitutions that become especially handy when you’re cooking from an RV pantry.
I use both cream of mushroom and cream of chicken soup, but there is no rule saying you have to. Two cans of either one will work. Reduced-sodium or no-sodium versions are fine, too.
I prefer tuna packed in water. If your pantry holds something different, use what you like.
Don’t care for mushrooms?
Leave them out.
Don’t want cheese?
Leave that out, too.
No sour cream?
Mayonnaise works.
I know.
It may not sound particularly appetizing when you say it out loud, but it works. LOL.
And when you are camping, being able to substitute something already in the refrigerator beats making a special trip into town for half a cup of sour cream.
Tuna Noodle Casserole
Prep and Cook Time: About 30 minutes
Oven Temperature: 400°F
Baking Dish: 9×13-inch
Ingredients
For the topping:
- ⅓ cup breadcrumbs, regular or panko
- ⅓ cup grated Parmesan cheese
- 1 tablespoon salted butter, melted
For the casserole:
- 12-ounce bag egg noodles
- 1½ cups milk
- 1 (10.5-ounce) can cream of mushroom soup
- 1 (10.5-ounce) can cream of chicken soup
- 2 (5-ounce) cans tuna, preferably packed in water
- 1 cup frozen peas
- 1 (8-ounce) can mushrooms, optional
- 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
- ½ cup sour cream or mayonnaise
- ½ teaspoon dried parsley, optional, plus a little more for topping
- ¼ teaspoon onion powder
- ¼ teaspoon garlic powder
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- ⅛ teaspoon kosher salt
Let’s Get Dinner Going
Preheat the oven to 400°F and lightly coat a 9×13-inch baking dish with nonstick cooking spray.
In a small bowl, combine the breadcrumbs, Parmesan cheese and melted butter. Give everything a good stir until the crumbs are evenly coated, then set the mixture aside.
Cook the egg noodles according to the package directions, usually about five to seven minutes. Don’t cook them until they’re completely soft. Al dente is what you’re after because they’ll continue cooking in the oven.
Drain them well and put them directly into the prepared baking dish.
Now comes the easy part.
Add the milk, cream of mushroom soup, cream of chicken soup, drained tuna, frozen peas, mushrooms if you’re using them, cheddar cheese, sour cream, parsley, onion powder, garlic powder, pepper and salt.
Mix everything together until the noodles are coated and the ingredients are distributed throughout the casserole.
If stirring everything together in the baking dish feels a little too adventurous—particularly in the smaller working space of an RV kitchen—mix everything in a large bowl first and transfer it to the baking dish. Either way works. I simply prefer avoiding another dirty bowl when I can.
Scatter the breadcrumb mixture evenly across the top.
Bake for about 15 minutes, or until you see the casserole bubbling around the edges.
Then comes the one part where you need to stay put.
Switch the oven to high broil and let the topping brown for about one minute.
Don’t walk away.
This isn’t the time to check the campfire, answer the phone or see what Cash is doing.
You’re looking for golden brown, and the distance between golden brown and what in the world happened? can be remarkably short under a broiler.
Pull the casserole from the oven and sprinkle a little extra dried parsley across the top if you like.
Dinner is ready.
A Few Campground Shortcuts
One reason I like recipes like this in the RV is that they forgive improvisation.
No regular breadcrumbs? Panko works. Italian breadcrumbs add a little extra seasoning. And if the breadcrumb container happens to be empty, a sleeve of crushed Ritz crackers makes a pretty respectable casserole topping.
When you’re trying to conserve space, there’s no reason to carry three versions of something just because a recipe calls for one particular kind.
The same thinking applies to the casserole itself.
If Vicky and I don’t need a full 9×13-inch casserole, the recipe cuts easily in half. Another option is making the full batch and dividing it between two 8×8-inch pans. Bake one and freeze the other.
That can be especially handy on a longer camping trip. You’re already cooking and washing dishes, so you might as well give yourself another dinner down the road.
Just make sure the casserole has cooled appropriately before refrigerating or freezing it.
Around the Campfire
Do I need both kinds of condensed soup?
No. I like the combination of cream of chicken and cream of mushroom, but two cans of either will work. You can also use reduced-sodium varieties or your own homemade versions.
Can I make Tuna Noodle Casserole gluten-free?
Yes. Substitute gluten-free pasta and breadcrumbs. You’ll also want to check the labels on the condensed soups and seasonings because ingredients and formulations vary by brand.
How long will leftovers keep?
Once cooled and refrigerated promptly in a covered container, leftovers can be kept in the refrigerator for up to four days.
Can Tuna Noodle Casserole be frozen?
Yes. Freeze it for up to three months. You can also assemble the casserole ahead of time and freeze it before baking. Thaw it overnight in the refrigerator before cooking. Depending on how cold it is when it goes into the oven, allow roughly another 20 to 30 minutes of cooking time and make sure the center is heated through.
Can I make a smaller casserole?
Absolutely. Cut the ingredients in half, or divide the full recipe between two smaller baking dishes. That’s one of the reasons this recipe works so well for couples and RV travelers.
Now, About the Leftovers…
I can’t speak for you, but I like Tuna Noodle Casserole reheated almost as much as I like it straight from the oven.
Maybe more.
Something seems to happen overnight when everything has had time to settle together. Heat up a scoop the next day and you have lunch without dirtying half the RV kitchen again.
Of course, I have also been known to interfere with a perfectly respectable helping of Tuna Noodle Casserole.
A spoonful of Mexican salsa works.
Mango salsa isn’t bad either.
And yes, I have put Sweet Baby Ray’s BBQ Sauce on it.
That last one usually earns me a particular look from my bride.
After all these years, I know that look.
It says she loves me.
It also says she wants absolutely nothing to do with whatever I just put on my Tuna Noodle Casserole.
More for me.
Final Thoughts
Maybe that’s why choosing a recipe to share each week is harder than I think it ought to be.
Food isn’t only about ingredients.
Some recipes remind us of a campground. Others bring back a holiday, a restaurant we discovered while traveling or something we cooked outside with friends.
Then there are recipes like Tuna Noodle Casserole.
They don’t belong to one trip.
They seem to travel through generations.
We ate it as kids. We fed it to our kids. Our grandchildren have eaten it. And somewhere along the way, a casserole made from egg noodles, canned tuna and a couple cans of soup became part of our family story.
That’s worth sharing.
Besides, next week’s Campground Cook decision is still several days away.
Maybe by then I’ll have figured out what I want for dinner.
I wouldn’t count on it.
Enjoy eatin’,
The Cooper Shortcut Camping Journey Trio 😊 PlusOne!
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