Thursday, February 9, 2012

Tuna Casserole

So for one of my bridal showers, my Mother in Law sent a recipe card with every invitation so that people could give me their favorite recipe for a recipe book she was making. There are so many recipes I regularly cook in it and this one is one of my favorites from my Maid of Honor, Lauren, it is one of her mom's amazing recipes! Love this tuna casserole. I will be honest, it's not really as healthy as I would like, but its insanely tasty- perfect for those nights when you need something quick to put together that is just delicious. If you want to make it a lighter dish, you could use the light soups and light mayo- full fat version is the best, but if you are cutting fat and calories, using the light ingredients really doesn't sacrifice much flavor. This recipe makes plenty for 4-6 people (depending on how big your eaters are).   Enjoy!

3 cans tuna, drained (I love the albacore)
1 can cream of celery
1 can cream of chicken
1 cup mayo
2 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pepper
2-3 garlic cloves, minced
2 stalks of celery, chopped
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1 box of shell noodles
1-2 cups chopped potato chips


Directions:

  • Preheat the oven to 350 degrees
  • Cook the pasta until it is al dente- you really want there to still be some crunch to the pasta so that it doesn't get mushy when you bake it. Drain the pasta
  • Mix all of the ingredients (except noodles and potato chips) in a large bowl. 
  • When the noodles are cooked and drained, add them to the mix right away and stir until all of the noodles are covered in the mix
  • Add the noodle mix to a sprayed 9x13 baking dish
  • Crumble the potato chips and put all over the top of the casserole. As you can see in my picture, I only do it on 1/2 the casserole. I would highly recommend this if you know you are going to have left overs. The chips only get mushy when you have them in the fridge overnight, best to just add some fresh chips if you eat left overs. 
  • Bake for about 35-45 minutes, or until the middle is slightly bubbling and the top is brown and crusty
  • Serve right away!

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