Tuna Pasta Bake is creamy, spicy and deliciously cheesy recipe! An easy baked dish with spicy Mexican flavours that has corn, black beans, tuna and pasta. If you love pasta recipes try this tonight!
Blue Cheese Mac and Cheese, Moroccan Lamb Couscous, Turkey Chilli Con Carne, Ground Beef Casserole, are all delicious dinner recipes you can serve or pair with a side dish like our skin on roast potatoes or horseradish mashed potatoes for a complete meal!
Fiesta Tuna Pasta Bake is creamy, spicy and deliciously cheesy!
HOLD THE CREAM. I kid you guys not, this is the creamiest, cheesiest, Fiesta Tuna Pasta Bake that you will ever make and it has NO CREAM IN IT!
A creamy, cheesy baked dish with spicy Mexican flavours that has corn, black beans, tuna and pasta
A long time ago now I started substituting greek yoghurt for cream. Not for every dish. but for savoury dishes where I used to use either sour cream or regular cream. I haven't actually missed it for a second. In fact, I had take away Mexican at one stage and had to double take on the taste and flavour of the bowl of sour cream as I hadn't had it for so long.
I have come to prefer using greek yoghurt in these instances and I am sure you will too. The Fiesta Tuna Pasta Bake that we are making today is creamy. It is cheesy. It is just a little bit spicy and it is DELICIOUS. The texture of the dish is the same as if we used cream but this version of tuna pasta is good for our diet in a way that creamy tuna pasta is not.
We don't actually need cream to make the best recipe for creamiest tuna pasta bake there is!
By now you might have some questions about the recipe that I can answer. Let's do it 🙂
How many calories are in a Fiesta Tuna Pasta Bake?
There is approximately 630kj per serve. The recipe card at the bottom of the post displays the Nutritional information for this recipe so you can have a read.
Can you freeze tuna pasta bake?
Yes, friends, you can!
What is even better is that you can freeze it before or after you cook it (see question 4).
Is Tuna Pasta Good for a Diet?
Like every dish we eat, we need to be mindful of eating in moderation. This recipe has pasta so that means carbohydrates. However, that is not a bad thing. It would be if we ate the whole thing in one sitting (don't worry your belly won't have room for that).
If we exercise portion control and eat a balanced diet then we don't need to worry as much as it is the overindulging or not knowing we are full that does the damage.
There are a couple of things you can do though if you are wanted reduce your calorie intake for this recipe:
- Reduce the cheese in the pasta bake sauce
- Reduce the cheese on top of the pasta bake
- Add peas to the recipe and reduce the quantity of pasta
Do you have to boil pasta before baking?
Yes, you do. I mentioned in question 2 to refer to this question. The reason being you can boil the pasta so it is cooked and add it to the rest of the ingredients before freezing it. You can also bake the dish and then freeze it.
The pasta does need to be boiled and properly cooked before the fiesta tuna pasta is oven baked.
When I think Mexican food, I have memories of eating at a place called Montezumas, where you would be delivered a plate of cheesy, beans, corn, rice and chicken topped with sour cream and green onions. SO YUM!! Mexican at home can be just as tasty and delicious
I love making pasta bakes as they are such family friendly meals and can be in the oven when the homework is getting done. This ridiculously cheesy tuna pasta bake ticks the Mexican night of the week with a bit of variety from your standard Mexican rice dish.
What does the Fiesta Tuna Pasta Bake taste like?
This recipe tastes like a creamy, dreamy, cheesy pasta with hints of salsa. Simply put, it tastes delicious!
I know some families have kids with picky eaters. This recipe wins even them over as there is enough colour and texture to keep them interested as well as having THE YUM FACTOR.
The taste is like a plate of food that you would get at a Mexican Restaurant with salsa and taco seasoning that everyone at the table will enjoy!
What to serve with Fiesta Tuna Pasta Bake
You might find that a bowl of this delicious cheesy goodness is enough and you don't want anything to go with it. That is completely understandable.
A friend of mine loves to serve her pasta bakes with garlic bread as she has so many mouths to feed. The best thing about that serving suggestion is that it can be in the oven at the same time as your tuna pasta bake!
Pasta Bake Sauce
It is easy to grab a pasta bake sauce from the grocery store. If that is your jam, go for it!
The sauce we make to use with this pasta bake is easy to prepare!
We use greek yoghurt, salsa, taco seasoning, onion flakes and mozzarella cheese. These ingredients get combined and mixed together to create a cheesy, creamy, spicy sauce.
I find it easy to throw all of the ingredients into a large glass jug to mix them together.
Salsa comes in mild, medium or hot, you can choose how spicy you want to go!
Fiesta, Mexican, Creamy Tuna Bake
A regular tuna pasta bake generally uses cream as the sauce or sometimes cream and cheese together.
This Fiesta Tuna Pasta Bake is packed with flavours to recreate the taste sensation that is Mexican Food.
You can tell your family or friends you are serving them Mexican Tuna Bake, Spanish Tuna Bake or Spicy Tuna Bake. Essentially these are all the same dishes and will give them the idea that they are in for a tasty dish which is filled with flavours!
Easy Tuna Bake Recipe
It is entirely possible to make this dish on a week night.
The tuna, black beans and corn are all canned. The pasta will take less than 10 minutes to cook. All you need to do then is mix the ingredients together for the sauce, pop some cheese on top and put the tuna pasta bake in the oven
It will take about 10 minutes for your cheese to bubble and melt and if you want to sit in front of the oven and watch, that is totally ok!!Week night meals need to be easy, tasty and not have a lot of clean up involved!
Kitchen antics
I have to admit I am not a huge fan of washing up!
With each recipe I develop, I test out ways to reduce the post cook clean up. Whist the idea of a one pot tuna pasta bake is appealing. I found that I would need to use a huge saucepan to cook my pasta and then use that for stiring. An option but it would take extra time for the extra volume of water to heat. Or accept the fact, which I ended up doing that after cooking the pasta, I needed to use a mixing bowl as well.
If you have a hack that lets us make this type of recipe in one pot I would LOVE to hear it.
About the recipe:
- The tuna bake is best served hot
- Coriander (cilantro) is a great garnish for the dish
- The pasta will cook in less than 10 minutes
- The dish is oven baked for 10 minutes or until the cheese melts
- The pasta bake sauce can be used for other pasta bakes eg chicken
Your quick questions answered:
- The fiesta tuna pasta bake can be frozen before melting the cheese
- You can use a variety of pasta types for this recipe
- To lower calories reduce the cheese both in and on top of the pasta bake
- The spicy taste is not hot but full of flavour
- This is an EASY recipe to make
Adrianne xx
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📖 Recipe
Fiesta Tuna Pasta Bake
Ingredients
Fiesta Tuna Pasta Bake
- 2 cups macaroni pasta
- 1 teaspoon olive oil
- 400 grams corn kernels drained and rinsed
- 400 grams black beans drained and rinsed
- 1 cup greek yoghurt low fat
- ¾ cup mozzarella cheese
- ½ cup salsa medium heat
- 200 grams tuna in oil drained
- 30 grams taco seasoning
- 1 tablespoon onion flakes Also called dried onion
- ½ cup grated cheese
Instructions
Fiesta Tuna Pasta Bake
- Preheat oven to 220C/425F (standard) ) or 200C/390F (fan-forced).
- Spray baking dish with cooking oil (See Note 1)
- Bring a medium saucepan ¾ filled with water to the boil, add macaroni and olive oil, cook for 8 mins. Drain and set aside. (See Note 2)
- Make pasta bake sauce by adding greek yoghurt, salsa, taco seasoning, onion flakes and mozzarella to a large jug and stir to combine
- In a large bowl combine cooked macaroni, corn, beans, tuna, past bake sauce. Stir to combine.
- Pour pasta bake into baking dish and top with grated cheese (See note 3)
- Cook for 10 minutes or until cheese is melted and turns a light golden brown
Notes
- NOTE 1: The baking dish I used for this recipe is: 6.5cm(H) x 19cm(W) x 30.5cm(L). This size dish or bigger will be fine. Smaller will not fit the recipe.
- NOTE 2: I like using macaroni for pasta bakes, but you can use any pasta you like.
- NOTE 3: use the cheese sparingly on top so you can see the ingredients underneath, you also need less cheese this way.
- If you really prefer you can use cream, however, trust me and try the greek yoghurt combination as it is less calories and tastes SO GOOD!!
- VEGETARIANS can omit the tuna for this recipe and create a vegetarian fiesta pasta bake
Brian Jones says
That looks so good, you can’t beat a good pasta bake, so simple and delicious!
Adrianne says
Absolutely Brian, thanks, I feel the same way!
GARY Dunne says
Great recipe but i almost didn't try it because it was like reading Gone With the wind before finally getting too the actual recipe just cut back the on the history of your pasta bake and youll do well good luck for the future i mean my comments sincerely. Have now ckd it and loved it 🙄😴👍
Adrianne says
Haha thanks Gary! I love this comment as it is so honest. I admit that this recipe is from a while ago and these days it is more like the short and sweet version than the extended! I shall endeavor to update this so you can get to the recipe faster, which is the most important thing, right! I am very glad you cooked and enjoyed the dish. Please try a more recent recipe and let me know if I get to the point faster! Thank-you, your feedback is appreciated!