Tuna And Rice Casserole

🤍 Recipe Highlights

I have summarised everything that you will come to know and love (LOVE ❤) about this easy tuna rice casserole recipe in the points below:

• Simple ingredients: if I look in my pantry I am almost always guaranteed to see tinned tuna, canned corn and rice. These 3 are pantry staples that are easy to turn to. I am guessing your pantry looks much the same. This recipe may as well be called a pantry tuna-rice casserole as it fully embraces what we already have at home.
• Non pasta bake: we all love a good pasta bake from time to time. But life gets a little bit boring if pasta is the only thing we eat! This tuna and rice casserole offers us another one pan type comfort food baked recipe with a different carbohydrate.
• Minimal effort: this recipe is one of those 'I can't believe it didn't take that long' dishes which makes it perfect for busy weeknights. We really only need minimal effort to bring everything together.
• Family friendly: everyone of all ages can enjoy this tuna and rice combination. That means you won't have to cook multiple meals to suit everyone. The whole family can share this dish together. It will fast become a family favorite!

🥗 Ingredients

The photo below is to show you everything you need to make the rice and tuna casserole recipe. Please refer to the printable recipe card for specific ingredient measurements as well as detailed instructions.

As you can see the tuna rice recipe calls for:

• Cheese: we want to use cheddar cheese or colby cheese. Both of these melt well and have a strong flavor profile.
• Salt and pepper: for seasoning.
• Garlic: 1-2 fresh garlic cloves, minced garlic or chunky chopped garlic.
• Dried chives: to enhance the flavor combination.
• Dried dill: as above.
• Eggs: the eggs help the tuna and rice to stick together.
• Onion: for taste and texture.
• Corn: simple pantry staples always include tinned corn! Hence our inclusion of it in this recipe. We use 1 tin of corn kernals that we drain and rinse.
• Tuna: I like to use tuna in spring water as it is less oily (well duh 😂!) than tuna in olive oil. We drain it but don't rinse.
• Milk: mixed with the whisked eggs to help the casserole have a little bit of structure about it.
• Rice: we want to use a long-grain rice. My recommendation is basmati. It holds up extremely well by being cooked and then baked. Sushi rice is an alternative.

🍳 Instructions

Here are the step by step instructions to make the recipe. We start by whisking together the eggs and milk. You will need a large bowl for this initial step.

• Whisk the eggs and milk together (Photo 1)
• Add the remaining ingredients (Photo 2)
• Stir to combine (Photo 3)
• Cook the rice (Photo 4)

👩‍🍳 How to Make Tuna And Rice Casserole

To make the tuna and rice casserole we start by cooking the tuna in the microwave. We then use the time whilst the rice is cooking to bring together the tuna and corn mixture.

To do this add the basmati rice and water to a rice cooker and microwave using high heat for 12 minutes.

At the same time crack the eggs into a large mixing bowl, whisk then pour in the milk and continue to whisk till combined.

Next add the tuna, corn kernels, diced onion, garlic, dried chives, dried dill, salt, pepper and half of the cheese. Use the whisk or a wooden spoon to stir this till it is evenly mixed.

Then remove the cooked rice from the microwave and use a fork to fluff it.

Once done add the cooked rice to the combined tuna mixture like you see me doing in the photo below.

• Add the rice and combine (Photo 5)

Once the rice is consistently mixed in with the tuna and corn we can set it aside whilst we grease a large casserole dish with olive oil.

🍚 Easy Tuna Casserole

Then transfer the tuna mixture into the prepared baking dish like you see in the photo below.

• Transfer to casserole dish (Photo 6)

Use a wooden spoon to spread the mixture out so that it covers the baking dish.

Then top it with the remaining cheese like you see in the photo below.

• Top with cheese and bake (Photo 7)

Now we are ready to pop the casserole into the preheated oven (middle shelf) and let it cook.

We are aiming for the cheese to melt and the casserole 'set'. This will take around 15 minutes, 20 if you like your cheese a little bit golden on top!

Once the casserole is cooked, you can use oven mitts to remove it from the oven, place it on a heatproof surface and call out 'dinner is ready!'.

🍽 Serving Suggestions

You can keep it simple when serving your tuna and rice by seeing it as a complete meal.

That being said I do like to garnish it with a fresh herb for some colour and black pepper for some seasoning.

If you want a salad on the side try the Cherry Tomato Caprese Salad, Healthy Panzanella Salad or the Fresh Herb Salad. A simple green salad works too if that is all you have time for.

For a bread side try the Tortilla Garlic Bread, Garlic Pizza Bread, Ciabatta Garlic Bread or the Turkish Garlic Bread.

👍 How to Guide

How to Store

Let the dish fully cool. Then transfer portions into a sealed, airtight container (or multiple). These can be refrigerated for 2-3 days and need to be reheated before being consumed.

How to Freeze

Or stack containers of the dish in the freezer. They freeze and reheat very well.

Frozen portions can be in the freezer for 3 months.

How to Reheat

For refrigerated leftover tuna casserole we can transfer it to a bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Then place in the microwave and use high heat for 2-3 minutes to heat through.

For frozen portions of the dish, remove them from the freezer and let them thaw. Then follow the step above to transfer them to a bowl, cover with cling wrap and reheat. These will take 1-2 minutes extra as they are colder to start with.

Test that the dish is heated through to check it is good to go before leaving the kitchen.

😉 Substitutions and Variations

Here are my sub ins and outs that you might be thinking about as you read the post and I will tell you if I think they will work or why they won't:

• Cooking the rice: you can use chicken broth if you want when cooking the rice. The reason I don't is to keep the simple flavor combination of 'cheesy tuna rice with corn'.
• Mayo: you can add a tablespoon or 2 of mustard to the tuna mixture if you wish to add a little tang flavor to the recipe.
• Spice: add a tablespoon of sriracha sauce (hot chili sauce) or a couple of drops of tabasco sauce if you want a little heat in the dish.
• Other vegetables: for more or an alternate vegetable you can add 1 cup of frozen peas to the mix. These will cook in the oven so there is no need to microwave them first.
• More protein: or you can add some diced bacon to the casserole. Do this when combining the tuna and corn mixture.
• Rice: you can use brown rice if you prefer. Simply follow the package instructions to cook it. You can also get brown rice basmati rice from the supermarket and use that if you please.
• Non cheese topping: if you don't want to top the tuna casserole with cheese you can use panko breadcrumbs as an alternative. The cook time will be very similar, with the breadcrumbs turning golden brown as they cook.
• Other cheese: or you can add some parmesan cheese to the cheddar cheese or use a combination of mozzarella cheese and parmesan if you wish to.
• Tuna in olive oil: you can use tinned tuna in olive oil if you prefer it to tuna in spring water.
• Garnish: you can use fresh thyme or oregano in place of the parsley to garnish the dish if you want to.

💡 Tasty Tips

Here are my top tips and tricks that I want to share with you so that you master the recipe from the get go:

• Preheat the oven: this dish comes together very quickly. For that reason we want to preheat the oven as soon as we start the recipe so that it will be temperature ready when the casserole is ready to be baked. This also allows us to have an accurate cook time. If the oven is not hot and ready to go it will throw off the cook time.
• Casserole dish: we do want to grease the casserole dish before adding the tuna and rice. This ensures that it won't stick to the dish and also makes the clean up of this dish easier. I do this with a basting brush and olive oil but you could also use a spray oil.
• Method: when we make potato bake the common method is to pour the creamy sauce in over the top of the potatoes. We use a different method when making tuna rice casserole to ensure that the wet and dry ingredients are consistently combined.
• More of the same: if you love cooking with tuna or salmon then you might also like the Tuna Alfredo, Tuna Fritters, Salmon Potato Salad or the Fried Rice With Tuna.
• Rice: if you love complete meals with rice try the Chicken And Rice Tray Bake or the Baked Chicken Drumsticks And Rice.

🤓 Frequently Asked Questions

😍 More Easy Dinner Recipes

Here are some more recipes to help you get dinner on the table. The recipes below use a variety of proteins, cook times and techniques.

• Honey Soy Pork Ribs
• Slow Cooker Beef Massaman Curry
• Chicken Pesto Linguine
• Slow Cooker French Onion Pork Chops
• Chorizo Fried Rice
• Slow Cooker Pork Tenderloin
• Pork Rashers
• Air Fryer Pork Roast

It is time to get our tuna rice casserole on my friend! You can also find all of my dinner recipes or quick and easy recipes in the one spot.

Adrianne

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