Instant Pot Tuna Casserole-–a twist on good old fashioned tuna casserole. Flavors from Mom’s tuna casserole but made easier, faster and without cream of soups.
Related: 10 Instant Pot Comfort Foods That Mom Used To Make
Instant Pot Tuna Casserole
Was your mom a tuna casserole type of mom? You know when there’s a bunch of kids to feed and the pickings are slim in the refrigerator and she goes to the pantry and grabs a bunch of stuff like tuna, mayo, cornflakes and cream of mushroom soup and puts them all together in a dish and bakes it? There were some nights that my mom was definitely a tuna casserole mom! And now that I’m grown and have a family of my own I get that you can’t always get to the store and sometimes you have to be inventive.
This recipe is a throwback to tuna casserole but it’s made quickly and without any mayo or cream of soups. It’s a bit healthier and it certainly tastes good. I didn’t even tell my kids that it was tuna. I am pretty sure they thought it was chicken. But it does have crushed cornflakes on top…a mom specialty! If you don’t have cornflakes you can also crush up potato chips, also a good choice.
Get all cozy in your snuggie and scoop up a bowl of this Instant Pot tuna casserole for dinner tonight. I bet you’ll really like it!
You’ll also like these Instant Pot recipes…
What Pressure Cooker Did You Use?
To make Instant Pot Tuna Casserole I used my 6 quart Instant Pot Duo 60 7 in 1*. I love this Instant Pot because it has the yogurt making function which I use almost weekly. It has two pressure settings (high and low), and there are also little slots in the handles so that you can rest the lid there instead of putting it down on your counter-top.
Want more tried and true Instant Pot recipes?
The 365 Days of Slow and Pressure Cooking website has 3-4 new Instant Pot recipes a week! If you sign up for my emails (fill out the form below) you’ll receive an email each time something new is on the site. You can also join the 365 Days of Instant Pot Recipes Facebook group which is run by my husband Greg and myself. If you’re a visual learner consider subscribing to my YouTube channel where I share Instant Pot stuff with you weekly.
Instant Pot Tuna Casserole
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 3 minutes
- Total Time: 30 minutes
- Yield: 4 servings 1x
Description
A twist on good old fashioned tuna casserole. Flavors from Mom’s tuna casserole but made easier, faster and without cream of soups.
Ingredients
- 1 tsp olive oil
- 1/4 cup diced onion
- 1 large garlic clove, minced
- 1 3/4 cups chicken broth
- 6 ounces uncooked pasta shells (you can also use elbow macaroni)
- 1 cup diced mushrooms
- 1 Tbsp Dijon mustard
- 1 (5 oz) can tuna, drained
- 1 1/2 cups grated sharp cheddar cheese
- 1 cup frozen peas
- 1/2 cup crushed cornflakes or potato chips
- Salt and pepper
Instructions
- Turn your Instant Pot to the saute setting. When the display says HOT add in the oil and swirl it around. Add in the diced onions and saute for 2 minutes. Then add in the garlic and saute for 20 seconds. Add in the chicken broth and scrape the bottom of the pot. Turn off the Instant Pot.
- Add in the pasta, mushrooms, mustard and tuna.
- Cover the pot and secure the lid. Make sure the valve is set to sealing. Set the manual/pressure cook button to 3 minutes. When the time is up move the valve to venting. Remove the lid.
- Stir in the cheese and peas. Let the pot sit for a minute or two with the lid on top so the peas will warm through and the cheese will melt. It may be a little runny at first but as it sits and you stir it the pasta will soak up the liquid. Salt and pepper to taste.
- Then, if desired, you can pour the pasta into a baking dish and bake the cornflakes/potato chips on top for 5 minutes at 400 degrees F. I used my Mealthy CrispLid* to crisp up the cornflakes. I cooked for 3 minutes at 450.
- Scoop onto plates and enjoy!
Notes
This makes a small batch, 4 servings. You can easily double this recipe. Just double all the ingredients and keep the cooking time the same.
- Category: Casserole
- Method: Instant Pot
- Cuisine: American
To find out more about the Mealthy CrispLid I made a YouTube video. You can watch here:
*Karen Petersen is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com.
would the cook time remain the same if using broad egg noodles instead of pasta shells
egg noodles only need a 1 minute pressure cook time
Looking forward to making this but I wanted to comment for people using the CrispLid or Instant Pot Air Fryer Lid–don’t use the IP non-stick pot. It can’t be used with an air fryer as it may damage the pot.
Thanks for the tip!
Tried recipe today. YUM, YUM! Used Aldi brand Live Free brown rice and quinoa GF noodles. Tried 1 min cooking as suggested. Too undercooked. Cooked 2 more mins, mushy. Next time i will cook for 2 mins. I used Panko bread crumbs to remain GF. Turned out awesome. Hard to hold back not to eat entire dish in 1 setting 🙂 very tempted to buy crisper.
Thank you Karen!!!!
★★★★★
Good tips! Thanks Dawn!
Can I use canned mushrooms? If yes, how much? Should I rinse the mushrooms or just pour the entire can in?
I would drain the mushrooms first and then add them in
If the shredded cheddar cheese is not an option, could it be substituted with mozzarella or Mexican blend shredded cheese?
Thank you for always having the best recipes!!!!
Yes absolutely!
Thank you!
Can’t wait to make it!
We try to eat lower carb… I’d like to double the recipe for more protein, but just keep the single amount of pasta. So would I keep the liquid at 1 3/4 C? I know the time would be the same. Thanks ahead of time, and looking forward to making this! Made your ‘Marry Me Chicken’…total hit! Easy and super yummy! My hubs wants it added as a staple! 👍🏻😋🤪🤭☺️
Yes that’s what I would do. the 1 3/4 up of liquid is for the pasta to cook just right so if there is not more pasta it will still be same amount of liquid
Very good. I didn’t add the cornflakes or chips to save on calories, and it was still good.
★★★★★
Thanks Sharon!
For sure i will try this recipe on my new Instant Pot Duo Nova 3 quarts thats coming tomorrow (March 31, 2021)
I will let you know how it became !!!
Yay! What fun!
I have a 3 quart mini do I need to half the recipe since you did it in a 6? You said it makes a small batch so I didn’t know if I could just do the recipe and not have to figure out 1/2 of everything.
You can make it with the 3 quart mini!
Thanks 3 quart recipes are few and far between.
Did you take the casserole out of the inner pot and put it in a dish before using the crisp lid?…or did you just swap the instant pot lid for the crisp lid and brown the top in the instant pot liner?
If I wanted to brown chicken thighs, after cooking in instant pot, how would I do that with the crisp lid? Would I have to take them out of the pot, wash it, and put them in the crisp lid basket, on top of the trivet?
Thanks for any help you can give me. I just got a new air fryer lid and haven’t used it yet!
I browned the top in the Instant Pot liner.
for the thighs, that’s what I would do.
It’s a fun tool!
Delicious hot lunch today! I had a different recipe I’ve been using, but I had to try yours. Yep, it’s better.
★★★★★
So happy to hear this! Thanks Cara!
can you use gluten free pasta?
I’ve heard that barilla gluten free works ok in the instant pot and to decrease cooking time by 2 minutes. Good luck!
Thank you for gf suggesions. Haven’t tried recipe yet, but will do so soon. I love tuna and noodle casserole. Grew up on it. Brings back warm memories of my mother.
In cups, how much is 6oz of pasta?
It’s 2 and 1/4 cups
Super good. We used gluten free pasta and carrots instead of peas.
★★★★★
Good to know that gluten free pasta worked! Thanks for sharing your experience Lisa.
Did yiu shorten the cook time for GF noodles as mentioned in another review? Also, will you please share the brand of gf noodles you used? Trying hard to stay gf.
Thank you
Finishing this recipe up right now. Smelling really yummy!
I checked out the Crisplid and as of today (Jan 12,2020) the price is $120. Maybe we won’t get it right now! Might have to do some research.
Just finished eating the tuna casserole… that was good! I think we will add that to our weekly rotation. 😃
In regards to the Crisplid, I found it on their website for about ½ the price.
★★★★★
Made this minus the tuna. Added dry roasted cashews and black olives and frozen peas and carrots. A great basic recipe to carry any additional items on hand. Husband loved it.
Wow how great! Sounds awesome.