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Lighter Tuna Noodle Casserole

March 9, 2010

I caught Rachael Ray making Uptown Tuna Casserole on TV the other day, and although her version didn’t appeal to me (way too much fish!) the idea of the kind of tuna noodle casserole my mom used to make was stayed with me. It’s been almost a year since I last made “tuna nood” — the affectionate nickname college roommates of mine gave this family classic.

When I cook, I try to use as many whole ingredients in their natural form as possible, because I believe that when you start with those healthy ingredients, great taste and a good nutritional profile will follow. That philosophy goes out the window here, since 3 out of the 4 ingredients come from a can. Sometimes you have to bend to nostalgia! I was interested in cutting the calories, fat, and sodium because hey, it’s comfort food, and I know I’m going to eat more than what is supposed to be a single portion.

I’m including the brands of the ingredients I used here, because I think the overall nutritional information is as good as it gets for a meal made out of canned food. If you break it down into 4 generous servings, you wind up with just 388 calories, < 4g fat, 23+ g protein, 76.5 g carbs (with about 7 g of those as fiber), and 515 mg sodium (this is still high for a single meal, since the current recommendation is to limit sodium to 1,500 mg per day) per serving. Overall I was satisfied: I definitely noticed the difference in salt, but aside from being slightly less creamy the dish was overall close to what my mom used to make. I did add some garlic powder and lots of pepper after a discussion with Sharon about seasonings. I am not a fish person, and for some reason the garlic really heightened the smell of the tuna while it was baking — it was almost enough to make me not want to eat it. But the spices really helped balance the reduced sodium.

By the way, the nutritional data for that Rachael Ray recipe,which uses mostly all whole foods and no canned ingredients, would be a big splurge. Each serving has 1303 calories, 60.5 g of fat, and 1716 mg of sodium. It’s not that I never eat food like that — I do. I just don’t want to indulge with tuna nood!

Since this casserole is pretty bland and uniform in color, I thought there was a possibility A. would try a bit. He didn’t. Sometimes the cook gets to make what she wants to eat!

Lighter Tuna Noodle Casserole

12 oz. Ronzoni Healthy Harvest whole wheat, yolk-free wide egg noodles
10.75-oz. can Campbell’s Healthy Request condensed cream of mushroom soup
5-oz. can Bumble Bee solid white albacore tuna in water, drained & flaked
15-oz. can Le Sueur 50% Less Sodium young spring peas, drained
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
ground black pepper — lots

Preheat oven to 375° F.

Cook noodles according to the package directions, but reduce the cooking time by a few minutes so they are very al dente. Drain and return to pot. Add remaining ingredients and mix until well-combined. Pour mixture into a 9″ x 13″ casserole dish and bake, uncovered, for 45 minutes or until the top is browned and crunchy.

Filed under: Pasta