This Tuna Pasta Bake (a.k.a Tuna Casserole) is made with everyday store-cupboard ingredients and comes together in minutes.
A great-tasting and healthy family meal that’s also suitable for those watching their weight! One serving is under 500 calories, practically Free for those on Slimming World plan and 13 SmartPoints on Weight Watchers.
You will also love One-pot Crab Pasta
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We all have a dish to fall back on when a) we don’t feel like cooking and b) the fridge is practically empty.
This ridiculously easy tuna pasta bake recipe is my emergency meal whenever I find myself in this situation. Which, ahem, happens more often than you might think!
I started making meals with tinned tuna when I was still in school in Greece. Think tuna rice salads, tuna sweetcorn jacket potatoes and sandwiches. And I STILL love these unpretentious easy dishes and none more so than tuna pasta.
This recipe is basically for anyone who says they can’t cook. Because all you need to do is boil some pasta and then mix everything else together. Easy peasy – a kid can make this tuna casserole.
Ingredients
Many tuna casseroles are made with cream or creamy sauces. My healthy Italian tuna pasta bake uses a tomato based sauce instead – cutting down on the calories. But I still like a little creaminess so I have added some extra light cream cheese into the mix.
If you leave this out then the recipe is Syn Free making it an excellent Slimming World meal. There’s 13 SmartPoints per serving for those following WeightWatchers. One serving of this healthy pasta bake is under 500 calories.
- Tinned tuna – for a Slimming World pasta bake you must use tuna in brine or spring water. Albacore tuna is a very tasty option but can be more expensive. Whichever type you buy aim for sustainably sourced and line caught tuna. The brand I grew up with was Rio Mare which is Italian and so delicious!
- Pasta – dried penne, fusilli or rigatoni. Or any shapes that allow for the sauce to cling to them! For extra flavour I like to cook my pasta with one vegetable stock cube.
- Passata – preferably passata rustica which is a thicker type of passata. Or you can pick a passata with basil and garlic (check there’s no other added ingredients such as sugar). Alternatively you can use a pasta sauce if you have one you like… I find they always have too much salt and other additives so best avoided.
- Tinned chopped tomatoes or cherry tomatoes. You can also use fresh cherry tomatoes if you prefer.
- Tinned sweetcorn or you can add frozen peas. You can freestyle and add any number of vegetables as long as they either cook quickly or you par boil them first. You can always stick them in with the pasta!
- Extra light cream cheese (such as Philadelphia) which is 1.5 syns per 25g making it .25 syns per serving (I say that’s almost none). Alternatively you can use Dairylea or Laughing Cow cheese which is free but the taste is quite different.
- Grated cheddar and /or mozzarella. Both are allowed as healthy extras and the recipe contains 200g (14oz) which divided by six is within your healthy extra allowance for cheese. You can use reduced fat cheese if you prefer.
- Fresh basil or parsley. I have potted herbs on standby but if you haven’t got any then you can use 1-2 teaspoons Italian Herb Mix.
How to make Tuna Pasta Bake
STEP 1. Preheat the oven 10 180C (350F).
STEP 2. Bring a large pot of water to the boil. Add the stock cube and ½ tsp salt and stir to dissolve. Add the pasta and set a timer to cook it for 2 minutes less than the time on the pack. Drain the pasta into a large bowl, reserving 80ml (⅓ cup) of the pasta water.
STEP 3. Mix the cream cheese with half of the Passata until well blended.
STEP 4. Add the cream cheese mix, remaining passata and tinned tomatoes to the pasta bowl. Give everything a good stir.
STEP 5. Add the corn, a handful of the grated cheese, drained tuna, chopped basil, salt, sweetener and dried chilli flakes and stir to combine.
STEP 6. Transfer to an ovenproof baking dish (aprox 20x30cm) and drizzle with the reserved pasta water.
STEP 7. Sprinkle with the remaining cheese. Bake for 20-30 minutes, or until the cheese has melted.
STEP 8. Garnish with more chopped basil and serve!
PASTA BAKE VARIATIONS
- Add texture and CRUNCH! Not really suitable for those on a diet but my kids LOVE this. Crumble of a bag of salted crisps and sprinkle over the pasta bake. Alternatively you can use a few tablespoons of Panko breadcrumbs or wholemeal breadcrumbs which are a healthy extra.
- Swap the tuna for drained lump crab meat. This is more expensive but incredibly tasty. Alternatively you can use raw prawns (shrimp) instead of the tuna, also very yummy.
- Mexican Tuna Pasta Bake add a tin of drained black beans or mixed beans and 2-3 tablespoons sliced green jalapeños (from a jar). Replace the basil with parsley or coriander. Top with some crunched tortilla chips!
- Make it gluten free using good quality gluten free pasta.
- Use wholemeal pasta for added fibre.
Love Tuna? Here’s some other recipes to try
- Cheesy Tuna Pasta Bake cheesy but still Slimming Friendly!
- Mexican Style Tuna Pasta Salad
DID YOU MAKE MY TUNA PASTA BAKE? I’D LOVE TO SEE IT! Snap a photo, add hashtag #supergoldenbakes and tag @supergolden88 on INSTAGRAM
Tuna Pasta Bake | Slimming World Pasta Bake
Ingredients
For the pasta
- 400 g | 14oz dried pasta , such as penne
- 1 vegetable stock cube
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 80 ml | 1/3 cup of the pasta water (reserve)
For the pasta bake
- 500 g | 1 lb passata or passata rustica
- 2 tbsp Philadelphia Extra Light (1.5 Syns)
- 400 g | 14oz tin chopped tomatoes or cherry tomatoes
- 320 g | 11 oz tuna chunks in springwater or brine , drained
- 200 g | 7oz tinned corn , drained
- 2 tsp sweetener (optional)
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp chilli flakes
- 100 g | 1 cup grated cheddar cheese (reduced fat if preferred)
- 100 g | 1 cup mozzarella cheese (reduced fat if preferred)
- 4 tbsp handful fresh basil , chopped plus extra to garnish
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180C (350F).
- Bring a large pot of water to the boil. Add the stock cube and ½ tsp salt and stir to dissolve. Add the pasta and set a timer to cook it for 2 minutes less than the time on the pack. Drain the pasta into a large bowl, reserving 80ml (⅓ cup) of the pasta water.
- Mix the cream cheese with half of the passata until smooth.
- Add the cream cheese mix, remaining passata and tinned tomatoes to the pasta bowl. Give everything a good stir.
- Add the corn, a large handful of the grated cheese, drained tuna, chopped basil, salt, sweetener and chilli flakes and stir to combine.
- Transfer to an ovenproof dish (aprox 20x30cm) and drizzle with the reserved pasta water.
- Sprinkle with the remaining cheese. Bake for 20-30 minutes, or until the cheese has melted.
- Garnish with more chopped basil and serve!
Video
Notes
TUNA PASTA BAKE VARIATIONS
- Add texture and CRUNCH! Not really suitable for those on a diet but my kids LOVE this. Crumble of a bag of salted crisps and sprinkle over the pasta bake. Alternatively you can use a few tablespoons of Panko breadcrumbs or wholemeal breadcrumbs which are a healthy extra.
- Swap the tuna for drained lump crab meat. This is more expensive but incredibly tasty. Alternatively you can use raw prawns (shrimp) instead of the tuna, also very yummy.
- Mexican Tuna Pasta Bake add a tin of drained black beans or mixed beans and 2-3 tablespoons sliced green jalapeños (from a jar). Replace the basil with parsley or coriander. Top with some crunched tortilla chips!
- Make it gluten free using good quality gluten free pasta.
- Use wholemeal pasta for added fibre.
Kaz says
Could you pressure cook this?
Lucy Parissi says
I wouldn’t advise it, not with tuna
Penny says
Really easy to make and tasty. I did add tsp of cumin, coriander, cinnamon, more chilli and splash of Worcestershire sauce on top.. also used and extra can of tuna but didn’t have any mozzarella so used a 1/3 of cup of parmasan. This would be nice with frozen spinach, red onion,chopped black olives next time.. did use the mini red peppers you get in a jar
Amy says
Would this still work if I substituted passata for chopped tomatoes? We don’t have passata.
Lucy Parissi says
Hi Amy, it would work fine if you blended the chopped tomatoes so you have a smooth tomato purée
Neil rankin says
Great recipe and the wife is on weight watchers and the recipe is low pointed which is good. Will be using again for sure.
Lucy Parissi says
Thanks Neil glad you enjoyed it!
JessG says
Hey, just made this recipe (without sweetener) and loved it, although next time I’ll add some black pepper and white onion for some extra depth of flavour. Regarding the nutritional information, what quantity is this based on? The standard 100g as used on regular food packaging, a portion or for the whole dish?
If it is portion, what have you considered a portion?
Thanks again!
Lucy Parissi says
It is for a portion (dividing the whole dish into 6 servings) xx
JessG says
Brilliant thank you!
Julie says
25 syns do you mean 2.5 syns???? Also can you freeze this?
Lucy Parissi says
.25 so almost none. I dont like freezing pasta dishes but you could, in theory. Wrap very tightly in clingfilm to avoid freezer burn and bake directly from frozen until the dish is hot all the way through (probably 25 minutes at 180C)
Leanne - Crumb Top Baking says
We always have canned tuna on hand because it is such a delicious and convenient source of protein. I love that you added it to this pasta bake. It looks so hearty and delicious and the perfect comfort food for fall!
Ann says
Made your healthy tuna pasta bake but used quark instead of Philadelphia reducing the syn value to zero as long as the cheese is used as part of your healthy A quota. Will certainly make again 😊
Lucy Parissi says
Great swap Ann! Glad to hear you enjoyed it 🙂
Bintu | Recipes From A Pantry says
A pasta bake always goes down well in my house! Love that this is Slimming World friendly!
Don Baiocchi says
Oh man. This is like the best kind of comfort food. I am totally making this with some gluten-free noodles.