Budget Recipe: Tuna Noodle Casserole for $3.50

April 7, 2009

Tuna Noodle Casserole is my kind of comfort food. My Dad made this a lot when we were kids and I still love it just as much now as I did then…if not more. He liked a lot of tuna and so do I!

Ingredients:

1 Pound Rotini Noodles
1 10 ¾ Ounce Can Healthy Request Cream of Celery Soup
1 10 ¾ Ounce Can Healthy Request Cream of Mushroom Soup
1 12 Ounce Bag Green Giant Steamers Mixed Vegetables
3 Cans Light Tuna Packed in Water
1 ½ Cups Skim Milk
½ Cup Parmesan Cheese
½ Teaspoon Salt
1/4 Teaspoon Pepper
1 Tablespoon Franks Red Hot Sauce

Topping:

1 Cup Panko Bread Crumbs
½ Cup Parmesan Cheese
Butter Spray

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 Degrees
Cook noodles for 7 minutes and drain. Do not overcook the noodles. They will continue to cook when the casserole bakes and there is nothing more yucky than mushy noodles!
Mix the noodles and all the remaining ingredients except the topping. Mix well and pour into a 9×13 inch baking dish.
In a small bowl, mix the panko and Parmesan with a fork. Spray with butter spray and stir. Keep doing this until it looks like the topping is well coated with the butter spray. Sprinkle all over the top of the casserole.
Bake for 30 minutes or until bubbly and well browned.

I am now in love with panko bread crumbs. I started using them for the first time about 3 months ago and now use them all the time. They are light, crispy and do not get soggy. I used them to do a big fish fry last week, and all the fish was still crunchy the next day. This is the first time I have used them on my Tuna Casserole and I loved the results. The top was very crunchy and mixing it the panko with Parmesan and butter spray gave it a good flavor. Talk about a budget meal! It made a huge pan and cost about $3.50 to make! For less than the price of a fast food combo meal, you can make a whole meal that is satisfying, nutritious and delicious