Another HIT in our home last night! Growing up my mom would make a Hamburger Helper boxed meal called Tune Tetrazzini. As crazy as it sounds it was delish and we LOVED it! HAha! I have never tried making my own tuna casserole but for some reason the memory of that boxed dinner sounded good. Also, I wanted to make it easy, just something to throw into a crockpot. Came up with this and it was so good and comforting. Once again, my husband was impressed and my kids wolfed it down.
Start with a spaghetti squash. I love these things! They are so versatile and the perfect filler if you are not using pasta. I use them weekly! I should learn how to grow them!
To make it easy to cut make sure your knife is REALLY sharp. Cut both ends off. Peel the outside skin off.
Slice then up like this and it makes it really easy to just peel the seeds and core out!
Chop up and place into the bottom of your crockpot.
Cut up half a stick of butter (you can use a whole stick if you want), and cream cheese. Add your spices. Allow to cook for a couple of hours. Then stir.
Stir and add tuna. I used a good quality canned tuna packaged in water. Don’t use the tuna in oil. DRAIN the tuna completely of the water then add to crockpot.
Add grated cheese to the top and let cook for about 30 to 40 minutes longer.
Cheesy, yummy, melted goodness! This makes a great S meal following the Trim Healthy Mama book!!
I served mine with roasted cauli & zucc and a nice big salad!! YUM!!
Tuna Casserole
- Prep Time: 10
- Cook Time: 5
- Total Time: 15 minutes
Description
An easy Trim Healthy Mama s meal casserole to throw together! Perfect comfort food!
Ingredients
- 1 large spaghetti squash peeled, seeded, and chopped
- 4– small cans of tuna in water, drained (I would use 2 more or use 4 big cans)
- 1– 8 oz package of cream cheese
- 1/2 stick of butter (you can use more if you want)
- 2 tsp onion powder
- 2 tsp garlic powder
- 2 tsp of your favorite Cajun seasoning or other seasoning to taste
- 2 cups of grated cheddar cheese
- salt & pepper to taste
Instructions
- Cut, peel, and chop the spaghetti squash and put in the bottom of crockpot.
- Slice butter and cream cheese and place on top with seasonings.
- Allow to cook for a couple of hours on low and then stir to break apart the spaghetti squash.
- Add the drained cans of tuna.
- Stir.
- Allow to cook an hour more or two until the squash is completely cooked.
- 30 to 40 minutes before you eat place grated cheese on top and cover.
- Serve it up with your favorite side dish!!
Notes
- **Optional, if you want to cook up a box of Dreamsfield Penne Pasta and add this on top to make it go further, you can do that as well.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 6
Hey girl! Looks great! Do you think canned chicken would work instead?
Oh yes, definitely canned chicken would work! Sounds delish too!! 🙂
Would like to try these recipes
Do you have tip for peeling the spaghetti squash. That was quite the task.
They can be quite the booger to peel!! I did find out making this recipe an easier way to peel it. You cut it in half long ways, then each half in half long ways, maybe one more time. Then you can get a good grip on it and peel it a lot easier. Also then just flip to the seed side and peel that out as well. Worked a LOT better for me. Also, if you are baking… just stab it a couple times, pop it in the over, bake for 350 degrees for like and hour. It is tender, and the seeds come out easy and it then scoops out easy too. Hope this helps some!!
This is my husband’s favorite thm meal! It was delicious, thank you!
I LOVE this recipe. I make it a lot! It is one of my comfort foods! Thank you so much for posting it! Because it is so hard to peel, I now cook the spaghetti squash in the oven and then scrap it out and mix everything together and cook on the stovetop or in the oven. Thank you again!
If you use a microwave, you can just stab it, pop it in the micro on high for 15-25 minutes (depending on how big it is). It almost falls apart then. You will still have to scrape the seeds out and place into your crockpot. You won’t need to cook it nearly as long! 🙂
Loved this! My hubby wasn’t a fan the first time, he’s not into tuna much but I thought this would change his mind. (No such luck) I ended up having to eat the leftovers alone lol. The next time I swapped for chicken and he was on board! Definitely in our menu rotation now! Thanks for the recipe!
I have never seen spaghetti squash used this way , usually just see it shredded, so will definitely have to give it a try this way. Sounds good though.
As you stir the casserole it does turn more into shredded squash naturally. It is good though! 😉
Do you think that this could be frozen for a make-ahead kind of thing?
Hmmm… I think it could be. I have read that spaghetti squash works if frozen!
This sounds delicious except the idea of having to cut and peel uncooked spaghetti squash. I’m wondering it would be good with zucchini made into troodles? Ever tried that?
It might be mussy but you can… just add them at the end and let them cook for like 10-15 minutes or so!
How many zucchini/what quantity of troodles would you use to substitute for a spaghetti squash? I can’t get spaghetti squash where I live and don’t remember from my childhood how big they are.
I’d use about 5 or 6… 🙂
Thank you!
Could you use Dreamfield’s pasta instead of spaghetti squash? Thanks.
Yes you sure could!!
We don’t have spaghetti squash where I live, so I am thinking of making this in the oven with “troodles,” but I don’t think I would need to use all of that butter, right? Maybe a few pats of butter would do? Also, I am not sure how many zucchini equal a spaghetti squash?
Yes exactly! Just cut back on the butter if using the Troodles but maybe not cook as long either so it doesn’t get soggy! I would use at LEAST 4 maybe 5 or 6!
My family enjoys this as written, but tonight I tried an addition. Sliced fresh spinach added and stirred before topping with cheese. Winner!
YAY!!!
If you’re not a Cajun seasoning fan, what other seasoning would you use?
Thanks
Hmm, just salt, pepper and garlic are my go-to them!