This Gluten Free Tuna Casserole is oh-so-creamy, and filled with nutritious tuna and green peas. It’s so rich, your family will have a hard time believing this is a dairy free tuna noodle casserole!
Thank you Wild Selections® for sponsoring this post. For a more sustainable meal, be sure to check out Wild Selections® premium seafood — it’s always healthy, always Marine Stewardship Council certified, and always delicious!
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Dairy Free Tuna Noodle Casserole
Tuna casserole — oh so delicious, and so full of childhood memories. How many of you loved tuna and noodles and a child? It has to be one of the best ways get kids to eat seafood!
This grown up version combines a dairy free cream sauce with gluten free noodles, for a healthier (but still super creamy) take.
And it just keeps getting better – this is not only a crowd pleaser, it also can be made in about 30 minutes. A great dinner recipe to keep in your back pocket – because 1)., you don’t have to remember to defrost meat from your freezer, 2)., it doesn’t require having any fresh food in your refrigerator at all, AND, 3). It’s made in 1 pot – moved from stovetop to oven.
When thinking about remaking this classic dish, I knew finding the perfect cream sauce was key. I love the richness of cashew cream, and decided to take this up a notch by adding some coconut milk to the mix also.
Sustainable Seafood
Last month, I shared an amazing Mediterranean Baked Cod dish that I created for the Marine Stewardship Council’s (MSC) “Wild Night In” campaign. While I have certainly seen the “blue fish” logo before, I hadn’t looked in to what it meant.
Now I notice this certification every time I go shopping. The MSC blue fish logo means the seafood you’re purchasing has been traced all the way back to the sea, to ensure healthy fishing practices are in place. 
It all begins with where Wild Selections sources its wild-caught seafood – only from ocean areas that have been certified sustainable to the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) Standard – the world’s leading certification program for wild-caught, sustainable seafood for the past 20 years. This assessment and certification of oceans areas by MSC ensures that fish stocks are healthy, well managed and plentiful.
The Wild Selections solid white albacore tuna used in this gluten free tuna casserole is certified sustainable by the MSC, and is a proud supporter of the WWF. It’s the only brand that truly cares about and acts on sustainability.
Definitely my tuna of choice for having on hand in the pantry for delicious and quick mid-week dinners like this!
Tips for this Gluten Free Tuna Casserole
- Cashews blend into a creamy sauce quite easily. I soak my cashews for at least 2 hours, which softens them and can make them easier to digest. If you don’t have time for this, it’s okay to pour boiling water over your cashews and soak them for 5 minutes before draining to use for this recipe. If you have a high speed blender, you can actually skip soaking all together and still end up with a super creamy sauce.
- Need to get this dish on the table even faster? It’s totally okay to skip the crunchy topping and baking step! I’ve found this pasta is the creamiest served right after mixing in the cream sauce and warming. There is no need to bake the pasta if you just have hungry mouths to feed quickly!
Other Healthy Casserole Recipes
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Gluten Free Tuna Casserole
Ingredients
Cream Sauce
- 1/2 cup cashews soaked overnight, drained
- 1/2 cup coconut milk full fat, canned
- 1 cup water
- 2 teaspoons vegetable bouillon I like Rapunzel
- 1 teaspoon arrowroot
- 1/4 teaspoon paprika
- sea salt to taste
- black pepper to taste
"Breadcrumb" Topping
- 1/2 cup almonds
- 1 tablespoon sesame seeds
- 1 tablespoon pumpkin seeds
- 1/4 teaspoon sea salt
Casserole
- 1 package gluten free pasta usually 12 ounces
- 1 can Wild Selections Solid White Albacore Tuna in Water
- 2 cups green peas
- fresh thyme
- sea salt and black pepper to taste
Instructions
- Prepare the cream sauce by adding all the ingredients to a blender, and blending until very smooth and creamy. Set aside.
- Make "breadcrumbs" by adding the nuts, seeds, and salt to a blender, and pulsing until a course flour is formed. Set aside.
- Boil pasta. If baking this as a casserole, preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.
- Once the pasta is cooked (slightly undercook, since it will continue to cook in the casserole), add the cream sauce, peas, and tuna, and heat over medium high heat. Stir the sauce into the mixture until the sauce begins to bubble and thicken from the arrowroot.
- Season with fresh thyme, sea salt and black pepper.
- This pasta is the creamiest if eaten straight from the stovetop. The sauce absorbs into the pasta as it bakes. Stop at this stage if you'd like to serve dinner quickly!
- Add the pasta to a casserole dish, and top with nut and seed "breadcrumbs", for a salty crunchy topping.
- Bake for about 10 minutes uncovered, until the topping begins to brown and get crunchy. Serve immediately.
I love this healthy version of tuna casserole! Growing up, mom always made ours with white rice. Chickapea Pasta is perfect in this though and such a great way to switch it up!
Chickapea would be perfect in this 🙂 I can’t believe how fast this was to make and how delicious. Why do I not cook with tuna more often?
Could you freeze this as a make ahead casserole? If so what would be the best way to reheat it? I’m looking for dairy free meals I can pre make and freeze before our second baby arrives. Dairy free options on the go isn’t that easy to come by..especially with a toddler and newborn I’m sure :-/
I feel you Lindsay! I honestly am not sure how this would freeze, but my gut is saying this isn’t the right option for you. How about these recipes instead? https://sunkissedkitchen.com/freezer-meals-for-a-clean-eating-lifestyle/ –you can even use a vegan cheese or just omit it for the enchilada casserole — it’s one of my favs to have in the freezer and I have made it without cheese and just used sliced avocado on top. Exciting! My son is 3 now and while I love the idea of holding a newborn, I think 1 is enough of a challenge for me!
I would love to make this recipe but my daughter not only has a dairy and wheat allergy but also a nut allergy. Is there a way to make the cream sauce using something other than cashews?
That’s a tough one! What a good mom you are seeking out safe recipes! Can she have soy? I am allergic to soy so I don’t have any soy-based sauces. My other thought is to look for a plant based product like Daiya — they make dairy free/gluten free/nut free sauces and they have an alfredo sauce. Good luck!
Do you think I could make the sauce with almond milk? My son is having dairy issues and I was excited to make this, but he recently starting having a rash after having coconut milk yogurt
Yes, you can make it without the coconut milk. I would add a little extra olive oil to give it a creamier texture than with almond milk alone!