Homemade Cheesy Tuna Helper is a make at home version of that famous box of pasta. It is as good, if not better, than the real thing.
Years ago I did a series called homemade favorites. I shared make make at home versions of my favorite foods.
In that series, I shared a homemade version of Cheeseburger Helper and a homemade Stroganoff Style Hamburger Helper. I also shared this version of a favorite skillet meal, Homemade Cheesy Tuna Helper.
Ten-plus years later I am still making this family-favorite recipe. I love that I can make it using ingredients that I have on hand.
The homemade tuna helper took me a while to get just right. Or at least how my family enjoyed it. Now, I will say that it has been years since I had any version of the boxed tuna helper, so I am not sure the taste on this is precisely the same, but it is close. We think it is actually better than the boxed version.
I also love that I can make gluten free tuna helper simply by using gluten free pasta. If you are gluten free this is a delicious inexpensive gluten free dinner.
If you have never made a homemade version of hamburger or tuna helper I encourage you to give it a try. You may never go back to the box again. Homemade versions are so easy and so good!
I have had a lot of fun coming up with new “helper” style meals so look for more homemade helper recipes coming up over the next few months.
What homemade helper versions do you want to see?
Homemade Cheesy Tuna Helper
Homemade Cheesy Tuna Helper as good as the real thing.
Ingredients
- 12 ounces uncooked macaroni or similar type noodle ( gluten free pasta works great for gf version)
- 1 can chicken broth
- 12 ounces evaporated milk
- 12-15 ounces (or so) tuna- I like to use the foil pouches, but you can use cans just drain well
- 2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
- salt and pepper to taste
- frozen peas- optional
Instructions
- In a skillet or large pan heat broth and evaporated milk. Add pasta and bring just to a boil.
- Reduce heat to simmer, cover, and cook for 10-12 minutes or until pasta is tender. You may need to stir once or twice while cooking.
- Once pasta is tender, stir in tuna and cheese and heat over low just until heated through and cheese is melted. If adding peas, you can stir these in as well until heated through.
Notes
Some in my family don't like peas, so I cook them on the side and those that like them just stir them in.
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
8Serving Size:
1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 279Total Fat: 14gSaturated Fat: 8gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 5gCholesterol: 42mgSodium: 395mgCarbohydrates: 25gFiber: 2gSugar: 6gProtein: 14g
Nutritional values are approxomite and aren't always accurate.
Originally posted May 2013. Updated June 2023.
I bet small bits of cooked broccoli florets would be good in place of the peas as well.
love more of these “helper” meals, please post!
I will be sharing another new one later this week. We love these, so I have quite a few more to share.
My Betty Crocker cookbook has a similar recipe using uncooked elbow macaroni and adding curry powder. Baked in the oven with plenty of liquid, so no need to precook the noodles.
Another great recipe! Thank you for doing all the work in figuring out these recipes! My little girl loves that she now gets to have Hamburger Helper, lol!
I used milk and butter instead of the evaporated milk because i didnt have any at home. Came out delicious. My husband said it was better than the box. Thank you!
I am so glad you enjoyed it and that it worked with regular milk and butter. Thanks for letting me know.
How much butter and milk did you use?
We love all the “Helper”s, beef, tuna, and chicken, but they have so many artificial ingredients. How about Beef Pasta flavor? I love making homemade Helper dishes, but I can’t seem to get that one right. Years ago, our favorite Hamburger Helper was one called Rice Oriental. When it was discontinued, I had to figure out my own version, which we now like even better than the original.
I remember that flavor! Can you post your recipe? I’d love to have it!
I just made this for my twins for lunch, it was delish! All the other recipes I found use cream of mushroom soup. I loved your take on it.
Thanks
I am glad they you all enjoyed it!
How many oz is a can of chicken broth?
14.5 ounces is a can of chicken broth. I hope you enjoy it!
It’s about two cups of broth, if that helps.
Tried this recipe in a “large pan”, and with No Yolk Egg Noodles, and there just wasn’t enough liquid to boil the noodles in, and they came out hard and uncooked. Good recipe, just don’t try it with larger noodles that need more water
I cooked mine with these noodles just added water & a little more milk turned out amazing. Try that next time.:)
What happened to the Cream of Mushroom soup, milk, sliced mushrooms, chopped onions, and bread crumbs on top?
Thanks! This recipe was a hit!
I am glad you enjoyed it!
I made this using two boxes organic mac n cheese and subbed half n half for the evap milk. I only added 1 cup cheese in addition to the cheese packets. It was super creamy and delicious, and my kids loved it. I really think the key to this recipe is cooking the pasta in the broth/milk mixture at a simmer, rather than the usual boil in a big pot of water. The texture of the pasta was better than when I usually make mac n cheese, and the broth gave it extra flavor. Thanks so much for your recipes!
I am so glad that you enjoyed it! Thanks for sharing what you did.
How many servings does this make
It serves my family of 5 with usually enough for my husbands’ lunch the next day. So I would say 5-6 servings. I hope that helps.
Omg this is the best thing known to man. I was a box style girl for so long but I have been freed!!!
I used whole wheat egg noodles instead
I also added 1TBS of parsley, salt, pepper, and 1 TBS Butter- not vegetable spread.
15-16 oz chicken broth
1/2 TBS Parsley
1TBS Butter
Few dashes of salt
Few dashes of pepper
6-8 oz evaporated milk
1-1.5 cups shredded mild cheddar
2 (5oz each) cans of tuna
3-4 large hand fulls of whole wheat egg noodles
I am so glad that you enjoyed it! I love helping people make the homemade version of their favorite foods! I have several other homemade helper recipes on my site, so you might enjoy those as well. Thanks for sharing the changes that you made.
This recipe is FANTASTIC, and every bit as easy as the boxed stuff…. but, MUCH better! My only mods were 1 c. half n half and 2 T butter instead of the evaporated milk. I used cavatappi noodles. I added 1 c. frozen peas. Not a spec was left! Thank you!
If you don’t have evaporated milk on hand, but have dry milk, try using 1 and 1/4 cups of water and 1 cup of dry powdered milk together and whisk until dissolved. Then use in the recipe.
wowza just tried this recipe (tho i used milk and butter instead of evaporated milk and altered the proportions based on what i had on hand) and it miraculously worked really well i guess this recipe is p hard to screw up which is nice
i used
2 cups milk
1 cup vegetable broth
2 tbsp butter
2 cups pasta (in this case some expired gluten free rotini that had been sittin on my shelf for 3 yrs)
2 and a half cups freshly shredded extra sharp cheddar cheese
a good amount of salt
+tuna
and it was tooo good
thank goodness this recipe exists and can be used by someone as lazy and incompetent as me
that kinda sounds like im being facetious… or insulting this recipe…
but like honestly i am very pleased would recommend haha
I am so glad that you enjoyed it! Thanks for sharing how you changed it up! And no insult at all to the recipe. I love sharing quick and easy recipes like this because so many people need quick, easy, and delicious meals!
I made this for supper last night using Tinkyada gluten free brown rice shells. The flavor was good, but I didn’t have nearly enough liquid and about halfway through cooking, I had to add substantially more milk. It still stuck to the pan and was pasty in texture so I probably should have added more. I may have had the burner too high. I’ll try this again but keep the heat lower and see how it goes. It was really simple and quick to make. And only one pan to wash! That doesn’t happen in my world very often! So worth trying again! Lol.
I am glad that you enjoyed it, but sorry that you had some issues. Some gluten free pastas do take extra liquid. They all seem to cook slightly different. It has been awhile since I used Tinkyada because my family prefers the gluten free corn rice blend type of pastas now. But I would suggest more liquid and to watch the heat. I hope that helps. And yes I love one pan type of meals. 🙂
Just tried this, love it! Better than the boxed stuff and just as easy and quick. Very versatile too, kudos!
I am so glad that you enjoyed it!