Cheesy Tuna Casserole

Yes, very creamy and cheesy. I really liked this, even though I'm not a big Tuna Noodle Casserole fan. I think this will be my "default" Tuna Casserole recipe, as I typically have these ingredients on hand and I enjoyed this more than other recipes. I might also try preparing this w/o the tuna, just as a jazzed up mac and cheese or with ground beef instead of the tuna. However, if you do really like tuna, I might use 2 cans instead of just one, but one was good for me. I started by preparing the mac and cheese according to the box and then added the other ingredients. That worked out well. Spray the casserole dish with cooking spray so it doesn't stick. I wasn't sure at first about the onion and celery not being sauteed first, but they added a nice textural crunch. I might skip the crumb topping as it didn't seem necessary to me, but I'm sure kids would love the goldfish on top. This fits well in an 8 by 8 or a 11/2 qt. casserole dish.

Good! I used Miracle Whip, red peppers and Ritz crackers on top. I wasn't sure I liked this at first, but found the leftovers to taste better the next day.

This really is VERY creamy and cheesey. We doubled the recipe for our family of five, but probably could have kept it as is and not had quite so much leftover--but those are good too! My 11 y.o. DD made this, and didn't QUITE follow directions carefully (we're working on THAT too!). Here's what was done differently: She had all the sauce and fish in the pan, with the cheese on top and THEN remembered the macaroni draining in the sink! Ach! However, we LOVED the cheese mixed into the sauce. We had a nice crunchy Ritz cracker layer on top--very nice touch--which kept the mac from drying out, too. Another difference was instead of doubling the tuna, we used a can of kipper snacks (smoked herring) for the second can. Lends a very nice richness to the whole thing (DH could've done without it, but the rest of us LOVED it!). And we had some green peppers in there which perked it up a bit, too! The only thing I would suggest is listing IN the directions to be sure to add the cheese packet from the mac-n-cheese. DD overlooked that, and since it doesn't specifically say TO add it, she thought it wasn't meant to be added. She did add it when I reminded her, but it might be better if the directions said so, too. Otherwise, this is a GREAT recipe, and a very nice casserole. KEEPER! *Made for PAC Spring 2007*