This Keto Tuna Noodle Casserole recipe utilizes lupini noodles and a made-from-scratch sauce - you'd never know it was a low carb tuna casserole!
When I had to go on a low carb diet, I hadn’t considered the possibility of a real, LEGIT low carb tuna casserole recipe.
I’ve tried zucchini noodles, spaghetti squash, shirataki noodles, palmini noodles (hearts of palm noodles), but none of those come very close to replicating the egg noodles used in a classic tuna noodle casserole.
Sure, I could get the good old classic FLAVORS, for the most part, and it’s easy to make a nice creamy cheese sauce that’s suitable for a keto diet... but a low carb version of tuna casserole using any form of veggie noodles just never felt right.
Then, I found out about Kaizen noodles... and a proper cheesy tuna casserole is back on the table!
The creamy cheesy sauce in NO way feels like diet food, and it’s a great recipe to whip up on busy weeknights. Tasty, nostalgic, and SO satisfying!
I’ll be playing around with more keto casserole recipes in the future, but for now... let’s look at the stats on this one.
The recipe serves 6. They’ll seem like smallish servings, but trust me - that lupini pasta is WAY more filling than regular pasta.
In terms of carb count, each serving comes in at 19 grams of carbs, with 11 of those being fiber - so 8 grams of net carbs per serving. There’s also 37 grams of protein, so it’s a great meal to put in regular rotation!
Anyway, let’s look at what you’ll need...
Ingredients
This recipe uses mostly simple ingredients. Aside from the pasta itself, you’ll have no trouble finding what you need in any grocery store.
A few notes for you:
Kaizen Fusilli Pasta
This recipe was designed specifically for using Kaizen Fusilli Pasta, a keto noodle substitute made from lupini beans.
I’ve always loved making my tuna casserole with rotini noodles, and the Kaizen pasta noodle is keto noodle product that’s closest to the real thing, so far as I’ve seen.
If you prefer other types, there’s also Kaizen Ziti Pasta Noodles, Kaizen Cavatappi Pasta Noodles, and Kaizen Radiatori Pasta Noodles.
Just a heads up - while this pasta is a very convincing keto pasta substitute when cooked properly - the “properly” is important.’
You have to ignore the pasta directions, and cook it VERY gently - as described in my recipe.
The pasta is very prone to being blown apart in boiling water.
Canned Tuna
I use 2 cans of tuna for this recipe, and usually spring for Solid White Albacore Tuna.
Texture wise, I prefer having actual broken up chunks of tuna in my keto tuna casserole. That said, feel free to use whatever type and style of canned tuna you like.
Vegetables
The nice thing about making any tuna noodle casserole from scratch is that you don’t have to choose just ONE type of vegetable. Rather than picking from cream of mushroom soup or cream of celery soup, you can have both!
So, I use celery AND mushrooms (crimini mushrooms or button mushrooms) in this, along with some onion to round out the flavours.
If you prefer all mushroom or all celery, just double the amount of the vegetable you want.
Pork Rinds
I use crushed pork rinds in place of the bread crumbs or crushed potato chips that most tuna noodle casserole recipes use.
You can buy them pre-crushed, or crush them yourself. Personally, I find the markup on pork rind crumbs to be WILD.
So much cheaper to just buy a bag of pork rinds and rum them through a food processor, or have a go at them with a rolling pin.
Just a quick note on food processor: Don’t process them down TOO far, or you’ll end up with kind of a pork rind... butter. Ew.
Dry White Wine
I love the complexity that a bit of white wine brings to my keto tuna casserole. The alcohol simmers off long before you serve the dish.
That said, if you want to skip the wine altogether, that’s fine - just sub in the same amount of extra chicken broth. I’ll usually add just a small splash of lemon juice to replace the extra acidity you’re losing, too.
Everything Else
Rounding out this recipe, you will need:
Heavy Whipping Cream / Heavy Cream
Shredded Parmesan Cheese
Chicken Broth
Olive Oil
Salt and Pepper
Xanthan Gum
Ground Black Pepper
Salt
... I just don’t have anything to add, for these last few ingredients.
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How to Make Keto Tuna Noodle Casserole
The full recipe - with exact measurements - is in the printable recipe card at the bottom of this post. Here is the pictorial walk through:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F, spray a 9 x 13" casserole dish with nonstick spray.
Bring a medium pot of water to a boil. Add noodles, stir to submerge, and remove from heat.
Add celery and onion to a large skillet along with olive oil and mushrooms. Season with a little salt and pepper.
Cook vegetables over medium-high heat for 5-10 minutes, until vegetables go soft and onions/celery are translucent.
Add wine, simmer for 1 minute.
Carefully pour in the chicken broth, bring just to a boil. Stir in the heavy cream, heat just to a simmer - do not allow it to boil.
Stir the Parmesan mixture into the sauce, whisking well to combine and melt.
Drain tuna, add to pot and break it up a bit as you stir to combine. Season with salt and pepper, to taste.
Finally, drain pasta and gently fold it into the tuna mixture.
Bake for 15 minutes, until cheese is melted and golden brown. Serve hot.
Leftovers
Leftover tuna casserole can be cooled to almost room temperature, then either covered or transferred to an airtight container and kept in the fridge for up to 4 days.
More Keto Main Dish Recipes
Looking for more low carb main dishes to feed your whole family with? I've got some delicious recipes for you!
Bacon Cheeseburger Soup
Cabbage Rolls
Chicken Cordon Bleu
Chicken Parmesan
Coconut Shrimp
Creamy Mustard Chicken
Easy Campfire Chicken Curry
Everything Bagel Chicken
Fajita Chicken Skewers
Fried Chicken
Italian Wedding Soup
Jalapeno Popper Stuffed Chicken
Jamaican Beef Patties
Lasagna
Loaded Pierogi Soup
Pierogi Pizza
Pizza Stuffed Peppers
Portobello Mushroom Pizzas
Shepherd's Pie
Stromboli Meatloaf
Swedish Meatballs
Tuna Poke Bowl
Keto Tuna Noodle Casserole
Ingredients
- 8 oz Kaizen Fusilli Pasta
- ½ Small Onion
- 4 Ribs Celery
- 1 tablespoon Olive Oil
- 8 oz Crimini or Button Mushrooms chopped
- Salt and Pepper
- ¼ cup Dry White Wine or chicken broth
- 1 ½ cups Chicken Broth
- ½ cup Heavy Whipping Cream
- 1 cup Shredded Parmesan Cheese divided
- ¾ teaspoon Xanthan Gum
- 2 Cans Solid White Albacore Tuna
- Salt and Ground Black Pepper
- ½ cup Crushed Pork Rinds
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 F, spray a 9 x 13" baking pan with nonstick spray.
- Bring a medium pot of water to a boil. Add noodles, stir to submerge, and remove from heat.
- In a food processor, blitz celery and onion together until finely chopped.
- Add celery and onion to a large saucepan along with olive oil and mushrooms. Season with a little salt and pepper.
- Cook vegetables over medium-high heat for 5-10 minutes, until vegetables go soft and onions/celery are translucent.
- Add wine, simmer for 1 minute.
- Carefully pour in the chicken broth, bring just to a boil. Stir in the heavy cream, heat just to a simmer - do not allow it to boil.
- Measure half the Parmesan into a small bowl. Add xanthan gum, mix well to distribute the xanthan gum - this will prevent clumping.
- Stir the Parmesan into the sauce, whisking well to combine and melt.
- Drain tuna, add to pot and break it up a bit as you stir to combine. Season with salt and pepper, to taste.
- Finally, drain pasta and gently fold it into the sauce.
- Transfer noodle mixture to the prepared baking dish, top with remaining Parmesan and crushed pork rinds.
- Bake for 15 minutes, serve hot.
Notes
Nutrition
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