Monday, March 10, 2014

1950's Tuna Noodle Casserole with Potato Chip Topping

Here it is! This is the traditional tuna noodle casserole that we all ate as children and then fed to our children.  I still love it ! - I may not be a gourmet, but all of the ingredients in this recipe combine to produce my idea of true comfort food. I found this recipe in my mother's recipe box - It was cut out of a magazine and was an advertisement for egg noodles. It was probably in the late 50's or early 60's. Momma made this a lot for me on Saturdays at lunch. Daddy would not touch such as this - He said that you might as well eat cat food. I loved it then and love it now!
Almost every ingredient can be found in your pantry or refrigerator today. Bring back some memories and make it for your family - Tell the kids that this is what your grandma used to eat as a child - Who knows? They may like it or beg for processed chicken nuggets.

Tuna Noodle Casserole

1 16 oz package egg noodles
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 can cream of celery soup
2 cans tuna - 6 ounces each - drained
1 1/4 cup milk
salt and pepper to taste
4 slices American cheese - the good old yellow kind
1 1/2 cup potato chips

Boil noodles in salted water until al dente - about 10 minutes
Preheat oven to 350 degrees
Spray a 1 1/2  quart casserole with cooking spray
Mix tuna, cream of mushroom soup, cream of celery soup, milk and salt and pepper to to taste
Mix tuna mixture with noodles
Spread 1/2 the noodle mixture in dish
Arrange 2 of the cheese slices over noodle mixture
Spread remaining noodle mixture over cheese
Lay two remaining cheese slices on top
Top with crushed potato chips
Bake uncovered at 350 degrees 20 to 30 minutes - until casserole is hot and and potato chips start to brown

Of course you can use any kind of grated or sliced cheese - but let's stay true to the 50's.
No cheating, only original greasy Lays for the topping!

I would love to read your comments about your childhood tuna casserole memories.







10 comments:

  1. Thank you for posting this - I lived on tuna casserole as a kid. My mom made it so much that I actually hated this dish with a passion! But lately I have been really craving it, go figure!

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  2. As a kid mom would make this but she always topped it with crushed saltine crackers. Yuck. Then when I married my husband he made it with potato chips yum it's the only way my kids will eat. But we bake the casserole and get it bubbly before adding cheese and finally chips and bake til cheese is fully melted and chips begin to brown. And a must is extra chips on the side. Yes indeed comfort food at Its finest

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  3. My grandmother made it without the noodles. It just had potato chips in it. It was very salty to me. Family loved it. That was way back in the 60's.

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  4. I used to gag at the thought of tuna casserole. Now I crave it several times a month. Lol

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  5. I just made a version similar to this—so good! I’ve never used cream of celery so will try that next time. I used gluten-free elbow pasta, and it worked great. Potato chips are a must. And diced green onions after it bakes! Yum!

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  6. Where's the peas? My Mom only used mushroom soup and if she wanted to be fancy, she'd use potato sticks instead of potato chips.

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  7. Mom added 4 hard boiled eggs, 2 sliced on each layer. Now I will have to add peas. I can hardly waita

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  8. Thank you for posting this - I lived on tuna casserole as a kid. My mom made it so much that I actually hated this dish with a passion! But lately I have been really craving it, go figure!
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    ReplyDelete