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Growing up, I loved Tuna Helper's Tuna Cheesy Pasta. It was my go-to during school breaks and afternoons when my parents trusted me enough to operate the kitchen solo (shoutout to all the latchkey kids out there). But as I got older and could drive myself, Taco Bell took over my heart and taste buds.
Then, the pandemic hit. I found myself reaching for that familiar blue box once again. It wasn't flying off the shelves like toilet paper or hand sanitizer at first, probably because many people have a love-hate relationship with tuna. But as soon as I took that cheesy, tuna-filled bite, I remembered why I adored it so much.
Of course, just like everything else, it eventually disappeared from the shelves too. That's when I embarked on a quest to recreate it myself. The recipe below is the resolution to that adventure. It serves two, but let's be real—it’s mainly for me now and leftovers for me tomorrow as pasta tastes twice as good the following day. Although I must confess, there have been occasions when I devoured the entire pot in one glorious sitting. It's a guilty pleasure that requires a handful of Lactaid pills to handle the cheesiness.
Cheesy Tuna Pasta
serves 2
Ingredients
¼ teaspoon garlic powder
¼ teaspoon mustard powder
½ teaspoon onion powder
½ teaspoon dried parsley
½ teaspoon dried mushroom powder* (optional)
2 tablespoons cornstarch
2 tablespoons butter
1 teaspoon tomato paste
1 ¼ cups chicken broth
1 ¼ cups milk
4 to 6 ounces medium dried egg noodles
one 5 ounce can tuna
two slices of American style cheese, cut into strips*
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
Instructions
1. In a small bowl mix the garlic powder, mustard powder, onion powder, dried parsley, dried mushroom powder, and cornstarch until evenly combined. Set aside.
2. In a medium sized sauce pan over medium-low heat, melt the butter. Once the butter is melted add the tomato paste. Stirring continuously, mix the butter and tomato paste together until the color of the tomato paste is a shade or two darker, 2 to 3 minutes.
3. While mixing, add the chicken broth and milk to the sauce pan. Once all of the liquid is added, sprinkle in the powder mixture from step 1 while still mixing.
4. Add the noodles and the tuna to the sauce pan and mix again until everything is evenly coated. Increase the temperature to medium-high stirring frequently to make sure it doesn’t scorch. Bring to a gentle boil. Once boiling, decrease the temperature back to medium-low.
6. Still stirring frequently, allow the pasta to cook in the mixture until it’s just below al dente, about 5 to 6 minutes.
7. After that time, add the cheese into the pan and mix again until all the cheese has been blended into the pasta liquid. Allow the sauce to thicken and the pasta to finish cooking, another 3 to 4 minutes.
8. Once the pasta has finished cooking and the sauce has thickened up, take it off the heat and allow to sit for a minute or two to allow the sauce to thicken a little more. It’ll thicken more as it cools. Taste and season with salt and pepper as needed. Serve once it reaches desired thickness.
Tips/Notes
Dried mushroom powder can be made by blitzing dried mushrooms in a blender. My local grocery store has dried mushrooms in plastic clam-shells hanging above the fridge where you get fresh mushrooms. If you don’t want to go that route, some grocery stores (or online) sell dried mushroom powder in the spice and herb sections of baking aisles. Or you can skip it altogether. I just like the savoriness it adds to the dish.
American style cheese slices are used because they have an ingredient known as sodium citrate added to them. Sodium citrate is added to cheese/cheese sauces as it is an emulsifier that helps keep the sauce from separating by allowing the fat and proteins to stay suspended in the liquid. There are other cheeses on the market that have sodium citrate added to them, such as Velveeta. It doesn’t really matter which kind of American style cheese you use (slices, Velveeta, or other kind) just make sure sodium citrate is on the ingredients list.
This dish can easily be made vegetarian/dairy-free depending on your dietary restrictions. As someone who is lactose-intolerant and occassionally takes it seriously, I typically swap out the milk with dairy-free milk or lactose-free milk and use dairy-free cheese (such as Violife) in place of regular cheese. Using dairy-free butter, vegetable broth or vegan chicken broth, and omitting the tuna all together can make this dish completely vegan.