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Tuna Casserole on a white plate

Instant Pot Tuna Casserole

Instant Pot Tuna Casserole is comfort food that fills you up and tastes so creamy and delicious! We love this pressure cooker tuna noodle casserole recipe. It's so much easier and faster to make tuna casserole in the Instant Pot!

Course Dinner
Cuisine American
Keyword pressure cooker tuna casserole recipe
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 12 minutes
Pressure Building and Release 10 minutes
Total Time 37 minutes
Servings 6 - 8
Calories 394 kcal
Author Sandy Clifton

Ingredients

  • 1 Tablespoon Olive Oil
  • 3 Tablespoons Unsalted Butter
  • 1 small Sweet Onion, diced
  • 3 cups Chicken Broth, low sodium
  • ½ teaspoon Kosher Salt
  • ½ teaspoon Pepper
  • 1 teaspoon Garlic Powder
  • ½ teaspoon Onion Powder
  • ½ teaspoon Dill Weed, dried
  • 12 oz Wide Egg Noodles, uncooked
  • 1 cup Half and Half
  • 2 (6 oz) cans Chunk Light Tuna, in water, mostly drained
  • 2 (10.5 oz) cans Condensed Cream of Mushroom Soup (or 1 mushroom / 1 celery)

To Finish

  • 2 cups Frozen Peas
  • 1-2 cups Sharp Cheddar Cheese, shredded
  • 2 Tablespoons Fresh Parsley, chopped

Instructions

  1. Turn on the Sauté setting. When hot, add the oil, butter and onion. Cook, stirring occasionally, until onion starts to turn translucent.

  2. Add the broth, salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, and dill. Stir, using a wooden spoon and be sure to scrape up any of the browned bits from the bottom of the pot (deglaze).

  3. Let the liquid heat up a little, then turn off/Cancel the Sauté setting.

  4. Add the egg noodles. Do not stir, just gently spread them in an even layer.

  5. Pour the the half and half over the noodles. Do not stir.

  6. Add the tuna, spreading it gently over the noodles. Do not stir.

  7. Add the mushroom soup and spread to cover the noodles. Do not stir.

  8. Close the lid and set the steam release knob to the Sealing position.

  9. Press the Pressure Cook/Manual button or dial, then the +/- button or dial to select 3 minutes for soft noodles (2 minutes for firmer noodles). High Pressure. The pot will take several minutes to come to pressure.

  10. When the cook cycle has finished, turn the steam release knob to the Venting position to Quick Release the steam/pressure. **If any soup starts to come out of the steam vent, close it and release the pressure in bursts until the pressure has gone down enough to release the pressure fully.

  11. When the pin in the lid drops back down, open the lid.

  12. Carefully take the pot out of the pressure cooker housing using oven mitts, and set on a heat safe surface (this keeps it from cooking more).

To Finish

  1. Add the peas and give a gentle stir.

  2. Add the cheese and stir. The casserole will thicken as it cools.

  3. When the cheese has melted, serve with a sprinkle of parsley as a garnish.

Recipe Notes

Avoiding the Burn Warning

It is very important to have the broth-to-noodle ratio correct to avoid burning from not having enough liquid. 12 ounces of noodles needs 3 cups of broth. The noodles will absorb it. So be sure to use the correct amounts of both.

If You Want a Crunchy Topping
You can transfer the casserole to a baking dish and add a ½ cup Panko / 1 Tbsp melted butter / ½ cup parmesan topping (mix those together and sprinkle on top). Then just broil it for a few minutes.

You can also just add crushed potato chips to your serving.