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This Gluten Free Tuna Pasta Bake is one of my childhood favourites. This nostalgic, gluten free pasta recipe is made with tinned tuna, sweetcorn and a delicious cheesy sauce. It’s so simple to make, a great budget meal and one of my favourite dinners. The whole family is guaranteed to love it!
I remember my mum always making Tuna Pasta Bake, and although I’ve revamped it slightly to give it my own twist, it’s still an absolute classic.
The best thing about this tuna bake recipe is that it’s so cheap to make. One tin of tuna can stretch to feed 4-6 people, so you’ve got a hearty meal at a low cost.
This is honestly the best tuna pasta bake. It’s ready in 30 minutes and you simply cannot beat that cheesy, crispy topping.
I flavour the sauce with some dried herbs and add a little ketchup to give it a nice colour and taste. This was always my mum’s top tip!
Sweetcorn helps to bulk it out and add some veg – plus tuna and sweetcorn is the ultimate combination, don’t you agree!?
Overall it’s just so easy to make and it’s something the kids could easily help with, grating the cheese and helping to stir it all together, with supervision of course.
For more budget recipe ideas, this Tuna Pasta Salad makes a great lunch and you can also use up leftover canned tuna in my easy Tuna Sushi Bowl too.
And for more gluten free pasta recipes, try my 15-minute Cheeseburger Pasta, my easy Creamy Garlic Pasta, my classic Spaghetti Bolognese or my Cheesy Meatball Pasta Bake.
Ingredients
There’s a printable recipe card for this gluten free tuna sweetcorn pasta bake below. But for the shopping list you will need…
- Gluten Free Pasta: You can use any pasta you like for this recipe, from fusilli or penne to shell pasta, spaghetti or macaroni.
- Butter: This forms the base of the sauce for this recipe.
- Plain Gluten Free Flour: I use the FREEE plain gluten free flour blend. Any gluten free all purpose flour or plain flour blend will work.
- Milk: I use full fat milk but you can use skim milk or semi-skimmed if you prefer.
- Tuna: Tinned tuna is a super easy ingredient and makes this a great budget meal.
- Sweetcorn: I use tinned sweetcorn but you can use fresh or frozen, or swap for something like peas instead if you prefer.
- Grated Cheese: I used grated mature Cheddar cheese – a sharp Cheddar will have a cheesier flavour.
- Tomato Ketchup: My secret recipe to add colour and flavour to the sauce. Make sure you use a gluten free ketchup – most are suitable.
- Dried Parsley
- Paprika
- Garlic Powder
- Chilli Flakes
- Crisps: If you want, you can crush some gluten free crisps on top of this pasta bake for true nostalgia!
How to make Tuna Pasta Bake
There’s a printable recipe card below with the method. But here are some step-by-step photos to show you how easy this gluten free Tuna Pasta Bake is to make:
Cook the pasta as per the pack instructions. Preheat the oven to 200’C / Fan 180’C / Gas Mark 6 and set aside an ovenproof dish. While the pasta bubbles away, make the sauce.
Melt the butter in a large saucepan over a low heat. Once melted, add the flour and mix into a thick paste. Cook for 2-3 minutes, stirring to ensure it does not stick.
Add the dried parsley, paprika, garlic powder and chilli flakes (if using) and stir for another 30 seconds to one minute until all mixed in.
Add a splash of milk and mix well until it forms into a paste with no lumps. Continue to add the milk around 50-75ml at a time, each time mixing until there are no lumps.
Once you’ve added all the milk you should have a smooth, thick sauce.
Add the drained tuna and sweetcorn to the sauce and stir well. Next add in the 200g of grated cheese and stir until it has melted into the sauce.
Add the ketchup, stirring until it is fully mixed together into a smooth sauce. Turn off the heat.
You may want to taste it at this point and add some salt and black pepper if you feel it needs some extra seasoning.
Once the pasta is cooked, drain it and add to the sauce. Stir really well until the pasta is coated, and then pour the whole thing into the ovenproof dish, spreading it out evenly.
Top with the grated cheese (and crushed gluten free crisps if you like) and bake for around 20 minutes until the cheese is golden and bubbling. Serve hot.
Storing and Freezing
This gluten free tuna pasta bake is great for making in bulk and you can easily batch cook the sauce and freeze it.
Gluten free pasta doesn’t tend to reheat too well without falling apart. Therefore I’d recommend making extra sauce and freezing this.
That way you can reheat the sauce and add freshly-cooked pasta when you’re ready.
Any leftovers will also keep in the fridge for a couple of days. You can reheat this thoroughly or enjoy it cold too.
Frequently Asked Questions
Here are some FAQs about this easy tuna pasta bake. If you can’t find the answer to your question here or in the post above, please comment and I’ll try answer!
You can make this recipe dairy free with a few simple swaps. Try using a dairy free milk, a vegan butter and dairy free cheese in the sauce to make it dairy free as well as gluten free.
To air fry, simply follow the recipe steps up to the point of baking the pasta. Instead of placing in the oven, I pour the pasta into a silicone air fryer liner tray and air fry at 200C for 10 minutes until the cheese is golden and bubbling on top.
If you make this recipe and love it, please do let me know by tagging me on my Instagram or using #theglutenfreeblogger. You can also share your creations in my Facebook group! And please do leave a 5* review ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ to let others know you loved it too! It would mean the world to me and really helps support my website.
Gluten Free Tuna Pasta Bake
Ingredients
- 300 g gluten free shell pasta, or shape of your choice
- 30 g butter
- 30 g gluten free plain flour
- 1/2 tsp dried parsley
- 1/2 tsp paprika
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder
- 1/2 tsp chilli flakes, optional
- 450 ml full fat milk
- 1 x 160g tin of tuna, drained
- 150 g tinned sweetcorn
- 200 g grated mature Cheddar cheese, Plus a handful extra for topping
- 1 tbsp tomato ketchup
Instructions
- Cook the pasta as per the pack instructions. Preheat the oven to 200’C / Fan 180’C / Gas Mark 6 and set aside an ovenproof dish. While the pasta bubbles away, make the sauce.
- Melt the butter in a large saucepan over a low heat. Once melted, add the flour and mix into a thick paste. Cook for 2-3 minutes, stirring to ensure it does not stick. Add the dried parsley, paprika, garlic powder and chilli flakes (if using) and stir for another 30 seconds to one minute until all mixed in.
- Add a splash of milk and mix well until it forms into a paste with no lumps. Continue to add the milk around 50-75ml at a time, each time mixing until there are no lumps. Once you’ve added all the milk you should have a smooth, thick sauce.
- Add the drained tuna and sweetcorn to the sauce and stir well. Next add in the 200g of grated cheese and stir until it has melted into the sauce. Add the ketchup, stirring until it is fully mixed together into a smooth sauce. Turn off the heat. You may want to taste it at this point and add some salt and black pepper if you feel it needs some extra seasoning.
- Once the pasta is cooked, drain it and add to the sauce. Stir really well until the pasta is coated, and then pour the whole thing into the ovenproof dish, spreading it out evenly. Top with the grated cheese and cook for around 20 minutes until the cheese is golden and bubbling. Serve hot.
Video
Notes
- My mum used to always serve this up with a good helping of peas, if you want an extra bit of veg with your dinner!
- You can also try adding crushed up gluten free ready salted crisps with your cheese for the topping, or add some slices of tomato before placing the bake in the oven.
- Can also be served without baking if you’re short on time!
Nutrition
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Oh wow Sarah, you’ve done it again! What a smashing meal and so super yummy! Plates were definitely all clean 😋
It’s tricky making pasta at my hoiuse. My husband is allergic to wheat so he is on a gluten free diet. I cannot tolerate rice pasta and am allergic to most of the other gluten free flours/pastas he uses, so If I have pasta I use wheat based noodles.
Thus, I attempted to make a 1/2 batch for him by using a box of Annie’s Gluten Free mac and cheese shells and adapting the instructions for it using most of the ingredients and 1/2 the amounts from this recipe. I did swap out the paprika and chili flakes and used cilanteo and turmeric instead to suit his tastes. It turned out “really good” he said. Thanks for sharing the recipe.
That does sound tricky – but I’m glad you managed to make this and it was a hit!
I’ve never come across GF she’ll pasta – where do you buy yours please? Thanks 🙏
OMG, Sarah another awesome winner, love it and so easy, thank you.
I was very disappointed because the sauce all soaked into the noodles.It is dry.i like it with sauce.Taste is ok.