This easy tuna casserole has become a regular in our dinner rotation — and I mean regular. Five ingredients, one pan, 20 minutes in the oven, and it’s done. The salsa is the secret weapon here, and trust me, it works.
Why You’ll Love It
Only 5 ingredients — rice, corn, salsa, tuna, and cheese. That’s it.
Ready in 20 minutes — throw it together, bake it, eat it.
One pan — barely any cleanup, which on a weeknight is everything.
Mild tuna flavor — the salsa takes the lead, so even picky eaters tend to go back for seconds.
Great leftovers — it reheats well and holds up in the fridge for days.
A Word About the Ingredients
The salsa is doing heavy lifting here, so use one you actually like eating with chips. Sometimes it’s a jar of mid-range grocery store salsa, sometimes it’s a chipotle salsa made from scratch when feeling ambitious.
The chipotle version makes the whole thing smokier and a little spicier. Either way works.
Brown rice is what I use. Short grain, when I can find it — the short grain gets this slightly chewy texture in the casserole that I really like.
You can use white rice. I won’t tell you not to. But the brown rice holds up better to the baking.
Frozen corn — just defrost it.
Put it in a colander and run cold water over it for a minute. Done.
The cheese. Cheddar, shredded. Pre-shredded bags are fine, but freshly grated melts so much better and it only takes about two extra minutes. Do what you want with that information.
A Quick Note on the Tuna
I didn’t used to think about this at all and then I read something about methylmercury in tuna.
The upshot is: albacore (the “white” tuna) tends to have more of it, and it’s the kind that accumulates in your body over time rather than just… passing through.
The major health organizations have flagged this, and I take it seriously enough now that I reach for skipjack or yellowfin canned tuna instead.
They’re nutritionally similar — still full of those omega-3 fatty acids that do good things for your brain and heart and skin — and I just feel better about it. It’s one of those small swaps that costs me nothing extra.
Ingredients
3 cups cooked brown rice (leftover works great — even better, actually)
1½ cups frozen corn, defrosted
1 cup salsa — a good one, one you’d eat straight
1 can tuna (5 oz), drained and flaked — skipjack or yellowfin
1½ cups shredded cheddar, divided
Easy Tuna Casserole (only 5 ingredients!)
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