One-Pan Tuna-White Bean Casserole
Published September 22, 2020
- Total Time
- 50 minutes
- Rating
- Comments
- Read comments
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Ingredients
1 onion, 2 shallots, 4 scallions or 2 leeks, chopped
2 tablespoons olive oil
Pinch of red-pepper flakes
Pinch of kosher salt
6 garlic cloves, sliced
1 rosemary sprig (optional)
2 anchovy fillets (optional)
2 (15-ounce) cans white beans, drained and rinsed
½ cup white wine, or use water or broth
¼ cup milk
2 (5-ounce) cans of tuna
1 to 2 tablespoons chopped fresh herbs such as parsley, basil, tarragon, chives or a combination
Zest of ½ lemon
Kosher salt and black pepper
4 to 6 tablespoons grated cheese (any kind, though Gruyère, Cheddar, Parmesan or Jarlsberg would be great)
½ cup potato chips, crushed
1 tablespoon butter, cut into small pieces
Lemon juice, for serving
Preparation
- Step 1
Heat oven to 350 degrees. In an ovenproof skillet, sauté a chopped onion (or shallots, scallions or leeks) in olive oil over medium-high heat until soft, about 5 minutes.
- Step 2
Add red-pepper flakes, salt and garlic cloves. Throw in the rosemary sprig, if using. Add anchovy fillets, if using. Cook for another 2 minutes, until the garlic is slightly golden and very fragrant.
- Step 3
Add the white beans and the wine. Let it simmer until the liquid evaporates and the beans are soft, about 5 minutes, then mash the beans with a potato masher or a fork. Make them as smooth or lumpy as you like. You just want to release some of their starch. Turn off the heat.
- Step 4
Now, add the milk and the tuna. If you have the oil-packed kind, add the oil. If you have the water-packed kind, drain them, and drizzle in more olive oil.
- Step 5
Mash the tuna into the beans, leaving it a little chunky. Mix in the herbs, lemon zest and add lots of black pepper. Finally, mix in 2 to 4 tablespoons of any kind of grated cheese. Taste and add more salt and pepper if needed.
- Step 6
Spread the mixture evenly in the skillet, and top it with potato chips. Scatter on more grated cheese, about another 2 tablespoons, and dot the top with little nuggets of butter.
- Step 7
Bake until the tuna mixture bubbles around the edges, 20 to 25 minutes. If you want the potato chips to get more brown, you could run the whole pan under the broiler. Finish with lemon juice.
Private Notes
Comments
I use 1 and a half cups Panko crumbs,1cup of grated Parmesan and 4 tablespoons Olive oil.Mix them up till the olive oil has darkened the crumbs and cheese and then top with that. then bake for the 25 minutes. delicious
I feel like i might put mushrooms in this. But then, I feel like i might put mushrooms in everything.
If you are in the grocery store anyway and don't usually have potato chips around, you could buy one of those individual serving packs of chips and have all you need for the recipe as written.
How much is a ‘sprig’ of rosemary?
Good flavor, but it was just too gloppy. Used potato chips, fresh tarragon, parsley and chives from the garden, and mixed in a few mushrooms with the onions, and maybe that added to the mushy texture. With the leftovers, I'm thinking I might spoon some on toast. If I were to do it again, maybe one can of beans instead of two. Anyway, glad I tried it, but will most likely return to the noodle version.
This dish will serve 6. It’s rich.

