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You know what I like? I like casseroles. ‘Cause easy, comforting, and delish! I’ve been working on an AIP-ified tuna casserole for you guys forever and I finally have it ready for you. There are no gluten-y noodles, just yummy veggies. And there’s no can of cheap cream of mushroom soup, just a creamy sauce without wheat or dairy (yes! I perfected it!). Here’s to casual, inexpensive weeknight meals with all the goodness baked into them!
Tuna Cauli Casserole
Prep time
Cook time
Total time
Author: Angie Alt
Serves: 4
Ingredients
- 1 large head cauliflower, chopped into florets
- 1 cup packed arugula
- 1 yellow onion, diced
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 3 stalks celery, diced
- 1 tablespoon minced fresh thyme
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
- 4 tablespoons palm shortening, divided
- 5 tablespoons cassava flour
- 1 can full-fat coconut milk
- ½ cup chicken bone broth
- 2 5 oz. cans undrained, water packed tuna
- Fresh parsley, for garnish
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Grease a 9x13 casserole dish with small amount of palm shortening.
- Add cauliflower to a large pot and bring to a boil. Remove from heat after 4 minutes, drain water and layer cauliflower into bottom of prepared casserole dish.
- Layer arugula over cauliflower and set aside.
- In a large heavy-bottom skillet, melt 1 tablespoon palm shortening over medium heat. Add onion, garlic, celery, thyme, and salt, and cook until onion is softened, about 8 minutes.
- Remove vegetable mixture from skillet to a clean bowl and set aside.
- In the same skillet, melt remaining 3 tablespoons palm shortening over low heat. Add in flour and quickly whisk until mixture just begins to bubble. While continuing to whisk, slowly pour in coconut milk. Whisk until a smooth, thickened sauce forms.
- Add vegetable mixture and broth to sauce mixture. Stir to combine.
- Remove sauce from heat, stir in tuna with canning liquid.
- Pour sauce over cauliflower and arugula.
- Bake covered for 15 minutes, remove cover, turn oven up to 425 degrees F, and bake for 12 more minutes or until casserole begins to lightly brown.
- Garnish with parsley and serve.
71 comments
Hi Angie! I’d love to try this, but is there anything I can sub for the cassava flour?
Thanks!
Hi Meghan-
I find the cassava flour blends best for a roux base to make a cream sauce, but you could certainly try experimenting w/ some of the other AIP-friendly flours.
Could you include macro breakdowns plz
Hi Pam-
I believe you could plug this recipe into a site like Cronometer to get macros.
Hi Angie,
This looks great! One question: you mention canning liquid from the tuna. Does that mean you use tuna canned in water?
Haven’t been able to find white palm shortening here in Europe. Mine is bright orange. Maybe I’ll add some nutritional yeast and pretend it’s cheese 🙂
Hi Angie! Saw this the other day and decided to make it. It was wonderful! It instantly took me back to childhood memories of tuna casserole (the not-so-good-for-you kind). Thanks so much for the recipe, I can see this becoming a favorite 🙂
Hi Dimitrina! I am sooo glad to hear that. I used to love me some of the “not so good” kind too. Enjoy!
Do you prefer to use tuna in oil or water?
I ended using tuna in water as I felt the tuna in oil would make the dish too, well oily:) It was really good and reminded me of eating tuna casserole as a child. I did forget to add the coconut milk to the rue but added it to the casserole before I put it in the oven. That’s what I get for not carefully reading the instructions!!It was really good. Can’t wait to try it again.
Glad you liked it Alycia!
Made this and it was yum! Husband really enjoyed it too, and he’s not AIP. But…I am wondering – would it possible to delete the coconut milk and sub it with another liquid? Any ideas???
Also, just fyi: to make life easier, I used packaged Pacific TURKEY bone broth; it’s AIP ready to go and even comes in large and small containers: https://www.pacificfoods.com/food/broths-stocks/bone-broths/organic-bone-broth-turkey.aspx
Karen, I’m sorry, but I really don’t know a good sub. You could try to use broth, instead of coconut milk & see if it gets the same consistency.
I just made this and it was awesome!! The roux with the cassava flour and oil worked great. Thank you for this recipe!!
Thanks Theresa! Glad you liked it!
Please, please don’t use palm oil or anything made from it. The rainforests of the world are being destroyed by the palm oil industry with the ensuing loss of valuable species – some of which we have not yet researched. Any artificial shortening of this sort requires processing which is not good for us and it is possible to make a perfectly good and delicious sauce from an organic oil. Other than this the recipe sounds delicious!
Hi what could I use instead of coconut – I love the taste but react to it…thanks!
Jennifer, I’m sorry, but I really don’t know a good sub. You could try to use broth, instead of coconut milk & see if it gets the same consistency.
Hi Angie! This looks & sounds DELICIOUS! I, too, am casserole obsessed & miss them desperately on AIP, so this made my heart go pitter-patter. 😉 I am also wondering about the tuna – canned in oil or water? I’m imagining it could make quite a difference in both taste & texture, so I’d like to know what you use. Thank you!😃
Hi Christie, I used canned in water. Yes, that is too much oil if you use canned in oil.
Hi! This looks great, but is there anything I can use instead of the coconut milk? I tend not to do great with coconut. Thanks!
Victoria, I’m sorry, but I really don’t know a good sub. You could try to use broth, instead of coconut milk & see if it gets the same consistency.
I don’t eat tuna, could I use canned chicken instead? Thanks
Sure, Gordeen, it would probably be yummy. I might consider just dicing up some organic chicken thighs in that case.
Do you have the nutrition facts for this recipe?
No Robyn, sorry, we aren’t able to do testing like that, but you could probably look up the general nutrition facts for each ingredient to get an idea.
Hello, can tigernut flour be used instead of cassava flour?
Thanks,
Cindy
Cindy-
You try it, but I suspect it will not produce as smooth a sauce. Thanks!
What could you use other than palm shortening?
Kellie, palm shortening a good sub for butter, which is used in making a traditional roux base for a creamy sauce. You might come out okay w/ coconut oil, but I have not tried it.
I used olive oil and it worked just fine.
This was delicious! Try drizzling the juice of 1 lemon and sprinkling its zest over top of the dish once you pull it out of the oven!
Ooooh! Angela, that’s a great suggestion. Thanks for sharing.
Thanks so much Angie. I made this today exactly as stated in the recipe. No subs. It was delicious!
You are so welcome Michelle!
Does this dish freeze and reheat well?
Lacy, see my instructions in reply to Renee below.
Has any one tried freezing this?
Patty, see my instructions in reply to Renee below.
I just made this and must say…you nailed this recipe! Delicious, comforting and satisfying. Thanks for posting!
Hooray! Renee, I am so glad you loved it!
At what point do you add the bone broth!?!
I love this dish! Made it twice now. Tastes the same as non-AIP tuna casserole to me. Thanks for your hard work in creating this recipe!
You are so welcome Allison! Glad you loved it!
I was just wondering if this casserole would freeze well, either before or after cooking? I’m always lookinf for make-ahead meals. 🙂
Yes, Renee, you can freeze it after cooking. Here’s some instructions:
Freezing instructions:
1. Allow dish to cool to room temperature.
2. Cover with a tight layer of plastic wrap, following by a tight layer of aluminum foil.
3. Write the date and recipe name on the foil.
4. Place in freezer for up to 2-3 months.
Serving day ingredients:
” Fresh parsley, for garnish
Serving day instructions:
1. Take dish out of freezer and place in the refrigerator to defrost overnight.
2. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Remove inner plastic wrap lining and recover with aluminum foil.
3. Bake covered for 25 minutes, remove cover, turn oven up to 425 degrees F, and bake for 12 more minutes or until casserole begins to lightly brown.
4. Garnish with parsley, serve and enjoy!
This continues to be one of my favorite recipes for my new AIP lifestyle. Thank you!
You are so welcome Swan!
I’ve been wanting to try this and I finally had a chance to make it. The whole family approved! It was so nice to have a casserole again. I made the mistake of adding more salt to the vegetable/roux mix and didn’t consider that the canned tuna would add additional salt flavoring, so I’d advise to not add more salt until you’ve tasted it after the tuna is added. Even with a tad too much salt it was still really good. The only thing I didn’t care for is this did take me far longer to prep than I had expected. I wonder if I subbed whole cauliflower and used fresh riced cauliflower that you can now get at the supermarket if that would work even if I didn’t pre-steam it? Has anyone tried it this way?
Glad you loved it Amanda! I’m not sure about the cauli rice. I think you might get a too mushy consistency, but you could certainly give it a shot!
You didn’t list the directions of water and boiling the cauliflower.
Really enjoyed this dish. Thanks so much. Comforting but not heavy 🙂
Glad you liked it Gabrielle!
Could gelatin be used to thicken instead of cassava flour? We are brand new to this diet, and I don’t have any cassava flour. I can order it or find it at whole foods or something eventually, but I want to make this now. Ha!
Just finished having this casserole for lunch. Husband and I absolutely loved it. I’ve never eaten a Tuna Casserole before, but this one was perfect. Prep time took me much longer than the 25 minutes, but then, I’m not a cook. So glad this worked out great for all the effort. Thank You.
It looks delicious! Just wondering what size can of coconut milk? They tend to come in different sizes here in Australia 🙂
Hi Denise! I think Angie will chime in too to be sure, but most cans of coconut milk here are 14 1/2 ounces.
Damn – this is delicious. It’s like going home…. LOL Seriously, comfort food at its best! Mine turned out very orange – my palm fat must be different than yours. And I used a half pkg of Trader Joe’s Power to the Greens instead of arugula to save a trip to the store. Absolutely delicious. And definitely scratches the tuna casserole itch. Thanks so much for developing this recipe!
So glad you loved it Marcia!
An absolute hit! I do all of the cooking and my partner is going on an AIP diet. Much as I enjoy a challenge I was a bit apprehensive at first, but this recipe and result has given me hope! I may make some small tweeks in future to keep things varied such as adding bacon to the sauce perhaps, or subbing the tuna out for salmon however that will only be in the pursuit of variety, not because the dish necessarily needs anything more added!
Hooray! I am so happy this worked for you guys, Luke!
Thank you very much for this yumminess, my belly is now a very happy place 🙂 I wondered how many days something like this would keep refrigerated? Ive never made Tuna Casserole before!
If it’s properly refrigerated & covered, I think you can keep it for 2-3 days. It is also possible to freeze.
This was absolutely wonderful! Thank you so much for everything you do to make taking care of our health so much easier. <3
You are so welcome, Kira! Glad you loved it!
Angie,
This was wonderful! Even my husband who turns up his nose at many of the things I make on my diet liked this and said you can make this again-I rarely hear that!
Your labor paid off. I so appreciate you ladies and all of the recipes and information you share.
When I was first diagnosed with Auto-Immune disease last August, I thought [just like I did when needing to go GF/DF 6yrs. ago] What will I eat now?
But all of you are such a blessing! I have shared your site with my chiropractor and functional medicine doctor and they are sharing with other patients.
Thank you for all you do!
Shelley, I’m so glad it was such a big hit & that your healthcare team loves our resources too! Thanks for sharing w/ them.
Fantastic! I loved tuna noodle casserole as a kid and was very happy to find a dairy free gluten free alternative. Kids and hubby loved it! Thank you!
Sadly, I’ve recently determined that I am sensitive to cassava flour. Has anyone tried subbing a different flour? The cassava worked so well – not sure what other flours might work that way.
I used coconut oil and it still came out great. Classic tuna casserole taste and texture. I think next time I will add asparagus!
Glad this worked so well for you, Liz!
I look forward to trying this with peppery arugula when I have some. I substituted kale, but it was still delicious. We’ll be making this again. Thank you!