We recently made a gluten-free, vegan tuna noodle casserole. Yes, really. Now, a gluten-free tuna noodle casserole is not that hard to imagine – but a vegan tuna noodle casserole? “What in the world,” you may be thinking, “is vegan tuna?” “And where can I get me some of that?” We’re going to start with the burning question: what is vegan tuna, and where can we get it??

The vegan tuna that we used for this recipe is actually called “fish-free tuna”. The brand is Good Catch fish-free tuna, and it looks like this:

There is also a vegan tuna in oil flavor.

We found it at our local Whole Foods, and you can also order it online from Thrive Market.

As you can imagine, when we found the vegan tuna, our very first thought was “tuna noodle casserole!”

So here is what we came up with:

Gluten-Free Vegan Tuna Noodle Casserole with Real Vegan Tuna!

Casserole:

1 pouch Good Catch fish-free vegan tuna
1 quart Imagine vegan mushroom soup (or other brand)
Enough dry gluten-free noodles or macaroni to make 4 servings
1/2 cup frozen peas or peas and carrots or 1/2 cup chopped mushrooms (optional)

Topping (optional):

1/2 cup – 1 cup gluten-free bread crumbs (depending on how much you want to make)
2 T to 4 T Earth Balance or other stick margarine (depending on how much you want to make)

Directions:

Put all casserole ingredients except the soup in your Instant Pot and mix to break up the vegan tuna. Pour in as much of the soup as you need to just come to the top of and cover everything.

Seal Instant Pot and set to 2 minutes on high (note: next time we will try 5 minutes on low pressure).

Let natural pressure release for 5 minutes, then quick release the rest.

While waiting for it to cook, if you are going to make a topping, melt the margarine, and stir in the bread crumbs (you can also use crushed up potato chips for this if you are unable to find gluten-free bread crumbs).

Open Instant Pot and stir.

If you are going to add a topping, this is when to do it. Gently distribute the topping on top of the casserole, and brown using one of these methods:

1. If you have the Mealthy CrispLid Instant Pot Air Fryer, then just pop that bad boy on top of the Instant Pot, turn it on, and let it go for a few minutes.

Mealthy CrispLid Air Fryer Lid on Instant Pot

Instant Pot Air Fryer Browning Vegan Tuna Noodle Casserole

2. If you don’t have a CrispLid Instant Pot air fryer, transfer the casserole to an oven safe dish, set your oven to ‘broil’, and broil until the topping is browned.

And there you have it! Vegan tuna noodle casserole with actual vegan tuna!

Recipe by the Pictures

*Note: we used a type of pasta that when combined with the mushroom soup turns a lovely (ahem) shade of brown. Color results will vary depending on pasta, etc..

Ingredients

Ingredients Mixed in Instant Pot

Cover with Soup

Stir after Releasing Pressure

Top with Topping

Broil Topping with CrispLid or in Broiler

Voila!