Tuna pasta bake
A creamy tuna, vegetable and pasta bake with a cheese and wholemeal breadcrumb topping.
At a glance
All meals · 20 minutes active preparation · 60 minutes total · meal
Method range: 4–4 servings.
Contains: fish, gluten, milk, wheat. Check individual packaging and cross-contact information; this is not an allergy-safety guarantee.
Estimated per serving
- Energy
- 2576 kJ
- Protein
- 41.9 g
- Carbs
- 61.6 g
- Fat
- 20.5 g
- Iron
- 2.5 mg
- Calcium
- 380.9 mg
- Folate
- 157.3 µg
- Vitamin C
- 57.1 mg
* Partial ingredient data. Additional cooking losses may not be included. Open recipe for all vitamins, minerals and calculation notes.
Ingredients
Original ingredient list
- 2 tbsp oil: one for the tray and one for frying
- 250 g pasta
- 1 medium onion
- 2 garlic cloves or 2 tsp minced garlic
- 1 celery stalk
- 1 zucchini
- 2 cups (200 g) broccoli
- 3 tbsp plain flour
- 2 cups milk
- One-third cup grated parmesan
- 1 cup chicken stock
- One 425 g can tuna in water, drained
- Zest and juice of 1 lemon
- Optional parsley
- Half a cup grated cheese
- One-third cup wholemeal breadcrumbs
Nutrition weights for 4 servings. Changing the batch size keeps the per-serving nutrition the same.
- Olive oil36.8 g
- Pasta, dry250 g
- Brown onion142 g
- Garlic6 g
- Celery30 g
- Zucchini150 g
- Broccoli200 g
- Plain flour32.4 g
- Reduced-fat milk520 g
- Fresh grated parmesan30 g
- Prepared chicken stock250 g
- Tuna in water, drained300 g
- Lemon zest2 g
- Lemon juice30 g
- Grated cheddar50 g
- Fresh wholemeal breadcrumbs25 g
Method
- Heat the oven to 180°C. Use half the measured oil to grease a baking dish. Cook the 250 g dry pasta until just underdone according to its packet, then drain.
- Dice the onion, celery and zucchini, crush the garlic and cut the broccoli into small florets. Drain the tuna and weigh 300 g. Grate the cheeses, zest and juice the lemon, and pulse the weighed wholemeal bread into crumbs.
- Heat the remaining oil in a large saucepan. Cook the onion, garlic, celery, zucchini and broccoli for 5–10 minutes, stirring, until beginning to soften.
- Stir in the flour and cook for 1 minute. Gradually stir in the stock and then the milk to make a smooth sauce. Simmer gently, stirring, for 5–10 minutes until thickened. Stir in the parmesan.
- Remove from the heat. Fold in the drained pasta, tuna, lemon zest and juice. Spoon into the baking dish. Mix the cheddar with the breadcrumbs and scatter over the top.
- Bake for about 30 minutes until golden and hot throughout. Divide into four equal portions.
Add optional toppings or substitutions to your saved copy to include them in the calculation.
Nutrition
Macros and selected micronutrients. Select a nutrient to see which ingredients supply it.
| Nutrient | Amount | Reference comparison |
|---|---|---|
| 2576 kJCooking estimate incomplete | — | |
| 41.9 gCooking estimate incomplete | — | |
| 20.5 gCooking estimate incomplete | — | |
| 6.1 gCooking estimate incomplete | 25%AI · reported contribution only | |
| 61.6 gCooking estimate incomplete | — | |
| 381 mgCooking estimate incomplete | 38%RDI · reported contribution only | |
| 59 µgCooking estimate incomplete | 39%RDI · reported contribution only | |
| 2.5 mgCooking estimate incomplete | 14%RDI · reported contribution only | |
| 1.43 µgCooking estimate incomplete | 60%RDI · reported contribution only | |
| 157 µgCooking estimate incomplete | 39%RDI · reported contribution only | |
| 57.1 mgCooking estimate incomplete | 127%RDI · reported contribution only |
Estimates from the identified food records, including dated product labels where specified. “Not reported” is unknown; partial totals may be incomplete. Whole-batch amounts are not compared against one person’s daily reference. Per-serving percentages compare one serving with daily RDI/AI targets for Women 31–50 years, not upper limits. Values use foods in their recorded states; additional cooking losses are not modelled unless you select a supported method when editing ingredients.
About this recipe
Editorially reviewed; not kitchen tested. Manual recipe-book release; not opted into Autofill. Generic cheese rennet and product-specific exclusions have not been checked. Timing is an editorial estimate; doneness takes priority.
NSW Government Healthy Eating Active Living — MorselMetrics adaptations · Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)
© State of New South Wales. For current information go to www.nsw.gov.au. Recipes by Healthy Eating Active Living / Centre for Population Health, NSW Government. Curried chicken: Nutrition Services, Central Coast Local Health District. Adapted by MorselMetrics; changes are identified per recipe.
Tuna pasta bake — original sourceCalculation assumptions & recipe adaptations
Counts both tablespoons of oil, including dish greasing. Tuna is explicitly 300 g drained, not the 425 g net can weight or a guaranteed draining yield. Pasta is dry weight. Zucchini, cheeses, prepared stock, juice and breadcrumbs use editorial weights. Fresh wholemeal bread is crumbed for the topping and mapped as wholemeal bread; parmesan uses the fresh record. Generic prepared stock is a composition approximation for chicken stock; no reduced-salt claim. Optional parsley is omitted from ingredients and method. Method rewritten by MorselMetrics; adaptation licensed CC BY 4.0.
Adapted by MorselMetrics from NSW Government, Tuna pasta bake. © State of New South Wales. For current information go to www.nsw.gov.au. Counts both tablespoons of oil, including dish greasing. Tuna is explicitly 300 g drained, not the 425 g net can weight or a guaranteed draining yield. Pasta is dry weight. Zucchini, cheeses, prepared stock, juice and breadcrumbs use editorial weights. Fresh wholemeal bread is crumbed for the topping and mapped as wholemeal bread; parmesan uses the fresh record. Generic prepared stock is a composition approximation for chicken stock; no reduced-salt claim. Optional parsley is omitted from ingredients and method. Nutrition is calculated independently from the named AFCD foods, not copied from the publisher. Generic foods may differ from your brands. Australian cups are 250 ml, tablespoons 20 ml and teaspoons 5 ml; editorial weights are identified separately from sourced conversions. All listed fat is counted; cooking losses, moisture changes and pan residue are unquantified. This adaptation has not been kitchen-tested. Ingredient exclusions are not certified.
- Olive oil: 2 Australian tbsp oil, 40 ml; includes tray greasing; estimated with FSANZ AUSNUT measure 43505.
- Pasta, dry: 250 g pasta; the source's gram amount is retained.
- Brown onion: 1 medium onion; estimated with FSANZ AUSNUT measure 47622.
- Garlic: 2 garlic cloves; estimated with FSANZ AUSNUT measure 47500.
- Celery: 1 small-to-medium celery stalk; estimated with FSANZ AUSNUT measure 47421.
- Zucchini: 1 zucchini; this version specifies 150 g as an editorial recipe amount, not a measured conversion or guaranteed package yield.
- Broccoli: 200 g broccoli; the source's gram amount is retained.
- Plain flour: 3 Australian tbsp flour, 60 ml; estimated with FSANZ AUSNUT measure 41378.
- Reduced-fat milk: 2 Australian cups milk, 500 ml; estimated with FSANZ AUSNUT measure 45786.
- Fresh grated parmesan: One-third cup grated parmesan; this version specifies 30 g as an editorial recipe amount, not a measured conversion or guaranteed package yield.
- Prepared chicken stock: 1 cup prepared chicken stock; this version weighs 250 g; this version specifies 250 g as an editorial recipe amount, not a measured conversion or guaranteed package yield.
- Tuna in water, drained: One 425 g can tuna; this version weighs 300 g after draining; this version specifies 300 g as an editorial recipe amount, not a measured conversion or guaranteed package yield.
- Lemon zest: Zest of 1 lemon; estimated with FSANZ AUSNUT measure 44313.
- Lemon juice: Juice of 1 lemon; this version specifies 30 g as an editorial recipe amount, not a measured conversion or guaranteed package yield.
- Grated cheddar: Half a cup grated cheese; this version specifies 50 g as an editorial recipe amount, not a measured conversion or guaranteed package yield.
- Fresh wholemeal breadcrumbs: One-third cup wholemeal breadcrumbs; weigh fresh wholemeal bread before crumbing; this version specifies 25 g as an editorial recipe amount, not a measured conversion or guaranteed package yield.
Published ingredient list (original batch)
- 2 tbsp oil: one for the tray and one for frying
- 250 g pasta
- 1 medium onion
- 2 garlic cloves or 2 tsp minced garlic
- 1 celery stalk
- 1 zucchini
- 2 cups (200 g) broccoli
- 3 tbsp plain flour
- 2 cups milk
- One-third cup grated parmesan
- 1 cup chicken stock
- One 425 g can tuna in water, drained
- Zest and juice of 1 lemon
- Optional parsley
- Half a cup grated cheese
- One-third cup wholemeal breadcrumbs
AFCD attribution, data & methods
Food matches used for nutrition
- Olive oil: Oil, olive
- Pasta, dry: Pasta, white wheat flour, dry
- Brown onion: Onion, mature, brown skinned, peeled, raw
- Garlic: Garlic, peeled, fresh, raw
- Celery: Celery, fresh, raw
- Zucchini: Zucchini, green skin, fresh, unpeeled, raw
- Broccoli: Broccoli, fresh, raw
- Plain flour: Flour, wheat, white, plain
- Reduced-fat milk: Milk, cow, fluid, reduced fat (~1%)
- Fresh grated parmesan: Cheese, parmesan, fresh, regular fat
- Prepared chicken stock: Stock, liquid, all flavours (except fish), prepared from commercial powder or cube
- Tuna in water, drained: Tuna, unflavoured, canned in water, drained
- Lemon zest: Lemon peel, raw
- Lemon juice: Juice, lemon
- Grated cheddar: Cheese, cheddar, natural, regular fat
- Fresh wholemeal breadcrumbs: Bread, from wholemeal flour