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One Pot CLASSIC TUNA HELPER 30 Minute Meal Copycat Recipe
Sep 6, 2025
Copycat Recipe One Pot CLASSIC TUNA HELPER 30 Minute Meal Today's Recipe: https://catherinesplates.com/classic-tuna-helper/ **Click here to see my recipe blog: https://catherinesplates.com NEW: To purchase my Dessert Cookbook, click link https://www.blurb.com/bookstore/invited/10034701/10feb0fb4a14a171cfaeed6889d6656eab1a0016 *To purchase my cookbook vol 1, click link https://www.blurb.com/b/9452561-catherine-s-plates **To purchase my cookbook vol 2, click here https://www.blurb.com/b/10367334-catherine-s-plates-cookbook ***To purchase my cookbook vol 3, click here https://www.blurb.com/b/11248440-catherine-s-plates-3rd-edition-2022 ***My Amazon StoreFront https://www.amazon.com/shop/catherinesplates (As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.) ***Follow me on Social Media
View Video Transcript
0:00
Welcome back everyone. Today we are
0:02
going to make a real easy one pot
0:05
classic tuna helper. Do you remember the
0:08
classic boxed version of tuna helper? We
0:11
are making it homemade for Joseph today.
0:16
He's super excited that I'm going to
0:18
make this. So, we're going to talk about
0:20
what we're going to need. 8 o of any
0:23
type of pasta. You just want to make
0:25
sure that you have the small variety. I
0:28
am using the whole grain pennet pasta
0:30
for this recipe today. You're going to
0:33
need some butter,
0:36
some flour,
0:39
got some garlic,
0:41
you're going to need some salt. I got
0:44
some black pepper over here and parsley.
0:48
These are going to be our seasonings.
0:50
We've got an onion that we're going to
0:52
dice up. Two cans of tuna.
0:57
We've got one cup of milk. We're going
1:00
to shred up some cheese for it. And then
1:02
also, now you don't have to put it in
1:05
there, but we've got some frozen peas.
1:08
Joseph will be happy with that. All
1:10
right, you guys. What we're going to do
1:12
first, start cooking the pasta. Now,
1:15
I've got a large deep pot, and I just
1:19
put a lid on it to bring my water to a
1:22
boil. And we're going to add a little
1:24
bit of salt to flavor the water. That'll
1:28
help flavor our pasta. Also, just about
1:31
half a tablespoon. Now, we're going to
1:33
go ahead
1:35
and add in our pasta,
1:41
8 oz.
1:43
This is the pennet version. You can use
1:45
any type of small pasta that you want.
1:48
We're going to follow the directions on
1:50
the back of the package.
1:53
until the pasta is al dente. And then
1:56
what we're going to do is drain it and
1:57
just leave it in the pot until we're
1:59
ready for it. And then while this is
2:02
cooking, we're going to make that
2:04
delicious sauce. Just going to pull this
2:06
whole thing together.
2:10
We're going to take a yellow onion.
2:12
We're going to dice it up.
2:17
Cut it in half.
2:21
We're going to cut strips,
2:26
turn it around, and we're going to mince
2:28
it. There we go. I love onions. They
2:31
bulk up a dish, and they add a delicious
2:33
flavor. Now, while this is cooking,
2:36
we're going to make that delicious sauce
2:38
that's going to pull this recipe all
2:39
together with nice flavor. And we're
2:43
going to start in a large deep skillet.
2:47
And we'll add two tablespoons
2:50
to the skillet here. And we'll start
2:51
heating that up on a medium heat. I
2:54
think that's one, two, three. Three
2:56
tablespoons. We'll do that right there.
2:58
All right. We'll get that on a medium
2:59
heat. We'll start melting this down.
3:03
This is a great weekn night meal. It
3:06
comes together fairly quickly and it is
3:09
a one skillet meal. We're just cooking
3:12
our pasta separately, but we'll add it
3:14
at the end.
3:16
with everything else. All right, we want
3:19
to bring the butter once it's melted to
3:21
a little sizzle down there. I may raise
3:24
the heat up a little bit. Our butter is
3:26
nice and melted and it's starting to
3:28
sizzle. We're going to go ahead and add
3:30
that chopped onion.
3:35
We're just going to cook this just for a
3:36
few minutes until the onion is softened
3:39
down.
3:41
It has a little color to it.
3:44
Mine's more of a chopped onion
3:48
than a diced onion, but you can go any
3:50
size that you want. Just make sure it's
3:52
nice and softened down. This recipe
3:55
cooks fairly fast.
3:58
Now, Joseph's a big fan of tuna dishes.
4:02
He loves my tuna casserole recipe. He
4:05
loves tuna fish sandwiches. He loves
4:08
tuna melts.
4:11
So, he'll love this one. He can't wait
4:13
to try it.
4:15
Make sure you give your pasta a stir.
4:17
Make sure it's not sticking. We got a
4:18
few more minutes left on that.
4:22
That's looking really good. We're going
4:23
to go ahead now and we're going to add
4:25
our minced garlic. About two to three
4:28
cloves.
4:30
This all helps in the flavor of this
4:32
dish.
4:34
How many of y'all remember tuna helper?
4:37
Or maybe you still use it. It's in the
4:40
box. You can always find that box around
4:43
the hamburger helper boxes in your
4:46
store. But when you can make your own
4:49
for 30 minutes in a skillet and just
4:53
prepare the pasta,
4:55
that's great. All righty. Now, we're
4:58
going to add in our flour.
5:01
Going to gather it over here. Now, when
5:04
you make a rue, which is what we're
5:06
going to do because it's going to help
5:07
thicken our dish, you want to make sure
5:10
that your butter and your flour are the
5:12
same ratio. So, because I have 3
5:15
tablespoons of butter in here, I'm going
5:17
to sprinkle in 3 tablespoon of flour
5:19
right on top. Now, the garlic was
5:22
supposed to cook for 1 minute. And then
5:25
once we get the flour in, I'm going to
5:27
sprinkle it all on top.
5:31
I'm going to get me a silicone whisk.
5:33
And we'll blend this all together.
5:37
This is going to cook for two minutes.
5:41
Oh, I love the R. It smells so
5:43
delicious.
5:46
Make sure you give it the two minutes.
5:48
What happens here is that while we are
5:51
whisking this together, it is cooking
5:52
that rawness out of the flour.
5:57
We're going to add a little color to it.
5:58
Also, I'm going to cook this down.
6:02
That means my pasta is done. I'm going
6:05
to go ahead and just check it for dness.
6:07
I'm just going to drain it while I let
6:08
the onions sit here for just a second.
6:11
And then we'll just leave the pasta in
6:12
the pot until we're ready for it. Now,
6:15
what we're going to do is start
6:16
incorporating one cup of milk,
6:22
a little at a time.
6:25
Blend it into that flour.
6:35
We're going to get this all
6:36
incorporated. We want to get it nice and
6:39
thick. Also,
6:41
we're going to start grating some
6:43
cheese.
6:45
I've got one block, which is 8 oz of a
6:48
sharp cheddar cheese.
6:55
All we're needing is one cup.
7:00
There we go. All right, we're going to
7:03
add the cheese.
7:07
We're going to stir that until it melts.
7:13
All right, we're going to add in our two
7:15
cans of tuna. Now, I drained them. These
7:18
are 5 oz each. We're going to add our
7:20
one cup of frozen peas.
7:25
We're going to add in our cooked and
7:27
drained pasta.
7:29
Going to add in some cracked black
7:31
pepper.
7:35
And then we're going to stir this all
7:37
together until well combined.
7:41
Once we get it all combined, we will
7:43
taste for salt if we need to add any.
7:47
We want to make sure all the pasta is
7:49
coated and the peas and the tuna are all
7:51
combined.
7:56
Hope Joseph's going to be excited about
7:57
it. My husband, not so much.
8:05
This is an easy dish for Joseph to put
8:08
together at his own place there and
8:11
share it amongst everyone that comes
8:12
over.
8:15
Guys, look at that
8:18
homemade tuna helper. It is a classic
8:22
dish for sure. If you remember it, let
8:26
me know. What do y'all put in yours?
8:29
Maybe peas, maybe not.
8:33
All right, I've already turned off the
8:34
burner.
8:36
We're going to sprinkle a little parsley
8:38
on top.
8:40
Make it fancy
8:42
without being too fancy. There we go.
8:46
I'm going to give that a try for you.
8:48
Woo!
8:51
I'm going to borrow some from Joseph.
8:56
All right, let me give that a try for
8:58
you.
9:00
Make sure you blow on it. It's hot.
9:07
Wow, that's nice and creamy.
9:10
You get that tuna in there. Nice and
9:13
cheesy.
9:15
All right. If y'all are making this, you
9:17
let me know
9:19
because it's a one pot 30 minute meal
9:21
that you can make on the week nights.
9:23
Heck, you can even make it on the the
9:25
weekend. If you want any of this, you're
9:27
going to have to talk to Joseph. All
9:29
right, you guys. Give me a thumbs up.
9:31
Make sure you comment down below. If
9:32
you're new to the channel, make sure you
9:33
hit that subscribe button down below and
9:35
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9:36
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9:38
here are posted. I'll see youall on the
9:41
next episode. Bye.
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