Do you like tuna salad? How about Tuna melts? This recipe is a great mix of the two in my opinion! So simple to make, and taste so good too. Its great a side for a meal, also a very good dish on its own. I recommend doubling this recipe if you are a larger family and this is the main course, because it will go fast! You can make this recipe completely on the stove top, or you can finish it off in the oven for a crispy cheese top. I prefer to make my own cream of chicken for all my recipes because I find the cans to be too salty, but canned cream of chicken works just fine here too, and I imagine you could also use cream of mushroom as well. You can go to my Basic white sauce recipe for how to make a basic white sauce, cream of chicken, cheese sauce. Basic white sauce can be configured in so many ways and used in so many recipes!

If you are going to finish this off in the oven or on the grill for that nice brown cheesed finish, I recommend using a cast iron wok, or nice wide Dutch oven so that you can keep it a one pan dish, but you can also transfer to a glass baking dish and bake that way.

Tuna bake ingredients — ***-Tuna Melt Bake Ingredients-***

-15oz of tuna
-16oz of elbow macaroni or shell pasta (or a pasta of your choice)
-4 Tbsp of butter
-6 Tbsp of flour
-1 Cup of chicken stock
-2 Cups of whole milk
-4oz of white cheddar cheese (or cheese of your choice)
-2 whole pickles (optional- or can always add more!)
-Ground pepper and Cajun seasoning to taste (or whatever you like best)

Directions:

1. Cook your pasta accordingly, then strain and lightly coat with oil and stir and set off to the side

2. Using that same pan, you are going to take your butter, flour, chicken stock, and milk and create your cream of chicken (click here to see how to make)

*If you are using canned cream of chicken, skip the step above^

3. Once your cream of chicken is done shut your burner off and add your tuna, pickles, and seasoning of choice and mix together.