Canned Tuna Casserole Is a Choose-Your-Own-Adventure Where Every Ending Is Dinner

Tuna noodle casserole was ratified in 1954 by the Pantry Committee of Dayton, Ohio, eleven households convened to answer one question: what is in the cupboard. The minutes give the answer as “tuna, noodles, a can of soup, and a disagreement.” The disagreement was about the topping. The committee adjourned without a ruling. Every family’s casserole is different, and every family’s is correct.

Below are six forks. The pick is in bold at each one; take them all and you get the recipe further down. Take any other branch and you still get dinner.

The forks

1. The sauce. A can of condensed cream of mushroom soup, thinned with milk, is the committee’s original and takes thirty seconds. A white sauce of butter, flour and fresh milk takes ten minutes and tastes like a decision. Split the difference: a white sauce made with a can of evaporated milk, which keeps in the cupboard for a year and has never once required a trip to the shop.
2. The noodle. Wide egg noodles are the tradition. Any short pasta will do: shells hold sauce in their pockets, rotini in its threads. Cook it two minutes short of the packet, because the oven finishes the job, and an overcooked noodle in a casserole joins the sauce.
3. The tuna. Packed in oil is richer and flakes in big pieces. Packed in water is leaner, so add a spoonful more butter. Canned salmon or leftover chicken can take the tuna’s seat without a vote.
4. The vegetable. Frozen peas, straight from the freezer, with onion and celery underneath. Browned mushrooms if you chose the scratch sauce and miss the can. Frozen broccoli if the household has a peas abstainer.
5. The topping. The open question. Buttered breadcrumbs (panko browns best), crushed potato chips, crushed butter crackers, canned fried onions or plain cheddar. Two at once is permitted. Four at once is a buffet.
6. The heat. The oven, until it bubbles at the edges and browns on top. Or the stovetop: fold everything together in the pot, toast the topping in a dry pan and scatter it over each bowl. It is fifteen minutes faster, and the crumbs stay crunchy, which the baked version cannot promise on day two.

The recipe (every bold branch)

Serves 4 to 6. About 45 minutes.

• 8 oz (250 g) wide egg noodles
• 2 cans tuna in oil, 5 oz (140 g) each, drained
• 3 tbsp butter, plus 2 tbsp melted for the topping
• 1 onion, finely chopped
• 1 celery stick, finely chopped (optional)
• 3 tbsp flour
• 1 can evaporated milk, 12 oz (400 ml)
• 1 cup (250 ml) chicken or vegetable stock, or water
• ½ tsp salt, black pepper and ½ tsp dry mustard
• 1 cup (150 g) frozen peas
• 4 oz (100 g) cheddar, grated
• 1 tbsp lemon juice
• 1 cup (60 g) panko or dry breadcrumbs

1. Heat the oven to 375°F (190°C) and butter a 2- to 3-quart (2- to 3-litre) baking dish.
2. Cook the noodles in salted water for 2 minutes less than the packet says, and drain.
3. In the same pot, melt the 3 tbsp butter and soften the onion and celery over medium heat for 5 minutes. Stir in the flour and cook for 1 minute.
4. Whisk in the evaporated milk and stock a little at a time, then simmer, stirring, for 3 to 4 minutes, until it coats a spoon. Season with the salt, pepper and mustard.
5. Off the heat, stir in the cheese and lemon juice, then fold in the peas, noodles and tuna. Fold gently: the tuna should still be in pieces you could identify in a line-up.
6. Tip it into the dish. Toss the panko with the melted butter, scatter it over, and bake for 20 to 25 minutes, until bubbling at the edges and golden on top. Rest for 5 minutes.

The can branch: skip steps 3 and 4. Soften the onion in 1 tbsp butter, then stir in a can of condensed cream of mushroom soup, 10.5 oz (300 g), and ½ cup (120 ml) milk, and carry on from step 5 with half the salt. The can has already seasoned it, generously.

Refrigerate leftovers within two hours, eat them within four days, and reheat them to 165°F (74°C). The Pantry Committee’s final minute is a motion to try potato chips, seconded, followed by a recess for dinner.

What we read: FoodSafety.gov for the reheating temperature for leftovers and casseroles, and its cold-storage chart for how long they keep; the forks and the recipe are our own synthesis.