This Keto Tuna Casserole has all of the classic flavors of a traditional tuna noodle casserole recipe, while being low carb and gluten free. Rich and flavorful cream sauce, with onion, garlic, peas, celery, herbaceous dill, and bright, fresh lemon, paired with shredded cabbage and albacore tuna, then topped with cheese and baked until it is golden brown and bubbly. It's the perfect quick and easy weeknight meal.
Ingredients in Keto Tuna Casserole
Ingredients Notes
- Cabbage: this is what makes this recipe a keto recipe. By using cabbage in place of traditional noodles, you can cut the carbs and the gluten. I've done this in a few other cabbage noodle recipes, like my Cheesy Smoked Sausage and Cabbage Casserole, Fried Cabbage with Kielbasa, and Egg Roll in a Bowl. I use green cabbage, but any can be used: Savoy cabbage, red cabbage, Napa cabbage, even Brussels sprouts! Cut your favorite cabbage into shreds with a knife or mandolin. You can also use coleslaw mix and make this Keto Tuna Casserole even more simple.
- Tuna: for the best taste, I highly recommend using sustainably pole caught albacore, canned in water. You can also use fresh tuna or even canned or fresh salmon. For more tuna recipes, check out these Asian Tuna Cakes and Avocado Tuna Salad.
- Lemon juice and zest: again, fresh is best. The lemon in this recipe really compliments the tuna and adds some bright freshness.
- Dill: fresh herbs are my favorite way to add flavor to any dish. Dill is the perfect compliment to seafood, and tuna is no exception.
- Peas: if you really want to cut down on carbs, you can omit the peas from this recipe entirely, but I recommend keeping them! Fresh peas add a beautiful pop of color and sweetness. You can also used canned peas.
How to Make Keto Tuna Casserole
Step by Step Instructions
STEP 1: First, heat the olive oil and butter in an extra large ovenproof skillet over medium heat.
STEP 2: Next, add the cabbage, onion, celery, garlic, sea salt and black pepper to the pan. Sauté vegetables until they are crisp tender - about 10 minutes.
STEP 3: In a separate bowl, mix in the dill, mustard powder, lemon zest, and lemon juice.
STEP 4: Add the lemon mixture to the pan. Stir to combine.
STEP 5: Pour the heavy cream and 1 cup Parmesan cheese into the pan. Mix in and keep stirring until the cheese has melted and combined with the heavy cream.
STEP 6: Then, reduce heat to medium low. Simmer, allowing the sauce to thicken.
STEP 7: Once the sauce has started to thicken, stir in the tuna and the peas.
STEP 8: Sprinkle the remaining Parmesan over the top of the dish and transfer to the oven. Lastly, broil on high for 3 to 5 minutes or until the Parmesan on top has made a golden brown crust.
Recipe Tips and Variations
- Serving suggestions: I recommend serving this Keto Tuna Casserole with some of my favorite vegetable side dishes: Lemon Pepper Green Beans, Brussels Sprouts with Creamy Dijon Cider Dressing, Balsamic Shallot Mushrooms, or even a simple side salad. You can also add mushrooms to the recipe for a boost of extra veggies.
- Storage: store in the fridge in an airtight container up to 3 days. If you plan to store it in the freezer, you can do so before baking for up to 3 months.
- Reheating: for best results, reheat this low carb tuna casserole on the stove top or in the microwave. You can add a little cream as well to keep it from drying out, especially if reheating in the microwave.
- Low carb noodle substitutions: these are plenty of low carb pasta substitutions: zucchini noodles, Shirataki noodles, rainbow vegetable noodles, and even spaghetti squash would work great in this recipe.
- Protein options: not a fan of tuna? No problem. Try this tuna noodle casserole recipe with fresh chicken, canned chicken, salmon, or shrimp as an alternative protein.
- Shortcuts: to make this tuna casserole dish even faster, you can use a canned cream of mushroom soup for the sauce and coleslaw mix instead of shredded cabbage. However, using canned soup will increase the carbs quite a bit.
- Crispy fried onion topping: this adds a great textural contrast. I outline how to make a low carb version of crispy fried onions in this recipe.
- Cheese it up: add sharp cheddar to really drive up the cheesy goodness of this recipe.
- Breadcrumb topping: add a layer of crunch without the carbs or the gluten. Try topping this Keto Tuna Casserole with grated parmesan or my nut free breading mix.
Frequently Asked Questions
Cook the veggies and aromatics in olive oil and butter until just tender, mix in the seasonings, add heavy cream and Parmesan for a creamy element, and let it all thicken. Finally, add the tuna and peas, sprinkle extra Parmesan on the casserole, and bake until it reaches golden, bubbly perfection.
Classic homemade tuna noodle casserole uses pasta as the basis, and a small serving will have at least 22g of carbs. This is a Keto Tuna Casserole, so there are only 7g net carbs per serving.
Some great options for low carb pasta are Shirataki noodles, spaghetti squash, zucchini noodles, or even cauliflower.
More Keto Recipes
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Keto Tuna Casserole
- Total Time: 45 minutes
- Yield: Makes 8 Servings 1x
- Diet: Gluten Free
Description
This Keto Tuna Casserole has all of the classic flavors of a traditional tuna noodle casserole recipe, while being low carb and gluten free. Rich and flavorful cream sauce, with onion, garlic, peas, celery, herbaceous dill, and bright, fresh lemon, paired with shredded cabbage and albacore tuna, then topped with cheese and baked until it is golden brown and bubbly. It's the perfect quick and easy weeknight meal.
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons olive oil (I use this brand) code kyndraholley for $5 off
- 2 tablespoons butter
- medium head green cabbage (about 1 ½ lbs), cut into large shreds
- 1 cup chopped onion
- 3 ribs celery, chopped
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- sea salt and black pepper, to taste
- 2 teaspoons dried dill or 2 tablespoons fresh dill
- 2 teaspoons dry mustard powder
- 1 tablespoon lemon zest
- juice of 1 lemon
- 1 ½ cups heavy cream
- 1 ¼ cups grated Parmesan cheese, divided
- 3 - 5oz cans albacore tuna, drained
- ½ cup frozen peas
Instructions
- Heat the olive oil and butter in an extra large ovenproof skillet over medium heat.
- Once heated, add the cabbage, onion, celery, garlic, sea salt and black pepper to the pan.
- Sauté until the vegetables are crisp tender - about 10 minutes.
- Mix in the dill, mustard powder, lemon zest, and lemon juice.
- Pour the heavy cream and 1 cup Parmesan cheese into the pan. Mix in and keep stirring until the cheese has melted and combined with the heavy cream.
- Reduce heat to medium low and let simmer to allow the sauce to thicken.
- Once the sauce has started to thicken, stir in the tuna and the peas.
- Sprinkle the remaining Parmesan over the top of the dish and transfer to the oven.
- Broil on high for 3-5 minutes or until the Parmesan on top has made a golden brown crust.
Notes
- net carbs per serving: 7g
- Storage: store in the fridge in an airtight container up to 3 days. If you plan to store it in the freezer, you can do so before baking for up to 3 months.
- Reheating: for best results, reheat this low carb tuna casserole on the stove top or in the microwave. You can add a little cream as well to keep it from drying out, especially if reheating in the microwave.
- Low carb noodle substitutions: these are plenty of low carb pasta substitutions: zucchini noodles, Shirataki noodles, rainbow vegetable noodles, and even spaghetti squash would work great in this recipe.
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 30 minutes
- Category: Casserole Recipes
- Method: Saute
- Cuisine: American
Nutrition
- Serving Size: ⅛th of the recipe
- Calories: 377
- Fat: 28g
- Carbohydrates: 10g
- Fiber: 3g
- Protein: 23.5g
**Recipe originally posted October 24th 2016 - Updated May 14th 2021**
Angel Goff says
This was delicious ! My family wanted traditional Tuna noodle casserole and I wanted it too! Excellent subsitute to keep it low carb! Kyndra Holley has some of the very best recipes. I continue to go back and make them over and over...
Linda says
I love that you've started putting a pic of the ingredients all laid out in your recipes. The visual image helps me to know if I have the ingredients for a recipe or need to put any on my grocery list. Thanks for taking the time to do that extra work. 🙂
Kyndra Holley says
My pleasure!
Chrissy says
This was amazing! So, so good! The flavor was perfect the lemon really added such a fresh flavor to it. I will be adding this into the repertoire, it's SO nice to have a low carb alternative to the usual meat and veggie dinner in our house. Thanks for the amazing recipes!
Daryl says
I've been missing noodle casseroles lately. I made this tonight and it was so flavorful and delicious!
MissMira says
Really good!!!
Anonymous says
MAde this and really enjoyed it! Used 2 cans of tuna instead of 3.
April says
This sounds great. I'm not full-on Keto, but I'm doing weight watchers and am trying to cut carbs while also looking at my fat content (gallbladder issues). Would the taste and texture be as good using something like Aunt Penny's White Sauce?
Kyndra Holley says
I've never heard of that sauce, so I really couldn't say.
Marisa Mckeown says
Recently made this. It was delicious.
It was expecting to miss the noodles but I didn’t. In fact this solidified my love for cabbage.
Wonderful recipe!! Will make again.
Servaas says
Family loved this recipe.
Will Definately make it again
Kristin Louthan says
Delicious!
I worry that I let the cabbage cook a little too long, and that I should have drained some of the liquid from the pan before adding the ground mustard, cream, etc. I added extra cheese, I used med. Cheddar, and a little grated Romano & Parmesan and crushed pork rinds on the top, along with more cheddar.. This made a huge amout of food, I used two casserole dishes to bake it and had leftovers for three days., Reheats really well. I am sharing this with friends. Thanks