Just make a bechemel (sp) sauce and add in some mushrooms. Much better!

Make your own white sauce/bechamel sauce. Easy.

agree with joe crawford;

plus: add rosemary, thyme, salt and pepper as well.

there's a really great mushroom gravy recipe in the real food daily cookbook (vegan, even :)

plus, you *can* buy boxed soup- in the tetra-packs like for soymilk or juice boxes (just larger).

There is a recipe for this is Gourmet Today! Here's a link to what I believe to be the same recipe: http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Tuna-Noodle-Casserole-109434

I really wanted to make Tuna Casserole earlier this year but then it got too hot. I'm going to try it this fall. Cooks Illustrated also has a great recipe for Green Bean Casserole, minus the condensed soup, that I made last Thanksgiving.

I love tuna noodle casserole. Both of these are excellent:

http://www.goodbite.com/episodes/campanile-tuna-noodle-casserole

http://www.chow.com/recipes/10889-tuna-noodle-casserole

Mastering the Art of French Cooking has a cream of mushroom soup recipe. Or I'm sure there is one on the interwebs.

However, I will happily admit that I LOVE canned cream of mushroom and cream of chicken soup. It's a magical combination that has addictive qualities. Chicken spaghetti wouldn't be the same without it!

We updated this for Phoebe's midwestern dad, using just one can (the can of tuna), plus fresh cremini mushrooms, homemade breadcrumbs, and chicken stock. It came out so well. The recipe & photos are here.

My own recipe is bechamel with a dash of oregano and black pepper, small cubes of Fontina, strips of raw radicchio and, of course, tuna in packed in olive oil. Top with buttered saltine crumbs and bake!

Rachael Ray's recipe is actually really good:
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/rachael-ray/retro-metro-fancy-tuna-casserole-recipe/index.html

I love this version - I've made it for years and it is very fresh-tasting: http://allrecipes.com//Recipe/hearty-tuna-casserole/Detail.aspx

Knowing how to make a basic white sauce is a good skill to have. Most decent cookbooks , such as Joy of Cooking, have recipes for it. Recently I was in a hurry and used Campbell's Cream of Mushroom soup in Turkey Divan, and it tasted terrible. Never again!

Tuna Broccoli Casserole
8 ounces medium egg noodles; 1-1/2 cups broccoli florets, trimmed & washed;
4 tablespoons butter; 1 medium onion, chopped; 2 cups milk; 1 cup chicken broth;
¼ cup cornstarch; dash of cayenne pepper;
2 cans tuna fish, rinsed & drained well;
1-1/2 cups shredded Cheddar Cheese; salt & pepper to taste
Preheat oven to 350. Grease a 2-quart baking dish & set aside. Cook noodles in boiling salted water until tender; drain well. Cook broccoli in boiling water 4-5 minutes; drain well. Melt 3 tablespoons of butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Add onion and cook 3 - 4 minutes, stirring, until tender. Stir in milk. In a small bowl, stir together the cornstarch and broth until smooth. Gradually stir into milk and onion. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly, until thickened. Stir in cayenne and salt & pepper to taste. Remove from heat and stir in the noodles, broccoli, tuna, and 1 cup of cheese. Spoon into prepared dish. Smooth top and sprinkle with remaining ½ cup of cheese. Cut 1 tablespoon butter into 6 pieces and sprinkle over cheese. Bake for 25 – 30 minutes, until cheese is melted and top is lightly browned. Let stand for 5 minutes before serving.

This is what i do: sauté mushrooms and 1 clove of garlic in olive oil. Cook whole wheat (or white) egg noodles according to package, towards the end throw in a big handful of frozen peas to cook with the pasta. Add about 1 to 1/2 cups greek yogurt to the olive oil/garlic/mushroom mix, add one can of drained tuna and mix. Drain and toss in the pasta and peas. Either enjoy as is...or you can put it in an oven proof dish, sprinkle it with a little bit of panko and a sprinkle of Parmesan cheese (or cheddar) and bake for 15 mins at 350.
Amazing, and much better than the cream of mushroom soup version.

Oh...and a salt and pepper to taste!

My secret to awesome tuna casserole without canned soup is goat cheese!

Just add a small log of chevre to your hot cooked noodles/veg/tuna mixture with a ladle or two of the hot pasta water and the cheese will turn into an amazing sauce.

From that point, you can top with breadcrumbs and bake. YUM.

interwebs -- ha ha

How funny- I was looking for the same thing yesterday! My husband loves Tuna Casserole...I think it's just okay. I'm pretty sure his Mom used to use canned soup, but I made the sauce with a mix of milk and flour and cheese.

I've made this one with success:
http://www.marthastewart.com/recipe/mediterranean-tuna-noodle-casserole

Dude man, dude, just DIY!

http://www.thekitchn.com/thekitchn/diy-recipe/recipe-diy-cream-of-chicken-condensed-soup-016827

Throw in some sauteed mushrooms or a bit of whirled asparagus, or smooshed potato or whatever to make it what you need!

The stuff sold as condensed "soup" was originally meant to be a canned version of bechamel anyhow. It's weird to me that that is what it has replaced in American kitchens... a bechamel is, I think, a little easier than opening a can and glopping that nastiness out. It has three ingredients. Srsly.

we always used cream of chicken soup and added sour cream and cheese in my family.
Now I make white sauce/bechamel and still add the sour cream. I will even go so far as to make roux and add chicken stock with the milk to make a more meat-y flavor. Still, sour cream is the way to go for a cream, delicious tang to bring out the cheddar flavor. Good for tuna casserole, or we'll do shredded cooked chicken and broccoli. Same sauce, wide egg noodles, and lots and lots of cheese on top.

@zom. Love it!!

I find canned cream or meat soups really weird and not appetizing also, and recently made a soup-less tuna noodle casserole from a Bon Appetit recipe that was great. (Links to my posts about the soup here and here.)

If you've made a bechamel before, it's very straightforward. And if you haven't made a bechamel before, now's the time to learn! It's really useful and not complicated at all.

Wow! I am inspired! Thanks everyone thanks Kitchn! Laura

so what's chicken spaghetti, misplacedtexan?

This is a good recipe: http://www.cannedtunarecipes.org/classic-tuna-noodle-casserole-recipe.html

Oh loislane, chicken spaghetti is wonderful! I can't say it's good for you, but it was a comfort food staple in our home. :)

Boil a couple chicken breasts and shred them up. Slice up some mushrooms. Cook a package of spaghetti (I usually boil it in the water I used for the chicken). Mix the spaghetti, shredded chicken, mushrooms, a can of Cream of Chicken, a can of Cream of Mushroom, and pour into a rectangular pyrex. Top it off with grated cheddar and bake until bubbly and a little browned on top.

Voila!

I'm sorry I'm so belated in posting the recipe! I just saw your post!