A Clean Salmon Noodle Casserole Recipe (Dairy Free/ Gluten Free)
I don’t know what I would have done without Salmon Noodle Casserole when my son, Blake, was growing up. A one dish wonder, it has became more and more of a staple dish the older (and hungrier!) he gets. If you have a 16-year old boy in the house who also runs cross country and plays soccer, then you know how difficult it can be to fuel him up. Blake drinks a LOT of milk with dinner each night–by the way, he drinks “whole” almond milk (here is why we don’t drink cow’s milk), but even with the extra milk he can now officially out-eat my husband. Anyway, I need hearty meals these days and salmon noodle casserole always fills everyone up!
It takes no time to make (just 20 minutes of prep work and another 20 minutes in the oven.) Best of all, it’s a great last-minute dinner dish. I rarely need to make a trip to the store since I almost always have all of the ingredients on hand as pantry staples. If you have kids in your family, this is sure to be a dinner recipe you’ll find yourself going back to again and again….
Not Your Mother’s Tuna Noodle Casserole…
Salmon Noodle Casserole is a Clean Alternative to a Family Classic
This recipe is a clean spin on classic tuna noodle casserole. I like to use canned wild salmon instead of tuna because salmon is considerably lower in mercury than tuna. Wild salmon also has more anti-inflammatory omega-3’s than tuna. As part of the “clean up”, I’ve done away with the cheese and cream. But don’t worry! Thanks to the rich and velvety nut-cream, I promise you won’t miss the dairy one bit. This is definitely NOT a “light” tasting dish. But it’s also super clean and rich in nutrients. And of course, I couldn’t help but sneak in extra vegetables! As for the pasta, thanks to two popular brands, it is now easy to make a delicious salmon noodle casserole that is either gluten free, grain free or both….
Pasta Recommendations
#1: Gluten Free: “Ancient Harvest” Organic Supergrain pasta (made with corn and quinoa) #2: Gluten Free & Grain Free: “Banza” Chickpea pasta (made from chickpeas!) Note: I talk more about Banza brand in my Chickpea Pasta Recipe. ****If you do not need to eat a gluten-free/ grain-free pasta then you can’t go wrong with DeLallo Organic Whole Wheat Shells***
For those of you with food allergies and food sensitivities, it’s helpful to know this recipe for Salmon Noodle Casserole meets the following dietary restrictions:
Egg Free / Grain Free (substitute garbanzo pasta) / Bean-Free (use whole grain pasta) / Gluten Free (use gluten free pasta)
Kitchen Favorites
Clean Salmon Noodle Casserole
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 20 minutes
- Total Time: 40 minutes
- Yield: 6 to 8 1x
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup raw walnuts
- 1/2 cup plus 3 tablespoons fresh chopped parsley, divided
- 1 cup water
- 1 cup raw cashews (optional: soak in water for 30 minutes to 2 hours)
- 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- 1/2 teaspoon hot sauce
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 1 1/4 cup finely chopped onion
- 3 celery stalks, finely chopped
- 3 carrots, finely chopped
- 1 teaspoon Himalayan salt
- 1 1/4 cup petite frozen peas
- 1 5-ounce can wild salmon, drained
- 5 cups cooked pasta shells (see notes below for brand recommendations)
Instructions
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Lightly oil the bottom and sides of an 8-inch casserole dish.Put walnuts and 3 tablespoons of the parsley in a small food processor. Pulse into “crumbs” and set aside.
2. Put water, cashews, Dijon mustard, lemon juice and hot sauce in a high speed blender and process until smooth and creamy. Set mixture aside.
3. Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the onion, celery and carrots and cook 5 to 6 minutes, or until vegetables are soft. Add salt. Add peas and cashew cream and cook, stirring occasionally, for 2 to 3 minutes. Stir in remaining ½ cup parsley. Add salmon and use a fork to break up the pieces.
4. Add the pasta shells to the casserole dish. Spoon the vegetable-cashew mixture over the noodles and stir to combine. Sprinkle the walnut-parsley crumbs on top.
5. Bake for 20 minutes. Allow casserole to cool for 10 minutes before serving. Serve warm.
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Notes
Pasta Recommendations
#1: Gluten Free: “Ancient Harvest” Organic Supergrain pasta (made with corn and quinoa)
#2: Gluten Free & Grain Free: “Banza” Chickpea pasta (made from chickpeas!)
I forgot to ask if this can be frozen. I guess I’m going to find out, since that’s the plan. 🙂 Thanks.
Hi Leesa,
I have never tried to freeze this recipe, but I don’t see why it couldn’t be frozen and reheated!
Let us know how it goes,
Madison
I prepare individual meals for my brother. He freezes them and takes one out each day for dinner. He has a lot of medical issues and dietary struggles. When I saw this, I couldn’t wait to try it. I found myself using a rubber spatula to get every little bit of the sauce out of the pan so I could eat it. It is delicious!
Hi Leesa,
We’re so glad you love it! While we haven’t tried freezing this particular recipe before, I don’t see any reason why freezing would be an issue with the ingredients. Please let us know how it goes!
Madison
This dish exceeded my expectations – a great balance of flavours and textures. I will be making it again in the future.
Thank you so much Becky, this is definitely one of our favorites!!
I made this last night. My husband and I like it, but our kids mostly passed on it. While they like salmon, having it in a casserole with pasta is a new combination for them, so maybe we’ll have to try it again with them. I made a few substitutions that seem to work:
1) pine nuts for walnuts (my husband is intolerant of the latter)
2) tomato paste for hot sauce (I didn’t have any hot sauce on hand)
Hi Kimberly! Oh no, so sorry the kids were not as happy with it. But yes, maybe it was just because it was a new combination? I do love the substitutions you made though. Thank you for sharing!!
Also, is there anything you can suggest I could do to tweak the recipe so that the kids might like it more? My son loves it—BUT he has also been eating a variation of this same recipe for years, so he it’s nothing new for him, you know?
Hi, Ivy.
I’ll think about that and get back to you. I plan to try it again. My kids are 2.5 and almost 6 years old and eat a wide variety of food, but this is a new combo for them. Thanks for asking.
Kim
Oh yes, I remember those ages SO well! One great thing though is that since you are introducing healthy foods at such a young age they truly will grow up to prefer those foods. It can be tricky to introduce new foods/ new combinations though and some foods they simply will NEVER like (my son still won’t eat whole olives). But please do keep me posted 😉