Quick answer: This is a hot, baked tuna pasta — about 38 grams of protein and 500 calories per serving, ready in about 40 minutes including bake time. Where every other tuna pasta recipe on this site is a cold salad, this one is an actual casserole, with a cottage cheese sauce and a crisp breadcrumb top. Serves 4. Sodium runs moderate-to-high, about 650 mg per serving.
Three other tuna pasta recipes exist on this site — all cold salads with different dressings. This is the one hot dish in the group, closer to a tuna noodle casserole than a picnic side.
Why This Recipe Has About 38 Grams of Protein
| Source | Per serving |
| Cottage cheese, 4% (90 g) | 10.4 g |
| Canned tuna, drained (82.5 g) | 16.0 g |
| Whole wheat pasta, dry (57 g) | 7.4 g |
| Everything else | 4.3 g |
| Total | 38.1 g |
Cottage cheese, blended into a sauce rather than left chunky, is what pushes this above the other tuna pasta bakes’ typical protein range.
A Note on Sodium
About 650 mg per serving, roughly 28% of the WHO’s 2,300 mg daily limit.
- Cottage cheese: ~315 mg
- Canned tuna: ~206 mg
- Breadcrumb topping: ~98 mg
- Everything else: ~31 mg
What helps: a low-sodium breadcrumb, or skipping the topping entirely, is the easiest lever after the cottage cheese itself.
What You Need
Makes 4 servings
- 3 cans (5 oz / 142 g each) light tuna in water, drained (about 330 g drained total)
- 8 oz (227 g) whole wheat pasta, dry
- 1½ cups (360 g) 4% cottage cheese, blended smooth
- ¼ cup milk
- 1 cup (150 g) frozen peas
- ½ cup breadcrumbs
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- Black pepper, to taste
How to Make It
- Preheat the oven to 375°F (190°C).
- Cook the pasta until just shy of al dente, since it finishes cooking in the oven.
- Blend the cottage cheese with milk until smooth, to make the sauce.
- Combine the pasta, tuna, peas and cottage cheese sauce in a baking dish.
- Top with breadcrumbs tossed in olive oil, and bake 20-25 minutes until golden on top.
Tips
Undercook the pasta slightly before baking. It absorbs more sauce and finishes cooking in the oven — fully cooked pasta going in turns mushy.
Blend the cottage cheese smooth, not chunky, for this recipe specifically — a smooth sauce coats the pasta the way a bechamel would in a traditional casserole.
Substitutions
Breadcrumbs: crushed crackers work as a substitute topping. Cottage cheese: ricotta works, with a slightly richer result.
Storage
Up to 3 days refrigerated. Reheats well in the oven or microwave, unlike most of the cold tuna pasta salads on the site.
High Protein Tuna Pasta
Ingredients
Method
- Preheat oven to 375°F (190°C).
- Cook the pasta just shy of al dente.
- Blend cottage cheese with milk until smooth.
- Combine pasta, tuna, peas and sauce in a baking dish.
- Top with oiled breadcrumbs and bake 20-25 minutes.
Notes
- Undercooking the pasta before baking prevents mushiness.
- Reheats well, unlike the cold tuna pasta salads on the site.
Nutrition
Per serving (recipe makes 4):
| Calories | 500 |
| Protein | 38 g |
| Sodium | 650 mg |
Verified against the Tuna nutrition workbook, calculated ingredient-by-ingredient from USDA FoodData Central reference values.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is this the same as the other tuna pasta recipes on the site?
No — those are all cold pasta salads. This is a hot, baked casserole.
Can I make this ahead and bake it later?
Yes — assemble it up to a day ahead, refrigerated, and add 5-10 extra minutes to the bake time from cold.
Can I use a different pasta shape?
Yes, any short pasta that holds sauce well works — shells or rotini in particular.
How do I reheat leftovers?
Oven or microwave both work; the oven keeps the breadcrumb topping crisper.
More High Protein Tuna Recipes
Alongside High Protein Tuna Pasta Salad, Tuna Pasta Salad Without Mayo and Tuna Pasta Salad — the cold versions of tuna pasta on the site.
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