Cooking without any cutting or using a cooktop can be a challenge, but this tuna pasta bake recipe delivers no cutting, no boiling water, and only 6 ingredients baked in the air fryer.

This tuna pasta bake evokes memories of childhood for my daughter, when her mother used to cook this favorite for her and her best friend after school. While that part of her life was often challenging she still talks fondly of these positive memories with her BFF.

While this recipe isn’t faithful to Debra’s original, it is something my daughter can easily make for herself and it’s the kind of recipe that many young people will find easy to master.

Serves 4 (or the 4 individual serves can be frozen for another day)

Ingredients

1 Jar                            Pasta Bake Sauce

1 Pack                         Fresh Uncooked Pasta                     

1 Cup                          Frozen Sweet Corn                

1 Cup                          Frozen Onions                      

1 Cup                          Tuna (canned)

½ Cup                         Grated Cheese

Per Serve: 363 calories, 9g fat (4g saturated fat), 74mg cholesterol, 968mg sodium, 49g carbohydrates (10g sugars, 5g fiber), 21g protein.

Method

1. Put pasta bake sauce into a bowl.
2. Put fresh pasta in the bowl.
3. Put sweet corn in the bowl.
4. Put onions in the bowl.
5. Put tuna in the bowl.
6. Mix these ingredients together, then spoon into ramekins.
7. Sprinkle grated cheese on top.
8. Place in air fryer, and cook on bake mode for 20 minutes (160C/320F).

Watch this YouTube video where I show you the method my daughter uses.

Serving Suggestions

Pasta invites garlic bread to accompany it. My daughter uses frozen individual slices of garlic bread. Put these in the air fryer on air fry for 5 minutes.

When your child is cooking just for themselves, the other portions can be frozen and used as a ready meal another day. Cooking in this way is not only healthier than buying ready meals from the store, but is also cost-saving.

As with all the recipes I share, this is the base of your child’s pasta bake. If they don’t like tuna, substitute it with something else. My daughter adds Italian seasoning as an extra to this recipe. Your child might like a little more cheese or salami to add a different twist. The point is this recipe is your child’s to adapt. The base is the pasta sauce, the pasta, just about everything else can be substituted.

Summary

Pasta is always a favorite, and this recipe is not only safer to make, because there is no cutting or handling of boiling hot water, it still delivers on taste. Once your child master’s this recipe, and starts to add their own taste ideas then it should become a regular go-to meal.

I’d love to hear your feedback on how your young person found making this recipe.

I’m the father of a daughter with additional needs. I understand how the journey can be tough, frustrating, and lonely. Sometimes it’s hard to imagine a future where they are secure, have self-dignity, have purpose in their lives, and have a community around them. I learned a lot from our journey, and that’s why I wrote, What’s Possible? Plan a better future for your young adult with additional needs. It shows you how to start making a life plan with your child.