Homemade Creamy Tuna Broccoli

My husband works full time, I work part time, our toddler has just decided she’s going to be picky when she eats. It goes without saying that Helper meals are often a staple in our house. I couldn’t shake the guilty feeling of all the excess sodium going into my daughter’s diet, as well as the lack of vegetables.

But, here is my solution:

I’ve recreated the Helper Meals. Now we can have kid friendly recipes with control over salt, sugar, vegetables, the type of pasta, the type of fish, EVERYTHING! This is the baseline recipe (recreation of what you would find in the grocery store) but depending on your dietary needs, time available, and budget you can adjust this as needed. If you wanna make homemade pasta, use tuna steaks, vegetables from your garden, and dairy from your personal cows…. email me please I’m buying a plane ticket to your house that sounds amazeballs. 

Personally, I like using the pasta that is made with spinach and zucchini. Plus, our daughter LOVES peas so we just toss those in with everything else and *Emeril Lagasse Bam* we got dinner. I can’t wait to try this with fresher tuna or tilapia in place of the canned tuna. I definitely used salmon when I was pregnant and it gets the job done. 

For this particular day I used tri-colored rotini because I thought it would photograph well, and I’m all about getting variety whenever possible in your diet. I also used garlic salt instead of garlic powder and salt because I’m bad at following directions. Even my own directions.

Then you can throw all them liquids into a big ole pot, and toss in the broccoli.

If you have time to do it this way, I recommend this step. Blending your frozen broccoli florets is a great way to hide it from picky eaters (adults and kids alike) as well as making this more accurate to the boxed kind.

I normally don’t do this because the blender makes my child scream and I have to go outside on our porch and make broccoli snow cones like a crazy person:

I know, I look incredible. Try to suppress your jealousy and remember that we are not competitors, but equals in this journey of life to achieve easy and delicious food.

Pulse that shit, taking breaks to shake and stir the slush to make sure it’s all getting mixed, until you have…… better slush.

Ok, I documented what I did here but don't actually do it. Why do I even write shit down? The reason why you don’t want to do what I did is you will get over-cooked tuna.

Thicker noodles need longer to cook, so I recommend giving them a bit of time in the pot before adding canned tuna (which is already cooked when you open it). DO AS I SAY NOT AS I DO.

Bring it to a boil, look at my photo where I clearly tried to capture it boiling-- I don’t know why I did that there aren’t live photos on this blog--then chop up some parsley. 

IMPORTANT NOTE: GET ITALIAN PARSLEY IT LOOKS LIKE THIS.

Curly parsley is mostly decorative and doesn’t really contribute any flavor. We should totally stab curly parsley. Chop up these FLAT LEAFED ITALIAN PARSLEYS. I don’t chop it up super fine because I’m lazy, this is totally up to you.

Bring that guy down to a simmer and cover it, stirring occasionally.

These cheese amounts are guidelines. Honestly I’ll dump a whole bag or Parmesan in any recipe because I have a problem. I figured this was about how much a normal person would want. 

After about ten minutes stir in that cheesy goodness and toss that FLAT LEAFED ITALIAN PARSLEY in aaaaaaand...

BOOM you have an amazing meal that was pretty much as easy as the “Helper”.

No weird preservatives, way less sodium, no added sugar, and this particular recipe is very accurate to the flavor you get from the box. If you adjust this recipe I would totally love to see/hear about it so reach out and share! 

If you are using a pasta that is thicker or crimped (Linguini, rotini, farfalle, or zucchini noodles):

Combine buttermilk, half and half or cream, water, spices, broccoli, and pasta in a large pot. Bring up to boil and cook until pasta is softened. Add the tuna and parsley and cover/simmer until the liquid is thickened and coats the pasta and broccoli, about 10 minutes. Stir occasionally. Stir in the cheese until it’s all melty and delicious. It’s ready to serve 

If you are using a gluten-free or thinner regular pasta (angel hair, spaghetti, etc):

Combine all the ingredients except the cheeses in a pot and bring to boil. Reduce to a simmer and cover until the liquid is thickened and coats the pasta and broccoli, about 10 minutes. Stir occasionally. Stir in cheese until it’s all melty and delicious. It’s ready to serve.