Tuna Casserole & Wine Pairing

Tuna Casserole pairs best with light and fruity reds like Beaujolais, Côtes du Rhône, or Pinot Noir.  If red wine is not your style, a Rosé or crisp, unoaked whites like Sauvignon Blanc, Pinot Grigio, and Riesling are excellent choices as they cut through the creamy, rich flavours of Tuna Casserole.  Above all else, keep tannic and heavy red wines away from Tuna Casserole, as the canned Tuna meat will taste metallic when paired against these types of wine.

Best Wine with Tuna Casserole

Beaujolais Villages and Tuna Casserole Pairing

Beaujolais Villages pairs well with Tuna Casserole as this light and fruity red wine provides a nice contrast against the heavy and filling flavours of the tuna, dairy and noodles.  Low in tannin and high in acidity, Beaujolais has fresh flavours of strawberry, cherry and raspberry.  These light fruit flavours keep you refreshed, washing away all the fats, proteins and carbs off your tongue, ensuring each bite tastes as fresh as the next.  The lightness of Beaujolais Villages is also ideal as a heavier red wine might have you sneaking a long nap on the couch when paired with the denseness of Tuna Casserole.

While Beaujolais will continue to make the Tuna Casserole taste delicious, this comfort food won’t make the wine taste amazing.  The heavy tuna chunks, cream, butter, cheese, and noodle combination will crush most of the delicate flavours of the wine.  However, with low cost of Beaujolais, you’ll still get a lot of value out of this red wine.

Tuna Casserole & Rosé Pairing

Rosé is underappreciated wine in North America as it looks like it’s going to be sweet due to its pink colour.  However, Rosé tends to be bracingly dry, with tart flavours of strawberry, raspberry, cranberry and lime. The high acidity of Rosé easily shears through the heavy carbs, cream and protein of Tuna Casserole, ensuring you’re not exhausted after three bites in. Instead, the light fruit flavours seep in and mingle with your taste buds, keeping them electrified and alert, ensuring you taste all the rich flavours.

Pinot Noir & Mushroom Tuna Casserole Pairing

Pinot Noir pairs well with Tuna Casserole if you’ve stirred in a can of cream of mushroom soup into your delicious dish.  While light and fruity, with notes of strawberry and cherry, Pinot Noir also has an earthy edge that loves the funky flavours of mushrooms.  Pinot Noir is naturally acidic, and unless oaked, you won’t have to worry about it clashing with the caned tinned tuna.

Good Pinot Noir is expensive, and while there are lots of cheap versions of Pinot Noir on store shelves, I often don’t recommend them.  Cheap Pinot Noir often uses artificial flavourings, dyes, oak chips and chemicals to deliver its candied fruit flavours.  Good Pinot Noir takes a lot of patience, effort and heartbreak, and while it’s worth the high cost, I would never pair it with Tuna Casserole unless it was my most favourite food in the world.  Instead, I’d go with a Beaujolais Villages, which is a quarter of the cost but delivers 80% of what makes Pinot Noir so amazing.

Sauvignon Blanc Paired with Tuna Casserole and Herbs

There are millions of tried-and-true Tuna Casserole recipes floating out there on the interwebs, each with a slight variation on the classic comfort food dish. Herbs like Rosemary, Oregano, and Basil, for example, may be called for in various recipes. In this case, I’d recommend a Sauvignon Blanc because it has a ‘green’ element of grass and herbs to it that goes well with herbs in your Tuna Casserole.

Like Rosé, Sauvignon Blanc has a lovely crisp acidity that cuts through the layers of fat, carbohydrates, and protein in your Tuna Casserole and brings out the most delectable flavours.  Sauvignon Blanc will also continue to keep you refreshed with crisp flavours of grapefruit, lemon, gooseberry, lime and green apple.

Tuna Casserole & Unoaked Chardonnay

While a buttery and oaked Chardonnay will complement the creamy flavours of a Tuna Casserole, Oaked Chardonnay is also heavy, meaning the combination might exhaust you or fill you up way too quickly.  Thus, I’d recommend an unoaked Chardonnay or lightly oaked Chardonnay that will leave you refreshed with its lean flavours of pear, peach, mango, pineapple and apple.

Unoaked Chardonnay might be difficult to find, however, you’ll find excellent examples in Canada, Australia and France (most notably Chablis)