Looking for a quick and easy lunch or dinner recipe that includes ingredients you most likely have on hand? This Tuna Pasta Salad is it!
When it’s warm outside and we’re approaching (or in the thick of) summertime, I start craving pasta salad. It’s just one of those summer dishes that was always around in my childhood so I want to make it all the time for pool parties or for the kids to take with them to camp during the summer. Plus I get to have it too and that’s a win-win in my book. This Tuna Pasta Salad doesn’t reinvent the wheel when it comes to pasta salad, but it’s so tasty you’ve just got to make this recipe.
I love this Tuna Pasta Salad because it’s rare that I’m ever out of any of the ingredients AND the kids love it. Plus, if you happen to be missing an ingredient, the dish will still hold up (unless of course the one ingredient you’re out of is tuna!). Put any fresh, crunchy veggies you like in this one and make it your own! There’s no right or wrong way.
This dish is pretty close to foolproof whether you want to put together a quick lunch or easy dinner. Everything is right within your reach. Pasta salad in general is a great dish to make and have on hand for the week too. I’ve been making this Tuna Pasta Salad all the time lately as well as Summer Pasta Salad and Summer Succotash Pasta Salad depending on what ingredients I have at the time.
The “hardest” part of this recipe is boiling the pasta… which says a lot about the difficulty scale of this one. After that it’s just assembling all the ingredients which truly takes minutes. I promise once you make this Tuna Pasta Salad once you’ll start making it all the time.
Are you a pasta salad fan? Let me know if you make this one by tagging me on social media!
Tuna Pasta Salad
Ingredients
- 3 tablespoon lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon dijon or yellow mustard
- 2 tablespoon mayonnaise (or vegan mayonnaise)
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 2 8 ounce cans freshwater tuna
- 4 cups pasta, cooked
- 1/2 cup carrot, peeled and shredded
- 1/2 cup cucumber, seeded and diced
- 1/4 cup dill pickles, diced
- 1 tomato, seeded and diced
Instructions
- Place the first 4 ingredients in a bowl and whisk to combine.
- Mix the remaining ingredients in a large bowl, pour the sauce on top and stir combine.
- Refrigerate until ready to serve.
I made this for my 3 year old for her school lunch and its absolutely delish! I did have to make some changes though. I used barrila veggie pasta instead of regular pasta so I omitted the carrots and cucumber since hubby doesn’t like cucumber. and added a bit more mustard than usual. Added pickle juice and more pickles 🙂 and it was still terrific. Great for hot days! I also must add that Hubby put White Sauce (Japanese Steakhouse style) on his and loved it even more lol.
My mom used to make us a tuna “casserole” growing up. This reminds me of her recipe but with so many better ingredients. I made it the other night and it was absolutely delicious!! I subbed peas for the cucumber (didn’t have one in the fridge) and it turned out great!
Do you drain the tuna? I assume so….
[…] dinner that doesn’t take many ingredients to make and even better, is fast and easy. This tuna pasta salad, from our friend Catherine McCord at Weelicious, is all of the above and more! It’s a tasty […]
Yes, you can use green spaghetti!
can i use green spagetti? i still have some of those left and i dont wanna buy a new packet of pasta:(
Delicious! I made this for lunch today and it was very tasty. The pickle adds such a nice touch and I love that the “dressing” is not overbearing or too much of it. Thanks for sharing 🙂
I made this with salmon (had it on hand) and it was incredible! My kids gobbled it up and asked for more after! Great dinner for hot days…Thanks for a super yummy recipe!
PS. I’m pregnant so the pickles were a definite hit for me 🙂
[…] English Muffin w/ apple butter L- Leftover Tuna Pasta Salad w/ veggies D – Angel hair pasta with eggplant tomato […]
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I’m normally one to turn my nose from tuna…I never really liked it. But I tried this recipe and it is really yummy. Thank you for the recipe!
Follow Your Heart’s grapeseed oil Vegannaise is so good, I have not eaten mayo in 3 years — since I first tasted the Vegannaise. Amazing in everything.
Hi,
vitalchoice.com has tuna and salmon very low in mercury and high in selenium (to help bind to and detox mercury). They also have BPA free cans. Check them out. They are a little pricey but good quality.
No, this is a serving in a small bowl. This would be plenty for 4-5 🙂
The above picture for this recipe is just over 1 serving (the bowl isn’t very big). You could serve it over lettuce and tomatoes to stretch it a bit or just add an extra can of tuna and a tough more veggies, pasta, mayo, lemon juice etc.. to pump it up a bit.
Is the picture a full recipe or a serving? If a serving, it seems rather ample. How much would you estimate a serving to be? I would be making this for 4 – 5 adult eaters.
greek yogurt! (:
I always use plain yogurt in my tuna salad. It is a different taste, but I think it is a good mix. In this case, it is only 2 Tbs, so it might be worth a try. Maybe cut back on the lemon juice though, since yogurt can be tangy itself.
You can use vegannaise 🙂
I always substitue Vegenaise for mayonnaise! I love mayo- but seriously, vegenaise tastes just as good and has no cholesterol!
My daughter has egg allergies. What could I substitute for the mayo in this recipe?
I make a similar recipe for my family and always include some kind of beans, chickpeas are my favorite, but there are so many others that would hold up well.
Surprisingly, canned tuna is actually a much better choice then line caught tuna if you compare the two. http://www.montereybayaquarium.org/cr/SeafoodWatch/web/sfw_factsheet.aspx?fid=129 As long as you eat it in moderations it’s a good choice You can also buy it in pouches if you’re worried about cans (which I tend to be). Wholefoods sells BPA free canned tuna too.
Yeah, this will be fantastic with salmon instead! I haven’t had tuna in the last 5 yrs or so because of the mercury issue.
I have that same concern. It’s a personal choice so you need to do what you feel comfortable with, but I won’t feed my son tuna. I don’t trust it. But I can see this recipe being just as good with canned chicken or even beans if you have those on hand. You could even serve it without meat/beans if you didn’t have any as the pasta and veggies would be enough to satisfy my little guy. Thanks Catherine! The great thing about your recipes is that they are so versatile that you can really customize them to meet your family’s needs. Just having these ideas helps immensely. Love your site!
DO you worry about feeding your family tuna because of the mercury content? I used to love tuna before starting a family but we went cold turkey and have not had a bite since just “in case” our bodies were sensitive to the mercury intake. What are your thoughts? Thanks!