Tuna Pasta Salad

Tuna Pasta Salad Recipe

Ok, hope you love tuna pasta salad as much as we do! This huge bowl was devoured quick for lunch in the text kitchen. It was the perfect pasta lunch that’s loaded with flavor and texture. The secret to why our recipe is so delicious is because we use lots of tuna. Yes, we love it and added 3 cans to the recipe for maximum tuna in each bite. With the added chopped celery and other awesome ingredients it’s not a boring dish. It’s the party-perfect bowl of easy pasta salad to bring to the next potluck or party.

Video: Best Tuna Pasta Salad

How to Make Easy Tuna Pasta Salad Recipe

We already talked about adding extra tuna. Now the part to make this dish great is choosing the pasta. We prefer smaller pasta so that it’s not too filling and so that each bite is loaded with more tuna. Small elbow macaroni, ditalini, rotini and farfalle or bow tie is our favorite. They’re smaller, taste tender and aren’t too filling. All recipe details and photos are in the recipe box below.

Print Recipe

Tuna Pasta Salad

Make sure to add enough salt/seasoning for maximum flavor. For this much pasta, you must add enough salt to bring out the tasty flavors. Best part about this salad is that you can totally customize it the way you want. Add more of less of any ingredient to make it perfect to your personal taste!

For the tuna, we found a big flavor and texture difference by using the solid white chunk albacore tuna vs the chunk light style tunas. Feel free to use more or less tuna depending on your personal taste preference.

Prep Time10 mins

Cook Time15 mins

Total Time25 mins

Servings: 10 Servings

Calories: 368kcal

Ingredients

• 12-16 ounces (340-454 g) dried pasta , cooked to package instructions
• 15 oz. (425 g) tuna , drained (3 cans)
• 1 cup (224 g) mayonnaise , to taste depending on how creamy you like it
• 2 stalks celery , diced
• 1/4 cup (35 g) diced pickles or relish
• 3 Tablespoons (45 ml) minced red onion
• 1 Tablespoon (15 ml) prepared mustard
• 3 Tablespoons (45 ml) minced parsley
• 1 teaspoon (5 ml) salt , or to taste
• 1/2 teaspoon (2.5 ml) fresh cracked black pepper , to taste
• 1 teaspoon (5 ml) dried dill , or 1 Tablespoon fresh chopped dill (optional)
• freshly squeezed lemon juice to taste - (optional)
• slices (slices) of fresh lemon , garnish

Instructions 

• Prepare the pasta: Fill a large bowl (big enough to hold cooked pasta) halfway with ice water. Boil pasta to package instructions. Drain pasta, rinse with cold water and shock the pasta by adding it to the cold water to get it cold fast.

  Once cold, drain the pasta, transfer to a large bowl.
  
• In the bowl with the pasta, add tuna, mayonnaise, celery, relish or pickles, red onion, mustard, parsley, salt, pepper and/or optional dill, and lemon juice.
  
• Gently stir everything together. Chill for at least 1 hour before serving. Garnish with lemon slices.
  

Video

Course: Salad, Side Dish

Cuisine: Party, Pasta, Salads

Nutrition

Calories: 368kcal | Carbohydrates: 26g | Protein: 17g | Fat: 21g | Saturated Fat: 3g | Cholesterol: 17mg | Sodium: 583mg | Potassium: 200mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 2g | Vitamin A: 197IU | Vitamin C: 2mg | Calcium: 23mg | Iron: 1mg

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