Easy Cold Tuna Pasta Salad
A tasty, quick and healthy light lunch - takes minutes to make.
Why you should make this!
- It's easy, with no cooking involved apart from the pasta.
- You can make it ahead - just store it in a lidded storage container in the fridge - use it within 3 days.
- It's tasty and healthy and is perfect for a light lunch or a main meal.
- The recipe makes enough for two mains or depending on how much you like to eat, makes 4 lunch boxes.
- With just a few storecupboard ingredients, once the pasta is cooked it takes literally 2 minutes to make.
Ingredients
- 140g dried pasta - I used mafalda corta pasta but you can use whatever pasta shapes you prefer.
- 2 x cans of tuna in oil - I like the cans of drained tuna (as there's only a tiny amount of oil)
- 1 x 350g jar of passata rustica
- ½ of a red onion - peeled and very finely chopped
- a few pitted black olives in brine - drained on a kitchen paper towel and sliced
- a pinch of dried oregano
- a pinch of sugar, if you think it needs it - I didn't add any sugar
- salt and black pepper to taste
Recipe Top Tips!
Tuna pasta salad is best served at room temperature.
Avoid at all costs 'quick cook pasta' - it's horrid and turns to mush.
Once your pasta is cooked, drain it well and cool completely before adding it to your sauce.
Be sure to use good quality passata otherwise, your salad will be watery and will lack in taste.
If you use tuna that isn't already drained of oil - you must drain it first before adding it to your pasta salad.
Drained tuna is in smaller 60g cans because regular tuna in oil weighs more because of the oil.
I didn't add any sugar, but you might want to. Taste your sauce before stirring through the pasta and tuna before adding any.
If you don't have sugar, you can instead add a squeeze of tomato ketchup.
You can add a few halved baby tomatoes if you wish, or a chopped hard-boiled egg.
What's that, you don't like olives? No worries, just leave them out!
Ingredient swaps
- Red onion for spring onion (scallions)
- Oregano for Italian seasoning
- Olives for a few capers (in brine, not salt and rinsed and drained)
- Tuna for salmon for a salmon pasta salad
- Tuna for canned pilchards in tomato sauce
How to make tuna pasta salad
Cook the pasta and allow it to completely cool.
Once cooked, drain it well and drizzle over a tiny amount of olive oil and stir to coat. This stops the pasta from going dry.
In a bowl, add the passata, onion, oregano, pepper and olives along with a pinch of salt then have a taste.
Add sugar if you think it needs it, once you're happy with the taste, gently stir through the pasta and then the drained tuna.
Another light lunch you might like is this Tabbouleh Salad Recipe
Have you tried this recipe? Please leave a ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ star rating in the recipe card below!
Tuna Pasta Salad Recipe
Ingredients
- 140g dried pasta - I used mafalda corta pasta but you can use whatever pasta shapes you prefer
- 2 x 60g cans of drained tuna in sunflower oil
- 1 x 350g jar of passata rustica
- ½ of a red onion - peeled and very finely chopped
- a few pitted black olives in brine - drained on a kitchen paper towel and sliced
- a pinch of dried oregano
- a pinch of sugar, if you think it needs it - I didn't add any sugar
- a pinch of salt and black pepper to taste
Instructions
- Heat a large saucepan of salted water until it's boiling. Then add the pasta and cook as per packet instructions - usually for around 10-12 minutes.
- Once cooked drain it well and drizzle over a tiny amount of olive oil and stir to coat. This stops the pasta from going dry. Make sure your pasta is completely cold.
- In a bowl, add the passata, onion, oregano, pepper and olives along with a pinch of salt then have a taste. Add sugar if you think it needs it, once you're happy with the taste, gently stir through the pasta and then the drained tuna.
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Jan