Tuna Pasta Salad

This Tuna Pasta Salad is not only delicious but also nutritious, and great for a quick cold meal on a hot summer day. It’s great to make-ahead and perfect for get-togethers like potlucks, picnics, and BBQs! Enjoy!

Summertime heat is NO joke. It’s been squelching heat and humidity here in Miami and that has me on a ‘make everything that doesn’t require the oven’ kick. My summer fruit salad and strawberry spinach salad are great for hydration, but I wanted to make a few salads on the heartier side with grains and protein involved. Enter this Tuna Pasta Salad. It’s an easy classic with a twist in using more Greek yogurt than mayonnaise for the creaminess. A seriously simple salad that’s perfect for summer BBQs, potlucks, lunches, or a quick dinner if you’re parched from all this heat and can’t think about ‘what’s for dinner!

When I did my dietetic internship years ago the dietitians did a potluck lunch every month. Each dietitian would bring a salad, but not just any green leafy salad. There’d be a mixture of beans salads, grain salads, pasta, and fruit combos. I could eat different salad combinations like this all day long. With so much variety and flavor this is my idea of a dream plate. Already starting to brainstorm more recipe ideas that I can make. In the meantime, I leave you in the coming weeks with a few more summer salads. Enjoy!

Ingredients: Tuna Pasta Salad

• Farfalle Pasta: Any short pasta will work. Opted for the bow ties, because let’s be honest, they’re just more fun!
• Canned Tuna: Water or oil packed tuna, look for a low-sodium or no sodium version (as I recently just found in my store!)
• Pickled Red Onion: if you don’t mind raw onion, go for it. However, this small extra step is totally worth it for less bite from the onion.
• Celery: Every good salad will have a mixture of textures. Celery here helps provide some crunch to your tuna and pasta.
• Fresh Dill: I’ve been in to a dill kick. Herbs in general will add extra flavor to any dish. Use whichever herb you like, but dill here pairs well with the other flavors.
• Frozen Peas: Traditional tuna salad has peas in it. You can always leave them out however, they do add a touch more protein to the dish. No need to defrost, simply leave at the bottom of the colander before draining the pasta.
• Greek Yogurt: Instead of mayonnaise for all of the dressing, this helps provide not only more protein, but also less fat overall.
• Mayonnaise: Some fat is needed to provide flavor and fullness. Here I played with the ratio of the mayonnaise and Greek yogurt. Feel free to do more mayonnaise at first if you’re concerned it won’t have as much flavor.
• Dijon mustard: This provides tang mixed in with the Greek yogurt and mayonnaise which allows for a more flavorful, not too rich, dressing.
• Lemon: Anytime will add brightness and acidity to help make a great vinaigrette, creamy, or regular.

How To Make Tuna Pasta Salad

1. Boil pasta. Bring a large pot of water to a boil.  Add the box (12-ounces) dried farfalle pasta and cook according to package directions until just tender, 10-13 minutes.  You want the pasta ‘al dente’ so it will absorb the dressing and not be too mushy!
2. Make the dressing and prep the other ingredients.  Juice the lemon (microwaving for 20 seconds helps more juice come out!) to get 2 tablespoons of lemon juice and add to a bowl.  Add ½ cup Greek yogurt, ¼ cup mayonnaise, 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard, and ¼ teaspoon black pepper, and stir to combine.
3. Prepare the remaining ingredients, adding each to the dressing as it is completed.  2 cans drained tuna, breaking up any large chunks of tuna with a fork.  ½ cup pickled red onion.  Dice 2 medium celery stalks, ~1/2 cup.  Finely chop the fronds and tender stems from ½ small bunch of fresh dill until you have 2 tablespoons (more if you like, which I do to not waste the herb package).  Stir to combine.  
4. Add 1 cup frozen peas to a strainer.  Once the pasta is ready, drain the pasta over the peas and rinse with cold water to cool.  Drain well. 
5. Add the pasta and peas to the bowl with the dressing and other ingredients.  Stir to combine and evenly coat.   
6. Serve and enjoy!

Leftovers and Storage

• This tuna pasta salad makes a ton! It’s important to note, only store for three days in the refrigerator in a covered container. This recipe is great for a get-together/party, not for just one person eating . I made 1/2 the recipe and split for lunches.
• Pasta salad can dry out over time. If you’re not serving this all at once, reserve a little of the dressing to drizzle on top prior to serving and ‘freshen’ up the pasta salad.
• Do not recommend freezing leftovers for this one.

Pasta Salad ‘Dos’ and Don’ts

• DO rinse the pasta. Cold water allows for the pasta to stop cooking and stay ‘al dente’. Additionally, it removes some of the starch, which helps the pasta to not stick together.
• DON’T overcook the pasta. ‘Al dente’ is what we’re aiming for. Overcooked pasta = mushy pasta and no one wants that.
• DON’T add too much dressing. The recipe calls for a tad extra, so reserve a little and don’t add it all. You can always add more dressing, but if you put on too much, it’ll be soggy.
• DO let the pasta salad rest. You can serve it right away, however, pasta salad gets even better as it sits and let’s the flavors marry together.
• DO taste for seasoning. After you’ve refrigerated the pasta salad, give it a stir and taste to see if it needs any extra pepper and/or a pinch of salt (as I use no salt).
• DON’T leave your pasta salad out too long to avoid any food-borne illness. No longer than an hour outside of the fridge to avoid possible danger zone temperatures.

More Summer Salad Recipes

• ‘Italian’ Pasta Salad
• Goat Cheese and Strawberry Salad
• Zoodle Salad
• Iceberg Wedge Salad

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