Tuna Pasta Salad
Refreshing and flavorful, this Pasta Tuna Salad is creamy, filling, and packed with flavors you know and love. This will be a huge hit at parties, picnics, barbecues, and more.
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Perfect for the spring and summer, this creamy tuna pasta salad includes hard-boiled eggs and fresh veggies for the ultimate side dish. It's quickly become one of my favorite cold pasta salads!
Why This Recipe Works
With very little prep involved, this cold tuna pasta salad is the perfect medley of fresh and vibrant flavors. It uses canned tuna for an affordable protein and comes with a homemade creamy dressing.
The end result is the perfect balance of flavors that work well as a side dish, a main course, or even meal prep! Adding this pasta salad on the side will make any meal the perfect meal.
And if you can't get enough of delicious pasta salads like this one, try my Tuna Casserole for a classic recipe or this Southwestern Chicken Pasta Salad for something fun and exciting!
Ingredients Needed
- Small Shell Pasta: You can use any short-cut pasta for this dish, but I like shells for a fun twist.
- Mayonnaise: Choose light mayo for a slightly healthier option.
- Yellow Mustard: Adds the perfect punch of flavor.
- Relish: I used sweet, but you can also use dill if you prefer.
- Fresh Lemon Juice: Feel free to use bottled if it's easier, but I prefer the flavor of fresh lemon juice.
- Seasonings: Celery salt, paprika, cayenne, garlic powder, salt and black pepper infuse this dish with lots of flavor.
- Veggies: I use a simple combo of fresh celery, fresh red onion, and frozen peas.
- Fresh Dill Weed: Fresh herbs like dill are great to add a pop of flavor that helps bring everything together.
- Hard Boiled Eggs: Makes the salad more filling.
How to Make this Pasta Tuna Salad
- Step 1: Cook your pasta al dente according to the package directions, then add cooked pasta to a large mixing bowl with mayo, mustard, relish, lemon juice, and seasonings. Give it a good stir to combine.
- Step 2: Add the tuna, peas, celery, and red onions and mix again.
- Step 3: Chop the hard-boiled eggs into smaller chunks.
- Step 4: Mix the eggs into the pasta salad. Chill for at least 2 hours and serve!
Recipe Tips
- Be sure to taste the pasta salad before you serve it and adjust the seasonings to taste.
- Instead of shells, use elbow macaroni, penne, farfalle (bow ties), rotini, or cavatappi.
- Don't skip the chilling phase! All of the flavors develop and meld together as it sits in the fridge.
- Other veggies that would be great to add to this dish include corn, diced red bell pepper, olives, scallions, or even some blanched broccoli!
- If you have leftovers, transfer to an airtight container and store in the fridge for 3 to 4 days.
Recipe FAQ's
Some of the biggest mistakes are in the pasta cooking stage. Be sure you don't overcook or it will turn out mushy. You also want to drain the pasta but not rinse it--all of the starches from the cooking water help to make the dressing thick and creamy!
Smaller and shorter pasta shapes like shells work well, and they hold lots of the dressing as well. Corkscrews are another great option to pick up all of the yummy salad ingredients! Other great choices are penne, bow tie pasta, and elbows.
Tuna packed in water is best! If you buy tuna packed in oil, that will can change the flavor and consistency of this recipe
This tuna salad with pasta can be made up a day in advance of a get-together. Although the pasta does absorb some of the dressing. You may want to consider making the salad the day before and not adding the dressing until right before serving. Or add in a couple of tablespoons of mayonnaise to freshen it up.
More Pasta Salad Recipes
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Tuna Pasta Salad
Ingredients
- 3 cups dried small shell pasta
- 1 cup mayonnaise
- 2 tablespoon yellow mustard
- 1/4 cup sweet pickle relish
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 1/2 teaspoon celery salt
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon paprika
- 2 tablespoon fresh dill week chopped
- 3 5 ounce cans tuna drained
- 3 celery sticks finely chopped
- 1/2 cup red onion finely chopped
- 5 hard boiled eggs
- 1 cup frozen peas
Instructions
- Cook pasta to al dente according to the pkg direction, drain and rinse with cold water and place in a large bowl.
- Add in the mayonnaise, mustard, relish, lemon juice, celery salt, garlic powder, salt, pepper, paprika and cayenne pepper and mix until combined.
- Fold in the tuna, celery, red onions and peas until combined.
- Peel and cut your eggs into chunks and fold them into the pasta salad.
- Season with more salt and pepper to taste if needed. Chill in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours. And serve!
Notes
- Any small cut pasta will work, make sure you don't overcook it.
- Tuna packed in water is best.
- No need to thaw the peas they thaw really fast.
