This post may contain affiliate links.
An easy and tasty Tuna Pasta Salad, perfect for a quick dinner, a packed lunch or a picnic. A delicious family favourite recipe.
Fun fact, I started making this Tuna Pasta Salad recipe when was in my early-20s and realised that I was spending almost all of my office wages on buying lunches and needed an alternative!
I’d make a big batch of this at the weekend to pack up for lunches for a few days, and my finances thanked me for it 🙃
It’s still one of my go-to, staple, easy, prep ahead lunches. It also makes a great sharing dish for a buffet or kids play dates.
If you love this, you might also enjoy my Tuna Pasta Bake as a hot dish too.
Why you’ll love this Tuna Pasta Salad recipe
⭐️ Ready in 10 minutes
⭐️ Colourful, tasty and simple
⭐️ Uses handy store cupboard tuna
Tuna Pasta Salad Variations
With Avocado – Add a large peeled and cubed avocado
Make lighter – Replace the mayonnaise or creme fraiche (or both) with low fat Greek yoghurt
With Cheese – Either sprinkle grated cheese over the top or mix small cubes of cheese in with the rest of the ingredients
With Egg – Add a hard boiled egg or two to the ingredients
Creamy Tuna Pasta Salad Ingredients
- Tuna – I use basic but good quality canned tuna fish (see notes below for more tuna info).
- Pasta – Use whichever shape you prefer.
- Sweetcorn – I use no added sugar, canned and drained corn. You can use frozen (and defrosted) if you prefer.
- Peppers – I use orange or red bell peppers for sweetness, but use whichever you like.
- Cucumber – You can peel and deseed if you’re that way inclined, but I just chop it up.
- For the dressing: Mayonnaise, creme fraiche, Dijon mustard, lemon (juice only) and fresh chives.
Type of tuna
For this recipe you can use tinned tuna either in brine, oil or water, depending on your preference.
You can get premium tuna in jars of olive oil if you want to push the boat out, which is delicious, but regular canned tuna is totally fine.
You could also use fresh tuna if you’d prefer, but this would obviously need to be cooked first and, honestly, I don’t think it’s necessary for this recipe.
How to make Tuna Pasta Salad
1. Cook your pasta, run under cold water. Add all the ingredients into a bowl together.
2. Mix the dressing ingredients and stir everything together to serve.
Substitutions
- Vegetables – Use any other vegetables you prefer. Frozen, defrosted peas are a nice alternative to sweetcorn. Red onion is also a tasty addition.
Leftovers
How long will Tuna Pasta Salad keep in the fridge? This is perfect for cold leftovers. It travels well so is also fantastic for picnics or packed lunches too.
You can keep it in the fridge for up to 3 days.
In the freezer I wouldn’t recommend freezing this recipe.
Other 10 minutes pasta recipes
Under 15 minutes
Baked Tortellini ‘Lasagne’ {10 Minute Meal}
Under 15 minutes
Prawn Pasta {10 Minute Meal}
Under 15 minutes
Smoked Salmon Pasta {10 Minute Meal}
Under 15 minutes
Cream Cheese Pasta {10 Minute Meal}
FAQ
Yes! Just omit the step where you run the pasta under cold water and mix the pasta straight in with the other ingredients after you’ve drained it. It’s delicious either way.
Let me know how you got on and what you thought of these recipes. Please rate the recipe using the ⭐️ below.
Also I’d LOVE to see your cooking creations. If you’d like to share yours with me, you can tag me on Instagram (@tamingtwins).
Tuna Pasta Salad
Ingredients
- 200 g (7 oz) Pasta
- 220 g (8 oz) Tuna, Drained
- 520 g (1.1 lb) Sweetcorn, Drained (x2 tins)
- Cucumber, Chopped into small chunks
- 2 Red peppers, Deseeded and chopped into cubes
For the dressing:
- 4 tbsp Mayonnaise
- 4 tbsp Creme fraiche
- 2 tsp Dijon mustard
- 1 Lemon, Juice only
- 15 g (1 tbsp) Fresh chives, Finely chopped
Instructions
- Cook the pasta according to the pack instructions.
- Meanwhile, mix the dressing ingredients until smooth.
- Drain the pasta and rinse with cold water.
- Mix all of the other ingredients together with the dressing.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
This recipe was originally published on 26th June 2019. It was updated on 1st August 2025 with new photographs to make the method more clear for readers.
This is one of my absolute faves. I make it every week and the whole family loves it. I throw anything I can find in that needs using up.
Really tasty dressing and recipe works well
Hi Sarah I’m a single dad of 4 kids aged between 22and 13. Been looking for a variety of dishes and time to plan ahead your recipes are perfect so a big thank you 😊
Super good tuna pasta salad recipe!!!
Made this delicious. Veggie so swapped the tuna for cannellini beans.
Had this last night, so quick and easy to make and really delicious!!
Took leftovers to work for lunch and still had some left, so saving it until tomorrow to have with quiche!
Xxx
This was lovely. Easy to make and enjoyed by everyone!…so much so that my daughter requested it for her school packed lunch 🙂
V easy to make, everyone enjoyed it. This works really well for lunch boxes.