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A vibrant bowl of tuna pasta salad with spinach, red and yellow peppers, and fresh herbs sits on a wooden table with a fork. Fresh basil leaves and another bowl of salad are arranged nearby.
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5 from 5 votes

Tuna Pasta Salad

This Tuna Pasta Salad is macro-friendly and so easy to make. Enjoy this healthy pasta salad for an easy lunch or a quick dinner.
Prep Time30 minutes
Total Time30 minutes
Course: dinner, Main Dish, Pasta
Cuisine: American
Keyword: pasta, pasta salad, Tuna, tuna pasta salad
Servings: 4 servings
Calories: 330kcal
Author: Lillie

Ingredients

Tuna Pasta Salad

  • 1 ½ cups cooked pasta 250g*
  • 4 5-ounce cans albacore tuna (420g drained weight)
  • ⅔ cup cucumbers diced (90g)
  • ½ cup jarred roasted red peppers chopped (60g)
  • ½ cup jarred pepperoncinis chopped (60g)
  • ½ cup red bell peppers diced (75g)
  • ¼ cup red onion diced (75g)
  • ½ cup basil chopped (20g)
  • 2 Tbsp fresh dill or parsley chopped (5g)
  • 3 cups arugula roughly chopped (70g)
  • 2 oz crumbled feta or cubed or grated cheddar, gruyere, or jack (56g)

Tuna Pasta Dressing

  • 3 Tbsp light balsamic vinegar* (45g)
  • 3 Tbsp lite mayo (45g)
  • juice of 1 lemon (30g)
  • ½ Tbsp olive oil (7g)
  • 1 frozen garlic cube or minced garlic clove
  • 2 tsp honey mustard (8g)
  • ½ tsp kosher salt
  • ¼ tsp pepper

Instructions

  • Cook 125g of pasta if you want just enough for this recipe. It will grow into 250g of pasta once fully cooked.
  • To a large bowl, add cooked pasta along with the rest of the salad ingredients. Break up the tuna a bit so you don’t have any huge chunks.
  • Whisk together the ingredients for the tuna pasta dressing. Pour the dressing over the salad and toss well. Add additional salt and pepper to taste. If the salad is drier than you like, add a little juice from the pepperoncini jar or additional vinegar.
  • Enjoy immediately. Or store in the fridge for your meal prep!

Notes

GF/DF: Make sure to use gluten-free pasta and dairy-free cheese. We love the dairy-free feta by Follow Your Heart.
Pasta: I like to cook a whole box and save the leftovers for my kids. I’ve included both the cooked and dry weight.
Vinegar: Feel free to use any light balsamic or champagne vinegar. My favorite is a fruit-infused white balsamic by Baker and Olive for that sweet kick! You can also do half of a normal vinegar and half of the fruit infused for balance.
Tuna: Not a fan of tuna, feel free to swap in chicken of course! Use the same 420 grams of chicken for the following macros: 
  • Grilled chicken:  402 calories, 11 fat, 33 carbs, 36 protein, 2.2 fiber.
  • Rotisserie chicken breast: 388 calories, 12 fat, 32 carbs, 34 protein, 2.2 fiber.