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This Tuna Pasta Salad features shell pasta, canned tuna, green peas, celery, red onion and fresh dill all in a creamy, tangy dressing. The perfect cold side dish or light meal option for hot days. Serve alongside your favorite picnic or BBQ meals!
This Tuna Pasta Salad is easy to make and can double as a side dish or a light lunch or dinner recipe. It’s perfect for serving up cold on a hot summer day.
Dividing up the dressing to coat the pasta before chilling and then adding the rest just before serving ensures that this pasta salad has the perfect amount of dressing at all times!
If you love pasta salads, make sure you check out our Classic Macaroni Salad.
Ingredients & Substitutions
- Tuna: Use your preferred brand of canned tuna and drain the liquid from it prior to use.
- Pasta Noodles: Shell pasta noodles are a great option thanks to their ability to hold onto the dressing in the nooks and crannies. Substitute with bowties, penne, or rotini if preferred.
- Mayonnaise & Sour Cream: Use these to create a nice creamy dressing to perfectly coat the pasta salad. This recipe makes just the right amount of dressing that your salad won’t be dry and it won’t be too much to be overpowering. If needed you can swap the sour cream for a plain greek yogurt. Use a mayo of your choice.
- Filling options: This recipe uses red onion, celery, and green peas as filling options. Other ideas include bell pepper, green onion, hard-boiled egg, corn, black beans, tomato, and olives.
Find the complete recipe card below with measurements and full instructions.
How to Make Tuna Pasta Salad
- Bring a medium size pot of water to boil over medium heat and cook noodles according to directions. Once noodles are cooked, strain and transfer to a large bowl. Set aside.
- To the noodles add the tuna, diced celery, diced red onion, and frozen peas. Gently stir to combine.
- In a small bowl combine the mayonnaise, sour cream, dijon mustard, white wine vinegar, salt, pepper and diced dill.
- Pour half of the dressing into the tuna pasta salad. Stir to coat. Cover and store the pasta salad and the remaining dressing. Let the salad chill for at least 30 minutes.
- When ready to serve, stir in the remaining dressing.
Serving
Serve this pasta salad cold. It works as a light meal for lunch or dinner. Or you can serve it as a side dish at your Summer BBQs, picnics, potlucks, or holiday meals such as Easter. Some of our favorite main dishes to serve this salad with include:
Storage
Store homemade Tuna Pasta Salad in a sealed container in the refrigerator for up to 3-5 days.
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Tuna Pasta Salad
Ingredients
- 16 ounces shell macaroni noodles
- 2 (7 ounce cans) tuna drained
- ¼ cup celery diced
- ¼ cup red onion diced
- 1 cup frozen peas
- ½ cup mayonnaise
- ½ cup sour cream
- 2 teaspoons dijon mustard
- 1 teaspoon white wine vinegar
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- 2 tablespoons fresh dill diced
Instructions
- Bring a medium size pot of water to boil over medium heat and cook noodles according to directions. Once noodles are cooked, strain and transfer to a large bowl. Set aside.
- To the noodles add the tuna, diced celery, diced red onion, and frozen peas. Gently stir to combine.
- In a small bowl combine the mayonnaise, sour cream, dijon mustard, white wine vinegar, salt, pepper and diced dill.
- Pour half of the dressing into the tuna pasta salad. Stir to coat. Cover and store the pasta salad and the remaining dressing. Let the salad chill for at least 30 minutes.
- When ready to serve, stir in the remaining dressing.
Notes
- Tuna: Use your preferred brand of canned tuna and drain the liquid from it prior to use.
- Pasta Noodles: Shell pasta noodles are a great option thanks to their ability to hold onto the dressing in the nooks and crannies. Substitute with bowties, penne, or rotini if preferred.
- Mayonnaise & Sour Cream: Use these to create a nice creamy dressing to perfectly coat the pasta salad. This recipe makes just the right amount of dressing that your salad won’t be dry and it won’t be too much to be overpowering. If needed you can swap the sour cream for a plain greek yogurt. Use a mayo of your choice.
- Filling options: This recipe uses red onion, celery, and green peas as filling options. Other ideas include bell pepper, green onion, hard-boiled egg, corn, black beans, tomato, and olives.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Photography by KJandCompany.co
