This easy tuna and pasta salad is one of the go-to high-protein meals that I love preparing for busy days. Creamy, tangy, and loaded with crunchy veggies, it’s ready in 30 minutes and perfect for lunch, dinner, or post-workout refuelling.
Jump to: ℹ️ Overview | 🛒 Ingredients | 📷 How To Make | 📹 Watch The Video | 🥗 Serving Suggestions | 📝 Full Recipe Card | Variations | 🍽 More Similar Recipes
This tuna pasta salad has been on my meal prep rotation for a long time. I usually make it for lunches but it’s great as a summer dinner meal, when you want something substantial and filling but not hot, plus you can make it ahead of time.
It’s a pasta dish but I think of it more as a filling salad. Think creamy dressing with a tangy kick, flaky tuna, al dente pasta, and crunchy bursts from fresh veggies. It’s a perfect balance of protein, carbs, and veggies, keeping you full and fueled.
Each serving offers approximately 30g of protein (and under 500 calories), making it great for post-workout or pre, or busy days when you need something hearty and satisfying without blowing the calories. For extra fiber, add a cup of canned chickpeas.
Unlike many creamy pasta salads, this one keeps it light with a mix of light sour cream and light mayo, while still delivering big-time flavor.
👩🍳 You might also like these pasta salads:
⭐️ Cold Chicken Pasta Salad
🌿 Mediterranean Pasta Salad
💪 High-Protein Pasta Salad
🌽 Elote Pasta Salad
🥓 Chicken Bacon Ranch Pasta Salad
🍝 Cold Spaghetti Pasta Salad
👉 More Pasta Salad Ideas
What You’ll Need
Here is what you’ll need for this creamy tuna pasta salad recipe. Find the full measurements in the recipe card below.
- Pasta: Elbow pasta or another small shape is my favorite but you can use penne or fusilli as well. This will give you a source of carbs and extra protein. You can opt for gluten-free options or go for high-fiber, protein-rich chickpea or lentil pasta. The key is to not overcook the pasta! If you have leftover elbow pasta, you can use it for my elote pasta salad recipe.
- Protein: Canned tuna is great for convenience, or swap for cooked chicken, salmon, or chickpeas for a vegetarian twist. Got leftover tuna? Try my creamy tuna casserole (aka tuna Mornay pasta bake).
- Creamy dressing: Light sour cream and light mayo for a creamy, tangy base. Greek yogurt can replace sour cream if needed. There are other flavor boosters like mustard for sharpness and lemon juice for brightness, plus a little salt and pepper for balance.
- Crunchy veggies: Red bell pepper, radishes, cucumber, and red onion add color, freshness, and crunch. Skip or swap based on what you have. I love pickles/gherkins for a pop of tangy, briny flavor. Capers could work here too.
How To Make Tuna Pasta Salad
Find the full recipe and nutritional information below. Here are some handy step-by-step photos for how to make this hearty pasta salad with tuna and veggies.
- Cook pasta until al dente, then drain and let cool. Don’t overcook so it doesn’t get mushy, plus you want to retain some fiber.
- Mix sour cream, mayo, mustard, lemon juice, salt, and pepper in a big bowl.
- Add drained tuna, veggies, pickles, and cooled pasta. Toss until everything’s evenly coated.
- Enjoy right away or pack into containers for later.
Watch The Video
Serving Suggestions
Serve this salad on its own for a complete meal or pair with a crusty piece of bread or fresh green salad. For extra crunch, toss in some roasted nuts or seeds just before eating. When I have it for lunch, I might finish with a piece of fruit.
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Video
Ingredients
- 3.5 oz dry elbow pasta about 100 grams
- 7 oz canned tuna drained, about 200 grams, you can add more
- ⅓ cup light sour cream
- ⅓ cup light mayonnaise
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon pepper
- 1 teaspoon mustard such as Dijon or yellow
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- ¼ cup gherkins or pickles, diced
- 3 large radishes diced (optional)
- 1 medium Lebanese cucumber diced
- ½ red bell pepper diced
- ½ red onion finely diced
Instructions
- Cook pasta according to package instructions. Strain, rinse, and let cool.
- In a large salad bowl, whisk together sour cream, mayonnaise, mustard, lemon juice, salt, and pepper.
- Add drained tuna, diced vegetables, and pickles. Toss to coat.
- Stir in cooled pasta and mix well.
- Serve immediately or divide into meal prep containers for later.
Notes
- Pasta Tips: Cook pasta just until al dente so it doesn’t get mushy when mixed and it will retain more fiber.
- Customization: Swap veggies or protein based on what you like or have on hand.
- Dressing balance: Taste the dressing before mixing and adjust salt, pepper, or mustard to your liking.
- Storage tips: Store in airtight containers in the fridge for up to 3 days. This is great for meal prepping ahead of time. Freezing isn’t ideal for this dish due to the creamy dressing and the texture of pasta will get too mushy.
- Can I make this gluten-free? Yes! Use gluten-free pasta to make this dish suitable for a gluten-free diet. Don’t overcook!
- What’s a good tuna alternative? Cooked chicken, canned salmon, or even chickpeas for a vegetarian option.
- Can I use yogurt instead of sour cream? Totally! Greek yogurt works as a lighter, tangy substitute.
Nutrition
Variations You Might Love
Keep this tuna pasta salad fresh and exciting with a few simple twists:
- 🌿 Mediterranean Style: swap in Kalamata olives, cherry tomatoes, cucumber, and feta for a bright, Greek-inspired salad that pairs beautifully with lemon and oregano.
- 🥑 Creamy Avocado Tuna Pasta: stir in diced avocado just before serving for extra creaminess and healthy fats — perfect if you want a richer, more satisfying lunch. You can also use avocado to make the dressing.
- 🍋 Herb & Lemon Zing: Add extra fresh herbs like parsley, dill, or basil and a splash more lemon juice for a vibrant version with zingier flavour.
- 🌶️ Spicy Tuna Pasta: Mix in chipotle paste, red pepper flakes or a dash of hot sauce for a subtle heat kick that pairs well with crisp veggies.
- 🥦 Veggie-Loaded Extra: Bulk it out with extra greens like spinach, peas, or chopped broccoli to make this even more balanced and nutritious.
👩🍳 For more easy high-protein meals, check out my spicy tuna salad bites, tuna white bean salad, meal prep burritos, balanced BLT chicken salad, fibre-rich tuna and lentil salad, healthy baked chicken tacos, make-ahead zucchini slice, or try Greek butter beans skillet (for something vegetarian).
This is the best! Been making it weekly for the last few months and it’s perfect for my macros budget.
Oh and I used gluten free pasta!
I used this recipe as a base for mine. I threw everything at it. A while box of gluten free penne pasta, red onion, red bell pepper (1/2), celery, peas, cucumber, hard boiled egg sliced, I used the above recipe for the dressing but I had to make it twice, bread & butter chips instead of gherkins, feta cheese, and avocado slices with 2 cans of albacore tuna. I would have given it 5 stars, however I added so much stuff I couldn’t say that is was exactly this recipe, but it was darn good and I’m looking forward to finishing it.
Thank you .
Try
Lebanese cucumber?
Yes, it’s a type of cucumber. In Australia/UK, it’s known as Lebanese but in the USA/Canada, maybe Persian cucumber. For this recipe, you can use any cucumber, really. Lebanese ones are the ones that are a bit shorter; they typically have fewer seeds.
Loved it. I also added boiled egg and corn to stretch it further for a larger group
Great tuna salad! I tripled the recipe and brought it to a potluck. For the veggies, I used green pepper, red onion and cucumber. I had a few gherkins so threw them in as well as little dill relish. I used greek yogurt with light mayo to make it “healthy”. My husband commented that it tasted a little sour (he’s not a fan of greek yogurt); I told him it was the lemon juice! Would definitely make this again and would like to try the addition of chickpeas.
You can come to my potluck any time 😉 Glad you made this salad and thank you for the comment.
Can you recommend a substitute for the mustard? My partner is highly allergic 🙁
Hey Ria, you can leave it out. If you want to add a little heat/spice, feel free to use some hot sauce or Tobasco sauce instead.
I made this with Greek yogurt in place of sour cream (still used the light mayo) and it was delicious. This recipe was a great find when I needed to prep a few lunches and didn’t feel like doing a big grocery haul as I always have tuna and pasta handy. I even added half a can of chick peas to stretch it further and it goes with the flavor profile really well!
That’s great and I love the addition of chickpeas, also great for that extra fibre 🙂
I prepped this to have after my gym session yesterday and it was super tasty and so filling! Perfect post-workout meal 🙂
This is one of the best tuna salads I’ve made – love the added crunch of the veggies and tartness of the pickles and dijon mustard. This will be a regular in our rotation. Thank you!!
Thanks so much for sharing your feedback, I am so happy you liked it. It’s on rotation for me too.