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This classic Tuna Macaroni Salad is perfect for your summer BBQ’s. It is loaded with flavor and easy to make with simple ingredients.
We love making cold pasta salads in the summertime. They are easy to prepare and made with simple ingredients.
If you like tuna salad sandwich, then this is the pasta salad to make. Canned tuna is mixed with cooked pasta, peas and simple seasoning to create a delicious classic pasta salad recipe. This pasta salad can easily be served as a one pot meal idea.
Check out this Easy Macaroni Salad Recipe also.
Table of Contents
What is Tuna Pasta Salad?
Tuna Pasta salad is a delicious recipe that can easily be served in many different ways. We like serving as a main meal idea or as a side dish. Canned tuna is combined with chopped vegetables, a mayonnaise based dressing and seasoning to get a delicious pasta salad.
Ingredients
Scroll to the bottom for the full recipe and ingredients in the recipe card.
Substitutions and Additions
- Seasoning – Feel free to change the seasoning or ingredients in this recipe. Fresh dill or fresh parsley is always a great addition. The taste is amazing when using fresh herbs. Sprinkle a teaspoon of paprika for color and taste.
- Cheese – For delicious flavor, you can add in a tablespoon or two of cheddar cheese. The cheese gives it a pop of color and texture to the pasta salad.
- Vegetables – This pasta salad would be delicious with added vegetables. We recommend adding in chopped cherry tomatoes, bell peppers, or cucumbers.
- Relish – You can easily substitute the relish for Dijon mustard for delicious flavor.
- Pasta – We like the size of the elbow macaroni noodles, but you can use small size of pasta for this recipe.
- Greek Yogurt – For a light dressing, feel free to substitute the mayonnaise for Greek Yogurt.
How to Make Tuna Macaroni Salad
- Step 1 – Cook pasta in cold water – Cook the pasta based on the package instructions to al dente. Drain and rinse with cool water. Then place in a large mixing bowl.
Step 2 – Combine the Mayo Dressing Ingredients – In a separate bowl, combine dressing ingredients. Whisk together mayonnaise, sweet pickle relish, lemon juice, salt and pepper.
Step 3 – Add Tuna – Then stir in the chopped tuna to the dressing mixture.
Step 3 – Add in the remaining ingredients – Gently stir in the celery and onion. Then add in hard boiled eggs and frozen peas into the large bowl with the pasta.
Step 4 – Mix Cooked Macaroni and Mayonnaise Mixture – Pour the mayonnaise mixture over the macaroni pasta mixture. Then stir until all the ingredients are well coated with the dressing.
- Step 5 – Chill then Serve – Cover and refrigerate for at least 1 hour and then serve cold.
Recipe Tips
- Cooking Pasta – Boil the noodles until they are al dente and according to package. We like to cook the pasta in salted water and a little olive oil. This prevents the pasta from sticking while it is cooking. Drain the pasta and rinse with cold water to stop the cooking process.
- Prepare Ingredients – We recommend prepare the veggies ahead of time to save time when making this tuna mac salad.
- Mayonnaise – Since mayonnaise is the main ingredient in the dressing recipe, we recommend using the Real mayonnaise. It will give you better flavor than whipped mayonnaise.
- Chill Pasta Salad – Once the ingredients have combined, make sure to allow the pasta to chill in the fridge before serving.
- Mixing Bowl – We recommend using a large mixing bowl to combine the pasta with the creamy dressing. This allows for the sauce to full cover the cooked pasta.
Can I Make Tuna Macaroni Salad Ahead?
Yes, Tuna Macaroni Salad can be prepared ahead of time. We actually think it taste better prepared the night before serving. The ingredients marinate together perfectly to give this pasta salad so much flavor.
Frequently Asked Questions
Refrigerate the macaroni salad with tuna leftovers in an airtight container for up to 3 days.
Yes, you can freeze Tuna Macaroni Salad. Make sure to store properly in a freezer safe container. It is important to use quality mayonnaise to ensure that it doesn’t break down when thawing. Check out How to Freeze Tuna for all the tips and tricks.
We estimate that the pasta salad will last in the freezer about 3 months. Freezing macaroni salad is a great way to make the pasta salad last longer.
This pasta salad is best to use canned tuna in water. If you use canned tuna in oil or flavored tuna it will change the texture and flavor of this pasta salad.
More Easy Pasta Salad Recipes
We love to hear from you. If you make this Tuna Macaroni Salad Recipe, please leave us a comment or a star review.
Tuna Macaroni Salad
Ingredients
- 16 ounces Elbow Macaroni Pasta
- 3 cans Tuna Packed in Water 5 ounce cans drained well
- 1 cup Mayonnaise
- 2 Ribs Celery finely chopped
- 1/2 Red Onion finely chopped
- 1/4 cup Sweet Pickle Relish
- 3 Hard Boiled Eggs chopped
- 1 teaspoon Salt
- 1/2 teaspoon Pepper
- 1 cup Frozen Peas thawed
- 1 lemon juiced
Instructions
- Cook the pasta based on the package instructions to al dente. Drain and rinse with cool water. Then place in a large mixing bowl.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together mayonnaise, sweet pickle relish, lemon juice, salt and pepper. Then stir in the chopped tuna.
- Gently stir in the celery, onion, hard boiled eggs and peas into the large bowl with the pasta.
- Pour the mayonnaise mixture over the pasta mixture and stir until all the ingredients are well coated with the dressing.
- Cover and refrigerate for at least 1 hour and then serve cold.
