Creamy, easy and the perfect picnic side, this Tuna Pasta salad is full of noodles, peas, red onion, tuna all tossed in a deliciously creamy and easy sauce. The absolutely best salad recipe to bring to your next gathering this summer.
When it comes to pasta salads this Tuna Pasta Salad runs supreme. It is THE salad that we whip up the majority time during the summer because it is so creamy and flavorful and everyone loves it.
There are so many simple elements to this recipe that won’t hold you back because it is super easy, whips up quickly with a little bit of chilling time you have a side dish that will feed a crowd.
WHY THIS RECIPE WORKS:
- The creamy dressing made from mayo, milk, seasoning salt, sugar and salt and pepper gives it just the hint of sweet and salty that sets this salad apart.
- Additions of the red onions and pea give it a nice color plus texture contrast that is sought out in so many different salad recipes.
- The tuna and eggs give it a fun flavor that is not only traditional of a tuna pasta salad, but two parings that go together nicely.
What we do a little differently than most when it comes to cold pasta salad recipes is that we like to add a little bit of sweetness to our dressing mixture.
When it is too salty it really over powers the recipe itself, so adding in some sugar in our belief is the best option you can have.
Also adding in the milk to the mayo mixture really ensures that the salad is extra creamy and when chilled it doesn’t soak up all the way when you remove it from the refrigerator.
HOW TO MAKE TUNA PASTA SALAD, STEP BY STEP:
Place elbow macaroni (we like to use jumbo elbows) in a large pot of well salted boiling water and boil for about 10-15 minutes until al dente. Remove from heat and drain liquid, then run under cold water to stop cooking and down noodles (Photos 1 & 2).
In large bowl add your drained tuna, chopped hard-boiled eggs, peas and red onions. Next add in your pasta and stir it around until combined (Photos 3 & 4).
Next in smaller bowl whisk together your dressing ingredients which are mayo, sugar, milk, salt, pepper and seasoning salt, then whisk to combined (Photos 5 & 6).
Pour your dressing mixture over your noodles, scraping the bowl to make sure you get it all and then stir until everything is coated and combined (Photos 7 & 8).
Place plastic wrap over the to top and remove to refrigerator to cool for about 1 hour.
This is one of the creamiest Tuna Pasta Salad recipes around, the sugar really gives it a nice contrast on flavor. But this also could be a base salad recipe to work up to your liking.
Ways to adapt this salad:
Like stated above there are so many different preferences that people like when it comes to Tuna Pasta Salad recipes. You can switch out the red onion for regular, or if you’re not an onion lover leave it out completely.
My kids regularly like cheese in this salad recipe, so you can also cut up some block cheddar, or Colby Monterey Jack cheese and stir in some slices of that as well.
We are not huge celery fans in this house, but dicing up some celery nice and fine would be a great addition to this salad, it will add a little bit more crunch to the texture as well.
TIPS AND TRICKS:
- You can essentially use any type of pasta you like. We like to use elbows or giant elbow (we find them at Trader Joe’s) because they are more “traditional” but any smaller pasta will work such as bowties, penne, shells, etc.
- If you like your salad super creamy, add a little bit more mayo to this salad recipe. We use 1 1/2 cups because we find that a good balance, but if it is going to sit a little longer than an hour or so before serving, I would up it to 1 3/4 and slightly adjust your seasonings slightly, taste to make sure it’s how you like it.
- You can also use miracle whip in this dressing if you are not mayo fans, we have used both and enjoy it either way. Just swap 50/50.
- This salad needs to be refrigerated 30 minutes to at least 1 hour for it to chill properly and soak up some of that dressing mixture.
- A fun way to defrost peas quickly is to add it to the end of your cooking process for your noodles, we have done that many times in the past and it works like a charm.
- This salad will last 1-2 days in the refrigerator, and should remain chilled when not serving.
If you enjoy summer salads than this Tuna Pasta Salad is one you will have to add to your recipe menu. It’s quick and easy to whip up and serves a crowd, one of our favorite recipes of all time!
Some other pasta salads you might like:
If you’ve tried this TUNA PASTA SALAD or any other recipe on my site, let me know in the comment section how it turned out, we love hearing from our readers! You can also follow along with me on PINTEREST, FACEBOOK and INSTAGRAM to see more amazing recipes and what shenanigans I’m getting into!
Tuna Pasta Salad
Ingredients
- 16 oz elbow noodles cooked according to pkg directions
- 3 4 oz cans tuna in water drained
- 4 hard-boiled eggs chopped
- 1 cup frozen peas defrosted
- 1/2 cup red onion diced fine
- 1 1/2 cup mayo
- 1/4 cup milk
- 2 tsp seasoning salt
- 3-4 Tbs sugar
- Salt & pepper to taste
Instructions
- Cook your pasta in large pot with salted water until al dente, about 15 minutes, remove and strain water then run under cool water to stop cooking and cool down pasta.
- In large nowl add your tuna, eggs, onion and peas.
- Add in your drained pasta and stir to combine, set aside.
- In smaller bowl whisk together mayo, milk, seasoning salt, sugar, salt & pepper until combined.
- Pour over your pasta, scraping the bowl to make sure you get all the dressing mixture then stir to coat everything evenly.
- Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes to at least an hour to chill and let pasta soak up some of the dressing.
Notes
- You can essentially use any type of pasta you like. We like to use elbows or giant elbow (we find them at Trader Joe's) because they are more "traditional" but any smaller pasta will work such as bowties, penne, shells, etc.
- If you like your salad super creamy, add a little bit more mayo to this salad recipe. We use 1 1/2 cups because we find that a good balance, but if it is going to sit a little longer than an hour or so before serving, I would up it to 1 3/4 and slightly adjust your seasonings slightly, taste to make sure it's how you like it.
- You can also use miracle whip in this dressing if you are not mayo fans, we have used both and enjoy it either way. Just swap 50/50.
- This salad needs to be refrigerated 30 minutes to at least 1 hour for it to chill properly and soak up some of that dressing mixture.
- This salad will last 1-2 days in the refrigerator, and should remain chilled when not serving.
Nutrition
Tornadough Alli is not a nutritionist or dietitian, and any nutritional information shared is an estimate. If calorie count and nutritional value is important to you, we recommend running the ingredients through whichever online nutritional calculator you prefer. Calories and values can vary depending on which brands were used.
Regina W.
I LOVE this salad! A new way to have tuna and pasta! Yummy! 😋 I’ll be making it again soon!
Cindy
Loved this salad! Now one of my favorites. I can’t have best foods Mayo anymore so I had to sub a “healthy” Mayo. So I had to add lemon juice and mustard to get the flavor I wanted.
Brenda
We loved this pasta salad. I omitted the sugar and seasoning salt and added dill. My eight year made it with me and really liked it.