This post contains affiliate links.
This Tuna Pasta Salad with shell noodles, peas, tuna, celery, and Greek yogurt is fast, healthy, and a dish your whole family can enjoy!
Tuna Pasta Salad
I don't know about you, but for me, warm weather screams pasta salad! This tuna pasta salad is a classic! It easy, fast, and I usually have all the ingredients that I need to throw it together. My kids love this pasta salad and we eat it for lunch all the time, but it works great as a dinner or side dish.
I also love feeding my kids something that I know has great health benefits. Did you know tuna fish is a great source of protein and contains omega 3 fatty acids that can help fight heart disease? For the sauce in this recipe I use a mixture of mayonnaise and Greek yogurt. I love the creaminess that the Greek yogurt adds, and it's packed with protein. You could also serve this dish with whole wheat pasta.
How to make Tuna Pasta Salad:
Cook your pasta according to package instructions, then drain them and allow them to cool a little. I like to use mini shell noodles, but any type of bite-size pasta can be used.
While the noodles cook, chop the celery and onion, drain the tuna, and warm the peas (you could also add the peas to the boiling pasta water during the last minute of cooking).
Mix the mayonnaise and Greek yogurt together until smooth.
Add the cooked pasta, tuna, celery, onion, and peas to a large mixing bowl. Pour the dressing on top and toss to coat.
If you'd like to make this recipe in advance I would suggest waiting to add the sauce until you're ready to serve, otherwise the noodles will soak up the sauce and it wont have the creaminess that you want.
Check out ALL My PASTA SALAD RECIPES!
You can also FOLLOW ME on FACEBOOK, TWITTER, INSTAGRAM and PINTEREST for more great recipes!
Tuna Pasta Salad
Ingredients
- 8 ounces small shells pasta, , or your favorite bite-size pasta
- 7 ounces canned albacore white tuna, packed in water, , drained
- 2 ribs celery, , chopped
- 1/4 cup red onion, , chopped
- 1 cup frozen peas
- 1/2 cup mayonnaise
- 1/2 cup plain Greek yogurt
- dried dill weed, , to taste, optional
- salt and freshly ground black pepper, , to taste
Instructions
- Cook noodles according to package instructions, until al dente. Drain.
- In a large bowl add chopped onion and celery, peas, cooked pasta, and drained tuna.
- In a separate bowl, mix the mayo and Greek yogurt.
- Stir half of the sauce into the pasta mixture and toss to evenly coat. Season with salt and pepper and dried dil, to taste.
- Refrigerate pasta and remaining sauce separately, covered, for 30 min. Stir in remaining sauce and serve immediately.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Text me new recipe ideas!
Simple, tasty ideas sent once a week. No spam.
I originally shared this recipe in June 2011. Updated May 2018.
Have you tried this recipe?!
RATE and COMMENT below! I would love to hear your experience.
This is the easiest, most classic version of the tuna pasta salads. Don’t omit the dill weed, either fresh or dried. It’s delicious!!! Thank you!
Your Tuna Pasta Salad is absolutely delicious every time and a go-to for me! This salad is like a “party in your mouth”! Thank you for sharing it! I even add hard boiled eggs sometimes and a little Mayo too! A definite 5STAR recipe! I have made it with elbows and little farfalle. Both pastas go well with the recipe ingredients. And sometimes I use old Bay seasoning to add a little spice to the mix! Never fails!
I have never made a tuna pasta salad in my life but was looking for quick meals to take to work and saw this. It is absolutely delicious and only took me a few minutes to prep.
Looked for a real good tuna pasta salad and I found it here.
I made some adjustments but this salad was amazing. Thank you so much
I am trying to use up my pantry stuff so I made this salad with tuna, pasta, peas, red onion, pickles, capers and mayo (no yogurt) and it was delish!!! I could of added cubed cheddar cheese for parties and big events, but it was so good!! Thank you!!
My family and I loved this! I didn’t change much- just squeezed some fresh lemon juice over the mixture and used lemon pepper instead of reg. pepper (I also used a little garlic powder). I probably sound like a goof but as I read through the recipe and comments I was like “Am I supposed to put the frozen peas in here frozen?” but that couldn’t be right….so I took the frozen peas out in the morning and let them thaw- lol. Do you cook the peas?… I did not and the pasta salad came out great! Thank you!
hi. probably you figured this hack out, but throw the frozen peas in with the pasta cooking
after about ten minutes. yw. Bill
Yummmmmmmmmmmy! Subbed sour cream for greek yogurt just because I didn’t want to buy a whole tub of greek yogurt. Added diced carrots. Absolute yum 🙂
I had a hankering for tuna noodle salad, which happens a couple times a year. This salad is absolutely delicious. It’s just like what my mom made when I was younger, except the Greek yogurt and dill elevate the flavors, and it only took 15-minutes to throw together. This recipe is a keeper!
My Mom used to make this all the time growing up. She always added 1-2 hard boiled eggs, good 1/4-1/2 tsp onion powder, parsley instead of dill ( husband wouldnt like dill), and all mayonnaise but maybe next time I’ll try combo and see if anyone notices just to make a little healthier and lower calories! Yummy! Gone in a day in my house!
Yummy. I put paprika in the mayo/yogurt mix for color. Thank you
I guess you could eat it this warm
I’ve made this SO many times. It is easy and delicious and it’s tweakable to your tastes. I’m allergic to celery so I leave it out. I like a squeeze of lime juice over it for the brightness of the citrus. Thanks for sharing this one!!
This is an awesome recipe. I used 1 1/2 cup mayonnaise and no yoghurt. I