Tuna Pasta Salad (No Mayo) – Fresh, Simple & Full of Flavour

Why This Tuna Pasta Salad Always Delivers Fresh Flavour

A delicious and healthy tuna pasta salad is one that is not overly complicated with too many ingredients, has a great combination of crunch and soft textures and doused in mayonnaise.

This super easy recipe is a cold tuna pasta salad that uses tri colour pasta.

It is so simple to make any time of the week. It is also a recipe that you can throw together using leftover ingredients, or perhaps you want to use up that opened packet of pasta.

It’s great to have as a quick meal on its own, pack for school lunches as it doesn’t have to be warmed up or brought as a dish for a potluck party or picnic.

This easy pasta salad proves that a few good ingredients can make the best pasta salad you’ll keep coming back to.

Recipe Overview

Flavour/Texture: The tri colour pasta should be cooked to al dente, so it should be tested regularly. Al dente pasta is bouncy and mixed together with the other ingredients, it has crunchy and soft elements.

As this is not a Mediterranean tuna pasta salad or a classic tuna pasta salad, it is not creamy in texture from the mayonnaise or has any cheese. It is a healthy recipe that is light and perfect for the summer months.

Ease: This is one of the easiest cold pasta tuna salads to make. There is no salad dressing to make. Just cook up some fusilli pasta, chop up some vegetables and mix with some olive oil. Easy.

Time: It only takes 15-20 minutes! A lot of the prep can be done while the tri colour pasta is cooking away.

Ingredients You’ll Need to Make This Tuna Pasta Salad

Fusilli pasta: Try getting the tri colour fusilli pasta. It just helps to brighten up this cold tuna pasta recipe, making it more appetising.

And make sure it’s cooked al dente. Run it under cold water after cooking to stop the cooking process and prevent it from going mush! 

Tuna: For this recipe, a flavoured canned tuna of spicy chilli was used. It just helps to add some flavour to the overall salad recipe. 

You can, of course, stick to the normal canned tuna in spring water, or you can try all sorts of fun flavours available on the supermarket shelves.

Vegetables: This recipe uses baby spinach, celery and cherry tomatoes. All staple ingredient items consumed in their raw form. It helps to make a nice and healthy tuna pasta salad.

Pine nuts: Helps to add some roasted flavours while also adding some crunch. It’s a delicious addition to the whole pasta salad. 

Variations and Substitutions

Mediterranean version: Add some feta if you like the Mediterranean version of a simple tuna pasta salad.

You can either crumble it and mix it throughout the tuna pasta salad or just place the whole block on top as we do in our Greek Salad. That way, people can break off as much or as little as they like.

Classic version: There have been many iterations of a good tuna pasta salad recipe over the years. Perhaps a classic version is one that has onions and peas tossed throughout with mayonnaise to make it nice and creamy.

Flavoured tuna: As this healthy tuna pasta salad has no mayonnaise or salad dressing, you can add flavour to your recipe by using flavoured tuna. This recipe uses the spicy chilli tuna, giving the salad an excellent kick.

Some of the great flavours you can try include red curry, honey BBQ, lemon pepper, onion & tomato, red bell peppers, teriyaki, and the list goes on.

Vegan: Vegan tuna is fast becoming a popular item on the market as they continue to improve how good they are. Touted to smell like tuna and have the textures of the Albacore tuna, it also maintains it is still high in protein. 

Other ingredients: You can add and substitute any of the vegetable and nut components of this healthy tuna pasta salad. It’s a great way to get rid of leftovers in the fridge. 

You can add onions, broccoli, frozen peas, carrots, hard boiled eggs, bell peppers, cauliflower, etc. 

If you prefer, you can also substitute spiral pasta for macaroni.

Lemon juice: Squeeze some lemon juice in the salad for a bit of freshness.

How to Make This Easy Pasta Salad

Bring a pot of water to the boil and add some salt. Add dry fusilli pasta and cook according to packet instructions.

It would be approximately 10-12 minutes. Drain, run under cold water to stop the cooking process and set aside to dry.

Wash baby spinach and pat dry.

Slice celery sticks finely.

Dry toast pine nuts in a small fry pan until golden brown.

Cut cherry tomatoes into halves or quarters, depending on how big they are. I tend to do this last so it doesn’t water too much.

How to Assemble the Salad

In a large mixing bowl, add all the ingredients except only use ½ the pine nuts.

Spread olive oil all around the salad.

Season with salt and pepper to taste

Mix thoroughly and serve onto a large platter.

Garnish with the rest of the toasted pine nuts.

How to Make This Salad Perfectly [Expert Tips]

Al dente pasta: Al dente in Italian means “to the tooth”.

Pasta that is still firm and chewy in texture is the optimal way to eat a pasta dish perfectly. So, to get al dente pasta, pour the pasta into a pot of boiling water with salt. 

About 2 minutes before the package says it’s done, taste it.

Keep tasting the pasta until you are happy with it. Then drain it in a colander and run under cold water to stop the cooking process.

Avoid soggy pasta: The trick to a tuna pasta salad not going soggy is to ensure the pasta is not only not overcooked but also dry.

If the pasta is cooked well, it won’t stick together. However, running it under cold water gets it wet, so you must give it time to dry.

Avoid soggy tuna pasta salad: If you use tuna in spring water, ensure that the tuna is well drained.

All that spring water will just make the pasta all go soggy.

Toast pine nuts gently: Just golden brown — they burn quickly but add irresistible aroma.

Don’t overdress: Olive oil goes a long way; add more only if pasta feels dry.