Tuna Pasta

Turn a humble can of tuna into a zesty, buttery Tuna Pasta with any long, slender pasta you like and a dead simple sauce. In less than 30 minutes with a handful of ordinary ingredients, you’ll have an elegant pasta that’s everyday easy.

Not only is this tuna pasta recipe nearly effortless, it’s one of the best I know. With tender linguine and a no-cook sauce of good-quality canned tuna, a bit of garlic and lots of spark from fresh lemon and capers, it’s a quick and easy meal that’s worth learning by heart.

Ingredients You Need to Make Tuna Pasta

• Jarred or Canned Tuna: high-quality tuna – canned in it’s own juices or canned/jarred in olive oil are best
• Garlic: a fresh clove
• Lemon: You’ll need both juice and zest.
• Olive Oil: good quality, extra-virgin olive oil
• Capers: ideally non-pareil capers
• Parsley: fresh flat leaf / Italian parsley
• Linguine: or other long, slender pasta like spaghetti or bucatini
• Kosher Salt and Freshly Ground Black Pepper

Quality Ingredients

Because there are only a few pantry and staple ingredients in this tuna pasta, quality really matters. Starting with the tuna, the star of this dish. Some of the jarred varieties (like this one) are exceptional and well worth the price. But there are also excellent quality tunas that are more affordable, like this one and this one too.

And don’t skimp on the olive oil quality or the freshness of your lemon, parsley and garlic. With a no-cook sauce, there’s nowhere for mediocre ingredients to hide. And speaking of that…

How to Make the No-Cook Sauce

You’ll be warming the sauce in a way that might surprise you. Instead of heating the sauce in a pan or skillet, you’ll toss the ingredients together in a large, heatproof serving bowl set over your pasta water as it comes to boil. Clever, right? I wish I could say it was my idea, but it comes from the fun cookbook, No Cook Pasta Sauces, that inspired this recipe. 

Recipe Options

Consider this recipe a starting point and feel free to embellish it. Here are just a few options:

• Spice it up with a pinch or two of red pepper flakes.
• Add leftover cooked vegetables (asparagus would be excellent!) or a handful of baby spinach or arugula to make it a meal on its own.
• Add to the Mediterranean flavors with artichoke hearts, green olives or kalamata olives and/or sun-dried tomatoes. 
• For extra heft, add a scoop of tender white beans.
• Finish the dish with a handful of grated parmesan cheese.
• Try different pasta varieties like bucatini, spaghetti, whole wheat pasta or gluten-free pasta.

More Quick and Elegant Pasta Recipes

• Bucatini Cacio e Pepe
• Checca Sauce
• Lemon Garlic Shrimp Pasta
• Shrimp Fra Diavolo
• Spaghetti alla Puttanesca
• Bucatini Carbonara

How to Make Tuna Pasta

Gently toss tuna chunks and remaining sauce ingredients together in a large, heatproof serving bowl. Set bowl over a pot of cold water (the bowl should not touch the water) and bring to boil. When the water boils, set the bowl aside and cook pasta until al dente.

Drain pasta and add to the sauce; toss to combine. Garnish with parsley and serve.