Tuna Pasta Salad, with a creamy dressing, albacore tuna, elbow macaroni, carrots, green peppers, onions, and kalamata olives, is a perfect meal for hot summer days! DELICIOUS!Tuna Pasta Salad with a creamy dressing, albacore tuna, elbow macaroni, carrots, green peppers, onions, and kalamata olives, is a perfect meal for hot summer days!

I found this recipe in my trusty old recipe file box I’ve had for over 40 years. I used to write down recipes I had found on little 3×5 cards and file them in this old, beaten up box, and  recently found this one for tuna pasta salad while looking through old recipes.

Scroll Down For A Printable Recipe Card At The Bottom Of The Page

Seriously… I have no idea WHERE I got the recipe from, because I didn’t write it down back in the day! I added a couple ingredients to the original recipe, and made it for lunch. YUM. This easy to make salad is not overpowered by the addition of canned albacore tuna… it actually is complimented by it!  You might also enjoy my recipes for a classic Pasta Salad or Chicken Club Pasta Salad; they are delicious… especially on hot summer days!

Throughout the year I love to make chilled side salads for Summer BBQ’s and get togethers! Salads like Hawaiian Macaroni Salad, Homemade Potato Salad, Asian Kale Slaw, and Black Bean, Corn & Tomato Salad with Avocado Dressing are wonderful side dishes to serve a hungry crowd!

Okay… So HOW Do I Make Tuna Pasta Salad?

This salad is totally easy and very quick to make.  In the time it takes to cook macaroni noodles, you can have everything ready to go.  Then all you need to do is mix ingredients, let it “chill” in the fridge for an hour or two, and you’ve got yourself a great little side dish or main dish salad.  Here’s how easy it is to make:

In a small bowl, combine mayonnaise, milk, lemon juice, mustard, dill weed, salt and pepper. Stir until sauce is smooth.  Set aside. If you want to save time, make the sauce while the pasta is cooking.

Ingredients for tuna pasta salad are mixed together in small bowl

Cook elbow macaroni according to package instructions. Once fully cooked, transfer to a colander, rinse with cold water, drain, and then transfer pasta to large mixing bowl.

Elbow macaroni is cooked and drained for pasta salad

Add one can of albacore tuna (drained and flaked), a large carrot (shredded), finely chopped onion, chopped green peppers and sliced kalamata olives to the cooked pasta.

Pasta with tuna, onion, kalamata olives and shredded carrots ready to combine

Pour the dressing over the salad and stir well, to mix everything together.

Salad dressing is poured over pasta salad with tuna

OOPS!!!! Remember to add the chopped green pepper (I forgot!).  Kept thinking it was missing something for color, and realized I left them out. My bad. Gave it another stir, and salad was DONE!

Chopped green peppers are added to pasta salad

Refrigerate The Tuna Pasta Salad Before Serving

Transfer the finished salad to a pretty serving bowl (preferably one that doesn’t have salad dressing smeared all over the sides from mixing the ingredients… (heh heh heh). Cover the salad with plastic wrap, and place in refrigerator for 1-2 hours. This not only chills it very well, but gives the flavors time to develop.

Tuna pasta salad ready to serve, in white bowl

Tuna pasta salad overhead view

When ready to serve, remove salad from fridge, remove plastic wrap (because NO ONE wants to eat THAT!), grab a big old spoon or fork, and dig in! This tuna pasta salad is delicious, and will keep for 3-4 days (covered), in refrigerator.

Tuna pasta salad closeup view, in bowl

I hope you enjoy this simple salad. We sure do! Hope you have a wonderful day, friends.

Looking For More Side Dish SALAD Recipes?

You can find all of my recipes in the Recipe Index, located at the top of the page. A few favorite side dish salad recipes include:

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↓↓ PRINTABLE RECIPE BELOW ↓↓

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Tuna Pasta Salad
Prep Time
10 mins
Cook Time
10 mins
Total Time
20 mins
 
Tuna Pasta Salad with a creamy dressing, albacore tuna, elbow macaroni, carrots, green peppers, onions, and kalamata olives, is a perfect meal for hot summer days!
Category: Salad/Side Dish
Cuisine: American
Keyword: tuna pasta salad
Servings: 6 servings
Calories Per Serving: 243 kcal
Author: JB @ The Grateful Girl Cooks!
Ingredients
For Salad Dressing:
  • 3/4 cup light mayonnaise
  • 1/4 cup low-fat milk
  • 1 Tablespoon lemon juice
  • 1 teaspoon prepared yellow mustard
  • 1 teaspoon dill weed
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/8 teaspoon black pepper
For Pasta Salad:
  • 7 ounces elbow macaroni (4 cups cooked)
  • 5.4 ounces albacore tuna (one can). drained, flaked
  • 1 carrot (large) , shredded
  • 1/4 cup white onion , finely chopped
  • 1/4 cup green bell pepper , finely chopped
  • 8 kalamata olives (or black) , sliced
Instructions
  1. In a small bowl, combine mayonnaise, milk, lemon juice, mustard, dill weed, salt and pepper. Stir until sauce is smooth.  Set aside.
  2. Cook elbow macaroni according to package instructions. Once fully cooked, transfer to a colander, rinse with cold water, drain, and then transfer pasta to large mixing bowl.
  3. Add albacore tuna, carrot, onion, green peppers and kalamata olives to the cooked, drained pasta. Pour the dressing over the salad and stir well, to mix everything together.

  4. Cover salad with plastic wrap, and place in refrigerator for 1-2 hours. This not only chills the salad very well, it gives the flavors time to develop. When fully chilled, serve and enjoy!

Nutrition Facts
Tuna Pasta Salad
Amount Per Serving (1 serving)
Calories 243 Calories from Fat 72
% Daily Value*
Fat 8g12%
Saturated Fat 1g6%
Cholesterol 15mg5%
Sodium 605mg26%
Potassium 209mg6%
Carbohydrates 30g10%
Fiber 1g4%
Sugar 3g3%
Protein 11g22%
Vitamin A 1770IU35%
Vitamin C 7mg8%
Calcium 30mg3%
Iron 0.8mg4%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

Here’s one more to pin on your Pinterest boards!Tuna Pasta Salad with creamy dressing, albacore tuna, elbow macaroni, carrots, green peppers, onions, & kalamata olives, is a perfect meal for hot summer days!

Tuna Pasta Salad

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