This Mayo-less Tuna Pasta Salad is the answer if you’re not a fan of mayonnaise and love a cold tuna pasta salad for lunch on a hot summer day.
Mayo-Less Tuna Pasta Salad
This healthy tuna salad is more green salad than pasta salad as you use only one cup of pasta but two cups of arugula. It has almost 25 grams of protein, making it excellent for a light lunch. Delicious, satisfying, and perfect for lunch – it’s tuna salad all grown up! Some more canned tuna salad recipes you may like are Chickpea Tuna Salad, Italian Tuna and Brown Rice Salad (Riso e Tonno), and Canned Tuna Ceviche.
Don’t like mayonnaise? Then you’ll love this easy Tuna Macaroni Salad made with canned tuna, arugula, capers, and pasta topped with shaved Parmigiano Reggiano, olive oil, and vinegar.
This is one of my favorite ways to eat canned tuna for lunch. This salad comes together in minutes – just mix the ingredients and top with shaved Parmesan. It’s a great way to make canned tuna a little fancier but would also work with canned salmon or crab meat.
Tuna Salad Meal Prep
If you’d like to meal prep this salad, combine all of the ingredients except for the arugula and put in individual containers. Right before eating, add the arugula. Without the greens mixed in, this dish will last in the fridge 4 to 5 days.
Variations:
- Swap the arugula for baby spinach.
- If you don’t have elbow macaroni, any short pasta, like rotini, farfalle, or cavatappi, will work.
- Add fresh cherry tomatoes, avocados, or red onions for extra veggies.
- Switch out the canned tuna for canned crab meat or salmon.
- If you’re not a seafood fan, sub the tuna for grilled or rotisserie chicken.
MORE TUNA SALAD RECIPES:
- Tuna Salad Wraps
- Seared Tuna Salad with Wasabi Butter Sauce
- Tuna Deviled Eggs
- Sesame Crusted Tuna Steak on Arugula
- Tuna Lettuce Wrap with Avocado Dressing
Tuna Pasta Salad
Ingredients
- 5 oz canned albacore tuna, drained
- 1 tbsp capers, drained
- 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 1 tbsp red wine vinegar
- 2 cups arugula
- 1 cup cooked whole wheat pasta, from 2 oz dry (or GF pasta)
- fresh black pepper
- 1/2 oz fresh shaved Parmesan
Instructions
- In a large bowl toss tuna with capers, oil, vinegar, arugula, pasta and pepper.
- Divide on two plates and top with shaved Parmesan.
