Easy Canned Tuna Pasta Recipe – Ready in 15 Minutes

A delicious creamy, tomatoey and protein-rich canned tuna pasta recipe that is super easy to prepare for a daily healthy lunch, dinner or meal prep for the following days. It’s an incredibly simple, yet full of flavor pasta recipe that can be prepared in just 15 minutes.

From our experience, this tuna pasta wins over even the people who aren’t the biggest fans of fish or tuna, and the recipe can be made as a spicy version if desired.

Ingredients for the best tuna pasta recipe

• Canned tuna in brine – be sure to choose a can that contains larger chunks of tuna, otherwise the tuna will lack in texture and can become too mushy when mixed with the sauce. You can also use canned tuna in oil, but personally I find it makes the dish unnecessarily greasy.
• Canned crushed tomatoes – I recommend using canned crushed tomatoes in this recipe, which leave the most pleasant texture to the pasta sauce.
• Greek yogurt – Before buying Greek yogurt, I definitely recommend choosing the version with the most protein, but the least amount of fat and added sugars in it. Greek yogurt can also be replaced with similar lactose-free or plant-based yogurt if desired.
• Onions – I personally prefer red onions in this recipe, but regular white onions will work just as fine
• Garlic – freshly chopped 2-3 cloves of garlic gives the pasta sauce some nice extra spiciness.
• Fresh parsley – I definitely recommend using fresh parsley, but you can also use dried parsley if necessary.
• Ground Smoked Paprika – Smoked paprika or regular paprika seasoning works great.
• Pasta – almost any type of pasta will work for this recipe, but my personal favorites here are fusilli, conchiglie and penne pasta.

How to Make The Best Tuna Pasta?

1. Cook the pasta in salted water – bring the pasta water to a boil, add plenty of salt to the boiling water and cook the pasta to the desired degree of doneness (I recommend cooking the pasta until al dente). While the pasta is cooking, I recommend starting with the following steps.
2. Chop the onion, garlic and parsley – Cut the onion into small cubes and chop the garlic and parsley as finely as possible.
3. Fry the onion and garlic in medium olive oil until soft, add paprika powder and crushed tomatoes, season with salt and pepper and let the sauce simmer for a few minutes – Add a little olive oil to the pan and fry the chopped garlic and onion ~minute until it becomes a little softer. Then add the entire can of crushed tomatoes to the pan and season with a pinch of freshly ground salt and black pepper. Mix the sauce evenly and let the sauce thicken a little while simmering for a few minutes.
4. Add the cooked pasta to the sauce and mix evenly with the sauce.
5. Mix the whole tuna, Greek yogurt, chopped parsley into the pasta and season with salt and pepper – before adding the tuna, drain the tuna liquid from the can and cut the tuna into slightly smaller pieces with a fork, but not quite a mush. If you prefer a slightly spicier tuna pasta, add ground cayenne pepper as desired.
6. Serve the tuna pasta and, if desired, add a small pinch of ground black pepper and chopped parsley as a garnish.

Ingredients (2 Servings)

• 2 cans of tuna in brine (with large chunks of tuna)
• 1 can of crushed tomatoes
• 150g / ⅔ cup of Greek yogurt
• 1 small red onion
• 3 cloves of garlic
• Handful of fresh parsley
• 200 g / 7 oz dried pasta (fusilli, conchiglie or penne)
• 1g of smoked paprika powder (or regular paprika powder)
• Salt and black pepper to taste
• 1 tbsp olive oil

Optional:

• For a spicier version, add 1g of ground cayenne pepper to the sauce
  

Tuna Pasta Nutritional Value (Per Serving)

Calories: 685 kcal, Protein: 52g, Carbohydrates: 82g, Fat: 15.9g, Sugar: 10.5g, Fiber 7.1g