This Tuna Pesto Pasta recipe is the perfect answer for a busy weeknight dinner or even a weekend cookout with friends. It can be served warm, room temperature or even cold, meaning you can make it ahead of time, cover in an airtight container, and refrigerate until dinner time.
If you are looking for an easy weeknight meal, especially if you want a little different pasta dish, you have to try this easy tuna pesto pasta recipe. This is a recipe the whole family can enjoy, so long as they like tuna (which may be a big ask, depending on how picky they are!). All you need is pasta, a couple cans of tuna, sundried tomatoes, fresh tomatoes and basil pesto. You can either buy pesto from the grocery store or make your own quickly in a food processor (check out our easy homemade pesto recipe).Â
Ingredients that Matter
A few pantry staples and others ingredients easily found at your local grocery store are all you need to make tuna pesto pasta:
- Pesto. If you have limited time, we absolutely recommend picking up some store bought pesto. There are plenty of great options out there. Just be sure to read the label and purchase one with as few “extra” ingredients as possible. Or, if you have a little more time to make dinner, make a quick basil pesto in the food processor. Simply add fresh basil, parmesan cheese, a clove of garlic, pine nuts (walnuts also work well), fresh lemon juice and extra-virgin olive oil. Pulse until smooth. Add fresh lemon zest or crushed red pepper if you want a bit of a kick.
- Pasta. We love rotini pasta, but any pasta will work just fine, especially if the shape has holes or grooves to catch that fresh pesto sauce.
- Canned Tuna. A couple cans (or packets) of tuna is the perfect amount if you are serving about 4 people. Use yellowfin, skipjack, chunk light tuna or albacore. We prefer oil-packed tuna over tuna packed in water (water-packed tends to be drier than oil-packed). If you can afford it (and find it), look for a brand that is “safe catch” sustainable tuna (you are looking for tuna that is tested for mercury levels and line caught, if possible).
- Sundried Tomatoes. Adding thinly sliced sundried tomatoes gives this pasta dish an incredible flavor that is both bright and sweet! Like buying tuna, we prefer oil-packed sundried tomatoes as they are nice and plump. And use some of that oil to drizzle into this pasta for even more flavor.
- Fresh Tomatoes. A couple cups of chopped grape or cherry tomatoes gives this pasta dish a light and tangy flavor.
- Fresh Mozzarella. Creamy torn fresh mozzarella pairs incredibly well with pesto and pasta. Use either torn pieces of fresh mozzarella or bocconcini (small mozzarella balls).Â
How to Make Tuna Pesto Pasta
Cook pasta until just al dente, drain and cool at room temperature for 5-10 minutes (this well help prevent the heat from discoloring the pesto). Place in a large mixing bowl and add ½ cup of pesto; stir to combine.Â
Add sliced sundried tomatoes and 1 tablespoon of the oil from the sundried tomato jar.
Add halved cherry tomatoes and torn fresh mozzarella. Toss to combine.
Finally, add the tuna (torn into bite size pieces) and gently toss. Adding the tuna at the end helps prevent it from breaking apart into really small pieces. Add reserved pasta cooking water to thin out the dish just before serving (this is optional).
Serving Suggestions
Tuna Pesto Pasta is a super versatile dish! And there’s some additions that can really take it to the next level. Try adding some canned artichoke hearts, grilled (and chilled) vegetables like zucchini or summer squash, fresh baby spinach or cannellini beans.
This pasta dish may also be served at just about any temperature. Our preference is room temperature, which means that after letting the pasta cool for 10 minutes then tossing in the rest of the ingredients, we simply let it sit at room temperature another 10 minutes before serving. You can also eat this pasta dish cold. One important note is that as this pasta dish cools, the pasta will likely suck up the moisture from the pesto so we suggest adding another couple tablespoons of pesto just before serving if refrigerating first.
- You can make this recipe vegan by purchasing vegan pesto, swapping the tuna for pressed tofu and leaving out the mozzarella cheese.
- Make it gluten-free by using gluten-free pasta (make sure the store-bought pesto is also gluten-free).
- Store leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.
- We don’t recommend freezing this recipe.
Looking for more pasta recipes? Try our Spaghetti Arrabiata or our Creamy Spinach Pasta.
PrintRecipe
Easy Tuna Pesto Pasta
- Total Time: 20 min.
- Yield: 10 cups 1x
Description
This easy Tuna Pesto Pasta recipe is the perfect answer for a busy weeknight. A few pantry staples and fresh ingredients is all you need for this flavor-packed pasta dish. Serve warm, room temperature or cold (meaning it’s ideal to make ahead).
Ingredients
- 12 oz. dried pasta (such as rotini)
- ¾ cup pesto, divided
- ½ tsp. table salt
- ¼ tsp. black pepper
- ¼ cup sliced sundried tomatoes, from 1 jar oil-packed sundried tomato (plus 1 Tbsp. of oil from the jar)
- 2 cups cherry tomatoes, halved
- 1 cup torn fresh mozzarella
- 2 (5 oz.) cans oil-packed tuna, preferably line caught
- basil leaves, for garnish
Instructions
- Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Cook pasta to al dente according to package instructions. Reserve ½ cup of the pasta cooking liquid. Drain and cool at room temperature for 10 minutes.
- Transfer pasta to a large mixing bowl and add ½ cup pesto. Toss to combine. Add sundried tomatoes and 1 tablespoon of oil from the jar and gently toss. Add cherry tomatoes and mozzarella and toss to combine. Add tuna (see note) and gently toss until just combined. Serve warm, room temperature or cold (see note). Just before serving, add remaining ¼ cup pesto and reserved pasta water, (if needed) to thin out sauce. Garnish with fresh basil leaves.
Notes
- Use albacore, yellowfin, skipjack or chunk light tuna.
- If using tuna packed in water, drain the tuna. If using oil packed tuna, draining the tuna is optional.
- If serving pasta cold from the refrigerator, we suggest adding a couple more tablespoons of pesto.
- Try using our Homemade Basil Pesto recipe.
- Prep Time: 10 min.
- Cook Time: 10 min.
- Category: Main
- Method: Stirring, Boiling
- Cuisine: American
Leave a Reply