Tuna Pasta Salad (Greek Style)

This Tuna Pasta Salad is doused in a creamy dressing and stuffed Greek style fillings. This truly is the best tuna pasta salad recipe in the world!!

Greek Pasta Salad

Alrighty, let’s hit this straight off the bat and address the elephant in the room shall we? 😂

What makes this pasta salad ‘Greek’?

Whilst I’m sure there’s a million Greeks screaming at the idea of a Greek tuna pasta salad, the Greekness in this dish simply can’t be ignored. In fact, it should be celebrated! Here’s the stars of the show:

• Greek Feta
• Greek Yogurt
• Kalamata Olives

Alongside this, the creamy dressing is a nod to tzatziki and the other fillings are a nod to a traditional Greek salad (tomatoes, cucumber, red onion etc). Anywho, that’s my justification over and done with 🤣 let’s dig into the good stuff!

Creamy Tuna Pasta Salad

A lot of tuna salad recipes opt for more oil based dressings, but quite frankly if I’m having canned tuna and it’s not in some way shape or form connected to full fat mayonnaise, then somethings seriously not right.

The base of the dressing is a 50/50 split between Greek yogurt and mayo. The mayo gives the dressing a bit of body, full yogurt dressings always fall a little short for me. I also add extra virgin olive oil, which gives the dressing a nice rich and silky undertone.

In terms of what herbs to use, firstly unless you’re going to rest the dressing I highly recommend using fresh herbs. For this dressing we’re going for parsley and dill. Both of which work great with the Greek theme and both go beautifully with tuna.

Other ingredients include lemon juice, garlic and seasoning.

Can I make the dressing ahead of time?

Absolutely! In fact I highly recommend doing so. This will give a chance for the flavours to marry together before serving up. Just tightly cover and store in the fridge until needed.

Process shots: add dressing ingredients to small bowl (photo 1), whisk to combine (photo 2).

BEST Tuna Pasta Salad

For me, here’s the best tuna pasta salad combo and the fillings I highly recommend using:

• Baby Plum Tomatoes
• Cucumber
• Red Onion
• Olives
• Feta

In terms of the pasta itself I recommend always going short cut (here I use Fusilli). I know it sounds silly, but one of the most important steps in making a pasta salad is ensuring the pasta is cold. If the pasta is still at all even slightly warm it’ll cause the sauce to start congealing and it won’t stay fresh and creamy for long. I know it’s a fairly obvious step, but just a reminder to rinse the pasta well with cold water!

Process shots: cook, drain and rinse pasta (photo 1), add fillings (photo 2), pour in dressing and toss to combine (photo 3).

Serving Tuna Pasta Salad

This pasta salad is absolutely perfect as a BBQ side, an easy lunch or even for meal prep! I mean I’ve literally never meal prepped in my life but if I did it would obviously be pasta 😂

Can I make the pasta salad ahead of time?

Yup! Just tightly cover and store in the fridge until ready to serve. I usually don’t keep mine longer than 3-4days, but you can keep longer at your discretion.

Alrighty, let”s tuck into the full recipe for this tuna pasta salad shall we?!

How to make Tuna Pasta Salad (Full Recipe & Video)

5 from 8 votes

Tuna Pasta Salad (Greek Style)

By: Chris Collins

This Tuna Pasta Salad is doused in a creamy dressing and stuffed Greek style fillings. This truly is the best tuna pasta salad recipe in the world!!

Prep: 12 minutes mins

Cook: 8 minutes mins

Total: 20 minutes mins

Servings: 6

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Equipment

• Large Pot & Colander (for pasta)
• Large Mixing Bowl (for pasta salad)
• Small Mixing Bowl (for dressing)
• Sharp Knife & Chopping Board
• Spatula
• Salad Tossers (optional)

Ingredients 

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Pasta Salad

• ▢ 10.5oz / 300g Short Cut Pasta (here I use Fusilli)
• ▢ 2x 6.5oz/185g cans of Tuna, drained
• ▢ 3.5oz / 100g Baby Plum Tomatoes, halved
• ▢ 3.5oz / 100g Cucumber, sliced & quartered
• ▢ 3oz / 75g Kalamata Olives, halved
• ▢ 2oz / 60g Greek Feta, crumbled
• ▢ 1/2 small Red Onion, finely diced

Creamy Dressing

• ▢ 1/2 cup / 120g Plain Greek Yogurt
• ▢ 1/2 cup / 120g Mayo (full fat)
• ▢ 1.5 tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• ▢ 1 Lemon, juice only (or to taste)
• ▢ 1 heaped tbsp finely diced Fresh Parsley
• ▢ 1 tbsp finely diced Fresh Dill
• ▢ 1/2 tsp Sugar
• ▢ 1/4 tsp Garlic Powder (or 1/2 small cloves, minced/grated)
• ▢ 1/4 tsp Salt & Black Pepper, or to taste

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Instructions 

• Add your pasta to a large pot of salted water and cook until al dente. Drain in a colander and rinse with cold water until completely cold. Leave rested to drain out water.
• Meanwhile, in a small mixing bowl add 1/2cup/120g mayo & yogurt, 1.5 tbsp extra virgin olive oil, juice of a lemon (or to taste), 1 heaped tbsp finely diced parsley, 1 tbsp finely diced dill, 1/2 tsp sugar and 1/4 tsp garlic powder, salt & pepper (or to taste). Give it a good mix, taste for seasoning then place to one side.
• In a larger bowl add your pasta, tomatoes, cucumber, feta, olives and onion. Pour in your dressing and stir with a spatula or toss with salad tossers until the pasta is completely coated and the fillings are evenly distributed.
• Pop over cling film and rest in the fridge until needed or tuck in straight away!

Video

Notes

a) Fillings - Whilst I do suggest the pasta salad filling measurements are optimal, feel free to adjust the measurements to preference (i.e more of olives etc). 

b) Cold Pasta -  Important to ensure your pasta is completely cold before mixing through the dressing. If it's at all warm the dressing will start to congeal slightly and won't keep it's creamy texture, especially if making ahead of time.

c) Make Ahead - Pasta salads are perfect to make ahead of time! You could either make the dressing ahead of time, or make the whole thing. I usually keep the pasta salad tightly covered in the fridge for 3-4days, but keep longer at your discretion.

d) Calories - Based on sharing between 6 people:

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Nutrition

Calories: 442kcal | Carbohydrates: 44.24g | Protein: 15.55g | Fat: 23.54g | Saturated Fat: 5.067g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 11.028g | Monounsaturated Fat: 6.416g | Trans Fat: 0.053g | Cholesterol: 36mg | Sodium: 552mg | Potassium: 364mg | Fiber: 6.4g | Sugar: 3.06g | Vitamin A: 451IU | Vitamin C: 7.2mg | Calcium: 98mg | Iron: 1.58mg

Looking for more?

You’ll find plenty more delicious comfort food like this in my Debut Cookbook ‘Comfy’

If you’re looking for more delicious tuna recipes then check out my Avocado Tuna Melts, Tuna Baked Potato and Tuna Potato Patties!

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