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Sometimes a good pasta salad is the only way to go at lunchtime. Particularly if you need something that’s going to make sure you don’t end up starving by the end of the day, yet not so heavy you’ll end up feeling sluggish for the rest all afternoon. This healthy tuna pasta salad gives you a great, healthy meal which is tasty and well balanced. You’ll definitely not feel like reaching for the biscuit tin after this!
What are the ingredients?
This salad combines tuna and fusilli pasta with a host of great vegetables, including sweet red pepper, tangy red onion and briny olives. Basil is used to add extra flavour and depth. The salad is dressed in a beautiful mixture of olive oil and balsamic vinegar which adds a silky yet rich coating.
How many calories does it have?
This salad has 350 calories which is light considering that it includes pasta and an olive oil dressing. It has 12g of fat which comes mainly from the olive oil and olives. Therefore the fats are heart-healthy, unsaturated fats. It’s also full of anti-oxidants.
How long does it keep in the fridge?
This salad will keep in the fridge for up to three days. Great news if you want to make it the day before to take to work, or make a few portions at once. For best results don’t dress the salad until you are ready to eat it. I also recommend freshly tearing in the basil leaves when you are ready to eat.
Will pasta salad freeze?
You can freeze this salad and all its ingredients. Make sure to freeze it before you have dressed for best results. I’d suggest not adding the basil until defrosted either. However, for best results, eat this fresh. The pasta might lose some of the texture and it just won’t be quite as good. Since it only takes 15 minutes to make I’d recommend making it up to 3 days ahead and storing in the fridge.
Substitutions
There are so many modifications you can make to this salad based on your personal preferences. Firstly, you can use any type of pasta you choose – or whatever you have in the cupboard.
On the veg front, you can swap out any of the ingredients with artichoke hearts, sliced tomatoes, cucumber or leftover grilled vegetables such as courgette or aubergine. It’s also great served on a bed of spinach or other lettuce leaves.
If you are looking for other great tuna salad recipes then try out this chopped tuna salad (which is just 200 calories), or this tuna salad niçoise which is made with fresh tuna steak, but can easily be substituted for tinned tuna.
Products that work great for this recipe;
GoEat Salad Box
Microwave Pasta Pot
Chop2Pot
Healthy Tuna Pasta Salad
- Total Time: 10 minutes
- Yield: 1 1x
Description
A really simple, no fuss, healthy tuna pasta salad. Flavoured with olive oil, tangy balsamic vinegar and sweet basil for a fresh and delicious flavour.
Ingredients
- 1/2 tin tuna flakes (50 g)
- 40g dried fusilli pasta
- 1/2 red or orange pepper, diced (around 60 g)
- 40g pitted black olives, halved (1/4 cup)
- 1/4 red onion, finely diced (around 30 g)
- 5–6 basil leaves, roughly torn
- 1 tsp extra virgin olive oil
- 1 tsp balsamic vinegar
Instructions
1. Cook the pasta according to package instructions
2. Chop all the ingredients as directed above and season well. Mix together the olive oil and balsamic vinegar.
3. In a large bowl mix everything together and pour over the dressing. Toss to combine.
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Category: Lunch
- Method: No Cook
- Cuisine: Salad
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1
- Calories: 350
- Fat: 11g
- Carbohydrates: 37g
- Protein: 22g
Keywords: salad, tuna, fish, lunch, side dish, healthy, pasta
