Real Recipes From Real Home Cooks ®

classic tuna pasta salad

(1 rating)
Recipe by
C P
Anywhere, AL

This crunchy tuna pasta salad is something I have been making for years for my family. Tuna pasta salad makes for a great lunch, dinner, or side dish on those hot sticky days, (like today’s 96 F.).

(1 rating)
yield 8 serving(s)
prep time 30 Min
cook time 15 Min
method Stove Top

Ingredients For classic tuna pasta salad

  • 1
    1lb (454g) box, large pasta shells, i use barilla large shells n.93
  • 1
    medium onion, chopped
  • 2
    stalks celery, chopped
  • 6-8
    sweet pickle slices, cut in half then in half again
  • 1- 1 1/2 c
    mayonnaise or miracle whip
  • 2-4 Tbsp
    bread and butter pickle juice
  • 1 Tbsp
    parsley flakes
  • 1/2 tsp
    celery seed
  • 1/2 to 1 tsp
    sunny spain seasoning, (see note)
  • salt and pepper, to taste
  • 1-2 can
    starkist solid white albacore tuna in water - 12 oz can

How To Make classic tuna pasta salad

  • 1
    Directions: Cook the pasta shells according to package directions, in salted water. In a large bowl combine, mixing together the onion, parsley, tuna, celery and pickles. Add the cooked, drained, rinsed and cooled macaroni. In a small bowl combine mixing well, Miracle Whip, pickle juice, Sunny Spain Seasoning, celery seed, salt and pepper. Taste the dressing before adding to noodle mixture, and adjust the seasonings, pickle juice, or Miracle Whip to your taste. Fold in the dressing into the pasta mixture until well mixed. Chill for at least 2 hours for best flavor.
  • 2
    NOTE: Sunny Spain Seasoning is a Salt-Free Lemon-Pepper. Perfect for fish and chicken, vegetables and salads. Salt-free blends are strong, start with less. It Sunny Spain Seasoning is hand-mixed from: black pepper, citric acid, lemon peel, garlic and onion. Sunny Spain Seasoning can be purchased on line at: https://www.penzeys.com, or call toll-free: 1-800-741-7787
  • 3
    (Sometimes, I add 1 cup of Le Sueur Very Young Small Sweet Peas and or 2 hard-boiled eggs, coarsely chopped. Sometimes I also add equal amounts of salad dressing and sour cream, instead of all salad dressing).
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