This Tuna Pesto Pasta is a quick and simple meal made from pesto, pasta, garlic & canned tuna. It takes only 15 minutes to make and is perfect for busy days.
I love pasta and I'm crazy for easy comfort pasta meals so if you are like me and you are looking for more easy comfort food pasta meals, check out my creamy spinach pasta.
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🌟 Recipe Overview
- Just 5 ingredients. This recipe requires only 5 easy accessible ingredients
- Budget-friendly. All the ingredients for this pasta dish are very affordable.
- It takes only 15 min to make.
- You can serve it warm or cold, which means you can make it ahead of time.
📔 Ingredients & Substitutes
Pasta. I like using gluten-free spaghetti but you can use any pasta of choice.
Canned tuna. I recommend using canned tuna in olive oil but you can also use canned tuna in sunflower oil or water.
Garlic. For best flavor use fresh garlic, if you don’t have fresh garlic you can replace it with garlic powder.
Pesto. You can use store-bought or homemade pesto.
Parmesan cheese. Parmesan cheese goes so well with the pesto.
🍅 Recipe variations
- Olives. Stir a needful of roughly chopped olives just before serving.
- Creamy tuna pesto pasta. To get a creamier texture stir in two tablespoons of cream cheese with the pesto.
- Peas or sweet corn. For a bit of texture add ½ cup frozen peas or sweet corn right adding the garlic.
- Tomatoes. Slice some cherry tomatoes and stir in just before serving.
- Mushrooms. Slice a handful of button mushrooms and fry them before adding the garlic.
- Arugula. Add arugula just before serving.
🥣 How to make this Tuna Pesto Pasta
STEP 1 - COOK THE PASTA
Bring salted water to a boil and cook the pasta of your choice according to the packaging instructions.
STEP 2 - COMBINE TUNA WITH PESTO AND PASTA
Heat olive oil over medium-high heat in a wide skillet or saucepan, add garlic, and cook for 30 seconds.
Add the tuna together with the oil. Break the tuna and saute just until heated.
Turn off the heat and stir in the pasta and the pesto. Add a bit of the pasta water if it is needed. Serve with freshly grated parmesan cheese.
📖 Storage instructions
You can store this pasta covered in the fridge for up to 2 days. You can enjoy it cold as pasta salad or reheated in the microwave.
🥖 Serving ideas
This tuna pesto pasta goes so well with crunchy garlic bread or garlic knots.
👩🏻🍳 Expert Tips
- Keep a little bit of pasta water to help loosen the pesto.
- Cook the pasta al dente and don’t over-mix it with the pesto as you might end up breaking it.
💬 FAQ
I prefer using canned tuna in oil because it has more flavor. However you can use canned tuna in water, just make sure to drain it well from the water before adding it to the pasta
I like using basil pesto but you can use any pesto of choice.
🍝 More easy pasta recipes
Did you make this? Tell me about it! Leave a ⭐ REVIEW and COMMENT below!
Recipe
Tuna Pesto Pasta
Ingredients
- 12 oz pasta of choice
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 2 garlic cloves
- 2 cans of tuna in oil 10-12oz
- 1 cup pesto
- ⅓ cup freshly grated parmesan cheese
Instructions
- Bring salted water to a boil and cook the pasta of your choice according to packaging instructions.
- Heat olive oil over medium-high heat in a wide skillet or saucepan, add garlic and cook for 30 seconds.
- Add the tuna together with the oil. Break the tuna and saute just until heated.
- Turn off the heat and stir in the pasta and the pesto. Add a bit of the pasta water if it is needed.
- Serve with freshly grated parmesan cheese.
Notes
- Keep a little bit of pasta water to help loosen the pesto.
- Cook the pasta al dente and don’t over-mix it with the pesto as you might end up breaking it.
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