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Tuna Pasta Salad

February 9, 2022 by Valerie Phifer

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This tuna pasta salad is the perfect busy weeknight meal, easy to whip up in 15 minutes with only 5 ingredients!

serving of tuna pasta salad on the table

School, Eat, Soccer, Eat, Sleep, Repeat

Is anybody else’s kids eating 5 meals a day? Geez, it feels like as soon as I pick them up from school they eat a snack (sometimes it feels more like a meal), go straight to soccer, hit the fridge again when they get home, shower, chill for a bit, eat a bowl of cereal, and then head to bed.

That’s our schedule 3-4 times a week, and practices are sometimes staggered, so we may be eating in shifts. If I don’t have a meal planned, prepped, and mostly ready before they get out of school, it just isn’t going to happen. And if it doesn’t happen, they just eat whatever they can find – nutritious or not. So anytime I can make a meal ahead of time, ready and waiting for anyone anytime, I feel like mom of the year.

boy in soccer uniform making a funny face
Tobias either doesn’t want his picture taken, or he’s making a face when it is. I guess this is 15.
boy smiling in soccer uniform and wearing a medal
Milo is always just happy to be playing!
boy smiling in his soccer uniform
Nash doesn’t mind us snapping his photo as long as we don’t make him late.

Sometimes the simplest meals are the faves.

My mom used to make this tuna pasta salad when we were growing up. She called it “Rebecca’s Salad,” I guess because some lady named Rebecca must’ve given her the recipe – who knows. Either way, she made it likely for the same reasons I mentioned above; we were always running to dance, softball, and baseball, so this was a regular on our weeknight menu.

So, of course, I carried it over to my family. And I kid you not, every time I ask the boys for input when menu planning, one of them inevitably asks for tuna pasta salad. They love it! It’s light, easy to dish up right out of the fridge before and/or after practice, and is the perfect mix of protein and carbs for starving boys.

5 Ingredients for Tuna Pasta Salad:

  • rotini pasta
  • ranch dressing
  • canned tuna
  • dill relish
  • Parmesan cheese
parmesan, pasta, cans of tuna, dill relish, and ranch dressing on a kitchen counter

How to Make Tuna Pasta Salad in 15 Minutes:

Cook the pasta. (We like rotini, but you could also use shells or elbow macaroni.) While it’s cooking, combine the rest of the ingredients in a mixing bowl. Once the pasta is finished, drain and rinse with cold water until cool. Don’t skip this part! Rinsing it with cold water will prevent your pasta from sticking together, and it also gives you a head start on chilling it.

woman draining pasta over a sink
Yep. Dirty dishes in the sink. This is why we need a quick dinner!
pasta being rinsed in a colander
Toss your pasta around as you run it under cold water to make sure it all gets cooled.

Add the cooled pasta to the other ingredients and toss together. Serve immediately or refrigerate and serve chilled.

tuna, ranch dressing, parmesan, and dill relish being combined in a mixing bowl
tuna pasta salad mixed in a bowl

If you want to add a little green to your meal you could serve it on top of your favorite salad greens! Also, my mom always added chopped black olives. I remember liking it that way, but we don’t always have them on hand so we generally skip them. One more note: I don’t like measuring things. I’m an eyeballer, which is why I prefer cooking over baking usually. Just know that, because of this lack of measuring tendency, these measurements are more like my best estimation. If you want more ranch, pour it on! Less Parm? Go for it. These are merely guidelines – so go crazy, people.

Fast doesn’t have to mean fast food.

We’re all busy. I’m learning to say no more often and trying to reclaim rest and downtime. It’s definitely a process (and daily struggle). But our rushed days don’t have to mean we sacrifice a meal at home.

Grabbing that burger after practice not only adds up at the end of the week, but it also takes away from that satisfying feeling of enjoying a meal. Eating on the go, in the car, just isn’t the same as eating at the kitchen table. Or, at times, it was easier (and actually more restful) for us to eat as a family at the soccer fields, picnic-style.

I encourage you to try this meal! Spend less time in the kitchen and more time eating and talking and resting – even just one night a week – and see how it affects your family. Share with us how it goes in the comments!

finding Sunday pace together, Val

This post may contain affiliate links, which means I make a small commission at no extra cost to you. Thank you for supporting our family in this way!

serving of tuna pasta salad on the table

Tuna Pasta Salad

This tuna pasta salad is the perfect busy weeknight meal, easy to whip up in 15 minutes with only 5 ingredients!
Print Recipe Pin Recipe
Prep Time 5 mins
Cook Time 15 mins
Course Main Course, Salad, Side Dish
Cuisine American
Servings 5

Ingredients
  

  • 16 oz. rotini pasta
  • 3 – 5 oz. cans of tuna drained
  • ½ cup ranch dressing
  • ¼ cup dill relish
  • ¼ cup Parmesan cheese

Instructions
 

  • Cook the pasta. While it’s cooking, combine the rest of the ingredients in a mixing bowl. Once the pasta is finished, drain and rinse with cold water until cool. Add the pasta to the other ingredients and toss together. Serve immediately or refrigerate and serve chilled.
Keyword pasta, pasta salad, quick meal, salad, tuna

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Filed Under: Lunch/Dinner, Quick Meals Tagged With: pasta, pasta salad, quick meal

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Hey, I’m Val!

Cooking and eating are some of my top love languages. They fill me up (literally and figuratively), cause me to slow down, and help me to reconnect with those around me. Out of that overflow, I hope to bring that same enjoyment from our busy home to yours.

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