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Home » Sides and salad recipes » Tuna noodle salad – with lemon

Tuna noodle salad – with lemon

Author: VJ Published : July 2022 Updated : July 2022 / Be the first to comment!

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Tuna noodle salad is a quick and easy dish that you can serve either as part of your barbeque spread, or simply with a crusty bread roll for a light meal on its own. Serve with slices of lemon for extra zing and freshness.

A bowl of tuna noodle pasta garnished with lemon slices.

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Table Of Contents
  1. Easy tuna noodle salad
  2. What you will need
  3. What to do
  4. Tips and FAQ
  5. Save for later
  6. Other recipes
  7. The recipe
  8. Tuna noodle salad – with lemon

Easy tuna noodle salad

I’ve been making this tuna noodle salad (or variations of it) for years. This a no-fail recipe that requires hardly any cooking. If you can boil a pan of pasta you can make this salad!

I’ve used cans of tuna (in brine – not oil) to add to the salad, along with frozen peas for sweetness and a finely chopped red pepper for colour and crunch.

The dressing is made by mixing mayonnaise with tomato ketchup and a few drops of tabasco sauce. And I’ve garnished the salad with slices of lemon so that each person can squeeze a few drops of lemon juice over the salad just before eating. Fish and lemon go so well together, and the lemon juice really brightens up the flavour of this salad.

This salad is best served cold from the fridge, or you can serve it at room temperature, which makes it ideal for taking on a picnic or serving at your next alfresco cookout or barbeque. It goes really well with grilled sausages or chicken.

Tuna noodle salad is also perfect for packing into your lunch box alongside a crusty bread roll, or simply enjoy a bowl of this salad as a quick and easy lunch.

A helping of tuna noodle salad on a plate with a slice of crusty bread roll.
If you’d like to see a recipe for a different version of this salad you can see this post for orzo pasta summer salad.

What you will need

Equipment

All you will need by way of equipment is a saucepan, a sharp knife and a chopping board.  For serving and storing you will need a ceramic or glass bowl with a lid. 

Ingredients

This salad will serve at least 6 people as a side dish.

Ingredients for tuna noodle salad.
These are the ingredients you will need:

Pasta – I’ve used orzo pasta (sometimes known as rice noodles) but you can use any small shapes such as shells or elbow macaroni.

Tuna in brine – don’t use tuna in oil as it will make the salad oily. I used 2 small cans each weighing 160 grams/5.6 oz (or 112 grams/4 oz drained weight). You should drain the tuna before adding it to the salad, so in total, I used 224 grams/8oz of drained tuna. The tuna I used was ready-flaked so if your tuna comes in solid pieces you should flake it before using it.

Red pepper – this should be deseeded and the membranes removed before being chopped into a fine dice. You can substitute the red pepper with yellow, orange or even green peppers according to your own taste.

Frozen peas – I find that petit pois are much sweeter than normal frozen peas, so that’s what I use.

Salt – used for cooking the pasta, and also for seasoning the salad if you feel it necessary.

Mayonnaise – use your favourite store-bought mayonnaise, or make your own from this post on how to make mayonnaise.

Tomato ketchup – this is mixed with the mayonnaise along with tabasco to make a quick and easy Marie rose dressing.

Tabasco sauce – you will only need a few drops as it is quite spicy. Add to your own taste.

Lemons – (not pictured) – for garnish.

What to do

This won’t take long – all you have to do is cook the pasta and then mix it with the remaining ingredients and you can have this salad prepared in 20 minutes.

Orzo pasta draining in a sieve.

Bring a saucepan of salted water to a boil and add the pasta. Boil for 7 minutes (or the length of time indicated on the packed).

Drain through a sieve and then rinse the pasta under cold running water to stop the cooking process.

Transfer the drained cooled pasta to a serving dish.

Orzo pasta in a bowl with peas, tuna and chopped red peppers.

Drain the tuna and chop the red pepper finely.

Add the tuna, red pepper and peas to the pasta.

Tuna, red peppers and peas mixed with orzo pasta.

Mix well to combine all the ingredients.

Mayonnaise and tomato ketchup on a bowl of tuna salad, before being mixed through.

Add the mayonnaise, tomato ketchup and tabasco.

The finished dish of tuna noodle salad garnished with lemons.

Mix the dressing through the salad until the pasta is well coated.

Garnish with lemon slices.

Serve chilled.

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Tips and FAQ

Why do I have to rinse the pasta under cold water?

If you don’t cool the pasta by rinsing it under cold water, the residual heat will continue to cook the pasta and it may turn stodgy and it will clump together. You want every grain of pasta to be firm and separated.

How fine should the red pepper be chopped?

The red pepper should be chopped to approximately the same size as the grains of pasta. This way, all the ingredients will be the same size and will combine nicely in the salad.

Can I freeze tuna noodle salad?

I wouldn’t freeze this salad as it will turn watery when defrosted.

Can I make the salad in advance?

Yes, you can make this salad up to three days in advance and store it in a covered container in the refrigerator. The flavours actually improve on standing.
Leftovers can similarly be stored for up to 3 days.

Why don’t you add the lemon to the dressing?

There are two reasons for this. Firstly, not everyone enjoys the flavour of lemon on their food. Secondly, adding the lemon to the dressing would make the dressing too thin. Squeezing a few drops onto the salad just before eating ensures the consistency remains correct.

Save for later

If you would like to try this tuna noodle salad for yourself, why not save the recipe to one of your Pinterest boards so you can find it easily. Just click on the image below.

Alternatively, you can save the recipe by clicking on the floating heart icon on the right hand side of the screen.

Other recipes

If you enjoyed this recipe, perhaps you’d like to try some of my other salad recipes.

  • Copper penny salad
  • Curried green beans
  • Tomato and onion pasta salad
  • Spicy beetroot salad
  • Creamy coleslaw with buttermilk dressing

The recipe

Close up of tuna noodle salad

Tuna noodle salad – with lemon

This is a quick and easy salad that you can serve either as part of your barbeque spread, or simply with a crusty bread roll for a light meal on its own. Serve with slices of lemon for extra zing and freshness.
Recipe by: Veronica
Salad, Side Dish
British, South African inspired
Calories 241
Prep 10 minutes
Cook 10 minutes
Total Time 20 minutes
Servings: 6 people as a side
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5 from 1 vote

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Equipment

  • Saucepan
  • Sharp Knife
  • Chopping Board
  • Serving dish

Ingredients

  • 1 cup / 200 grams orzo pasta (rice noodles) or other small shapes
  • 8 ounces / 224 grams canned tuna in brine (drained weight)
  • 1 large red pepper finely diced
  • 1 cup frozen peal preferably petit pois
  • ⅔ cup / 160 ml mayonnaise
  • ⅓ cup / 80 ml tomato ketchup
  • 1 teaspoon Tabasco sauce or to taste
  • 1 lemon sliced for garnish
  • 1 teaspoon salt or to taste

Instructions

  • Bring a saucepan of salted water to a boil and add the pasta. Boil for 7 minutes (or the length of time indicted on the packed).
    Drain through a sieve and then rinse the pasta under cold running water to stop the cooking process.
    Transfer the drained cooled pasta to a serving dish.
    1 cup / 200 grams orzo pasta (rice noodles), 1 teaspoon salt
  • Drain the tuna and chop the red pepper finely.
    Add the tuna, red pepper and peas to the pasta.
    8 ounces / 224 grams canned tuna in brine (drained weight), 1 large red pepper, 1 cup frozen peal
  • Mix well to combine all the ingredients.
  • Add the mayonnaise, tomato ketchup and tabasco
    ⅔ cup / 160 ml mayonnaise, ⅓ cup / 80 ml tomato ketchup, 1 teaspoon Tabasco sauce
  • Mix the dressing through the salad until the pasta is well coated.
  • Garnish with lemon slices.
    1 lemon

Notes

Serve chilled or at room temperature.
 
Nutrition is based on 6 servings and is per serving.

Nutrition

Calories – 241kcal | Carbohydrates – 33.8g | Protein – 5.9g | Fat – 9.9g | Saturated Fat – 1.4g | Cholesterol – 31mg | Sodium – 740mg | Potassium – 224mg | Fiber – 1.8g | Sugar – 7.4g | Calcium – 22mg | Iron – 2mg

I am not a nutritionist. The nutrition information has been calculated using an on-line calculator, and is intended for information and guidance purposes only. If the nutrition information is important to you, you should consider calculating it yourself, using your preferred tool.

Unless otherwise stated, a cup is the standard US cup containing 240 ml. In all my recipes this cup is assumed to hold 140g of flour. For help converting other ingredients between cups, grams, ounces and other measures, see my recipe conversion calculator.
All my recipes are developed and tested at sea-level. For tips on adjusting recipes for high altitudes see my post on baking at high altitudes.
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Filed Under: All Recipes, Sides and salad recipes

About VJ

In my previous life, I was an IT Consultant. Now that I've swapped an office for a kitchen I have a lot more time to spend on things that interest me such as trying out new recipes. Most of my cooking is based around quick and easy meals, and you'll probably find a little South African influence creeping in due to the many years I spent there.

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