I’m so excited to have partnered with Chicken of the Sea to bring you this Pickled Tuna Macaroni Salad! This lightened up pasta salad is a versatile and healthy dish, perfect for lunch or a quick dinner and a tasty way to get the recommended 2 to 3 servings of seafood a week!
Tuna Pasta Salad is one of those classic dishes that everyone seems to love. It’s simple comfort food, budget friendly, easy to make ahead of time and lasts days in the fridge. We’ve eaten pasta salads like this at every picnic, barbecue and party for as long as I can remember.
You just can’t go wrong when a dish is this easy and this good!
This Pickled Tuna Macaroni Salad is a simple make-ahead dish and although it’s crazy-easy to make, it is packed with so many awesome flavors.
Tender macaroni noodles are tossed with Chicken of the Sea® Solid White Albacore Tuna, an overload of pickles with both sweet and tangy dill (and a squeeze of relish). White onion adds a little bit of zip while the red pepper adds a touch of sweetness and crunch, and of course the fresh dill adds a fresh summery flavor!
This can be made ahead of time and served as either dinner, lunch or a potluck favorite (it’s the one bowl that ALWAYS ends up emptied first)! This tuna pasta salad stores well for about 3 to 4 days, so it’s great if you like to cook once and eat all week like I do!
I use Chicken of the Sea® Solid White Albacore Tuna with Sea Salt in EZ-Open cans which are convenient, I love the time-saving feature of the cans and the flavor and the flake of the tuna! As you might already know, I love pickles, so the addition of both dill and sweet pickles plus the pickle juice really takes the classic flavor of tuna macaroni salad to a new plateau of sweet and tangy perfection!
The only thing better than a great creamy tuna pasta salad is when you can turn it into a healthy tuna macaroni salad!
To make the recipe a little bit lighter than a traditional tuna salad, I use fat free Greek yogurt in the dressing and replace mayonnaise with light dressing. This recipe has so much flavor you’ll never even know it’s lighter in calories and fat.
Tuna is a great source of protein and a great source of healthy unsaturated fats (in fact, it’s recommended that we are eating 2-3 servings of seafood per week). While I used regular macaroni noodles, you can use shells or even whole wheat macaroni noodles for nutritious and delicious results.
If you’re looking for more delicious make ahead meal ideas, I’ve teamed up with Chicken of the Sea to create a Make-Ahead Pinterest Board to collect our favorite recipes and tips all in one place!
Dill Pickle Tuna Macaroni Salad
Ingredients
- 8 ounces macaroni noodles
- 2 cans tuna
- ¾ cup celery diced
- ½ cup sweet pickles chopped
- ½ cup dill pickles chopped
- ⅓ cup red pepper diced
- ¼ cup white onion minced
- 2 tablespoons fresh dill chopped
Dressing
- ¾ cup fat free Greek yogurt (plain)
- ¾ cup light dressing or mayonnaise
- ¼ cup relish
- 2 tablespoons pickle juice
- 1 teaspoon dijon mustard
- 1 teaspoon white vinegar
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- salt & pepper to taste
Instructions
- Cook pasta al dente according to package directions.
- While pasta is cooking, combine all dressing ingredients in a small bowl and mix well. Set aside.
- Combine all ingredients in a large bowl. Top with dressing and gently toss to combine.
- Refrigerate at least 1 hour before serving.
Notes
Nutrition Information
Nutrition information provided is an estimate and will vary based on cooking methods and brands of ingredients used.
Course Lunch, Salad, Seafood, Side Dish
Cuisine American© SpendWithPennies.com. Content and photographs are copyright protected. Sharing of this recipe is both encouraged and appreciated. Copying and/or pasting full recipes to any social media is strictly prohibited. Please view my photo use policy here.
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I’m so excited to have partnered with Chicken of the Sea to bring you this Pickled Tuna Macaroni Salad! While I was compensated for this post, all thoughts and opinions are my own. Working with great brands I love allows me to keep bringing you the great recipes you love!
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The term “Macaroni” by itself is a very broad term. Most folks use the term ‘macaroni’ when referring to pasta, but they then go on to identify which ‘macaroni’ they’re referring to…. i.e. “Elbow Macaroni”. It’s good that you posted a photo, so that everyone could see that you used “Elbow” macaroni, and were not left wondering which ‘macaroni’ you actually used. I’m sure that your box of pasta calls it ‘Elbows’, or something to that effect on the front, not just ‘Macaroni’…. since there are many ‘macaronis’ available..
Hi Angelina, for this recipe we preferred to use elbow macaroni but it is delicious with whatever your preferred pasta is!
Give me a break Angelina….You are a very argumentative person and are obviously full of yourself since you have the audacity to berate the recipe author, Holly, not once, but twice. Most people associate macaroni with the only pasta that has macaroni in its name, “Elbows”. Young, inexperienced, whoever…can easily look at the included picture or just ask a question…not berate the author. The absolute gall of some people! SMH
Very tasty, but the pasta is called “ELBOW Macaroni”, NOT Macaroni Noodles. ‘Macaroni’ is a very broad term, which encompasses several different kinds of pasta shapes. I’m just sayin’……. If you look at the box of pasta which you used, I’m sure it will say “Elbows”! Let’s not confuse young & inexperienced cooks, who perhaps wouldn’t’ know which pasta you’re actually using.
The package on the two brands I generally purchase actually do say “macaroni” and not elbows although hopefully the images with the elbow macaroni will help act as a guide. Any medium/short pasta works perfectly in this recipe. Enjoy!
Hi Holly,
Saw your tuna pickle salad recipe and pinned it. It looks amazing! I do have one question? The dressing calls for relish. There are both sweet pickle relish and dill pickle relish. Which one is in your dressing? I don’t want to mess it up, I know it will make a huge difference in the flavor. Thanks! Can’t wait to make this!
Hi Pam, I used dill relish!
BRING ON THE PICKLES! This pasta salad looks killer! I fell in love all over again with tuna just a few months ago when I started nursing again. It’s such an easy way to get in some protein for lunch!
I agree Karen! I love it for lunch on a salad!
You are the pickle queen! I love pickles and love how creative you get with them!
LOL Thanks Averie… I love how much flavor and crunch they add to dishes like this! :)