Tuna and Roasted Red Pepper Pasta Salad

This cold Tuna Pasta Salad recipe is both easy to prepare and extremely versatile – you can serve it for brunch, lunch or dinner. It calls for a tasty pesto dressing with no mayo, making it perfect for picnics and potlucks, too!

this Recipe

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I found this intriguing recipe for Tuna and Roasted Red Pepper Pasta Salad buried in my mom’s kitchen files. It was given to her by Marne Kellogg — a friend to us both and the daughter of my parents’ good friends Margie and Jack Davis.

Cooked short pasta (like fusilli, rotelle, rotini, or gemelli) is tossed together with hunks of canned albacore wild tuna, chopped marinated roasted red peppers, green peas or edamame beans, prepared pesto and Parmesan cheese. How easy is that?

I love the flavor combinations in this pasta salad! And, with no mayo, only 2 tablespoons of pesto and 1 tablespoon of cheese per person, it’s healthy too. I can see why this recipe was in mom’s files. She loved recipes that were easy to make ahead of time with pantry ingredients, elegant to serve, and scrumptious – and this salad is all that, and more.

5 from 1 vote

Tuna and Roasted Red Pepper Salad Recipe

By: Lee Clayton Roper

This cold Tuna Pasta Salad recipe is both easy to prepare and extremely versatile – you can serve it for brunch, lunch or dinner. It calls for a tasty pesto dressing with no mayo, making it perfect for picnics and potlucks, too!

Prep: 10 minutes mins

Cook: 9 minutes mins

Total: 19 minutes mins

Servings: 8 servings

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Ingredients 

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• ▢ 1 pound gemelli pasta, short twisted, rotelle (wagon wheel) or rotini (corkscrew) pasta
• ▢ 10 ounces shelled edamame beans , see Substitute below
• ▢ 10 ounces white albacore tuna, in water, drained and broken into chunks
• ▢ 16 ounces marinated roasted red peppers, drained and chopped
• ▢ 1 cup Spinach Basil Pesto, or regular basil pesto
• ▢ 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• ▢ Kosher salt, to taste
• ▢ Freshly ground black pepper, to taste

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Instructions 

• In a large pot, cook the pasta according to package directions. Add the edamame beans to the cooking pasta during the last 6 minutes.
• Drain cooked pasta-bean mixture in a colander; rinse with cold water, drain again. Set the pasta mixture aside to cool.
• In a large mixing bowl, combine tuna, red peppers and pesto, tossing to blend. Add the cooled pasta mixture and toss. Add the Parmesan cheese and toss again. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
• Chill for at least 1 hour. Bring to room temperature before serving.

Notes

Make ahead: Salad can be made up to 24 hours in advance, covered and stored in the refrigerator.

Substitute for edamame: use frozen green peas that have been thawed and drained. Skip directions for cooking the beans.

To ensure your pasta comes out al dente and flavorful, follow my directions in How to Cook Perfect Pasta.

Nutrition

Calories: 476kcal, Carbohydrates: 53g, Protein: 24g, Fat: 18g, Saturated Fat: 4g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 2g, Monounsaturated Fat: 2g, Cholesterol: 19mg, Sodium: 1319mg, Potassium: 499mg, Fiber: 4g, Sugar: 3g, Vitamin A: 980IU, Vitamin C: 26mg, Calcium: 171mg, Iron: 3mg

Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.

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Note: if this recipe looks familiar, it’s because it’s an update to a post from a few years ago. I’ve added new photos as well as answers to your questions.