Recipes Ingredients Seafood Recipes Tuna Recipes Tuna Tomato Pasta This pantry-friendly tuna pasta recipe is perfect for a weeknight. Prep Time: 10 mins Cook Time: 30 mins Total Time: 40 mins Servings: 6 Jump to recipe This tuna pasta recipe is a favorite quick weeknight dinner and a pantry all-star. Canned tomatoes and tuna bring heft to the sauce while onion, garlic, and some red pepper flakes contribute plenty of flavor. You won’t believe how easy it is to pull together: Simply sauté the aromatics, then stir in the tuna and briefly cook. Add a couple of cans of crushed tomatoes—or whatever kind you have on hand—and simmer to meld the flavors. We love the sauce with short noodles like penne or fusilli, but truly any pasta shape will do. It's lighter than tuna casserole but just as satisfying—this saucy pasta recipe is definitely worth keeping in your back pocket. Our Pantry Shopping List Has All the Essentials Home Cooks Need Credit: Carson Downing The Best Tuna for This Pasta White vs. light tuna: We prefer albacore–aka white—tuna for this recipe as it has the cleanest, most mild taste. Other types of tuna like yellowfin or skipjack (often labeled as "light" tuna) tend to have a fishier, more pronounced flavor that can be a turnoff for some people. Solid vs. chunk: Opt for solid versus chunked tuna if you're able as it contains sturdier, whole fillets that won't fall apart as easily in the sauce. Water packed versus oil packed: Both water- and oil-packed tuna will work equally well for this recipe, so use what you have on hand. Oil-packed tuna has a richer flavor and silkier mouthfeel whereas water-packed tuna will be slightly drier. If using an oil-packed variety, feel free to add some of the oil from the can for an even more savory sauce. Other Ingredients (and Helpful Swaps) Canned tomatoes: You'll need two large (28-ounce) cans of tomatoes for this recipe. Crushed tomatoes require no prep, making them the easiest option, but you can certainly use whole-peeled tomatoes instead—just squeeze or chop them by hand or pulse quickly with a blender or food processor before adding them to the pot. Canned or jarred tomato sauce can also be used. Onion: A small yellow or white onion deepens the flavor of the sauce. Use two shallots instead, or stir in a tablespoon or two of dried minced onion to the sauce if you don't have fresh on hand. Garlic: Mince a couple of garlic cloves and sauté them with the onion. In a pinch, add one to two teaspoons of granulated garlic instead. Red pepper: We love the subtle kick that a few shakes of red-pepper flakes add to the sauce. If you have a fresh chile hanging around in your crisper drawer, you can mince and sauté it with the onion and garlic instead. Pasta: You'll need one pound of dried pasta for this recipe. Fusilli or penne work particularly well with the chunky sauce, but other short shapes like rigatoni, ziti, or farfalle will be tasty, too. If all you have on hand are long noodles, use them. Herbs: A touch of fresh oregano added in the last few minutes perks up this easy sauce. Swap in fresh rosemary, basil, thyme, or marjoram if you have it, or stir in a pinch of a dried herb if not, adding it along with the tomatoes so it has time to flavor the sauce. Directions Credit: Carson Downing Cook onion and garlic: Heat a Dutch oven or large saucepan over medium and add oil, swirling to coat the pan. Add onion and garlic and sauté until onion is translucent, about 5 minutes. Add red pepper and tuna: Stir in red-pepper flakes, then add tuna and stir gently, being careful not to break up the chunks too much. Credit: Carson Downing Stir in tomatoes; simmer: Stir in the tomatoes and season with salt and pepper. Bring sauce to a boil, then reduce the heat to a simmer. Cook until sauce is thickened and flavors meld, 20 to 30 minutes. Credit: Carson Downing Boil pasta; drain: While sauce is simmering, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add pasta and cook until al dente. Drain and set aside. Credit: Carson Downing Add herbs to sauce; toss with pasta and serve: Stir herbs into sauce and simmer a few minutes longer. Toss pasta with sauce; top with a drizzle of olive oil and an extra sprinkle of red pepper flakes and serve. Credit: Carson Downing How to Store Leftover Tuna Pasta—and How Long It Lasts Leftover tuna pasta can be refrigerated in an airtight container for up to 3 days. While you can certainly reheat it, this pasta is also delicious served cold or room temperature, drizzled with more olive oil. What to Serve With Tomato Tuna Pasta Simple salads: To round out the meal, consider adding a crunchy salad like this kale-and-apple recipe, a quick radicchio and endive salad, or simply a mix of whatever greens and vegetables you have on hand tossed with an easy, homemade vinaigrette. Quick sides: For a vegetable side that won't add much of a lift, consider these 15-minute microwave-steamed green beans or this almost-too-easy sautéed broccolini. Or, should you have a bag of frozen peas lying around, briefly boil or microwave them before stirring in some butter and a pinch of salt. 5 More Easy Pasta Recipes to Try Linguini Arrabbiata Martha's One-Pan Pasta One-Pot Pasta With Broccoli and Lemon Spaghetti With Garlic, Oil, and Chile Linguine Pasta With Lemon Cream Sauce This recipe was adapted from the book Mad Hungry by Lucinda Scala Quinn. Updated by Esther Reynolds Esther Reynolds Esther Reynolds is an experienced recipe developer, recipe tester, food editor, and writer with over a decade of experience in the food and media industries.