Tuna Pesto Pasta

Here's a quick and simple recipe for tuna pesto pasta that the whole family will love. Easy to make and budget friendly!

Pesto pasta is one of those standby cupboard dinners you can throw together in minutes. It's cheap, easy to make and really simple to liven up with added extras!

It's one of our favourite quick and easy meal ideas.

Whipping up a pan of our pesto tuna pasta recipe is a winner for dinner! Here's why!

• Pasta and pesto is always a cheap and easy dinner idea.

• It's really quick and simple to make.

• You can add in any extras you have lying around, use up vegetables from the fridge or add some extra protein like tuna, salmon, nuts or cheese. Or just make plain pasta pesto and let the family add their own toppings.

• If you're super busy at teatime, you can make this ahead and eat cold.

• And, any leftovers are great for lunch next day - even packed in lunchboxes for school.

Equipment Needed

• Chopping board

• Vegetable knife

• Large saucepan

• Colander

• Casserole dish - or use a small roasting tin

• Cooking spoon

Tuna Pesto Pasta Ingredients

You'll only need a handful of ingredients to make our yummy pesto and tuna pasta

• 250g fusilli pasta - this recipe works with any pasta shape, so feel free to use a different one.

• Pinch of salt - for cooking the pasta if using

• 2 x 160g tins of tuna

• 4 tablespoon basil pesto - we used Sacla basil pesto - but you can swap this for any pesto you like.

• 200g cherry tomatoes

• 100g mozzarella - grated, I buy this ready-grated in a bag ready to use.

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How To Make Tuna Pesto Pasta

You are going to just LOVE how quick and easy this tuna and pesto pasta is to throw together, great for weeknight cooking!

Step One - cook the pasta

• Cook the fusilli pasta as per the packet instructions. It usually takes around 10 minutes.

• Drain the cooked pasta using a colander and return it to the saucepan.

Step Two - add the tuna, pesto and tomatoes

• Tip the drained, flaked tuna, halved cherry tomatoes and basil pesto into the saucepan with the drained pasta.

• Use a large spoon to mix everything together well, so that the pasta, tuna and tomatoes are coated with the basil pesto.

Step Three - add half the grated mozzarella

• Add half of the grated mozzarella to the saucepan and mix gently through the tuna pesto pasta.

Step Four - grill the tuna pesto pasta

• Preheat the grill to high.

• Tip the tuna pasta pesto into a casserole dish and scatter over the remaining grated mozzarella.

• Pop the tuna pasta dish under the hot grill until the mozzarella is melting and starting to turn golden Then serve.

You might just LOVE our salmon and potatoes foil packs - you can cook these in the oven, BBQ or air fryer! Super easy, super healthy and totally delicious! 

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What To Serve With Tuna Pasta

Fancy adding something alongside your pesto tuna pasta? Opt for something green!

Our tuna pesto pasta is totally delicious served alongside a green salad, some steamed broccoli or even a spoonful of peas and sweetcorn, just cooked from the freezer.

It also works great with a slice of garlic bread - have you tried our air fryer garlic bread slices yet? They're so delicious! And just take minutes to make.

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Swaps And Changes You Could Make

Our quick pasta dish is delicious, but there's loads of ways to really make this dish your own and add in or swap anything you fancy!

Add extra vegetables

You can bulk this dish up with extra vegetables - try sautéed mushrooms, peppers or a can of sweetcorn.

Make it wholegrain or gluten free

You can swap the pasta for a wholegrain variety or if you need to stick to a gluten free diet, swap out the wheat pasta for your favourite gluten free type.

Switch the tuna fish

Don't fancy tuna? Make it with canned salmon, packet ham, crispy bacon or even just some pine nuts or mozzarella balls.

Love quick and convenient meals? Get our tinned tuna recipes here

Love Your Leftovers!

If you've any leftover tuna pesto pasta, you can store this in an air tight container in the fridge for up to 24 hours. So eat it cold next day for lunch or dinner.

I wouldn't recommend freezing this recipe - it just doesn't work well.

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More Quick And Easy Pasta Recipes To Make For Dinner

• Easy Tomato Pasta Bake
• Tuna Bolognese
• Spaghetti Margherita
• Macaroni Cheese
• Creamy Bacon Pasta
• Chicken Broccoli Pasta
• Pizza Pasta

Love to eat Italian food? Try out more of our easy Italian recipes here

Need Some Family Meal Ideas?

Check out our meal planning here – it’s filled with recipes, meal planning tips and pre-filled printable meal plans weekly or seasonally. We’ve got hundreds of the BEST family recipes and Meal Ideas For Family your whole family will LOVE!

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