This creamy tuna pesto pasta recipe makes for an easy 15-minute dinner. Try it with store-bought or homemade pesto.
Tuna pesto pasta calls for butter, garlic, chunk light tuna, pesto, heavy cream, parmesan, cherry tomatoes, and seasoning and is served warm. Garnish with fresh basil (optional) for a bright pop of color. Use red cherry tomatoes or a mix of red and gold (pictured).
This recipe is a year-round favorite. Cherry tomatoes are available year-round with peak season in the hot summer months. Try this pasta dish at your next family gathering, from Easter lunch to a 4th of July cookout.
For more easy pasta dishes, try Rotel chicken spaghetti, pesto pasta salad, or cheeseburger macaroni.
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Why you'll love this recipe
- Quick meal: Make this recipe in 15 minutes or less.
- Easy weeknight meal: This is one of those easy dinners for the whole family.
- Easy recipe: This recipe is perfect for all home cooks, even beginners.
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Ingredients
- pasta: use a short pasta cut like salad rotini (pictured)
- canned tuna: canned chunk light tuna in water, drained
- pesto: make your own pesto or use store-bought pesto. Barilla makes a creamy pesto.
- garlic cloves: either fresh garlic or pre-minced garlic from the grocery store
- parmesan: shredded parmesan cheese
- heavy cream: half-and-half will also work
- cherry tomatoes: this is a blend of red and golden cherry tomatoes
- butter: salted
- garlic powder
- salt
- black pepper
See the recipe card for quantities.
Instructions
Add the pasta to a large pot of salted water. Boil pasta according to package directions, adding 1 tablespoon salt to the pasta water (optional). Drain the cooked pasta and set aside.
Combine all spices into a large bowl and mix thoroughly into leanMeanwhile, melt the butter in a medium saucepan on medium heat. Add minced garlic and sauté until fragrant, about 30 seconds to 1 minute.
Add the pesto and tuna to the saucepan, breaking up the tuna with the spatula. Heat until warm, about 2 minutes.
When the pesto-tuna mixture is warmed through, slowly add the heavy cream, stirring as you pour. Heat until warm, about 2 minutes.
Remove the saucepan from the heat and stir in the onion powder, salt, pepper, and parmesan until the cheese melts.
Next, toss in the cherry tomatoes.
Combine cooked and drained pasta with the sauce in a large pot, stirring to coat the pasta evenly. Add more salt or pepper to taste. Serve warm.
Garnish with fresh basil (optional).
Substitutions
Below are a few ways to customize this dish.
- Pasta - Use 1 pound of any short pasta shapes. Try penne, cellentani, farfalle, rigatoni, rotini, salad rotini (pictured), macaroni (my favorite pasta shape), or cavatappi. Gluten-free pasta will also work for this recipe.
- Tuna - Tuna can be replaced with shredded chicken breast or canned chicken breast
- Pesto - Use jarred pesto or homemade pesto. Try traditional pesto, nut-free pesto, or vegan pesto. You can add an extra splash of olive oil, but the pesto is normally enough.
- Tomatoes - Instead of cherry or grape tomatoes, you can use sun-dried tomatoes. Just squeeze out the excess oil and roughly chop.
- Parmesan - Traditional jarred pesto already contains parmesan, so you may choose to skip this ingredient entirely. If you are dairy-free, a little sprinkle of nooch would be a great addition.
- Heavy cream - For a slightly lighter dish, try half-and-half or whole milk. Heavy cream is the thickest of these options. For a non-dairy option, try homemade cashew cream.
Variations
Ready to take this pasta to the next level?
- Artichoke hearts - Artichoke hearts are a great option to add to this pasta salad. You can find these jarred or canned at grocery stores.
- Greens - Try this with baby spinach.
- Olives - Try black olives or Kalamata olives.
- Lemon - This is great with fresh lemon juice and lemon zest.
Equipment
All you need for this recipe is a large pot to boil the pasta, a colander to drain the pasta, and a medium saucepan for the tuna-pesto mixture.
The pot pictured is the Lodge 6-Quart Cast Iron Dutch Oven in the color Island Spice Red.
Storage
Store in an airtight container in the refrigerators for 3 to 5 days.
Pesto pasta can be frozen but the flavors will not be as fresh after freezing and thawing.
📖 Recipe
Tuna Pesto Pasta
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 pound (16 ounces) pasta
- 1 tablespoon salted butter
- 4 cloves garlic minced
- 1 cup (8 ounces) pesto
- 15 ounces chunk light tuna drained
- ¼ cup (2 ounces) heavy whipping cream
- ¼ cup (22.5 grams) shredded parmesan
- ½ teaspoon onion powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1-½ cups (10 ounces) cherry tomatoes, halved
Instructions
- Boil pasta according to package directions, adding 1 tablespoon salt to the pasta water (optional). Drain and set aside.
- Meanwhile, melt the butter in a medium saucepan on medium heat. Add minced garlic and sauté until fragrant, about 30 seconds to 1 minute.
- Add the pesto and tuna to the saucepan, breaking up the tuna with the spatula. Heat until warm, about 2 minutes.
- When the pesto-tuna mixture is warmed through, slowly add the heavy cream, stirring as you pour. Heat until warm, about 2 minutes.
- Remove the saucepan from the heat and stir in the onion powder, salt, pepper, and parmesan until the cheese melts. Next, toss in the cherry tomatoes.
- Combine cooked and drained pasta with the sauce in a large pot, stirring to coat the pasta evenly. Add more salt or pepper to taste. Serve warm.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
More pesto recipes
If you love this pesto tuna pasta, try some of these easy pesto recipes:
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