Pasta with Tuna

A very fast and easy Pasta with Tuna and tomato sauce recipe which can bring food to your table in less than 30min and one of the first recipes I learned to cook as a teenager!

This recipe for Pasta with tuna is what my mother used to cook when she wanted to cook something fast and I still remember her saying: “How about a fast Pasta with Tuna? And we always replied yes in our family because we all enjoyed eating it!

When I was young I thought this recipe was my mother’s creation but as I grew up I discovered that it wasn’t!

Τhis recipe actually originated from my father who was a sea Captain on Merchant vessel ships. The chef on his ship used to cook this recipe for him and since he enjoyed it a lot, he asked for the recipe.

Types of tuna and what to use for this recipe

Tuna comes in various cans, bottles, and preserving methods. So which one should you choose?

If you choose a canned tuna then I would suggest you buy a tuna soaked in sunflower oil. I believe that oil preserves and protects tuna from the can materials better than water which is the alternative. Sometimes if you buy tuna in water you get a slightly tin taste on your mouth and I don’t like that.

Besides sunflower oil, you might also find tuna stored in olive oil which I do not recommend because it adds calories and extra taste to the tuna which is unneeded and unwanted most of the time. It also makes it a bit heavier to digest because they use very low-quality olive oil to preserve it.

An even better choice would be tuna in a glass jar soaked in sunflower oil. But that comes in very small quantities and at a higher price.

I haven’t tried this recipe with fresh tuna fish yet but if anyone of you decides to give it a try, I would be more than happy to read your thoughts and comments about it!

Pasta with Tuna

Prep: 5m | Cook: 10m | Total: 15m | Serves: 4

Ingredients:

360g canned Tuna (2 cans)
500g Pasta Spaghetti
250g Tomato juice, passata
2 Fresh tomatoes, grated
3 Tbsp Olive oil
2 cloves of Garlic, finely chopped
1 Onion, finely chopped
½ cup Parsley, finely chopped
Salt and Black Pepper 1 pinch each
2 Tbsp Butter (for the spaghetti)
2 Tbsp Olive Oil (for the spaghetti)

Instructions:

For the pasta: Prepare the pasta al dente by boiling them 2 minutes less than what it says on the package.
Drain them and add them to the same pot that they were cooking, off the heat, with the addition of 2 Tbsp butter, and 2 Tbsp olive oil. Stir well so all the spaghetti gets a nice coating.
For the Tuna sauce: Sauté the onion with the garlic over high heat and as soon as they wither add the grated tomato juice, the passata tomato juice, the parsley, and one pinch of salt and pepper, and stir to mix them.
Bring to a boil and then reduce the heat and let it simmer for about 5 minutes.
Add the Tuna (drained).
Let it simmer for about 5 minutes and the sauce is ready.

Notes:

You can replace Parsley with Basil if you prefer.

First published: 03 February 2021 – Last updated: 21 January 2022

Nutrition Facts Disclaimer

Did you make this recipe? Or are you planning to make it? Let me know in the comments below, tag me on Instagram @freshpiato or show me your photos on Pinterest!