Cold Tuna Salad

Cold tuna salad makes the perfect light lunch on a hot summer day, take to a barbecue to share, or keep in the fridge to pull out as an easy side whenever you want.  It’s light and refreshing and best of all simple to make.  It can be eaten right away – in fact that’s how my husband prefers it – or you can chill it and the flavors will meld a little more and some of the Miracle Whip will absorb into the pasta.

My mother-in-law taught me to make this dish when my husband and I were still dating back in high school.  We wanted a quick snack and in typical teenage fashion there was ‘nothing to eat in the house’.  I helped her to make the dish and it soon became a favorite of mine.

It only takes 6 ingredients to make and I usually have them all in my pantry.  You can substitute mayo instead of Miracle Whip if you like, but we’re a Miracle Whip family.  The ingredients shown below are for a single batch – which only uses a half can of peas.

Boil the pasta according to package directions, drain and rinse with cold water.  While the pasta cooks, finely dice the onion. For a small batch like this I used about a quarter of a large sweet onion.

Into a large mixing bowl (and you want a large bowl so you have plenty of room to stir) put the drained & rinsed pasta, the drained tuna, about a tablespoon of sugar, and as much Miracle Whip as you like.  I start with a few large scoops.  Do not put the peas in yet.

Stir everything together.  Add more Miracle Whip until you get the desired amount of creaminess.  If you plan to refrigerate before enjoying remember the pasta will absorb some Miracle Whip.  I don’t add the peas until I get the creaminess right so they don’t turn to mush with all the stirring.

Finally stir in the peas.  For a single batch, I used about a half a can.

At this point you can chill if you like or dig in.

Enjoy!

Gravel & Dine

Cold Tuna Salad

This quick and easy dish only uses six ingredients and is perfect for a light lunch or a side dish to share. It is great eaten right away (especially if you like it really creamy) or can be chilled and enjoyed later. The recipe below is for a full batch, what I demonstrated above is for a half batch which is perfect for 2-3 for lunch. The full batch will feed 4-6 as a light meal or 8-10 as a side dish

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 10 minutes mins

Cook Time 15 minutes mins

Total Time 25 minutes mins

Servings: 6

Course: Sides

Ingredients Method

Ingredients

  

• 2 pkg small pasta rings
• 1/2 a large sweet onion more or less to taste
• 2 cans tuna in water drained
• 2 T sugar
• 1 c Miracle Whip more or less to taste
• 1 can peas drained

Method

 

1. Boil water according to package direction, drain and rinse with cold water.
2. While pasta cooks, finely dice the onion.
3. In a large bowl combine all ingredients but the peas.
4. Stir together, adding more Miracle Whip until you achieve your desired level of creaminess.
5. Stir in the peas.
6. Enjoy as is or chill.