No more boring tuna dishes! My Spaghetti with Tuna is an easy and elegant dish that will make you look at albacore in a whole new way.
all excellent additions to your usual dinner dishes.
How Much Seafood Should You Eat?
Fresh vs Canned Seafood
If you don’t have fresh seafood, no worries, you can turn to your pantry. Canned tuna is a great way to incorporate seafood into your diet, especially on busy weeknights. Tuna is low in calories, low in saturated fat, and is packed with a variety of important nutrients. It’s an excellent source of high quality protein, healthy fats, vitamins and minerals.
How to make Spaghetti with Tuna
For many of us, when we were growing up, our main exposure to tuna usually came in the form of tuna fish sandwiches or perhaps tuna casserole. But I challenge you to look at tuna in a whole new way. Say no to boring tuna dishes! Try making tuna the primary ingredient in your next meal. My Spaghetti with Tuna is a hearty, nutritious meal that’s packed with flavor. It’s elegant enough to serve at a dinner party but easy enough to make for a weeknight meal. Incorporating healthy, Mediterranean ingredients, this colorful dish has a simple sauce made with fresh cherry tomatoes, capers, white wine and aromatics like garlic and shallots. Chili flakes add a little heat. I toss the sauce with whole grain spaghetti, fresh basil and hearty chunks of tuna. A final garnish of lemony breadcrumbs adds a pop of flavor as well as texture.
Spaghetti with Tuna
Ingredients
- 8 ounces whole grain spaghetti (I used a quinoa and brown rice blend)
- 1 ½ tablespoons olive oil
- 2 medium shallots, sliced
- 3 cloves garlic, chopped
- ¼ teaspoon chili flakes
- 8 ounces cherry or grape tomatoes (about 1 ½ cups), halved
- Salt and pepper
- 2 tablespoons capers, drained
- ½ cup dry white wine
- 1 can (12 oz) solid white albacore tuna in water
- ¼ cup fresh basil, roughly chopped plus extra leaves for garnish
- ½-1 cup pasta water
Breadcrumb Topping:
- 2 tablespoons whole wheat breadcrumbs
- 1 teaspoon chopped basil
- 1 teaspoon lemon zest
- 1 teaspoon olive oil
Instructions
- Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the pasta and cook until al dente. Drain the pasta reserving about 1 cup of the pasta water.
- While the pasta is cooking, make the sauce. Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat and add the shallots, garlic and chili flakes. Cook a few minutes until softened. Add the tomatoes and season them with ¼ teaspoon salt and ⅛ teaspoon pepper. Cook until they start to soften, about 4 minutes. Add the capers and wine and turn up the heat. Cook a few minutes until the wine is reduced by half. Add the tuna, breaking it up into large chunks.
- Add the cooked pasta along with the basil and about ½ cup of the pasta water. Toss to combine all of the ingredients, adding more pasta water as needed to form a sauce that coats the pasta. Taste and adjust seasoning with salt and pepper.
- Transfer the pasta to a serving platter. To make the breadcrumb topping, mix the breadcrumbs, basil, lemon zest and oil together in a small bowl. Sprinkle the mixture on top of the pasta. Garnish with extra basil leaves.
Nutrition
Big Rigs 'n Lil' Cookies says
This definitely is NOT the tuna dish I grew up with! It's beautiful and sounds tasty!
sonaliruder says
Thanks so much Kris!
Rosey Rebecca says
I don't eat tuna but I just wanted to say that this dish looks amazing. I turn to pasta a lot too for dinner. I always try to "beef" it up a bit with tons of veggies.
sonaliruder says
Thanks so much, Rosey, it's a staple in my house! You could definitely make this dish substituting veggies for the tuna 🙂
Kristy Sayer @ Southern In Law says
Yummmmmm! I loveee tuna as a quick and easy protein option and this looks amazing!
sonaliruder says
Thanks, Kristy!
Alisa says
I loved this recipe the moment I saw it on Facebook Sonali! We eat tuna frequently and I'm always looking for new delicious ways to serve it. This recipe is positively perfect!
sonaliruder says
Awww, thanks Alisa! The tuna really works great in this dish. I hope you try it out!
Julie Wunder says
This looks so easy and delicious. Perfect for a meal on a budget too. Love how your freshened it up too.
sonaliruder says
Thanks, Julie! Good point, it's definitely economical. And I love using fresh basil to brighten up a dish 🙂
Natalie @ Obsessive Cooking says
Looks great! I have a ton of pasta but trying to always think of ideas to make it healthier! I'm not familiar with canned tuna since we didn't eat it growing up but my fiance loves that stuff
sonaliruder says
Thanks, Natalie! I hope you give the dish (and canned tuna) a try!
Marissa says
I love tuna pasta! I always call it Tuna Puttanesca so it sounds fancy... 😉 Love this, Sonali!
Amelia says
Haha, love it, Marissa. Sometimes changing the name is just the ticket 😉
sonaliruder says
Haha, I actually thought about calling it a puttanesca! That will be a future post- I have a great puttanesca recipe 🙂
Amelia @ Eating Made Easy says
I literally just wrote down these ingredients so I can buy them and try this dish over the weekend. My kids feel so-so about tuna but my husband and I love it. And I think this dish could be the one that converts the kiddos. YUM.
sonaliruder says
Thanks Amelia, I hope you and your whole family like it! Sienna feels so-so about a lot of ingredients, but if I put them into a pasta dish, I can usually get her to try it at least! Have a great weekend 🙂
Rebecca Pytell says
O yes! Canned tuna is always one of my go-tos!!! You can always make it delish! A blank slate protein!
sonaliruder says
Definitely! Thanks, Rebecca!
Deanna - Teaspoon of Spice says
Pasta + seafood is pretty much my favorite dinner combo ever. And I adored tuna noodle casserole growing up - this looks so much better 🙂
sonaliruder says
It's one of my favorite combos too! It's funny, I never really ate tuna casserole growing up but did have plenty of tuna sandwiches!
Jessica Levinson says
Tuna mixed with pasta never appealed to me - until now! This dish looks so flavorful and light. Especially love the lemony breadcrumbs on top!
sonaliruder says
Thanks, Jessica! It actually works great together. And the lemony breadcrumbs- I can pretty much eat them on anything!
EA-The Spicy RD says
So pretty!! Canned tuna was one of my favorite foods growing up, but my kids haven't developed a taste for it. Still, this dish looks SO tasty to me-I may just make it for myself one night, and send the kids out to dinner with their dad 🙂
sonaliruder says
Haha, that sounds like a great plan, EA!
Farrah says
I have a hecks of a lot of cans of tuna, and I'm about to go off to live in student housing again, so excited to try making this! It looks delicious!
sonaliruder says
Thanks, Farrah! Canned tuna was always a staple for me when I was in school too 🙂