Tuna Macaroni Salad is a classic potluck recipe and is so easy to throw together. It is creamy and delicious with lots of hard-boiled egg, peas, celery, onion, and sweet pickle relish. This simple pasta salad goes great with a sandwich, burgers, bbq chicken. You name it!
This Tuna Macaroni Salad recipe easily feeds 10 to 12 people as a side and is perfect for your next picnic. There’s something about a cool and creamy recipe that really hits the spot during the hot summer months.
Reader Comment
Renne says “I love this recipe! It’s so easy & quick to make! It tastes great right after you make it as well as after it’s refrigerated!” ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Make Ahead
And this Macaroni Salad only tastes better with time so feel free to make it a day or two in advance. If it has lost some of its creaminess, just stir another tablespoon or two of mayonnaise in before serving.
How To Make
(More detailed instructions in recipe card below.)
- Cook pasta in boiling salted water. Add peas for the last minute of cooking. Drain and rinse under cold water.
- Add remaining ingredients and stir well.
- Refrigerate until ready to serve.
How To Serve
This recipe is a great one to make for a potluck. It goes wonderfully with sandwiches, burgers, or grilled chicken.
Budget Friendly
Tuna Macaroni Salad is a really budget-friendly recipe. Adding a can of tuna to pasta salad gives it plenty of flavor and some protein without the expense of a more protein-laden recipe.
Storage
Leftovers will keep in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 3 days. They make a great lunch. I like to serve them over a bed of lettuce with some sliced summer tomatoes.
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Tuna Macaroni Salad
Ingredients
- 1 pound elbow pasta
- 1 1/2 cups frozen peas
- 1/2 cup chopped red onion
- 2 celery ribs, chopped
- 3 hard boiled eggs, chopped
- 3 tablespoons sweet pickle relish
- 1 (12-ounce) can tuna, drained
- 1 1/3 cups mayonnaise
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Bring a pot of salted water to a boil. Cook pasta according to package directions, adding the peas the last minute of cooking time. Drain and rinse under cold water. Drain again and add to a large bowl.
- Add remaining ingredients and stir to mix.
- Refrigerate until ready to serve. Can be made a day in advance.
Video
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Originally posted June 18, 2018.
i use mini penne pasta, 3 boiled eggs, 2 stalks of celery, sweet onions (red onions are too strong), sweet pickle cubes (not relish), 1 large can of solid white tuna and 1 regular can of tuna. use mayo, just a small amount of french’s yellow mustard, 1/4 tsp or so of dried mustard, a little cayenne pepper, krazy jane’s mixed up salt, some lemon pepper seasoning, kosher salt only if needed and cracked black pepper. my family loves it and we will eat it as a light dinner.
Nice , sweet pickle cube twist,mustard, cayenne pepper
This stuff is awesome! Will be making it again.
Hey I was wondering if I could freeze this I made little to much .?
Rule of thumb – never freeze pasta. Very mushy when defrosted.
I always boil extra pasta and freeze it. It thaws quickly in the fridge and is not mushy. It’s handy for a quick meal.
Also added some creamy ranch dressing!
I plan to add mustard also! and another can of tuna! Plan to use as summer dinner! One dish meal.
I’ve made this recipe twice and it’s super tasty! Like others I added 3 cans of tuna more relish and tablespoon of yellow mustard. Fabulous recipe!
It was excellent, I used sour scream instead of mayo. It was the bomb! I will make it again.
Came out super tasty!
Great recipe! Swapped celery for shredded carrot simply because I didn’t have any and since I used regular onion instead of red it added a little variation and took care of the lack of color. Also only had jalapeno tuna (sorry… didn’t intend to change it up so much) and it definitely gave it just the right amount of heat for all those hot and spicy food eaters out there.
I used 3 cans of tuna and 1/3 cup of country style mustard in place of 1/3 cup of the mayonnaise.
Yes I used the mustard to and a little extra relish and 3 cans of albacore tuna
YUM!! Thanks for sharing! I can’t wait to try this at home