Tuna Salad Stuffed Jumbo Shells make an incredible summer lunch when served chilled over a bed of lettuce. It’s a light and refreshing meal that’s easy to make in advance.
Tuna Salad Stuffed Jumbo Shells Recipe
The tuna salad is made from canned tuna, diced celery, red onion, carrots, red bell pepper, and hard-boiled egg. The veggies add some crunch and lots of flavor. Mayonnaise, along with some sugar for just a little sweetness, is used to make the tuna salad.
The tuna salad gets stuffed into jumbo pasta shells. Before serving, the shells get drizzled with a sweet and tangy, creamy dressing made from sour cream, apple cider vinegar, sugar, mayonnaise, celery seed, and onion powder.
You could skip the pasta shells and just serve this tuna salad over a big bed of lettuce with tomatoes for an even lighter lunch.
Type Of Tuna To Use
To make tuna salad, I like either albacore tuna or chunk light tuna. It should be packed in water, not oil. Chunk Light tuna has the advantage of being a little less expensive and lower in mercury.
Make Ahead and Storage
The tuna salad can be made up to 3 days in advance. The salad dressing can be made up to 5 days in advance. Once assembled, store the stuffed shells in an airtight container in the refrigerator. They will be good for a few days.
If you’re a fan of tuna salad, try these Tomato Tuna Melts.
More Lunch Ideas
- Southern Shrimp Salad
- Chicken Salad Wraps with Apples, Grapes, and Spicy Pecans
- Curry Chicken Pasta Salad
- Biscuit Tuna Melts
- Southern Salmon Patties
Watch the short video below to see how easy this recipe is to make.
Tuna Salad Stuffed Jumbo Shells
Ingredients
- 12 jumbo pasta shells,, cooked according to package directions
- 1/2 cup mayonnaise
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
- 1 (12-ounce) can tuna, drained
- 1/2 cup diced red onion
- 1/2 cup shredded carrots
- 1/2 cup diced celery
- 1/2 cup diced red bell pepper
- 1 hard-boiled egg, chopped
- 1 tablespoon finely chopped parsley
Creamy Dressing
- 1/4 cup sour cream
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
- 2 tablespoons mayonnaise
- 1 teaspoon celery seed
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
Instructions
- In a medium bowl, whisk together mayonnaise, 1 tablespoon sugar, and black pepper.
- Add remaining tuna salad ingredients and stir to mix well. Cover and refrigerate until needed.
- In a small bowl mix together all the dressing ingredients.
- To assemble, fill each shell with tuna salad and drizzle with dressing. Serve over a bed of lettuce if desired.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Recipe adapted from Taste of Home
Originally posted July 30, 2018.
Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links.
I did Not take a picture, but this was absolutely delicious. I loved it and we’ll definitely make it again.