Tuna-Macaroni Salad 

By Millie Peartree

Tuna-Macaroni Salad 
Christopher Simpson for The New York Times. Food Stylist; Simon Andrews.
Total Time
15 minutes, plus 3 hours’ chilling
Rating
4(570)
Notes
Read community notes

You pretty much already have everything you need to make this side dish, a great accompaniment to fried or grilled proteins. Some people love raw onion and celery, but you can leave them out or keep them in as you like. Make sure you use tuna packed in water. (Tuna in olive oil will make the salad too oily.) It’s best chilled — don’t serve it at room temperature — its creamy unctuousness balances out the heat (from spice or from cooking) of whatever it’s paired with.

  • or to save this recipe.

  • Subscriber benefit: give recipes to anyone
    As a subscriber, you have 10 gift recipes to give each month. Anyone can view them - even nonsubscribers. Learn more.
    Subscribe

  • Print Options

Advertisement

Ingredients

Yield:10 to 12 servings
  • Kosher salt (Diamond Crystal)
  • 1pound elbow macaroni
  • 2(5-ounce) cans tuna in water, drained
  • 2hard-boiled eggs, peeled and smashed with a fork
  • 1½cups mayonnaise, plus more to taste
  • ½cup sweet relish
  • 1tablespoon yellow or Dijon mustard
  • 1teaspoon onion powder
  • ½teaspoon black pepper
  • 1cup chopped celery (from about 3 stalks, optional)
  • 1medium sweet onion, chopped (optional)
  • Paprika, for garnish
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (12 servings)

396 calories; 24 grams fat; 4 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 6 grams monounsaturated fat; 14 grams polyunsaturated fat; 35 grams carbohydrates; 2 grams dietary fiber; 6 grams sugars; 11 grams protein; 342 milligrams sodium

Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.

Powered by

Preparation

  1. Step 1

    Bring a large pot of well-salted water to a boil, and cook the macaroni according to package instructions, until slightly pasta al dente. Drain, rinse with cold water until the pasta is cool and set aside.

  2. Step 2

    In a large mixing bowl, combine the cooked macaroni, tuna, eggs, mayonnaise, relish, mustard, onion powder, pepper and 1 teaspoon salt. Add chopped celery and onion, if using, and toss gently with a spoon to combine.

  3. Step 3

    Taste and adjust salt and mayonnaise as needed. Cover and refrigerate for at least 3 hours, and up to overnight. Sprinkle with paprika for garnish before serving cold.

Ratings

4 out of 5
570 user ratings
Your rating

or to rate this recipe.

Have you cooked this?

or to mark this recipe as cooked.

Private Notes

Leave a Private Note on this recipe and see it here.

Cooking Notes

Name Linda Criss

Less fattening and less cloying is to use half mayonnaise and half sour cream. Equally delicious. I love this on a hot summer night with sliced heirloom tomatoes on the side.

Rose

I use pimiento-stuffed green olives instead of relish or celery and sometimes add grated cheddar. A nice, old-fashioned, go-to recipe, great to make on the weekend for a crowd (scales up easily) or for weekday lunches.

Joan (Australia)

I have made a salad similar to this for many, many years (first had it on the Greek island of Hydra). The differences are: curry powder mixed with the mayonnaise and cubed, peeled cucumber. So, the elbow shaped pasta, a light mayonnaise, tuna, egg, cucumber, and salt and pepper. None of the other ingredients. It's enough for lunch on its own with some crackers, and keeps well for many days.

Ken Solin

I'm sitting at home in Chiang Mai, Thailand drooling over this totally American dish. I checked and have all the ingredients on hand and will "cook" this dish today. Not sure I can wait 3 hours to let it chill though.

rsb56

Almost my recipe to a T, but use half mayo, half regular Greek yogurt for a slightly lighter salad.

mike m

I didn't regret adding 1/2 c. frozen peas and some lemon juice

Tara Lei Royer

You can also substitute natural yogurt. I do this with almost everything that requires mayo, as I am not a fan of it. Do not much like the taste. You can make egg salad, tuna salad, almost anything and the yogurt gives it a nice, creamy taste that is not oily or cloying. Beautiful recipe though, and my husband loved it.

Sarah Straus

Great recipe! I used 1/2 c less mayonnaise and 1 T more of the dijon. Added finely chopped red onion (1/4 of the onion) and chopped red pepper (1/2 red pepper). Also added 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper and added 3 more celery stalks. I did not add cucumber as those can go bad faster than the other ingredients. Very light and flavorful salad! The eggs and tuna give it a good dose of protein too.

Dayan Anderson

I make something very similar to this and add Velveta cubes to it - they melt and OMG is it a good pasta salad!

Winston Puttipper

Nothing says 'I put the best out for my guests' like this dish, inspired by Reagan-era late-night infomercials. Be sure to arrange garish nosegays to signal your friends of the connection. I love this on a weekend bender with a 30 of PBR and diced, microwaved Steak-Ums, peppered with whatever non-expired condiment you can find. Bonne nuit!

MK Cunniff

You can make vegan mayonnaise as a substitute. https://minimalistbaker.com/easy-vegan-mayo-with-aquafaba/

Paige

Good. I added lemon juice and Old Bay.

Rebecca Roe

I followed my mom's addition by adding some finely chopped apple into the Salad to neutralize the fishy taste of canned tuna. I also like Beau Monde seasoning in this both of these are the missing link.

Mags

Use Ditolini for pasta! Makes for a great texture as well as the chopped celery!

Roxie Glasco

Grew up eating this salad every summer. Made it for my family as well. Fond memories!

e-roc

More tuna, less pasta and definitely use Greek yogurt and mayonnaise as others suggested. Prior to each serving, squeeze a bit of lemon juice. Also, I added the red pepper and it provided good color as well as some mild sweet spiciness and crunch.

Susan from Luxembourg

This was great! In fact I usually make my tuna salad like this, but the macaroni was a terrific add. I anticipate having this again and again this summer. PS As I only ever use tuna in olive oil, I did not find it at all "oily." Just drain well.

Danielle R

I do something similar as another commenter, 1/2 mayo to 1/2 sour cream. I also add some celery seed, fresh dill, and peas to add a facet of freshness

carly

I prepped all the ingredients, and split them in half. One batch i dressed in greek yogurt. The other half I used a vinaigrette for a nicoise vibe. Both were very good.

Betsy

I substituted diced Chicken for tuna. Also used 1/2 mayo/1/2 sour cream- very light and tasty

Michael

So old-fashioned it hurts. But I do love it.

Christine

This was excellent, despite not having half of the ingredients I needed. I *did* have the pasta and tuna. Swapped green pepper for celery, added edamame instead of peas as one reader suggested (I wanted to use them up), added one entire small sweet onion (not half), used dill pickles (chopped) instead of sweet relish that I didn't have, used plant-based sour cream with the remaining few T of mayo that I had (only used 1 c. total), added chopped green olives and pickled jalapeno. Everyone loved.

Tracy

Would this work with cooked rice?

tessa

Lemon zest! Adds a kick of flavor and freshnedd

Nancy

Based on another recipe I use, I grated the onion instead of chopping finely. You get the flavor profile, minus the "bits" ! The amount of dressing seems overly generous: I used about 60-70% of it and the dish was very creamy. I cut the mayonnaise with full-fat yogurt, about 1/3 yogurt and 2/3 mayonnaise.

Foote

I can't explain how excited I am to make this recipe. It's like discovering a childhood relic I forgot about.

Private notes are only visible to you.

Recipe Tags

Advertisement

or to save this recipe.

More From Pasta Salad Recipes

More Recipes From Millie Peartree

Cooking Guides