Tuna Pasta
Updated Feb 04, 2026
Lemon tuna pasta recipe with canned tuna, capers, garlic, and fresh lemon. A fast weeknight dinner. After the water starts boiling, it's ready in 10 mins!
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My Tuna Pasta Is So Good!
This canned tuna pasta is one of those meals that comes together with almost no effort, which is exactly what I need after a long day of meetings. I put it together one night when my fridge was basically empty, and 7 p.m. was creeping up fast.
Once the pasta water is boiling, the whole thing is done in about 10 minutes. It’s made with simple ingredients I always have on hand pasta, canned tuna, and jarred capers. I had a similar dish at a restaurant once with white fish and a lemony sauce, and this ended up being my low-maintenance, budget-friendly take on that idea.
Tuna Pasta Ingredients
- Pasta: Spaghetti or another long pasta works best here. Cook it in well-salted water and reserve some pasta water to loosen the sauce at the end.
- Tuna & briny add-ins: Canned tuna and capers; oil-packed tuna has more flavor, and rinsing the capers helps if they’re very salty.
- Lemon sauce: Olive oil, garlic, lemon zest, and juice; use a fresh lemon with smooth, healthy skin since the zest is doing most of the work.
- Seasoning: Salt and black pepper; go light since the tuna and capers already bring salt.
- For serving: Fresh parsley and grated Parmesan cheese. Optional, but they make it feel finished.
How to Make Tuna Pasta
Tuna Pasta Recipe
Video
Ingredients
- 8 ounces spaghetti or other pasta
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 3 garlic cloves minced
- 2 (5-ounce) cans tuna drained
- 1 lemon zest and juice
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon pepper
- ¼ cup capers drained
- 2 tablespoons fresh parsley plus for serving
- 2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese for serving
Instructions
- In a large pot of boiling salted water, cook the pasta al dente according to package instructions. Reserve ½ cup of the cooking water, drain and return back to the pot to keep warm.
- Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Stir in the tuna, lemon zest, lemon juice, salt and pepper and toss to combine.
- Add the cooked pasta, capers, and ½ cup of the reserved pasta water, and toss to fully coat and heat through for 1-2 minutes.
- Turn off the heat and stir in the parsley and grated parmesan cheese. Serve immediately and garnish with more parsley and parmesan cheese, if desired.
Notes
- My Top Tip: Be careful not to burn your garlic! I like to finely mince the garlic for this recipe…which means it’s more likely to burn. Keep an eye on it while you‘re cooking. You just want it to be fragrant before adding your tuna in.
- Storage: Store any leftovers in an airtight container for 3-4 days in the fridge. To reheat your tuna pasta, gently warm it on the stovetop over low to medium heat, stirring occasionally to ensure even heating. Add a small amount of water or olive oil to the pasta if it seems a bit dry.
Nutrition
Nutrition information provided is an estimate. It will vary based on cooking method and specific ingredients used.
Recipe Tips
- Have all your ingredients prepped and nearby. This recipe moves pretty fast and you want to make sure that you’re not burning the garlic or overcooking the tuna. I like to make sure I have everything in arm’s reach (including the cooked pasta) before I start heating the oil!
- Cook your pasta al dente. Since you’ll be adding the pasta to the tuna and mixing it all together over low heat, it’s best not to fully cook it. It will get slightly softer as it warms up with the other ingredients.
Serving Ideas
- Add a veggie side. Try my air fryer broccoli, my roasted green beans, or my sauteed kale.
- Serve with bread. Like my garlic cheese bread, or my homemade dinner rolls.
- Make a salad. If you’d rather go for raw veggies with this tuna pasta, try my Mediterranean chopped salad, my chickpea salad, or my simple green salad.
FAQs
If your pasta is looking a little dry, try adding a splash of the reserved pasta water or a drizzle of olive oil to loosen it up. A squeeze of lemon juice can also help refresh the flavors.
Comments
So good. I added in red pepper flakes and some anchovy paste with the garlic (like you would for pasta puttanesca). The rest as recipe. I devoured it. So easy for a weeknight meal!
Love those additions! So happy you liked it, J. Thank you!!
We added cherry tomatoes and spinach and absolutely loved this recipe! So tasty and quick. We need to find more quick recipes like this as it’s saved us so much time tonight!
Yum! So happy you liked it!! Thanks!
I moved to Italy some years ago without much experience cooking and made this for my Italian husband (without the Parmesan, as they don’t usually eat fish/seafood pastas with cheese). He knows it isn’t a properly Italian recipe but he loves this dish and often suggests it when we need a quick lunch. With very good quality lemons, it’s a real pleasure. Thanks for sharing the recipe!
Aww, I love that!! So glad it’s a hit with you and your husband. Thank you so much for sharing, Melissa!
You read my mind! I had nothing … then … bada bing bada boom … I had a great meal in no time flat.
Yay, I’m so glad!! Thanks, Lulu!
I have made this dish so many times. So simple and so delicious!! Everyone likes it 👌🏼 thank you!!
Aww, so happy you love it!! Thanks!
Yumna, this recipe sounds great, I wonder if you could arrange for your followers to be able to print the recipe more easily than having to print all 19 pages? If I could go to the recipe that has the print function I would really appreciate that. Thanks.
Hi Diane, I actually already have a print function! You can scroll down to the recipe card and click the printer icon (on the photo) to get the printable version of any of my recipe (in this case, it will bring you to this link: https://feelgoodfoodie.net/wprm_print/garlic-lemon-tuna-pasta). Hope that helps!
This lemon tuna pasta sounds magnificent. I’ll try this one next without delay, thanks for recipe. Do you think salmon would be good substitute for tuna until I can order tuna? Thanks
Yes, absolutely!! Hope you enjoy!
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