Tuna Pasta Salad (Lightened Up)

Tuna Pasta Salad (Lightened Up)

tuna

Tuna pasta salad is a staple when it comes to BBQ’s, pot lucks, or just a good down home meal. Using white albacore tuna is a must for tuna salad, as the chunky white tuna adds such a delicious flavor to the pasta salad. Tuna pasta salad can be made it just a few minutes, but it’s best to let it rest in the fridge at least an hour before serving

Prep all the vegetables and cook the noodles al dente; set them aside to cool.
Make the dressing: Greek yogurt, mayonnaise, lemon juice, dill pickle juice, and ranch seasoning mixed together.
Add all the vegetables, drained tuna, and dressing into a bowl with the cooled noodles. Add pepper and salt, then mix carefully until the noodles are completely coated with dressing.
Pop it in the fridge for at least an hour before serving.

Using Greek yogurt in place of mayonnaise is a great way to lighten up a tuna pasta salad. I used half Greek yogurt, and half light mayonnaise. You could leave out all the mayonnaise and use just Greek yogurt, however the flavor might be a little different than what is typical. Trying a 3:1 ratio of Greek yogurt to mayonnaise might be the best option if you are really trying to leave out the mayonnaise.

Ingredients

• 1 lb macaroni noodles, elbows, shells, or rigatoni work well for this recipe
• 2 cans solid white albacore tuna packed in water, drained
• 3 stalks celery, chopped
• 2 medium tomatoes, chopped
• 1 medium onion, diced

For the dressing

• 1/2 cup plain Greek yogurt
• 1/2 cup light mayonnaise
• 1 TBS lemon juice
• 2 TBS dill pickle juice (remove from pickle jar)
• 1/2 TBS ranch seasoning
• 1/4 tsp black pepper
• 1/8 tsp salt
• Optional garnishes
• chopped parsley
• chopped chives/green onion

Instructions

1. Cook pasta noodles, drain, set aside to cool.
2. Mix dressing: Add all dressing ingredients to a medium bowl and mix until combined.
3. In a large bowl add pasta noodles, celery, tomatoes, onions, and tuna. Pour dressing over the top. Fold dressing carefully into the tuna pasta salad until completely coated. 
4. .......................................

for full instruction please see : domesticsuperhero.com