We love this Mediterranean tuna pasta with garlic, capers, and sundried tomatoes. It is made with jarred tuna packed in olive oil and everyday pantry ingredients for an extra quick, delicious weeknight dinner.
If you love this Mediterranean tuna spaghetti, you will also love this authentic Greek salad, fig salad with rosemary vinaigrette or beluga lentils salad!
Why this recipe sings
This zesty Mediterranean tuna spaghetti is a simple dish yet fresh and bright. Although it is ready in twenty minutes and packs so much flavor.
The jarred tuna pairs perfectly with the pantry-staple ingredients.
Garlic, red chili pepper, and sun-dried tomatoes are sauteed in olive oil with a lemon rind for a few minutes. This aromatic combination is tossed with spaghetti and capers. The tuna, being the star of the dish, is added at the very end. The dish is finished with fresh thyme, but other herbs like basil, oregano, or sage would produce equally delicious results.
You can have this delicious tuna pasta ready in twenty minutes.
Here is what you need
- Spaghetti pasta. This tuna pasta sauce can be enjoyed with penne, rigatoni, or whatever you have in your pantry.
- Lemon. You will use the lemon rind while sauteing garlic, pepper, and zest for serving.
- Garlic. You can tune up or down the amount of garlic you like in this recipe.
- Tuna. I love canned tuna in olive oil. The tune kept in water is too fishy for me and not as tender. Get a good quality tuna, preferably in a jar.
- Chili pepper. I keep the seeds because I love the extra heat. By all means, discard them for a gentler result.
- Sun-dried tomatoes. Their distinctive flavor is tart, acidic, and concentrated like a complex tomato paste. They add a savory bite to the simple sauce and pair perfectly with the tuna. Get the sun-dried tomatoes in a jar kept in olive oil.
- Capers. They add another savory layer. Capers are tangy yet have a freshness and add a summery feel to any dish. They vary in size, so I chop them in half if they are too big. The best capers come from the island of Tinos and the Cyclades Islands in the Aegean Sea.
- Extra virgin olive oil.
- Sea salt.
How to make it
Cut a piece of rind around two inches from the lemon with a sharp knife. Slice the chili pepper. You can leave or remove the seeds entirely, depending on how you tolerate spicy food. Roughly chop the garlic and sun-dried tomatoes.
In a deep skillet, cook the garlic, lemon rind, sun-dried tomatoes, and chili pepper in the olive oil over medium heat for 3-4 minutes.
Cook the pasta according to the package in a pot of plenty of salted water.
Place the pasta pot next to the skillet.
Using tongs, transfer the spaghetti from the water directly to the skillet. The salty pasta water dripping from the spaghetti is needed to complete the sauce.
Toss well and add the capers.
Add more pasta water if you need the sauce to be looser.
Roughly drain the tuna from the olive oil, break it gently into chunky pieces if needed, and add it to the spaghetti.
Grate some lemon zest on top if you like.
Gently toss everything together.
Serve immediately while the dish is hot. Enjoy!
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Mediterranean Tuna Spaghetti For Two
Ingredients
- 8 oz spaghetti pasta
- 1 lemon
- 3 garlic cloves roughly chopped.
- 8 oz tuna in olive oil. Preferably in a jar.
- 1 chili pepper sliced.
- ½ cup sun-dried tomatoes roughly chopped.
- 10 capers If they are too big, chop them in half.
- ⅓ cup extra virgin olive oil
- sea salt
Instructions
- Cut a piece of rind around two inches from the lemon with a sharp knife.Slice the chili pepper. You can leave or remove the seeds entirely, depending on how you tolerate spicy food.Roughly chop the garlic and sun-dried tomatoes.
- In a deep skillet, cook the garlic, lemon rind, sun-dried tomatoes, and chili pepper in the olive oil over medium heat for 3-4 minutes.
- Cook the pasta according to the package in plenty of salted water.Place the pasta pot next to the skillet. Then, using tongs, transfer the spaghetti from the water directly to the skillet. The dripping salty pasta water is needed to complete the sauce.
- Toss well and add the capers. Add more pasta water if you need the sauce to be looser. Roughly drain the tuna from the olive oil, break it gently into chunky pieces if needed, and add it to the spaghetti. Gently toss everything together. Grate some lemon zest on top if you like
- Serve immediately while the dish is hot.Enjoy!
Notes
- This tuna spaghetti can be enjoyed with penne, rigatoni, or whatever you have in your pantry.
- I love canned tuna in olive oil. The tuna kept in water is too fishy for me and not as tender. Get a good quality tuna, preferably in a jar.
- I keep the seeds while slicing the chili pepper because I love the extra heat. But, by all means, discard them for a gentler result.
- Preferably get the sun-dried tomatoes in a jar kept in olive oil.
- Capers. They vary in size, so I chop them in half if they are too big. Substitute with green olives.
Nutrition
The simplicity of this recipe is fantastic and the fresh thyme, peppers and sun dried tomatoes lend wonderfully bright flavor as well as pleasing to look at. A great quick dinner. Thanks!
My first attempt to making this Tuna combination with pasta. This is definitely a Happy meal for my family. Love the Sun dried tomatoes and olive combinations too.
This is a perfect meal to make in a pinch. It’s hearty and satisfying and so accessible too. Love tossing in tuna with some pasta..looks delish!
This recipe adds so much flavor to spaghetti pasta. I love the fresh flavors together with the tuna and simple sauce.
This spaghetti is so good!! I always have all of these ingredients on hand, so it’s such a great last minute weeknight dinner 🙂
I love how simple, fresh, and light this pasta dish is. It’s perfect for lunch or dinner. It went amazing with a caesar salad! The capers made the dish for me!
This tuna pasta sounds so delicious and fresh! We love a good stovetop meal during the summer when it’s too hot to turn on the oven, so I can’t wait to give this a try.
Love how simple and easy this is to make and the flavors are just spot on! Sun dried tomatoes are so refreshing in the recipe. So easy to put this dish together!
The sun-dried tomatoes give this dish a delicious and rich touch. So flavorful and easy to prepare, it became a favorite at home!
I actually used canned salmon instead of tuna in this pasta and my family loved it!