If you like pasta salad and tuna you have to try this Weight Watchers tuna pasta salad. It’s an easy and delicious recipe that everyone will enjoy. Perfect for meal prep, lunches, as a side dish, and more!
The great thing about Weight Watchers is that you can enjoy just about anything as long as you track your points properly. You can have pasta, desserts, anything you like as long as you keep track of your points and stay within you daily and weekly limits!
If you haven’t tried out any easy Weight Watchers tuna pasta salad recipes yet you have to give this one a go. It’s easy, delicious, filling, and perfect for lunches, dinners, and even snacks.
Is pasta salad bad for you?
Pasta salad gets a bad reputation because it’s usually paired in a high calorie high fat situation. Pasta salad doesn’t have to be inherently bad though!
You can include healthy lean proteins like the tuna in this recipe and plenty of veggies to help balance out your meal. In terms of this Weight Watchers tuna pasta salad you get a pretty healthy alternative which you can make even healthier by omitting the cheese if you are really worried about the fat and calories!
Can you eat cold tuna pasta?
This tuna pasta salad is designed to be enjoyed cold but you can also enjoy things like tuna pasta bake cold the next day as well.
Tuna and pasta dishes go very well together and they’re easy and delicious to eat cold or warmed up. That makes them an even better choice for lunches on the go since you don’t have to try and find somewhere to heat up your meal!
How long does tuna pasta salad last?
I would safely keep this one in the refrigerator for about 3-5 days before I worried about it going bad. Keep in mind that is if you keep it properly sealed and stored in the refrigerator.
If this recipe sits out at room temperature for any length of time that will seriously decrease the length of time it’s safe to keep it stored for later use. Keep it chilled due to the dairy products included in the recipe!
Can I make this tuna pasta in advance?
You can absolutely meal prep this recipe and make it in advance. It’s great after sitting overnight in the fridge and you can pack it right into lunch containers for work, school, or travel the next day!
This recipe doesn’t freeze well so you should only make the amount you can use within 3-5 days and enjoy it fresh!
How many servings does this recipe make?
This recipe makes four servings. You could easily double it or cut it in half to make more or less as needed. You’ll see that the recipe is calculated for four servings on all three myWW+ programs as well.
If you make changes to the recipe you’ll need to recreate the recipe for yourself on the ww.com website. A majority of the points come from the cheese so if you really want to cut back the points I’d suggest swapping ti out for a fat free shredded cheese if you can find it but overall this recipe is great as is and for a whole meal it’s a relatively good point value!
Sometimes swapping things out for lower point alternatives is great, other times it takes away flavor and texture and in this case I like the trade off of flavor for the points, feel free to adjust as needed for your own needs.
Ingredients needed to make a Weight Watchers tuna salad:
To make this delicious Weight Watchers tuna pasta salad you will need tomatoes, fresh basil, whole wheat elbow macaroni, flaked tuna in water, Monterey Jack cheese, avocado oil, balsamic vinegar, pepper, and salt!
That’s all it takes to create this tasty lunch or dinner recipe that the whole family can enjoy! This easy meal prep recipe works so great for everything from lunches, to after school snacks, and even dinners that don’t require heating up!
How to make tuna pasta salad for WW:
Pour the uncooked elbow macaroni into a pot and cook for around 9 minutes. While pasta is cooking, cut your tomatoes into 4 slices and arrange it onto a plate. (One serving is 1 tomato, cut into 4 slices).
Once pasta is done cooking, drain it and cool it by running it under cold water. Drain it again, and scoop it all into a bowl where you will then toss in your tuna, and chopped basil. Stir everything together until it is all combined.
Take a smaller separate bowl and mix together your balsamic vinegar, pepper, salt, and oil and then pour it over the pasta mixture. Serve over the tomatoes and add a few cubes of monterey jack cheese and smaller whole basil leaves for garnish (if you would like.)
Weight Watchers Points For Tuna Pasta Salad:
If you want to lower the points, again, I haven’t tried it but I would start with the cheese. You can remove it altogether, use a fat free shredded cheese, or use a low fat string cheese. For meal prep the stiffer cheese holds up to a few days in the fridge better than softer cheese!
Which WW Program are these points for?
WW has definitely changed from 2020 to now. They went from three to one plan to multiple plans and back to one plan again. So in 2023, we have just plain old “POINTS.”
- Be sure to calculate the points value of the foods and recipes you eat in the app.
- Always add ingredients and serving sizes and don’t rely on the nutrition facts in the recipe.
- Accuracy will come from the information you input on the app.
You can also adjust the pasta to your liking. I used a whole wheat elbow macaroni but you could use things like orzo or penne if you want a different pasta shape!
Feel free to sub olive oil for the avocado oil, both are the same points on Weight Watchers so you can use what you have on hand.
Looking for more delicious Weight Watchers recipes with tuna?
If you like making tuna recipes for Weight Watchers you’ll definitely want to try these tasty recipes that are also calculated for myWW+ programs.
- Weight Watchers Tuna Salad
- Weight Watchers Macaroni Salad Recipe With Tuna
- Weight Watchers Tuna Noodle Casserole
Printable Tuna Pasta Salad for Weight Watchers Recipe:
Weight Watchers Tuna Pasta Salad
If you like pasta salad and tuna you have to try this Weight Watchers tuna pasta salad. It's an easy and delicious recipe that everyone will enjoy. Perfect for meal prep, lunches, as a side dish, and more!
Ingredients
- 4 tomatoes
- 1 pack of fresh basil (2 tbsp chopped, and a few smaller whole leaves)
- 3/4 cup whole wheat (or regular) elbow macaroni, uncooked.
- 2 cans of flaked tuna in water, drained.
- 1/2 cup low fat mozzarella, cubed.
- 2 1/4 tbsp avocado oil
- 2 1/2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
- 1 tsp pepper
- 1 tsp salt
Instructions
Pour the uncooked elbow macaroni into a pot and cook for around 9 minutes.
While pasta is cooking, cut your tomatoes into 4 slices and arrange it onto a plate. (One serving is 1 tomato, cut into 4 slices).
Once pasta is done cooking, drain it and cool it by running it under cold water.
Put elbow noodles into a bowl where you will then toss in your tuna, and chopped basil.
Stir everything together until it is all combined.
Take a smaller separate bowl and mix together your balsamic vinegar, pepper, salt, and oil and then pour it over the pasta mixture.
Serve over the tomatoes and add a few cubes of mozzarella cheese and smaller basil leaves for garnish
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Nutrition Information
Yield 4 Serving Size 1Amount Per Serving Calories 342Total Fat 19gSaturated Fat 6gTrans Fat 0gUnsaturated Fat 11gCholesterol 57mgSodium 1052mgCarbohydrates 14gFiber 2gSugar 5gProtein 28g
As with any of our recipes, carb counts, calorie counts, WW points and nutritional information varies greatly. As a result, your nutritional content depends on which products you choose to use when cooking this dish. The auto-calculation is just an automated estimate and should NOT be used for specific dietary needs.