Our fast tuna pasta recipe with scallions, capers and fresh herbs makes a quick and easy pasta dish that comes together in 20 minutes or less. It uses basic pantry provisions such as dried pasta, olive oil and canned tuna, and refrigerator staples like jarred capers and anchovies. Just pick up some fresh herbs and scallions on the way home.
You’ll love this easy tuna pasta with scallions, capers and fresh herbs, as it’s packed with so much flavour for such a simple pasta: there’s loads of umami courtesy of anchovies, a taste of the sea thanks to the capers and tuna, while the herbs bring freshness, and the crunchy shallots or fried breadcrumbs give texture. A little lemon at the ends adds the citrusy notes of Southern Italy.
You’ll especially love this pasta if you’re short on time like I am at the moment. I’ve mostly lingered in the kitchen in the evenings during my time at my mother’s home in Australia. I’ve been enjoying experimenting and testing recipes, and taking time to cook meals with a glass of wine in hand. But I’m feeling overwhelmed with everything going on and simply don’t have that time to cook right now, yet I still need to feed us.
Relate? Then browse our quick and easy pasta recipes here. You’ll find recipes such as this creamy tomato pasta sauce with gnocchi, my penne Bolognese recipe for a ‘cheat’s Bol’, an asparagus, mushrooms and bacon gnocchi, a spaghetti pangrattato, my cherry tomato feta pasta, a bacon and mushroom pasta, and fusilli with a creamy pumpkin pasta sauce, you should also enjoy this easy tuna pasta with scallions, capers and fresh herbs.
And if you’re a fan of canned tuna or any canned fish, also browse our recipes for a sardine salad with capers, celery, cos lettuce, and a mustard dressing, a canned sardine pasta with gremolata and pangrattato, tuna pasta with scallions and capers and fresh herbs, my Russian mimosa salad and Terence’s ultimate tuna melt recipe.
Before I tell you all about my speedy tuna pasta recipe, I have a favour to ask. Grantourismo is reader supported. If you’ve cooked and enjoyed our recipes, please consider supporting Grantourismo by supporting our Cambodian cuisine history and cookbook on Patreon; or buying a handcrafted KROK, the best mortar and pestle ever; booking a cooking class or meal with locals on EatWith; or buying something on Amazon, such as these cookbooks for culinary travellers or classic cookbooks for serious cooks. Now let me tell you all about this tuna pasta recipe.
Tuna Pasta Recipe with Scallions, Capers and Fresh Herbs
You’ll love this easy tuna pasta with scallions, capers and fresh herbs, as it’s packed with so much flavour for such a simple pasta: there’s loads of umami courtesy of anchovies, a taste of the sea thanks to the capers and tuna, while the herbs bring freshness, and the crunchy shallots or fried breadcrumbs give texture. A little lemon at the ends adds the citrusy notes of Southern Italy.
I’ve tweaked and tested this classic tuna pasta recipe a number of times and each time it turns out perfectly delicious, no matter what kind of adjustments I make. I can happily eat it night after night just as it is, but it’s a super versatile recipe.
The thing that I adore most about this tuna pasta recipe is that it’s one of those pastas you can cook when you haven’t planned dinner and have no idea what to make. The recipe calls for basic pantry staples such as dried pasta, tinned fish and olive oil, and products you probably have in your fridge, such as jars of briny capers and anchovies.
Which means that all you need to do to make this tuna pasta recipe is to grab some fresh herbs and scallions (spring onions) on the way home from work or wherever. Even scallions or spring onions can be replaced with proper onions or onion powder, which I keep on hand these days for times like this.
The same goes for the garlic cloves. While it’s hard to beat fresh garlic, crushed first so that the juices are released, then sliced finely, garlic powder also works a treat when you’re in a hurry and will save you some time.
Back in our Siem Reap kitchen in Cambodia, when Terence and I are crazy-busy and on different deadlines, we’ll sometimes do our own thing. Terence, who is far more disciplined than I am when it comes to eating, will make high-protein rice bowls with poached chicken and salad, while I’ll resort to cheesy instant ramen liberally doused in chilli oil.
I can’t do that here in Australia when I’m cooking for my mother, the pasta lover, who doesn’t cook anymore and needs to eat earlier than we night owls do in Cambodia. That means a variety of speedy pasta recipes are key to sustaining her (with a side salad of course!) until I have more time to cook.
If you’re feeding an elderly parent, children or partner while juggling a heavy workload – and you’re feeding them on a budget in increasingly challenging times – then you’ll no doubt relate and should like this speedy tuna recipe. More quick and easy pasta recipes like this coming soon.
Tips to Making this Tuna Pasta Recipe with Scallions, Capers and Fresh Herbs
Just a few tips to making this quick and easy tuna pasta recipe with scallions, capers and fresh herbs as it’s super-fast to make and comes together in no time – especially if you have a well-stocked pantry and fridge with essentials such as pasta and canned fish.
While I recommend bucatini for this recipe, spaghetti, linguini and fettuccini will also work. And a penne or rigatoni would probably be great as well as the sauce will find its way into the tubes and cling to the ridges of the rigatoni.
I always keep half a dozen types of canned fish and seafood on hand, such as tinned tuna and canned salmon, as well as tins of smoked oysters and mussels in brine, as they’re fantastic for salads and pastas when you’re tight on time.
I’ve tried this tuna pasta recipe with a few types of canned fish and I have to confess that while this recipe calls for canned tuna, I actually preferred this dish made with tinned smoked trout. My mum loves the tuna version more, which is simply to say: experiment.
But having said that, my mother (who has been key to my recipe-testing and tasting this year) thinks the cured anchovy fillets made the dish a little too salty. I think they’re fantastic – but I have a higher tolerance for salt having lived in Southeast Asia for so long – and for me the anchovies add umami as much as salt.
Again: experiment and, as with any dish, adjust to suit your palate. The recipe results in a perfect pasta for me, but you may want to add fewer anchovies at first, taste, and add more.
Just before serving, shower with fresh herbs and drizzle on a little extra virgin olive oil. I also sprinkle on some chilli flakes, which are too hot for mum who is happy with the ground paprika.
As you can see, this tuna pasta recipe is nothing if not versatile, so tweak it and do as you like. After all, a recipe should be a guide to making a dish which you make your own. Enjoy!
Tuna Pasta Recipe with Scallions, Capers and Fresh Herbs
Ingredients
- 500 g bucatini - or spaghetti
- 4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil - divided
- 4 garlic cloves - crushed, sliced thinly
- 6 large scallions - white parts sliced, green parts sliced diagonally, or spring onions
- 4 tbsp capers
- 4 cured anchovy fillets - canned or jarred, optional
- 1 tsp ground sweet paprika
- 240 g tuna - smoked in oil, or smoked trout, keep the oil
- 1 cup fresh dill - torn into pieces
- 1 cup fresh flat leaf parsley - leaves only
- 4 tsp fried shallots - store-bought, or fried breadcrumbs
- Chilli flakes - optional
- 4 lemon slices - or wedges
Instructions
- Put a large pot of salted water on the stove to boil. When it’s on a rolling boil, add the pasta and cook until al dente according to the packet instructions.
- To a big deep frying pan or skillet over medium-high, heat 3 tablespoons of the olive oil until shimmering, add the white scallion slices and sliced crushed garlic cloves, and stir-fry with a wooden spoon for 3-5 minutes until the scallions are brown.
- To the same pan, add the capers, cured anchovy fillets and ground sweet paprika, breaking up the anchovies with the wooden spoon, and stir to incorporate everything well. Turn the heat down to low and continue to fry for a couple of minutes.
- The pasta should be ready now, so use a big pasta fork to transfer the pasta to the pan, along with a cup of pasta water, to the pan. Add the canned tuna or trout, with a little of the fish oil, break up the pieces a little, and stir to combine everything.
- Shower the pasta with most of the fresh herbs, saving a little for garnish, stir through, then use long tongs to transfer the pasta to serving plates.
- Sprinkle on the fried shallots (or fried breadcrumbs) and optional chilli flakes, garnish with the remaining fresh herbs and lemon slices or wedges for squeezing onto the pasta, and serve immediately with a simple green salad.
Nutrition
Please do let us know if you make our tuna pasta recipe in the comments below as we’d love to hear how the recipe turns out for you.
