Mediterranean Tuna Salad

This nutritious and flavorful Mediterranean Tuna Salad has tender orzo pasta, olive-oil-packed tuna, crisp cucumbers, smoky red peppers, tangy red onions, fresh herbs, and a lemon-oregano vinaigrette.

We love a great creamy tuna salad as much as the next person, but there’s something incredibly refreshing about a vinaigrette-dressed tuna salad. This salad is light, fresh, and packed with good Mediterranean-inspired ingredients.

Mediterranean Tuna Salad

This is one of my favorite salads! It’s incredibly filling, loaded with texture, and packed with good, nutritious ingredients. You may recognize the dressing: it’s very slightly adapted from the dressing on one of the most popular recipes on this site — this Sweet Potato Quinoa Salad.

I had some dressing left over after making that salad and drizzled it on some canned tuna and veggies for a quick lunch one day. Instantly I knew a full recipe needed to be created. I couldn’t be more excited with how this turned out!

Mediterranean Tuna Salad Ingredients

• Tuna: Use canned tuna packed in olive oil for the best flavor. Tuna packed in olive oil is richer and has a fresher flavor.
• Orzo Pasta: Don’t use all the pasta. Many pasta salads use a full box, but this recipe only needs 1 cup, so measure it beforehand.
• Veggies: Make sure to thoroughly drain the olives and chop the veggies well to prevent excess moisture from watering down the salad.
• Lemon-Oregano Vinaigrette: Dress to taste. Leftover dressing can be stored in the fridge for up to a week.
• Feta Cheese: Crumble the feta cheese just before adding it to the salad to maintain its texture. 

Mediterranean Tuna Ingredient Notes

• Use canned tuna packed in olive oil for the best flavor. My personal favorite is Genova’s® albacore tuna. Tuna packed in olive oil is richer and has a fresher flavor.
• I recommend Persian (sometimes labeled as mini cucumbers) or English cucumbers. These cucumbers are nearly seedless and very crisp (instead of watery). They have a sweet, mild flavor and a great crunch.
• Tame the bite of red onion. If you’re sensitive to the flavor of raw red onion, soak the diced onions in salted ice water for 10 minutes. Drain thoroughly before using in this Mediterranean tuna salad.
• Make sure to get flat-leaf Italian parsley, as opposed to curly for this recipe. Flat-leaf parsley has a more robust flavor and curly parsley is used more commonly as a garnish.

Storing Mediterranean Tuna Salad 

• This salad doesn’t sit or store well once dressed. The dressing will soften the veggies, and the orzo bloats.
• The salad can be made in advance if everything is stored separately and tossed together right before serving. (Be sure to give the dressing another good shake before drizzling it on — see “quick tip” below.)
• Mediterranean Tuna Salad does not freeze or thaw well.

More Tuna Recipes

• Macaroni Tuna Salad with a creamy dressing
• Tuna Stacks with a mango-cucumber topping
• Spicy Tuna Wraps with crunchy veggies
• Creamy Tuna Pasta made in one skillet
• Avocado Tuna Salad with an avocado-based dressing

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5 from 3 votes

Mediterranean Tuna Salad

By Chelsea Lords

This nutritious and flavorful Mediterranean Tuna Salad has tender orzo pasta, olive-oil-packed tuna, crisp cucumbers, smoky red peppers, tangy red onions, fresh herbs, and a lemon-oregano vinaigrette.

Prep Time: 35 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 9 minutes minutes

Total Time: 44 minutes minutes

Servings: 6 as a side

Ingredients  

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Dressing

• ▢ 1/4 cup (54g) red wine vinegar
• ▢ 2 tablespoons (31g) Dijon mustard (do not use regular mustard)
• ▢ 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• ▢ 1 clove garlic, minced (1 teaspoon)
• ▢ 1/2 cup (98g) extra virgin olive oil
• ▢ 3 tablespoons (47g) lemon juice + 1/2 teaspoon lemon zest (1 large lemon)
• ▢ 1 tablespoon (24g) honey
• ▢ Fine sea salt and pepper

Salad

• ▢ 1 cup (155g) orzo pasta (measured when dry)
• ▢ 2 cans (5 oz.; 142g EACH) tuna (preferably packed in olive oil), drained
• ▢ 1 cup (170g) diced (jarred) roasted red bell peppers, (~3-4 peppers) Note 1
• ▢ 1/2 cup (65g) drained and coarsely chopped kalamata olives
• ▢ 1/2 cup (18g) chopped flat leaf Italian parsley
• ▢ 1/2 cup (61g) diced red onion (~1/2 an onion) Note 2
• ▢ 1-1/3 cup (180g) chopped cucumber (~1 english cucumber or 3 Persian/salad cucumbers)
• ▢ 1/2 cup (62g) crumbled feta cheese

Instructions 

• DRESSING: Add all the dressing ingredients to a Mason jar and season (to taste) with fine sea salt and pepper. I add 1/2 teaspoon and 1/4 teaspoon pepper (add to personal preference). Seal the jar and shake vigorously to combine. Store in the fridge while preparing the rest of the salad.
• ORZO PASTA: Cook 1 cup of dry pasta according to package directions. Don't forget to salt the pasta water (I add 1 teaspoon to every 4 cups of water). Without salting the water, the whole salad will taste underseasoned. Drain pasta, rinse under cold water, let cool, and allow to dry. Transfer to a large bowl and toss with 2-3 tablespoons of the dressing.
• VEGGIE PREP: Meanwhile, prep the rest of the ingredients: drain the tuna and flake it apart with a fork. Add to the drained pasta. Drain and coarsely dice the roasted bell peppers, coarsely chop the olives, finely chop the parsley, dice the red onion, and chop the cucumber(s). Add all the ingredients to the bowl with the pasta and tuna. Add in the feta cheese.
• ENJOY: Drizzle on dressing to your desired preference. (We use most of the dressing, but usually have a few tablespoons leftover -- you can use all of it or less depending on how dressed you like your salads. Also, if the salad is sitting out for a bit, it does absorb the dressing fairly quickly and may need to add a bit more occasionally.) Gently toss the salad and enjoy immediately. This salad doesn't store well once dressed.

Video

Recipe Notes

Note 1: Most grocery stores keep roasted red peppers near the pickles, capers, and artichoke hearts. Here's what I use.

Note 2: If you’re sensitive to the flavor of raw red onion, soak the diced onions in salted ice water for 10 minutes. Drain thoroughly before adding into the salad

Nutrition

Calories: 441kcal | Carbohydrates: 39g | Protein: 10g | Fat: 28g | Saturated Fat: 6g | Cholesterol: 18mg | Sodium: 1140mg | Potassium: 336mg | Fiber: 4g | Sugar: 5g | Vitamin A: 2036IU | Vitamin C: 49mg | Calcium: 174mg | Iron: 3mg

Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.

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