This spring I had so much dill come up in the garden as volunteers. I now thoroughly understand why it is sometimes called dill weed, it absolutely grew like a weed in my garden! Well, I put as much as I could to good use, including in this tuna and dill pasta salad.
I adore pasta. It is so easy so I eat it all the time (and I might be a carb-aholic). I also love fish, and the fishier the better. Fish and dill are a perfect pairing because the dill enhances the flavor of the fish without over powering it. Alas, this tuna and dill pasta salad was born.
I added chickpeas and sweet green peas to this pasta salad to round it out with some vegetables for nutrition. Check out my suggestions below for easy swaps to use veggies you and your family will enjoy best.
The final key to a good pasta salad is a flavorful sauce. But not too much sauce because that would lead us into the land of store-bought macaroni salad (which is good in its own accord, but not always what we strive for).
For my sauce, I used both Greek yogurt and mayo for tang and richness. I added lemon juice to brighten it up and Dijon to up the umami. Finally, salt and pepper in the sauce make sure it is well seasoned.
Variations to the Tuna and Dill Pasta Salad recipe:
- Simple Swaps: Trade red onion for shallot for a lighter flavor. Swap canned tuna for canned skinned and boneless salmon. Try the mixture over toast if you don’t have pasta.
- Make it gluten free by swapping the whole wheat pasta for chickpea pasta.
- Make it a bean salad by using all chickpeas and no pasta.
- Veggies: I used peas and chickpeas; You can use anything you like here instead. Try finely chopped steamed broccoli, green beans, or asparagus. Add diced celery, edamame, quartered artichoke hearts, sweet corn, or cannellini beans.
- Sauce: The sauce is rich and lightly coats the pasta. Make more sauce for a creamier pasta salad.
- 6 oz whole wheat pasta (any small shape)
- 2 TBS each: plain Greek yogurt, mayo and fresh lemon juice
- 2 tsp Dijon
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- ¼ tsp each: kosher salt and black pepper
- 5 oz can tuna
- 1 cup green peas (thawed from frozen)
- 1 cup chickpeas (drained from a can)
- ¼ cup minced fresh dill
- 2 TBS minced red onion
- Cook pasta according to package directions. Drain.
- Mix together the Greek yogurt, lemon juice, mayo, Dijon, garlic, salt and pepper until smooth.
- Add the cooked pasta, tuna, peas, chickpeas, dill and red onion to the creamy yogurt sauce, stirring well to coat.
