Tuna and Spaghetti ~ Easily Cook From Your Pantry
When you are looking to easily cook up a warm lunch or simple dinner, Tuna and Spaghetti uses common items found in your pantry.
Tuna and Spaghetti is a dish that my mom made many Fridays when I was growing up.
So, when Lent enters full swing, I turn to this dish at least once during the season.
Meat free eating doesn’t have to be the same old fish fry dish.
Our parish hosts a weekly Soup and Stations. So, dinnertime is usually covered.
But, homeschooling the boys means that we are eating lunch at home.
This easy and delicious pasta dish is the perfect choice for us. Something different from a grilled cheese sandwich or bowl of tomato soup.
And the boys are glad that we are not Orthodox where Fridays mean no meat OR dairy!
Preparing Tuna and Spaghetti
As you can see from the visual collage below, the primary cooking for this dish is all about the sauce.
Once it is made, you just cook your chosen pasta (spaghetti or any long strand tends to work well) and toss it with the sauce.
Below is 1 pound of angel hair pasta with the amount of sauce I made and the ratio was pretty close to perfect.
I love to top the finished dish with a bit of Parmesan or Romano cheese to give some extra depth to it.
What meatless dishes are YOU eating?
Tuna and Spaghetti
Tuna and Spaghetti is an easy to make dish using ingredients from your pantry.
Ingredients
- 1 Tbsp olive oil
- 1 large can tuna
- 1 14 ounce can of crushed or diced tomatoes or tomato sauce
- 1 can tomato paste
- 1 tsp Italian Seasoning
- 1 tsp granulated garlic OR 2 to 3 cloves of garlic, crushed
- 1/4 tsp. crushed red pepper
- 1 lb. dried spaghetti
Instructions
- Coat the bottom of the saucepan with olive oil (approximately 1 Tbsp, but maybe less.)
- Over a low heat, add tuna and stir to flake it. If you are using crushed garlic, saute the garlic first and then add the tuna.
- After a few minutes, add tomatoes, tomato paste and seasonings. Stir well.
- Cover the saucepan with a lid and simmer on low for a few minutes, stirring often. To avoid burning, you can use a diffuser plate.
- Prepare pasta per directions. Once drained, toss the pasta and sauce together.
- Top with shredded Parmesan or Romano cheese and serve.
Notes
You can add some sliced or diced black olives to create even greater depth to this dish. I leave them out as several of my boys do not care for it that way.
Personal preference is for crushed garlic rather than the granulated, but either works.
Spice amounts are what I put into the dish when making it and measuring. However, I usually taste test the sauce and add more as desired.
Finally, make this gluten free by selecting a gluten free pasta.
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More Family Friendly Pasta Dishes
Here are a few more of our family favorites that include pasta.
Cajun Pasta
Super Easy Baked Pasta
Baked Cheese and Spinach Tortellini
Chicken Cacciatore
Homemade Mac and Cheese
Taste the Rainbow Pasta Salad
This post is linked up to the 40 Days of Seeking Him Lent Season 2013 meme for week two.
I hope you will come back to share more during this season of Lent.
I wish others in the family would eat simple dishes like this. My husband loves tuna, but only with mayo.
How long has the bottle of red pepper flakes lasted? I have the same one!
Laurel,
My husband is not a fan of this particular dish. That’s part of the reason we made it at lunch time as the boys and I DO enjoy it.
That red pepper flake bottle has been refilled *many* times from a giant container we bought at Costco. Hubby likes to have it on the table for enhancing dishes that I made less spicy than he’d like.
This recipe looks very tasty. Thanks for sharing!
You’re welcome, Lily. I’ll be sharing some more meat-free recipes soon.
We love tuna and noodles! It’s so inexpensive, but still very tasty!
Same here, Tiffany! I splurged and use albacore tuna for this dish, but can cut the cost using the less expensive canned tuna. And, it really fills up the boys’ bellies.
I LOVE this dish and will make it for myself sometimes! My husband is allergic to seafood so he can’t have any. 🙁
Bummer on your husband’s seafood allergy. One of my sons suspects he is allergic to crustaceans. I tell him that just means more for the rest of us when I make any.
Great idea! I usually make some sort of tuna casserole on Fridays during Lent.
You’re welcome, Ashley. My boys love other tuna casseroles, too.
Sounds great! My whole family loves seafood so much that they look forward to Lent since it means more seafood! Maybe next year we should go vegetarian on Fridays for Lent, so it is actually a sacrifice.
Anne,
I’ve thought that, too, when seeing some rather decadent soups at our Soup and Stations. The Knights of Columbus kick if off with a ‘fish’ dinner instead of soup which really equates to a whole bunch of salmon from peoples’ freezers. But, some of the seafood up here is not considered luxury like it might be back east. However, I love the idea of vegetarian completely on Fridays.
We are pasta addicts. Thanks for the great recipe to add to our rotation!
Krystle,
I LOVE pasta and could eat it multiple times a week. Hope you enjoy this one, too.
Meat free is a great idea. I think we should try it here too. Thanks for the ideas but I am not sure tuna and spaghetti is going to appeal to my girls. I will return for some other ideas though. Thanks!
My boys weren’t too sure of this combo the first time I made it. I think some things just have to grow on you. (My eldest will eat this, but won’t eat my peas and macaroni.)
My family loves chicken spaghetti but I never thought of trying tuna! I’m definitely saving this recipe! Thanks for the idea!
You’re welcome, Mariah! I love that canned tuna is usually less expensive than canned chicken.
I love this combination…I just do not like to cook LOL!
I’m definitely in a mood where I’d rather NOT cook, too. But, at least this is a dish that even my boys can handle and fills you up.
I would have never thought about combining the 2 but it looks great!!
Thanks, Maria. I think it must be an Italian thing from my mom’s family.
This looks fast and easy! I\’d also like to try making it with shrimp, hot pepper flakes and olives instead of tuna…I had it that way in Italy years ago but forgot all about it til I saw your recipe!
Liz,
I bet shrimp would be awesome instead of the tuna. I love the quick factor and that I usually have everything on the shelf. Plus, I really want the boys to learn some basic cooking that they can do quickly and inexpensively once they begin their adult lives.
That’s so good of you to make sure your boys learn some basic cooking! I’m so glad that my hubby has kitchen skills…now if I can just teach him to coupon properly! LOL
My husband has some kitchen skills, too. But, we’ve learned that I am the master shopper in the house. I only send him for simple runs that do not require brand specific or coupons.
What a great idea for a Lenten Friday dinner. Thanks so much!