This is why we always need pasta and tinned tuna in the pantry. This ten-minute tuna pasta, while maybe not as sexy as say, a slow-cook beef ragu, was born out of the necessity for a quick, nutritious, tasty, filling meal. On. The. Run.

The times when you have to cook for one, you’re not going to go all out. But you still want something hot and quick. I use tuna a lot for that reason. When my daughter was little, I threw together udon noodles, tuna, cooked-down tomatoes, bit of soy sauce, sugar, lemon and herbs for an even quicker meal. (Don’t knock it till you try it 😂). Tuna noodles and tuna pasta are essentially the same riff on the theme – carb and tuna flavoured with herbs, lemon and seasoning.

I’ve noticed that in the last year, manufacturers have started labelling their tuna tins to show the methods used to catch the fish. If you are interested, here is a Greenpeace guide to sustainable tuna.

And, speaking of the ocean, in honour of Sir David Attenborough’s 99th birthday, here’s a link to a discussion of his film Ocean, and here is another.

“After living for nearly 100 years on this planet, I now understand the most important place on Earth is not on land, but at sea.”
-David Attenborough, in Ocean (2025)
Source: _{https://www.rnz.co.nz/life/screens/tv/david-attenborough-s-ocean-a-furious-call-to-arms}

Ingredients

100 g dried pasta
1 small tin tuna (approx 95g/3.3 ounce) – do not drain yet
½ red onion, chopped and/or 2 x chopped spring onions/scallion tops
½ clove garlic, minced (optional)
1 tbsp lemon juice (I like a good kick of lemon, turn this down if you don't)
other vegetables as desired eg. corn, peas, chopped mushrooms, halved cherry tomato, rocket/arugula, baby spinach
handful parsley, chopped
salt, pepper
sprinkling parmesan, butter, chilli flakes if desired

Instructions

Cook pasta according to packet instructions.
Meantime, drain tuna oil into a fry pan. Use this oil to quickly cook onion/s until just translucent. Throw in garlic. You can either throw in the additional vegetables now or, if they don't need much cooking, you can toss in with pasta at next step.
When pasta is done, throw it in into the fry pan with the onion, garlic, and vegetables.
Add lemon juice and toss, ensuring pasta is well mixed with tuna oil, lemon juice and vegetables.
Turn down heat and add tuna, ensuring it is spread throughout the pasta. If you wish to add a little parmesan (or butter, or chilli) for taste you can do so.
Add parsley, season with salt and pepper.

Hello!

Ten Minute Tuna Pasta On the Run