Mediterranean Tuna Salad with orzo, olive-oil tuna, cucumbers, red peppers, onions, herbs, and lemon-oregano vinaigrette.
Mediterranean Tuna Salad
I love a great creamy tuna salad as much as the next person, but there’s something incredibly refreshing about a vinaigrette-dressed tuna salad.
It’s incredibly filling, loaded with texture, and packed with delicious ingredients. You may recognize the dressing: it’s very slightly adapted from the dressing on 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.
- Orzo Pasta: Don’t dump the whole box, only use 1 cup.
- Veggies: Make sure to thoroughly drain the olives and chop the veggies well.
- Lemon Vinaigrette: 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.
Quick Tip
Change the salad to fit what you like. My boys leave out the olives, but my husband wants more! It’s easy to change—add more of what you like, or leave out a vegetable and add a little more of the others.
Mediterranean Tuna Salad Ingredient Notes
- My personal favorite tuna is Genova’s® albacore tuna. Tuna packed in olive oil has so much more flavor.
- I recommend Persian (sometimes labeled as mini cucumbers) or English cucumbers. They’re basically seedless and don’t need to be peeled.
- If you’re sensitive to the flavor of raw red onion, soak the diced onions in salted ice water for 10 minutes.
- 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.
Storage
Leftover dressing will likely separate and solidify a bit, which is completely normal. Olive oil solidifies at cold temperatures. Simply let the dressing stand at room temperature for about 20 minutes, shake to re-combine, and it’s ready to drizzle over this salad.
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
Mediterranean Tuna Salad
Equipment
- Mason jar or other sealable container
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup red wine vinegar
- 2 tablespoons Dijon-style mustard not regular mustard
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1 clove garlic minced, 1 teaspoon
- 1/2 cup olive oil
- 1 large lemon
- 1 tablespoon honey
- Salt and pepper
- 1 cup orzo pasta measured when dry
- 2 (5-ounce) cans tuna preferably packed in olive oil, drained
- 1 cup diced roasted red bell peppers jarred, 3 to 4 peppers, see note 1
- 1/2 cup drained and coarsely chopped kalamata olives
- 1/2 cup chopped flat-leaf parsley
- 1/2 cup diced red onion 1/2 an onion, see note 2
- 1-1/3 cup chopped cucumber 1 English cucumber or 3 Persian/salad cucumbers
- 1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese
Instructions
- Add all dressing ingredients to a mason jar. Add 1/2 teaspoon lemon zest and 3 tablespoons lemon juice. Season to taste with salt and pepper. I add 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper (add to preference). Seal the jar and shake vigorously to combine. Store in the fridge while preparing the rest of the salad.
- Cook 1 cup 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 under-seasoned. 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.
- 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.
- Drizzle on dressing to your desired preference. (I 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. 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
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
I am drooling right now! This looks so tasty and perfect for summer!
hey girl- this looks so yummy! y’all have a great weekend!
Looks perfect for summer!!!
This looks so good I need to make it. I’m not a fan of tuna so I would leave that out but everything else sounds amazing!
Hayley Dawn xo