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A bowl of tuna pasta garnished with lemon and herbs.
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Lemony Tuna Pasta

This creamy tuna pasta is fast, bright, and loaded with texture. Bucatini or spaghetti gets tossed with lemony white wine cream sauce, tender tuna, briny capers, and toasted pine nuts for an easy, elegant dinner.
Prep Time10 minutes
Cook Time20 minutes
Total Time30 minutes
Course: dinner, Main Course, Pasta
Cuisine: American/Italian, Mediterranean
Keyword: canned tuna pasta
Servings: 6 Servings
Author: Dahn Boquist

Ingredients

  • 12 ounces bucatini pasta or spaghetti
  • 3 tablespoons olive oil divided
  • ½ cup pine nuts
  • 1 shallot minced or finely chopped
  • 2 garlic cloves minced
  • ½ cup dry white wine
  • ¼ cup fresh lemon juice
  • 1 tablespoon lemon zest
  • 3 (5 ounce) cans canned tuna in spring water, drained
  • 1½ cups heavy cream
  • ¼ cup capers drained and rinsed
  • 2 tablespoons Fresh thyme

Instructions

  • Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over medium-high heat. Add the pasta and cook until al dente, following the package instructions. Before draining, scoop out ½ cup of the pasta water and set it aside.
    Drain the pasta, return it to the pot, and toss with 2 tablespoons of olive oil to keep it from sticking. Cover and set aside.
    A pot of boiling water with pasta.
  • Toast the pine nuts in a dry skillet over medium-low heat, shaking occasionally, until golden and fragrant, 3–5 minutes. Immediately transfer to a dish. Don’t leave them in the hot pan or they’ll keep cooking and burn.
    Toasting pine nuts in a skillet.
  • Increase the heat to medium. Add the remaining tablespoon of olive oil and the shallots to the skillet; cook until softened, 1–2 minutes. Stir in the garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds.
    Garlic and shallots in a skillet.
  • Pour in the white wine, bringing to a boil and scraping the pan to deglaze. Cook until the wine has nearly evaporated, about 2-3 minutes. Add lemon juice and lemon zest.
    Adding lemon juice to the skillet with zest and shallots.
  • Pour in the cream, stirring until well blended. Increase the heat to medium high until it begins to boil, then immediately reduce the heat to low and simmer for 5-6 minutes until the sauce has slightly thickened.
    Adding cream to a skillet with the sauce.
  • While the cream is simmering, drain the tuna and place in a bowl breaking it up with a fork. Add the tuna to the cream sauce along with the pine nuts and capers, stirring gently to combine.
    Adding capers and pine nuts to the tuna pasta sauce.
  • Add the pasta to the skillet tossing to coat well, adding a few tablespoons of the reserved pasta water if necessary.
    Mixing noodles with tuna and cream sauce.
  • Remove the skillet from the heat and transfer the pasta to a large serving bowl and garnish with the thyme leaves and lemon wedges.
    A serving bowl filled with tuna and spaghetti noodles.

Notes

Use heavy cream: Lighter dairy (like half-and-half or milk) can curdle when mixed with lemon juice. Stick with heavy cream to keep the sauce smooth and stable.
Toast pine nuts with care: They go from golden to burned fast. Remove them from the pan right away.
Salt your pasta water: It should taste like the sea. This is your first layer of seasoning.
Reserve pasta water: A splash helps loosen the sauce and coat the pasta evenly.
About capers: Rinse them before using to tone down the saltiness.

Nutrition

Serving: 1serving | Calories: 578kcal | Carbohydrates: 49g | Protein: 11g | Fat: 37g | Saturated Fat: 15g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 6g | Monounsaturated Fat: 13g | Cholesterol: 67mg | Sodium: 225mg | Potassium: 312mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 5g | Vitamin A: 1000IU | Vitamin C: 10mg | Calcium: 73mg | Iron: 2mg
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