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Creamy Tuna Pasta

A quick pantry pasta with tuna, peas, lemon and a light creamy sauce.

Published by Gabor U. · Updated August 24, 2026

25 minutesTotal time
8 minPreparation
17 minCooking
4Servings
Creamy Tuna Pasta
What you need

Ingredients

  • 320 g fusilli
  • 2 x 120 g cans tuna, drained
  • 150 g frozen peas
  • 180 ml cooking cream
  • 1 garlic clove, minced
  • 1 tsp lemon zest
  • 1 tbsp lemon juice
  • Black pepper
  • Salt
Step by step

Method

  1. Bring a large pan of salted water to a boil and cook the fusilli until al dente. Add the frozen peas for the final 3 minutes.
  2. Before draining, scoop out 200 ml of the pasta water, then drain the pasta and peas together.
  3. Meanwhile, pour the cream into a wide pan, add the garlic and warm over low heat for 2–3 minutes without boiling hard.
  4. Add the lemon zest, plenty of black pepper and the drained tuna in large flakes. Warm gently for 1 minute.
  5. Add the pasta and peas with 60 ml reserved water. Toss over low heat until the sauce coats the pasta, adding more water if needed.
  6. Remove from the heat, stir in the lemon juice and taste before adding salt, as canned tuna can already be well seasoned.
  7. Rest for 1 minute, loosen with a final splash of pasta water if necessary and serve.

Balancing creamy sauce with lemon

This is a useful pantry dinner: the sauce comes together while the pasta cooks, and lemon keeps the tuna and cream tasting fresh. Peas add sweetness and color without requiring another pan.

Keeping tuna pasta creamy

Boiling the cream hard or stirring the tuna repeatedly can leave an oily sauce with dry, tiny fish flakes. Warm both gently and toss only as much as needed. Reserve pasta water before draining, since a spoonful added at the end is the easiest way to loosen sauce absorbed by the fusilli.

Timing peas, pasta and tuna

Drain the tuna thoroughly but leave it in fairly large flakes. Zest the lemon before squeezing it, and add the juice only after the pan is off the heat so the cream remains smooth.

Choosing tuna and using lemon

Tuna packed in spring water gives a lighter result; oil-packed tuna is richer and should be drained very well. Keep the fish in broad flakes so it remains noticeable in the finished dish. Lemon zest adds aroma without thinning the sauce, while the juice belongs off the heat to preserve its fresh taste.

Easy variations for the cupboard

Add capers, chopped parsley or a handful of spinach. Canned salmon can replace the tuna. For a tomato version, swap the cream for 250 ml passata and leave out the lemon juice until tasting.

Serving while the sauce is loose

Serve with a cucumber salad or simply with extra black pepper and lemon wedges. This pasta is best taken straight to the table while the sauce is loose.

Safe storage for fish pasta

Refrigerate for up to 1 day and reheat gently with a spoonful of water or milk. Do not leave fish pasta at room temperature for more than 2 hours, and avoid freezing the finished cream sauce.