If you need a tasty summer food idea, tuna spaghetti salad with green olives is always a great try for canned tuna! And we made this using Fiber Gourmet Light Elbows for a pasta salad with about 10 net carbs per serving.
Tuna pasta salad with green olives to try later!
I think any kind of pasta salad is always in danger of being a little boring if you don’t use interesting, strong-flavored ingredients. But I am happy to report this Macaroni tuna salad with green olives It was full of flavor due to the good quality of the tuna in olive oil, the finely chopped Spanish green olives, and the generous amount of lemon juice and green olive oil solution in the marinade.
We also added a finely chopped cucumber for a little crunch, and some sliced green onions for more flavor, and ate some of this for lunch the day we tested the improved recipe and took these photos. And besides the great flavor, another thing we loved about this pasta salad with tuna is that it’s made with Elbows’ Fiber Gourmet Light, which was one of the things that kept the carbs really low for this salad!
What ingredients do you need for this recipe:
(This is a list of ingredients only; please scroll down for the full printable recipe. OR if you use the JUMP TO RECIPE link at the top of the page, it will take you directly to the full recipe.)
How do we make tuna pasta salad with fewer carbs?
- We were Light gourmet fiber elbows (affiliate link) For pasta in a salad, these high-fiber wheat pasta from Italy are much lower in net carbs than regular pasta.
- We used a lot more low-carb ingredients like tuna, green olives, and celery, compared to the amount of pasta.
- using an 8 oz. of Fiber Gourmet Elbows (which is usually 4 servings) to make 8 servings of the salad not only reduces the amount of carbohydrates, but makes Fiber Gourmet pasta less expensive per serving.
More on Viper Gourmet Light Pasta:
The biggest drawback to Fiber Gourmet Light Pasta for many people is the price. I can’t find it in stores near me, so I buy it on Amazon where you can Buy a 6-box pack and get it for $6.66 each. (referral link). For me, it’s great to have “real” pasta without so many carbs that you don’t mind buying six packs at once. And since this recipe uses 4 servings of elbow macaroni to make 8 servings of the salad, that also makes it affordable.
What if you don’t like green olives?
There is an archived recipe on the site for Tuna and pasta salad with dill pickle This will show you how to make a similar salad with pickles if you are not a fan of green olives.
How to make tuna pasta salad with green olives:
(This is just a summary of the recipe steps; please scroll down for the full printable recipe. OR if you use the JUMP TO RECIPE link at the top of the page, you will be taken directly to the full recipe.)
- This is the Light gourmet fiber elbows (affiliate link) We used it. Boil a pot of water, add a little salt and cook until the pasta is tender. (For us, it took 15 minutes to get the Fiber Gourmet Elbows; check package directions for other brands.)
- Let the tuna drain while you cook the pasta and prepare the other ingredients. (This strainer is over a bowl because I don’t want the oil to run down the sink.)
- When the pasta is done, put it in a colander and let it drain well.
- Chop 20 green olives and chop 4 olives to decorate the top of the salad.
- Chop the celery and chop the green onions into thin slices
- Mix together lemon juice (and zest if using) and green olive brine, then whisk together mayonnaise and zeged fish rub (if using) to make the sauce. (Blogger fails; forgot to take a picture of that!)
- Put the pasta, chopped green olives, chopped celery, and green onions in a bowl and mix them together.
- Mix the required amount of sauce and stir until the ingredients are well coated with the sauce.
- Gently stir in tuna, being careful not to overmix; You want to keep the tuna in small pieces.
- Season the salad to taste with salt and freshly ground black pepper, remembering that olives are salty.
- The salad can be refrigerated or served immediately, and leftovers will be good in the refrigerator for a day or two.
More low-carb pasta salad options:
ingredients
Salad ingredients:
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2 cups light gourmet fiber elbows (see notes)
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10 oz. canned tuna, see notes
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24 large spanish green olives
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1 cup finely chopped celery
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1/2 cup green onions, sliced
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Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
Sauce ingredients:
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1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice (see notes)
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2 tons of green olive oil solution (from olive jar)
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1/2 cup mayonnaise
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1/2 tsp. Szeged Fish Rub (optional, but good)
directions
- Boil a large pot of water and add 2 teaspoons of salt.
- When the water boils, add the pasta, stir and bring to a boil.
- Reduce heat slightly and cook until pasta is al dente, which was 15 minutes for us for the gourmet fiber attachment. When the pasta is done, put it in a colander and let it drain well.
- While the pasta is cooking, drain the tuna in a fine sieve set over a bowl and let the oil drain out.
- Chop 20 olives, and cut the rest of the olives into slices to decorate the top of the finished salad.
- Finely chop the celery, and chop the green onions into slices
- Mix together lemon juice (and zest if using) and green olive brine, then whisk together mayonnaise and zeged fish rub (if using) to make the sauce.
- Place the pasta, chopped green olives, chopped celery, and green onions in a large bowl and mix together
- Then mix in the desired amount of sauce and stir until the ingredients are well coated with the sauce. (You may not want all of the sauce then, but save it to add to the leftovers.)
- Then, gently add the tuna, being careful not to over mix; You want to keep the tuna in small pieces
- Season the finished salad to taste with salt and freshly ground black pepper, remembering that olives are salty
- The salad can be refrigerated or served immediately, and leftovers will be good in the refrigerator for a day or two.
notes
We loved it Light gourmet fiber elbows (affiliate link) for this recipe, but use whatever pasta you like if you don’t care about having fewer carbs.
We made this in fifty ounces. Cans Genova tuna packed in olive oil (referral link).
I used fresh frozen lemon juice in the sauce, but if I’m squeezing a lemon, I’ll add a little more lemon zest.
Recipe prepared by Kalyn.
Nutrition information:
fruit:
8
Serving size:
1
Amount per service:
Calories: 298Total fat: 21 gramsSaturated fat: 3.2 gramsUnsaturated fats: 0 gramsUnsaturated fats: 17.2 gramsCholesterol: 26 mgsodium: 378 mgcarbohydrates: 23.3 gramsFiber: 13.1 gramssugar: 1 gramprotein: 14.5 grams
Nutrition info is automatically calculated by the Recipe Plug-In I’m using. I am not a nutritionist and cannot guarantee 100% accuracy, as many variables affect these calculations.
Low Carb Diet / Low Glycemic Diet / South Beach Diet Suggestions:
If you make this tuna pasta salad using Fiber Gourmet Light Elbows and limit the serving size to one-eighth of the recipe amount, this salad will have about 10 net carbs per serving. It’s high in the fat of the south beach diet, but i take it as a treat.
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Uses Pasta recipes or authority To find more like this. Use the Diet type indicator To find recipes suitable for a particular food plan. You may also like it Follow Kalyn’s Kitchen on Pinterest See all the good recipes I share there. You may also like to follow Kalyn’s Kitchen on PinterestAnd in FacebookAnd on instagramAnd on TikTokor on YouTube See all the good recipes I share there.
Historical notes for this recipe:
Tuna Pasta Salad with Green Olives was first published in 2012. It was updated in 2023 with new photos and a recommendation to use Fiber Gourmet Light Elbows for a low-carb salad.
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