Make Ahead Camping Recipe: Easy Tuna Pasta Salad

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Try our easy make ahead camping recipe the next time you hit the road. This tuna pasta salad features sweet pickles and makes a delicious lunch, the perfect side dish for a casual campfire dinner or as a quick afternoon snack.

You know that when it comes to cooking, I’m all for easy. It’s especially important when you’re camping.

I mean…who wants to spend a lot of time preparing or cooking food when you’re out on the road?

overhead view of tuna pasta salad on white plate on whitewashed boards

What we have found is that this easy tuna pasta salad recipe has turned out to be a perfect meal for camping. We’ve actually been taking it on our last few trips and it’s a big time saver.

I make it a day ahead of our departure and put it in our RV fridge. Our lunch is all ready for us whenever we get hungry, and we don’t have to cook.

To pack it up to take on a trip, we like to put a few servings in smaller containers. This helps when we want to serve it because we just grab one bowl and it’s enough for the two of us.

It also helps with packing the cooler or fridge because a big bowl takes up a lot of room.

I also love this recipe when we’re at home. I work from home every day, and run around the house chasing our 10 month old puppy, so by the time lunch rolls around I’m pretty hungry.

Because I’m so busy I like to make my lunches ahead of time so I can just throw it in a bowl and not worry about cooking.

This make ahead pasta salad is perfect for that.

Making tuna pasta salad

Ingredients

6.4 oz. package of tuna
16 oz. rotelle pasta
1/2 cup chopped carrots
1/2 cup chopped celery
5 tbsp mayonnaise
1 cup chopped sweet pickles
1/3 cup sweet pickle juice
salt
pepper

This yummy pasta salad only calls for a few ingredients, tuna, carrots, celery, salt, pepper and mayo. The star of this salad though, is the sweet pickles and pickle juice.

chopping carrots and celery on a green cutting board

While the pasta is cooking I quickly chop up my carrots, celery and sweet pickles. You could add onion or pepper but I’m not a fan so they aren’t invited to my pasta salad party.

After the pasta is drained and rinsed I put it in a bowl. I add all of the chopped veggies and pickles, a sprinkling of salt and pepper and a cup of mayo.

Then I mix it all up and then add a 1/4 cup of magic…the sweet pickle juice. Just a little to give it that sweetness.

Next I add the tuna, and mix it all well.

overhead view of tuna pasta salad recipe with chopped carrots and celery, sweet pickles and a big dollop of mayonnaise

I like my salad to be nice and cold so I’ll stick it in the fridge for an hour or two before I serve it. When I’m ready to eat I just give it a good stir and spoon some on a plate.

A quick and delicious lunch, and you have several days worth just waiting in the fridge for you. It’s also great for picnics and family get-togethers.

Looking for an easy breakfast recipe?

Camping breakfast skillet recipe with eggs, sausage and potatoes.

Yield: 4 servings