Low-calorie tuna pasta recipe

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This low-calorie tuna pasta is so simple to make and perfect for enjoying in the summer sunshine. Plenty of flavour and it's healthy and low in calories too

Low-calorie tuna pasta
(Image credit: TI Media Limited)
  • healthy
  • Low-fat
  • healthy
Serves1
SkillEasy
Preparation Time5 mins
Cooking Time20 mins
Total Time25 mins
Cost RangeCheap
Nutrition Per PortionRDA
Calories249 Kcal12%
Sugar6.6 g7%
Fat3.4 g5%
Saturated Fat1.6 g8%
Salt0.3 gRow 4 - Cell 2
Protein33.7 g67%
Carbohydrates20.3 g8%
Salt0.3 gRow 7 - Cell 2

This delicious low-calorie tuna pasta is just 249 calories per serving, and it's ready in under half an hour.

This recipe uses fresh tuna steaks which makes a nice change from the cooked, tinned tuna that is more common in pasta sauces. To get the best texture, we've seared the fish gently on the hob, just to colour the outside of it, before cutting it into chunks to toss through the fusilli. Tender chunks of fresh tuna seared gently on the pan. To allow the fish to take the starring role, the sauce is just a very simple low-fat cream cheese, loosened with a little milk to make it creamy and delicious. This is one of our most popular low calorie pasta recipes.

Ingredients

  • 45g wholewheat pasta twists
  • 1 clove garlic, peeled
  • 75g green beans
  • Spray oil
  • 100g fresh tuna
  • 25g tub low-fat cream cheese, eg, Philadelphia Lightest
  • 3 tbsp skimmed milk
  • Salt and pepper

WEIGHT CONVERTER

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Method

  1. Cook the pasta twists and garlic in a pan of boiling water for 7-8 mins. Add the beans to the pan and cook for a further 3-4 mins, until the pasta and beans are tender, then drain.
  2. Heat a non-stick frying pan, spray lightly with oil and sear the tuna on all sides, then remove the tuna from the pan and cut it into chunks.
  3. Add the cheese and milk to the hot pan. Stir in the pasta and beans, season, then stir in the tuna and serve.

Top tips for making low calorie tuna pasta

Fresh tuna is the star ingredient here, but it's much more expensive than tinned tuna, so you might want to save it for special occasions. For an everyday version, you could easily swap the fresh tuna for tinned, which would require no cooking.

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Food & Recipes writer

Sue McMahon is a former Food and Recipes Writer at GoodTo and Cooking Editor at Woman's Weekly. Her primary passion is cakes and Sue regularly travels the world teaching cake decorating. Her biggest achievement to date was winning the Prix d’honneur at La Salon Culinaire International de Londres beating over 1,200 other entries.