Gluten Free Tuna Noodle Salad |Cooking With Amanda

This tuna noodle salad is one of those recipes that's not really a recipe. It's a meal that my grandmother used to make us a lot in the summer — when it was too hot to cook anything.

This is a really great make ahead meal because you can cook the pasta in the morning, mix it all up, and let it chill in the fridge until dinner time.

It's a simple, almost no-cook meal that calls for just a few ingredients. It's basically comfort food to me, mainly because of the memories I have associated with it.

You may also see that this tuna noodle salad calls for Miracle Whip. To be clear, this is not a sponsored post — you just can't skip the whip. It makes this tuna noodle salad. I'm not going to lie, because their trademark line is absolutely perfect — "it's the zip that makes it good".

The flavor of Miracle Whip is different than mayonnaise so it's bringing a lot more to the noodle salad party. Using Miracle Whip is the reason why you don't need a lot of ingredients in this recipe. If you absolutely canNOT do Miracle Whip, you'll have to add some additional seasonings and spices to your mayo — which I haven't tried. So my point is USE THE MIRACLE WHIP. I cannot guarantee delicious results if you don't.

My grandmother never had a recipe for this. She just cooked up her macaroni and mixed in the rest of the ingredients to taste. It's so basic though that it was not hard to recreate. I remember making this with my grandmother as a kid. We would often have it for lunch but it also makes a great light dinner. Oh, and we always had sliced cucumbers with it on the side. Don't skip on that too ;-)

And yes, I ate this as a kid. I was one of those weird kids that liked tuna fish. Luckily, my kids like tuna (and salmon, cod, and halibut!) so this is a kid-friendly meal in my house. I mean, really — I can't complain right? My kids eat fish. That's a major win in my book. Hollaaaa.

Enjoy!

P.S. Looking for more easy dinners? Check out my Grilled Skirt Steak or my 3-ingredient Lemon Garlic Chicken Skewers.

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Gluten Free Tuna Noodle Salad Recipe

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Ingredients

2 cups gluten free elbow macaroni
1 5-ounce can tuna, chunk light in water
1/2 cup miracle whip
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
3 hard-boiled eggs, sliced
fresh chives, for garnish, optional

Directions

Cook the macaroni to al dente according to package directions. Drain and cool to room temperature.
Add the macaroni and tuna to a medium bowl and stir to combine. Add the Miracle Whip and black pepper and stir to combine. Add more Miracle Whip until you reach your desired creaminess.
Chill completely before serving, at least 2 hours.
Before serving, stir in additional Miracle Whip if necessary and top with chopped fresh chives and the hard-boiled eggs.

Notes

For best results, use a rice based pasta and cook it to al dente – DO NOT overcook it.
This recipe can easily be doubled and can also be made with regular macaroni.