Tuna Pesto Quinoa Salad (high protein and gluten free)

Tuna pesto quinoa salad is simple, delicious and makes the best healthy lunch! There’s colourful veggies, tuna for protein and quinoa to make this salad more substantial. Finished off with a creamy yoghurt pesto dressing to make this easy salad better than your average lunchbox! This recipe is gluten free.

Originally published January 2016 | Reviewed and updated May 2023

Why you will love this healthy tuna salad recipe

• Easy to prep with minimal cooking. The only element of this salad that requires cooking is the quinoa, the rest of the ingredients just need a wash and a chop. Canned tuna means the protein is ready-on-demand.

• High in protein and super satisfying. Using tuna and quinoa in this salad recipe means that there is plenty of protein, which doesn’t always happen with a salad. The quinoa also adds high-fibre carbohydrates making this a really well balanced, satisfying meal.

• A flexible base recipe. One of the lovely things about a salad recipe is that it’s a bit flexible, you don’t have to perfectly measure out the vegetables and you can totally substitute in some of the ingredients to use up the salad stuff you have on hand. I’ve made a few different versions of this salad!

Ingredients needed for tuna quinoa salad

• Tuna. Use the best quality tinned tuna you can find, I prefer a chunk-style tuna in extra virgin olive oil. Using tuna in oil definitely makes this salad more lush so I recommend this style.
• Quinoa. It doesn’t matter what colour quinoa you use in this recipe.
• Baby spinach. Always and forever my favourite salad base, baby spinach has a gentle flavour and the leaves and stems are soft.
• Cabbage. For a pop of colour and to really boost the antioxidants in this salad I recommend using purple cabbage (also called red cabbage) although you could use green cabbage too.
• Capsicum (aka peppers). Any colour capsicum will work in this recipe, if you want a complete rainbow of colour use a yellow capsicum… but it really doesn’t matter! I find that red or yellow capsicum tends to have a sweeter flavour.
• Cherry tomatoes or grape tomatoes. You could also just dice a regular-sized tomato.
• Pesto. Use your favourite pesto! Store-bought is absolutely a-okay, don’t feel like you have to make one from scratch. I love one that has a high proportion of basil, so delicious.
• Greek yoghurt. Use a thick unsweetened yoghurt to help make that dressing extra creamy and tasty.
• Extra virgin olive oil. The king of oils, extra virgin olive oil is a salad dressing essential.
• Lemon juice. A dash of lemon juice adds some acidity and more flavour to the dressing.
• Sunflower seeds. It just wouldn’t be a complete salad for me without a little bit of crunch, in this recipe I’ve gone with sunflower seeds. You could use pumpkin seeds or pine nuts instead if you prefer
• Salt and pepper to season the salad.
• Avocado or feta cheese can also be added to this salad for a bit of additional creaminess. They’re both equally delicious, excellent additions, choose your favourite!

See the recipe card below for ingredient quantities.

How to make tuna pesto quinoa salad

Step 1. Rinse the quinoa and prepare according to package instructions. Allow the quinoa to cool before using in the salad. This step can be done in advance and the quinoa kept in the fridge.

Step 2. Wash and prepare the vegetables. You’ll need to finely slice the cabbage and capsicum, and cut the tomatoes in half.

Step 3. Make the dressing. Combine pesto, olive oil, greek yoghurt, lemon juice and a pinch of salt and pepper. A dash of water can be added if the dressing is too thick.

Step 4. Assemble the salad. Toss together the vegetables (spinach, capsicum, cabbage, tomatoes), tuna (drain excess liquid from the can before adding tuna), quinoa and sunflower seeds. Drizzle over pesto dressing and season with salt and pepper again if desired. Serve immediately.

If you aren’t serving the salad right away, I recommend leaving the tuna and dressing separate and adding these elements just before serving.

How to cook quinoa (if you’re not sure)

If you didn’t get package instructions and/or you’d like to follow my method, I use the absorption method to cook quinoa.

• Add 1 part quinoa to 2 parts water to a saucepan, bring to a boil then reduce to a simmer.

• Cover with a lid and simmer for approximately 15 minutes or until all the water is absorbed.

• Turn off the heat and leave the quinoa to sit with the lid on for a further 10 minutes, then remove the lid and fluff with a fork.

Recipe tips and substitutions for pesto quinoa salad

• Besides capsicum, cabbage and tomato, other vegetables that you can add to this tuna salad include cucumber, grated carrot, grated beetroot and/or finely chopped celery.
• You can swap the baby spinach for rocket if you prefer.
• If you want to make this recipe dairy-free, you could make this using a dairy-free pesto and you could swap the greek yoghurt to a dairy-free mayonnaise. I would not recommend using coconut yoghurt in the dressing, the flavour is not likely to work well with pesto.
• Because this salad recipe uses baby spinach leaves which can wilt, I would keep this salad premade in the fridge for a maximum of 2 days. Please keep the tuna and the dressing separate if you make the salad in advance.
• Cooked quinoa will keep for up to 5 days in the fridge so you can make the quinoa ahead of time – why not make a bigger batch of quinoa and use it in some other recipes, too!

More easy salad recipes:

• Roasted Cauliflower and Halloumi Salad

• Sweet Potato, Pea and Feta Salad

• Honey Roast Pumpkin Quinoa Salad