Pasta Aglio, Olio e Tonno

Pasta with garlic, olive oil, and canned tuna — no tomato, no onion. A variation on aglio e olio that adds protein from the pantry. Ready in 15 minutes at approximately €1.01 per serving.

Serves: 4Prep: 5 minCook: 12 minTotal: 17 minDifficulty: EasyCuisine: Italian
→ Calculate ingredient cost for this recipePrices are editorial estimates (Q1 2025). Confidence rating shown after calculation.

Pasta Aglio, Olio e Tonno

Pasta aglio, olio e tonno is a pantry pasta that extends the classic aglio e olio with canned tuna — no tomato, no onion, no cream. The tuna is added cold at the end, off heat, so it stays tender rather than turning dry. Ready in 15 minutes at approximately €1.01 per serving.

Ingredients (4 servings)

  • 320g dry pasta (spaghetti or linguine)
  • 160g canned tuna in oil, drained (2 standard 80g cans)
  • 10g garlic (2 cloves), thinly sliced
  • 25ml extra virgin olive oil
  • Salt

Instructions

1. Cook the pasta Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Cook pasta to 1 minute less than package time. Reserve 100ml of pasta cooking water before draining.

2. Build the base While the pasta cooks, heat the olive oil in a wide pan over medium-low heat. Add the sliced garlic and cook gently for 2 minutes until soft and faintly golden. Do not let it brown — browned garlic turns bitter.

3. Add the tuna Remove the pan from heat. Add the drained tuna, breaking it into rough flakes with a fork. Stir to coat with the garlic oil.

4. Combine Add the drained pasta to the pan. Return to low heat. Toss for 30–60 seconds, adding pasta water a splash at a time to loosen — you want a light, coating consistency, not a pooling one. The tuna should remain in visible pieces, not be mashed in.

5. Serve Serve immediately. Optional: flat-leaf parsley, chilli flakes, or a squeeze of lemon.

Notes

Adding tuna off heat prevents the proteins from overcooking and drying out. The tuna carries its own oil from the can; account for this when deciding how much additional olive oil to use.

This recipe is distinct from pasta e tonno (which uses tomato sauce and onion) and pasta tonno e pomodoro (which is tomato-forward). This version is oil-based: closer in technique to aglio e olio, with tuna as the protein addition.

Cost Context

At Italian supermarket prices (Q1 2025): pasta-secca (€1.65/kg), tonno-in-scatola (€20.00/kg drained), aglio (€8.00/kg), olio-extravergine-oliva (€9.50/L). Total for 4 servings: approximately €4.05 — roughly €1.01 per serving.

Tuna (€3.20 for 160g drained) is the dominant cost at approximately 79% of total spend. This is the cost driver that separates pasta aglio olio e tonno from the simpler €0.29 aglio e olio — the extra protein costs approximately €0.72 per serving.

Compare to pasta e tonno (tomato-based, similar cost) and pasta aglio, olio e peperoncino at €0.29/serving (same base without tuna). Use the Recipe Cost Calculator for the full itemised breakdown.