Recipe
🥙 LUNCH
Chili Taiyo (Tinned Tuna Noodles)
The Solomon Islands' favorite fast lunch: tinned Taiyo tuna tossed with noodles, fresh chili, tomato and onion into a quick, fiery plate.
Solomon Islander · easy · serves 4
prep 10 min · cook 10 min
~281 cal · 27g protein · 22g carbs · 9g fat · 3g fiber · 6g sugars · 1g sat fat (estimated, per serving)
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AI-generated illustration
Chili taiyo is a Solomon Islands staple named after Taiyo, the tuna cannery whose tinned fish kitchens across the country.
It is everyday cooking: noodles boiled and drained, then tossed with the tinned tuna, sliced chili, tomato and onion into something quick, cheap and satisfyingly hot, a plate seen at market stalls and home stoves in Honiara.
Like much of how Solomon Islanders eat now, it blends the tinned goods of the trade store with fresh island chili and vegetables, and everyone cooks their own heat level.
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Make it yours
✓ Naturally dairy-, nut-, egg- and pork-free. No swaps needed.
Toggle a diet and the ingredients rewrite themselves with regional substitutes.
🥕 Vegetarian
🌱 Vegan
🌾 Gluten-Free
🥛 Dairy-Free
🥜 Nut-Free
🥚 Egg-Free
🐖 Pork-Free
Dietary labels are a cooking guide, not allergen-safety advice. We track dairy, egg, gluten, tree nuts and peanuts (we count coconut as a tree nut, following FDA labeling), fish, and shellfish; we do not screen for sesame, soy, mustard, celery, or sulphites. If you have a food allergy, read the label on every product you use, and note that a kitchen can cross-contaminate in ways a recipe cannot control.
Ingredients
US
Metric
Serves 4
2 cans (about 12 oz) canned tuna (Taiyo), drained
6 oz wheat noodles
1 to 2 red chili, sliced
1 tomato, diced
1 onion, sliced
2 spring onions, sliced
2 tbsp
to taste salt
Instructions
1
Cook the noodles in boiling water until just tender, then drain and set aside.
2
Heat the oil in a pan and soften the onion and chili over medium heat.
3
Stir in the tomato and cook until it slumps into a rough sauce.
4
Add the drained tuna and break it up gently through the sauce.
5
Toss the noodles through the pan with a pinch of salt until everything is coated and hot.
6
Scatter the spring onions over the top and serve straight away.
Solomon Islands everyday cooking.
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🌏 While it simmers, know your destination
📍
Honiara. Honiara sits on Guadalcanal and eats fish with kumara sweet potato and slippery cabbage cooked in coconut milk. Solomon Islands cooking relies on taro, cassava, and reef fish, often baked in a motu stone oven for gatherings.
🗺️
Solomon Islands. The ngali nut, a canarium, is the Solomons' signature delicacy: cracked from a hard shell, eaten raw or smoked over a fire, pressed for oil, and traded between islands. It grows in gardens and forest rather than being planted in rows, and it is the kind of food that a reef-and-garden economy produces and a plantation one does not.
🌍
Oceania. The staple crops here were carried on purpose. Lapita voyagers moving east from roughly three thousand years ago brought taro, yam, banana, breadfruit and coconut with them along with pigs and chickens, because most of the islands they settled had almost nothing edible growing on them. The earth oven travelled too, as umu, imu, hangi, lovo, mumu, motu and um.
The story behind this dish is up top, worth a read while the pot works.
More from Solomon Islands
Fish with Slippery Cabbage & KumaraReef fish and kumara simmered in coconut cream with slippery cabbage (aibika) greens.
Boiled Kumara with Fresh CoconutTender boiled kumara (sweet potato) tossed with fresh grated coconut and a little salt, an honest, everyday Solomon Islands breakfast.
Solomon Islands Cassava PuddingA sticky, chewy Solomon Islands pudding of grated cassava baked with coconut cream and sugar, served at weddings and feast days.
Browse all Solomon Islands recipes →
Good to know
Storing it: Best fresh. Leftovers keep 2 days refrigerated; loosen with a splash of water or oil as you reheat so they do not clump.
Make it a Solomon Islands meal
KulauDrink
Solomon Islands Cassava PuddingDessert
Fish with Slippery Cabbage & KumaraDinner
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Frequently asked questions
What is Chili Taiyo (Tinned Tuna Noodles)?
The Solomon Islands' favorite fast lunch: tinned Taiyo tuna tossed with noodles, fresh chili, tomato and onion into a quick, fiery plate.
Where does Chili Taiyo (Tinned Tuna Noodles) come from?
Chili Taiyo (Tinned Tuna Noodles) is a Solomon Islander dish from Honiara, Solomon Islands.
Can Chili Taiyo (Tinned Tuna Noodles) be made vegan, gluten-free, or dairy-free?
This Chili Taiyo (Tinned Tuna Noodles) recipe includes substitution suggestions for vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free, nut-free, egg-free, and pork-free versions, including several at once such as gluten-free and dairy-free together. Treat them as a starting guide rather than a guarantee, and see the allergen note below.
Is Chili Taiyo (Tinned Tuna Noodles) safe for people with food allergies?
Our dietary labels and substitutions are a cooking guide, not medical or allergen-safety advice. We track dairy, egg, gluten, tree nuts and peanuts (we count coconut as a tree nut, following FDA labeling), fish, and shellfish, but we do not screen for sesame, soy, mustard, celery, or sulphites. If you have a food allergy, always read the label on every product you use, and remember a home or commercial kitchen can cross-contaminate ingredients in ways a recipe cannot control.
How long does Chili Taiyo (Tinned Tuna Noodles) take to make?
About 20 minutes total (10 minutes prep, 10 minutes cooking), serving 4.
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