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These tuna steak recipes are the best ways to serve this meaty, buttery fish! Try ahi tuna seared, grilled, in tacos and more.
Got a slab of bright pink tuna steaks? This luxuriously buttery, mild fish is unique and versatile. Ahi tuna, a term that includes both yellowfin tuna or bigeye tuna, is commonly served as sushi, in poke bowls, or cooked rare or medium-rare like a big juicy steak. Here are all our favorite fresh tuna steak recipes for turning it into dinner: both cooked and raw! Along with selections from this website, we’ve featured selections from the websites Simply Recipes and Skinny Taste.
And now…10 great ahi tuna steak recipes!
Need a simple meal that’s restaurant quality? Try this perfect Tuna Steak! The flavor is melt-in-your-mouth meaty: with a salty, seasoned exterior and a buttery, raw interior. You’ll want to use sushi grade fish here. Sear it up in a hot pan, and it’s one of the most impressive meals you can make.
Tired of grilling burgers and salmon? Good, because here’s an incredible grilled dinner idea: grilled tuna steaks! Ahi tuna is rich and buttery. Seared perfectly on the outside, it tastes more like chicken or steak than fish! There’s nothing fishy about this tuna. Even better, it’s one of the quickest things you can cook. Just 1 to 2 minutes, and you’ve got dinner.
Got a tuna steak on hand? You don't even need to cook it. Raw ahi tuna is the star of a poke bowl. This Hawaiian bowl of seasoned raw fish, rice and crunchy veggies has caught on here on the mainland, and everybody’s doing it! You can easily make poke in the comfort of your own home: it’s perfect for a weeknight meal, or even better for a fun meal for entertaining.
Love a good fish taco? Here’s a new spin that you’ll fall for just as hard: Tuna Steak Tacos! Meaty tuna steak is the ideal filling for a taco, contrasted with fresh cilantro lime slaw. Top it off with chipotle sauce and another sprinkle of cilantro, and it’s a little bit of everything: savory, spicy, fresh, cool, and creamy.
Got a great ahi tuna steak? Let’s make tuna tartare! Pairing the bold flavors of soy sauce, lime and toasted sesame oil makes magic with this sushi-grade fish. It’s the ideal spread for crackers or toasts. This classic recipe came on the scene in the 1980s as a spin-off on the French beef-based version, but today it has various incarnations. Here’s how to make it into an easy appetizer recipe that will wow everyone.
Looking to add flair to tuna steaks? Spread them with Garlic Herb Sauce! This incredible green drizzle is full of bright flavor. Fresh parsley, lemon, and capers make a punchy pairing with the savory fish. It adds a Mediterranean-style flair to this buttery, mild fish. Once you’ve cooked your tuna steak to perfection, this sauce is ideal for stepping it up a few notches.
Hawaiian Poke is one of life’s greatest pleasures: and you can eat it without all those bowl components, too! Taking one bite is an explosion in your mouth. You get the silky, buttery texture of the ahi tuna (and you wonder if you actually did bite into butter). There’s the sharp umami of the soy sauce, the crunch of the onion, the pungent ginger, and that sexy garlicky essence…really, there’s nothing like it!
Got a few extra minutes to spare? Use that time to make marinated tuna steaks! Marinate the tuna steaks in sesame oil, soy sauce, ginger, garlic, green onion, and lime juice to infuse massive flavor! A quick pan sear on both sides, and dinner is ready. via Simply Recipes
Here's a great way to serve tuna steak: panko and sesame crusted seared tuna on a bed of arugula and spinach salad, all topped with a wasabi butter sauce! The unique sauce is made with soy, wasabi, shallots, white wine, milk and butter, and is addictively delicious.
Another unique way to serve tuna steak? As kebabs! These grilled tuna kebabs featured the meaty fish and assorted vegetables, marinated for several hours in a rosemary garlic olive oil marinade. via Simply Recipes
Tips for buying ahi tuna steak
You’ll want a great piece of fish for these fresh tuna steak recipes. Ahi tuna (aka yellowtail tuna) is sold as large thick steaks at the grocery, not thin fillets like with other types of fish. Here’s what to look for when buying tuna steaks:
- Make sure it’s sushi or sashimi grade. There are no specific regulations around the label “sushi-grade,” but it means it’s a high quality fish that is safe to be eaten raw.
- Check at the fish counter. You should be able to find ahi tuna steaks at your local grocery counter.
- Look for frozen steaks. Or, it’s possible that your grocery might have frozen steaks. These can be even fresher than fresh tuna if they’re flash frozen right when they’re caught. You’ll just need to thaw the night before in the refrigerator.
- Find wild caught. Fish that is wild caught is usually a sustainable choice. There are also quality options in well-regulated farms; see Seafood Watch Consumer Guide.
More fish recipes
Love fresh fish recipes? Here are some of our favorites to choose from:
- Try 15 Cod Recipes Everyone Will Love
- Opt for 10 Tilapia Recipes Everyone Will Love
- Go for 30 Shrimp Recipes Perfect for Dinner
- Grab 21 Easy Salmon Recipes
10 Tuna Steak Recipes: Seared Ahi Tuna & More!
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 5 minutes
- Total Time: 25 minutes
- Yield: 4 1x
Description
These tuna steak recipes are the best ways to serve this meaty, buttery fish! Try ahi tuna seared, grilled, in tacos and more. For all the recipes, see the list above!
Ingredients
For the garlic herb sauce
- 3 tablespoons salted butter
- 2 tablespoons jarred capers, drained
- ¼ cup fresh Italian flat-leaf parsley, finely minced
- 1 whole garlic clove, peeled and smashed
- ½ teaspoon Dijon mustard
- 1 pinch kosher salt
For the tuna steaks
- 4 steaks (1 pound) high quality ahi tuna (sashimi grade recommended; wild caught if you can find it*)
- 1 tablespoon neutral oil
- 1 ½ teaspoons kosher salt
- Fresh ground black pepper
Instructions
- Allow the tuna steak to come to room temperature by letting it stand for at least 20 minutes. (Use this time to prep the ingredients for the sauce!)
- Pat the tuna dry. Sprinkle it liberally with kosher salt and fresh ground black pepper on both sides to get a nice even coating.
- Heat the oil in a medium skillet over medium high heat. Add the tuna steaks and cook 1 to 2 minutes per side, until lightly browned on the outside but still rare the inside. The tuna will continue cooking while sitting. For a medium-rare tuna steak, the internal temperature should be 130 degrees Fahrenheit when measured with a food thermometer at the thickest point.
- Allow the tuna to cool for 3 minutes while you make the sauce.
- Melt the butter in a small saucepan or skillet over low heat. Once melted, add the capers (whole or chopped for a smoother sauce), finely minced parsley, the smashed garlic clove, Dijon mustard, and salt and cook until fragrant, about 3 minutes. Remove from heat and remove garlic clove.
- Slice the tuna against the grain into ½-inch slices and serve immediately with a few drizzles of the sauce.
- Category: Main dish
- Method: Seared
- Cuisine: Seafood
- Diet: Gluten Free
I love rare to medium rare (wild caught 14 oz) tuna steaks. I just found some excellent wild caught steaks at (of all places) WalMart. Thank you for these receipts I plan on trying them all!
By the way, I worked in Japan for several years when Isuzu and GM were together as a joint manufacturing business. I ate as the Japanese workers did and enjoyed the different foods.