Ahi Tuna Salad is sooooo tasty…I’ve you’ve never tried it, give it a whirl.
It’ll make canned tuna pale in comparison.
This recipe is based on one from the Barefoot Contessa, and is a perfect way to add some kick to your plate. Wasabi powder can be found in the Asian food section of the store, and can be REALLY potent, so I suggest adding just a little at a time and seeing if it’s too hot. Finding one without sugar or anything weird can be really tough…it took me a lot of searching to find one that was Paleo-friendly (“Hime” brand…horseradish, spirulina and turmeric are the only ingredients).
Don’t like wasabi? You can totally leave it out.
I served this tuna salad on fresh romaine lettuce boats wrapped up into nori and served sushi style. If you don’t like tuna, you could substitute cooked chicken breast.
Ahi Tuna Salad
This Ahi Tuna Salad recipe is based on one from the Barefoot Contessa, and is a perfect way to add some kick to your plate.
Ingredients
For the Dressing:
- 2 limes, juiced if you prefer a less acidic dressing, cut down to juice of 1 lime
- 1 lime, zest
- 2 tsp coconut aminos
- 2 tsap sesame oil sub: LIGHT-tasting olive oil or other neutral-tasting oil
- 2 tsp wasabi powder or any other clean wasabi
- Salt and pepper to taste
For the Salad:
- 1 lb ahi tuna steak
- 2 green onions thinly sliced
- 1 avocado diced
- 1 tbsp sesame seeds
- Romaine or butter lettuce leaves
- Nori wraps optional
Instructions
- To make the dressing, combine the lime juice, lime zest, coconut aminos, sesame oil, wasabi powder, salt and pepper in a medium bowl. Stir together and set aside.
- Pat the fish dry with a paper towel and season with salt and pepper. Grill or pan-fry on high heat for ~2 minutes per side. *Important: you want the fish to be rare inside. If you cook it until well-done it’ll be tough and dry. Allow to cool on a cutting board. Cut into chunks.
- Add the avocado, green onion, sesame seeds and tuna to the bowl with the dressing. Fold the ingredients together to combine.
Serve on lettuce boats / cups or wrap with nori. Or, just serve in a bowl.
11 Responses
Ahahaaha – I just got back from the farmer’s market and this recipe popped up in my feed. Hadn’t planned to buy fish today since we have some in the freezer, but stopped at the fish monger to see if she had anything unusual. She put a container of frozen Ahi in front of me and said “which piece do you want?” Well, the biggest one, of course! As I’m walking away with that and a nice piece of Arctic Char, I’m thinking of the time years ago that my brother the chef made fresh tuna sauteed in lemon garlic butter for me, and thought I would do the same but with ghee. Now I wish I had asked for another piece! You’re absolutely right that the taste of fresh doesn’t come close to canned!!!
Fresh ahi is so delicious 🙂 Happy cooking!
We followed the recipe to the T (using Olive Oil) and found that the dressing was very bitter. Kinda ruined the meal for us. Idk what could have been done differently.
Hi Tim…check that your sesame oil is not rancid!
Same for us, the dressing was way too tangy and bitter. The oil was fine, used olive oil and it is not rancid. Ended up picking out the ahi and throwing everything else out. I tasted the dressing before using it and immediately knew it wasn’t going to work, so I added lots more olive oil to try and balance out the lime juice, but couldn’t pull it off.
I always err on the side of a more flavorful, tangy dressing, hence the 1:1 ratio of acid to oil. If you prefer a less acidic dressing, you’d want to increase that ratio of acid to oil to a standard 1:3 ratio. I tend to find dressings are too oily and don’t have as much flavor when that is the case. Did you use extra virgin olive oil? It has a very peppery taste that might not go as well with the fish.
Did either of you zest your limes too deeply and get white pith? It’s very bitter if you did.