This Ahi Tuna Salad is a colourful dish served with seared tuna steaks, sliced avocado, crunchy wontons and a delicious sesame ginger dressing.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- Unique blend of flavors: The different flavors of the dressing paired with the sesame-coated tuna is so delicious.
- Easy to make: Just make the dressing, sear the tuna and assemble your salad – easy peasy!
Ingredients and substitutions
- Olive oil – or any other neutral cooking oil like avocado, canola or grapeseed oil.
- Tuna steaks – try using sushi-grade ahi tuna or sashimi-grade salmon.
- Sesame seeds – white or black sesame seeds would both work here.
- Romaine lettuce – iceberg, bibb or Boston lettuce are the best substitutes.
- Coleslaw mix – use store bought coleslaw mix or make your own with a mixture of shredded cabbage and carrots.
- Cucumber – try celery, zucchini or another vegetable of your choice.
- Green onions – use scallions or leave these out altogether.
- Avocado – substitute for a vegetable of your choice if you don’t like avocado.
- Wontons – tortilla strips add the same amount of crunch to the salad.
Dressing
- Carrot – leave this out altogether if you don’t have any carrots on hand.
- Celery – you can leave the celery out.
- Sesame oil – grapeseed oil or olive oil can be substituted but they won’t have the same flavor as the sesame oil.
- Rice vinegar – white wine vinegar or apple cider vinegar would be the next best option.
- Honey – try using agave or maple syrup.
- Minced ginger – fresh ginger is best but you can use ground ginger in a pinch.
- Soy sauce – tamari and coconut aminos are a great replacement for soy sauce.
How to make ahi tuna salad
Step 1: Make the dressing and prep your ingredients.
Blend all the dressing ingredients and prepare your veggies.
Step 2: Coat the tuna steaks.
Season the ahi tuna steaks with salt and pepper, then coat in the sesame seeds.
Step 3: Sear the tuna.
Heat oil in a large frying pan or skillet, then sear the steaks for 30 seconds per side. Remove from heat, and slice against the grain.
Step 4: Assemble your salad and serve.
Divide all the ingredients in large bowls, top with tuna steaks, toss with the dressing and serve.
Salad tips & tricks
Here are some of my top tips for making this ahi tuna salad:
- Don’t overcook the tuna: Making the perfect seared tuna can be tricky, especially when tuna steaks come in varying ranges of thickness. I typically do 30 seconds per side to make sure the tuna isn’t overcooked, but you can always cook them longer if desired.
- Make the dressing in advance: You can make the dressing up to 5 days in advance, then store it in the fridge in an airtight container like mason jars. Your salad will come together much quicker when you’re ready to eat!
- Add more veggies: Throw in any extra veggies you have kicking around your fridge, like edamame, bell peppers, zucchini, broccoli slaw, zucchini and more.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is ahi tuna?
Ahi tuna, also known as yellowfin tuna, is found in tropical or subtropical climates. It’s a great source of lean protein and is most commonly served seared or raw in sushi dishes.
Is this salad good for you?
Yes! This recipe is super healthy. It’s made with lots of fresh veggies and the tuna steaks are a great source of lean protein. Tuna is also low in carbs and high in nutrients like vitamin B and omega-3 fatty acids.
Do you need to cook the tuna?
The tuna will need to be cooked, as you should only eat raw tuna if it’s marked sushi-grade or sashimi-grade. That means that the tuna has been properly cleaned and is safe for consumption.
Storing leftover salad
You can store the leftover salads in containers in the fridge up to 3 days. I would recommend storing the tuna and salad separately so the veggies themselves can stay fresh. The avocado should also be stored separately so that it doesn’t brown. You can squeeze some lemon juice overtop and not slice the avocado until ready to be used again to prevent browning and softening.
Freezing the tuna
You can freeze the tuna steaks for up to 3 months. Store the tuna in an airtight glass container or in a freezer-safe Ziploc bag. When you’re ready to eat, let it thaw in the fridge overnight and serve over fresh salad.
Meal prep tools for this recipe
- Get glass meal prep bowls here for leftovers.
- You can get wonton strips here.
Ahi Tuna Salad with Sesame Ginger Dressing
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 2 medium-sized tuna steaks fresh or frozen, each steak should be about 8oz
- sesame seeds for encrusting tuna, plus more for garnishing
- 1 head romaine lettuce chopped
- 2 cups coleslaw mix
- 1 cucumber cut into matchsticks
- 4 green onions thinly sliced
- 1 avocado thinly sliced
- wonton strips optional, for garnish
Carrot Ginger dressing
- 1/2 medium sized carrot grated
- 1 stalk celery chopped
- 2 tbsp sesame oil
- 2 tbsp rice vinegar
- 1 tbsp honey
- 1 tbsp minced ginger
- 1 tbsp soy sauce or tamari if gluten-free
Instructions
- In a Magic Bullet, blender or food processor, blend ingredients for dressing. Set aside. If you don't have carrot or celery, you can just mix sesame oil, rice vinegar, honey, ginger and soy sauce together but it won't be as authentic as real sushi-style dressing. It will still taste great though!
- Meanwhile, prepare veggies for the salad and divide evenly among four large salad bowls. Season tuna with salt and pepper before coating in sesame seeds.
- Add olive oil to a large frying pan over high heat. Wait until oil is smoking, then add tuna steaks, searing for 30 seconds per side. Remove from heat and slice against the grain with a sharp knife, adding half of each steak to each salad.
- Garnish each salad with sesame seeds and wonton strips, then add dressing. Serve and enjoy!
Comments & Reviews
LW says
We had some *awesome* seared tuna from a restaurant meal and DH found your recipe as a way to make good use of it, which it was – he said he would eat it “every day”. We’re saving the delicious dressing! Only question is if we could actually sear the tuna ourselves.
Taylor Stinson says
Thank you so much for the amazing review! I’m so happy you enjoyed!
Judy says
Looking for a dressing for my seared tuna salad tonight. Doubled the recipe but made as written. Absolutely my favorite dressing now. Thanks so much!
Taylor Stinson says
So happy you loved it!
Lisa L says
This salad was absolutely delicious! I used red leaf lettuce instead of romaine. Suggest to double the recipe for the carrot ginger dressing — it was so good. I might add some chopped peanuts or cashews to the salad next time for additional crunch. Will definitely be making this again.
Taylor Stinson says
I’m so happy you enjoyed 🙂