These Ahi Tuna Sushi Stacks are a Cactus Club copycat made with a tamari vinaigrette, avocado, panko & micro greens.
How to make this recipe
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Spray wonton wrappers with cooking spray, season with salt and bake for 4 minutes, flipping halfway through.
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Dice tuna steaks into 1/4-inch pieces, then add chopped up orange segments, tamari, sesame oil, lime juice, chili garlic sauce, green onions, nori strips and sesame seeds.
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Add a bit of the tuna mixture to a 1 cup measuring cup
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Top with avocado, then press everything down hard in the measuring cup.
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Drizzle a bit of hoisin sauce on a plate, then flip measuring cup upside down so it comes out in a stack-like form. Top with panko breadcrumbs and microgreens, then enjoy!
Ingredients and substitutions
- Avocados – smashed avocado or guacamole will work well.
- Microgreens – this is an optional topping for the sushi stack.
Tuna marinade
- Tuna steaks – Feel free to use shrimp, tuna or whatever other type of seafood you enjoy in sushi
- Soy sauce – tamari or coconut aminos are great alternatives to soy sauce.
- Sesame oil – use avocado oil or olive oil in place of sesame oil but note it won’t be as fragrant.
- Lime juice – use fresh or bottled lime or lemon juice.
- Nori sheet – this will add an authentic taste but leave out if you’re in a pinch.
- Sesame seeds (for garnish)
How to perfect the sushi stack
The best way to get the perfect sushi stack is to assemble it into a measuring cup. This ensures that you get the perfect cylindrical shape that looks professionally made! Start off by filling the measuring cup with the marinated ahi tuna. Then add in the diced avocado. Press down firmly and allow the ingredients to form to the shape of the measuring cup before flipping over to serve on a plate.
Storing and serving
You can store any leftover stacks in the fridge up to 2 or 3 days. After that point, the ahi tuna probably won't be as fresh. Since the tuna is raw, you won't want it to sit too long in the fridge anyway. I serve these sushi stacks cold when I make them fresh the first time and I serve them cold again when eating as leftovers, so there's no need to worry about reheating the next day!
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More sushi-inspired recipes
Meal prep tools
- This is the low-sodium soy sauce I use if you can't get tamari
- You can get black and white sushi sesame seeds here.
- Here's where you can get nori sheets.
- I use the 1-cup measuring cup from this set – metal cups make it so much easier to dump all the ingredients out into a stack.
Ahi Tuna Sushi Stack (Cactus Club Copycat)
Ingredients
- 2 avocados, diced
- 2 medium-sized tuna steaks
- 1 orange, peeled and cut up
- 1/2 cup panko breadcrumbs
- 1 cup microgreens micro cilantro and micro radish is what Cactus Club uses
- 1 tbsp hoisin sauce for drizzling
Tamari vinaigrette
- 3 tbsp tamari
- 1 tbsp sesame oil
- 1 tbsp lime juice
- 1 tsp chili garlic sauce
- 2 green onions thinly sliced
- 1/2 nori sheet, cut into thin strips
- 1 tsp Sesame seeds for garnish
Wonton chips
- 1/2 (400g) package wonton wrappers
- Cooking spray
- Sea salt, to taste
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400 F. Add wonton wrappers to a parchment-lined baking sheet, spray with cooking spray, season with salt and bake for 2 minutes. Flip then bake another 2 minutes, watching closely so they don't burn.
- Meanwhile, dice tuna steaks into 1/4-inch pieces. I find it easiest to freeze tuna for about 1 hour to get it to harden up so it's easier to cut. Add tuna and chopped up orange segments to a large bowl, tossing with tamari, sesame oil, lime juice, chili garlic sauce, green onions, nori strips and sesame seeds.
- Try your best to divide all ingredients in four. Add a bit of the tuna mixture to a 1 cup measuring cup, then top with avocado. Press everything down hard in the measuring cup (this is key to getting that stack shape).
- Drizzle a bit of hoisin sauce on a plate, then flip measuring cup upside down so it comes out in a stack-like form. Top with panko breadcrumbs and microgreens, then serve alongside wonton chips and enjoy!
Comments & Reviews
Angie says
This sounds delicious and simple, but I’ve never seen a tuna stack without rice. Was there a reason in not using it in your recipe?
Taylor Stinson says
The one at Cactus Club (the restaurant the recipe is inspired by) doesn’t use it!
Denise says
Thank you so much! I conquered my fear of making sushi it turned out great, my daughter was a sushi chef now in the medical field. So I made a treat for her
Taylor Stinson says
I’m so happy you both enjoyed! 🙂
Christina says
What type of measuring cup did you use? I couldn’t get mine to stack.
Taylor Stinson says
A 1 cup measure works best here! It may help to spray some cooking spray inside and then tightly pack everything in before flipping over and tapping hard overtop to get it to all come out.
Ray says
Hello, your video says to use lime juice for the tuna marinade but the written recipe doesn’t state it, can you please clarify the quantity you used, thanks.
Also, how long do you let the tuna sit in the marinade before eating?
Taylor Stinson says
Hi Ray – so sorry, it’s 1 tbsp. The recipe has been updated to reflect that. There is no marinating time for the tuna so you can just mix it up and then assemble the stacks as described.
Jessica says
Where do you buy the tuna steak? It looks so tasty. I want to make this!
Thank you for sharing this!
Jessica
Taylor Stinson says
Hey Jessica – you can often find it in the freezer section of your local grocery store with all the other fish, but sometimes you can find it at the fish counter. I typically buy tuna steak at Loblaws but local seafood shops should also have it.
Anna says
Quick question about tuna. Do you sear tuna after defrosting or just marinate and cube raw.
Is Costco frozen tuna safe to eat raw?
Taylor Stinson says
Hey Anna – in this recipe you marinate the raw tuna! I would say that Costco tuna is safe to eat, but it’s always best to read the packaging and do your own due diligence on food safety. Without me seeing the exact product in question it’s hard for me to say for sure.
White Rock Dan says
Wow this turned out great! I used minute rice instead of sushi rice and it was still really yummy. I also went a little heavy on the soya so the tuna was kind of dark but tasted amazing! FYI Costco sells frozen tuna steaks.
I tried stacking everything in the measuring cup but I failed to get it to come out in a cylinder shape. After two attempts I improvised and took a piece of aluminum foil, folded it in half to thicken it up the wrapped it a few times around a wine bottle. Holding the foil tight against the bottle I taped around the foil a couple of times to keep the round shape then slid it off the bottle. I then stacked my ingredients inside one by one and tamped down each level with the flat side of a meat thermometer! It’s all I had handy to push things down. Then I gently pulled up my foil mold. It was amazing! It came out in a perfect stack. I couldn’t find won ton wrappers so I used frozen spring roll wrappers sprayed with Pam, salted and baked until crisp. I sprinkled these on top with pea shoots and garnished with black sesame seeds. OMG did this ever look and taste like a high quality restaurant meal! Thanks for the recipe!
Taylor Stinson says
I’m so happy you enjoyed the recipe Dan and thank you for sharing your tips to getting the stack just right, that’s quite creative!!! Also love the idea of baking the spring roll wrappers. Thank you for sharing your review 🙂
Brittany says
Made this tonight…SO GOOD! Added sriracha to the tuna marinade and put the stack over a bed of mixed baby lettuce! Thank so for the recipe!
Taylor Stinson says
I’m so happy to hear that Brittany!!! Thanks so much for sharing with me! 🙂