Copycat Bonefish Grill Tuna Bowls

10/31/16

These Bonefish Grill Tuna Bowls are a delicious copy cat from my favourite seafood chain – be sure to add sliced avocado, mango salsa and sweet chili Thai sauce for extra kick!

Ingredients in Bonefish Grill tuna bowls

The tuan bowls will include tuna steaks, rice, avocado and sweet chili Thai sauce.

Buy high quality fresh tuna steaks if at all possible. They taste much better than frozen or a lower quality fish. Choose steaks that are about an inch thick and shiny. That indicates that it has been recently cut and will be fresh.

I serve the tuna bowls with a mango salsa. To make the salsa, you will need:

• Frozen mango
• Red pepper
• Red onion
• Cilantro
• Lemon or lime juice

How to sear tuna

Searing tuna means it is rare when served. This is why you want to invest in high quality tuna meat.

It is perfectly safe to eat tuna that is cooked rare. A good quality tuna has been flash frozen almost immediately after being caught. We just want to sear the outside to give it a little more flavor.

To get a proper sear on the tuna steak:

1. Heat oil in a pan to high heat. You want to wait to put the tuna in the pan until the oil is smoking and very hot.
2. Coat the tuna steaks with sesame seeds.
3. Cook for 45 seconds per side. Yes, this is a very short time. But it’s just enough to sear the outside layer and keep the inside raw.
4. Let it rest for a few minutes.

How to make tuna bowls

Presentation is part of the appeal for these tuna bowls. Putting them together in this way makes them fun to eat and easy to combine flavors.

1. Pack rice into a ½ cup measuring cup. Dump it in the middle of the plate.
2. Add a scoop of mango salsa to one side
3. Arrange the sliced avocado
4. Cut the tuna steaks into pieces and use about half of each steak per tuan bowl serving
5. Garnish the rice with crushed tortilla strips and cilantro
6. Add a bowl of chili sauce to each serving

How to make the mango salsa

The easiest way to make this salsa is to allow a bag of frozen mango to thaw in the refrigerator for a few hours.

You could use fresh mango if you prefer, but it can be difficult to cut. Follow these steps for the most efficient way to cut a mango:

1. Peel the mango with a vegetable peeler.
2. Cut off the bottom with the stem so it has a flat surface to stand on.
3. Cut the sides into boards.
4. Make sure to cut off all the small pieces along the big pit in the middle.
5. Cut each board in two directions for diced mango. Cutting it smaller is great for salsa so you can get more of each flavor on the fork.

Dice the red pepper, red onion and cilantro in small pieces to combine with the salsa. Drizzle the lemon or lime juice over the ingredients. Let it sit for at least ten minutes for the flavors to combine.

Ingredient substitutions

Tuna steaks can be very expensive. They are worth the splurge in tuna bowls, but there are alternatives. You could use salmon instead or even grill shrimp to go with the tuan bowls.

If you like your salsa a little spicier, you can add some jalapenos. Searing your tuna with red pepper flakes will give it a kick too.

My preference is jasmine rice, but sushi rice or brown rice would work as well. For a different variation, try soba noodles or zucchini noodles.

You can always add veggies to this as well. Great choices include:

• Cucumbers
• Edamame
• Scallions
• Green beans
• Sugar snap peas

What can you make ahead?

The mango salsa can be made ahead. It will last in the refrigerator for three days. In fact, the flavors combine nicely when it has a chance to sit for awhile.

Rice can be stored in the refrigerator for four to six days. Reheat it with a splash of water.

Freezing rice is a great meal prep secret. It’s easy to make a large batch of rice on the stove top or in the rice cooker or Instant Pot. Pack your rice into individual servings and freeze for up to one month. You can reheat rice from frozen in the microwave one serving at a time. Cover it with a paper towel to keep the moisture in.

The seared tuna will last for three days in the refrigerator. Tuna does not reheat well in the microwave though. Either heat it in the skillet or eat it cold.

Storing tuna bowls

These tuna bowls are best the day you make them. You can assemble them the night before and refrigerate them overnight. You may want to keep the rice separate if you plan to reheat it.

Copycat Bonefish Grill Tuna Bowls

5 from 3 votes

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Course: Entree

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cook Time: 20 minutes

Total Time: 40 minutes

Servings: 4 bowls

Ingredients

• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 2 tuna steaks preferably fresh
• Sesame seeds
• 2 cups rice preferably jasmine
• 1-2 avocados sliced (depends on how much you want!)
• 1 cup tortilla strips crushed
• Sweet chili Thai sauce for serving
• Cilantro for garnish

Mango salsa

• 1 cup frozen mango chunks diced and dethawed
• 1/2 red pepper diced
• 1 small red onion diced
• 1/3 cup cilantro finely chopped
• 2 tsp lime or lemon juice
• 1/2 tsp salt

Instructions

• In a rice cooker or in a pot on the stove, cook rice according to package directions (usually it takes around 15-20 min).
• Meanwhile, make mango salsa and coat tuna steaks with sesame seeds.
• Heat olive oil in a large frying pan on high heat. Once oil starts to smoke, add tuna steaks, cooking for 45 seconds per side. Remove from heat and set on a plate to rest for a couple minutes.
• Pack rice into a 1/2 cup measuring cup and dump onto each plate. Add mango salsa alongside rice, as well as sliced avocado. Add half of each tuna steak to each bowl. Garnish with crushed tortilla strips and cilantro, then serve along with a tiny bowl of sweet chili Thai sauce for dipping. Enjoy!