Seared Tuna Salad

In the case of this seared ahi tuna salad recipe, I started out with a variation of my Pepper Crusted Tuna with Wasabi Cream Sauce recipe, but went with a wasabi vinaigrette for the salad dressing, rather than a cream sauce.

In the spirit of the Poke Bowls that we love, the seared ahi tuna is arranged on a base, along with other tasty ingredients.

Rather than sushi rice, though, the base is a fresh salad.

Tuna is one of our favourite sources of lean protein, so it’s no surprise that this Asian tuna salad is one of our favourite seafood recipes of all time.

Anyway, enough appeasing the Google gods, let’s get to it!

Ingredients

This seared ahi salad is a SUPER simple recipe, and you’ll definitely be able to find all the ingredients in any larger local grocery store.

I tend to look at the salad ingredients in 4 parts - the base salad, the toppings, the dressing, and the tuna. Some notes for you:

Base Salad

I like to meal prep several days worth of salad base bowls on grocery day - some sort of fresh greens, along with some fairly neutral fresh vegetables - Usually shredded broccoli stems, carrot, green onions, cucumber, and radish.

1 batch makes 10 salads - each in a covered shallow bowl - so we’ve got a few days worth of base salads to adorn all kinds of different ways. (They tend to last 6-7 days in the fridge.

It’s a pretty slick way to get a lot of vegetables into our diet, and feels like SO much less work than making full salads individually.

See my Salad Meal Prep post for full details on how I do it.

Want to make this salad as a standalone thing?

You can use a base of fresh greens, spring mix, baby spinach, and/or romaine lettuce. I’d add some cucumber and radish in, for good measure.

Salad Toppings

I like to let the seared tuna take center stage with this salad, so the topping vegetables are mostly kept to a minimum with this one.

Usually I just use some sliced red cabbage, some edamame (Shelled, cooked, and cooled), and some extra green onions.

Sliced green bell peppers also go nicesly, should you so desire them!

Creamy Wasabi Vinaigrette

This salad dressing whips up in just minutes, and packs a flavour punch!

You will need:

1 tablespoon Wasabi powder
Olive oil
Sesame Oil
Ginger Garlic Paste
Gluten Free Soy Sauce or Coconut Aminos
Rice Vinegar
Sugar substitute (I use an Erythritol / Monkfruit Blend Sweetener)
Salt & Ground Black Pepper

I recommend using an Immersion Blender or a Milk Frother to blend it to a creamy consistency.

Sesame Crusted Tuna

When dealing with raw fish - or almost raw fish - you want to be sure to buy it from a reputable source.

I tend to get mine from either the local fish markets (when I’m using ahi tuna) or Skipper Otto - the Community Supported Fishery we subscribe to. (They have fabulous albacore tuna loins).

While you want fresh tuna - in terms of it being good to eat, not smelling overly fishy, etc - you don’t want “fresh fish” in the “has never been frozen” sense.

For a fish to be safe to eat raw - or almost raw, as we do here - you need a sushi grade / sashimi grade type of fish.

This means it’s been flash frozen to a certain temperature, for a certain amount of time. Because of those conditions, any existing parasites would have been killed off.

I tend to use ahi tuna steaks. I leave them in their vacuum-sealed package to thaw overnight in the fridge, then pat them dry with paper towels before use.

Aside from the raw tuna, you will need:

Sesame Oil
Black Sesame Seeds
Toasted or White Sesame Seeds
Ground Black Pepper
Salt

How to Make Seared Tuna Salad

The full recipe is in the recipe card at the end of this post. Here is the pictorial walk through, with some more detailed information where necessary.

Creamy Wasabi Dressing

In a small bowl, whisk together wasabi powder and water until smooth, allow to sit for 5 minutes.

Season with salt and pepper, to taste.

Sesame Crusted Tuna

Remove tuna from package, allow to sit at room temperature for a few minutes to warm up slightly.

Blot with paper towel to remove excess moisture.

Place sesame seeds, pepper, and salt in a shallow small mixing bowl or on a large plate.

One at a time, press tuna steaks into the spice mixture, coating both sides.

Use hands to press additional spice mixture onto the sides of the tuna steaks, and any areas missed,

Set tuna steaks aside.

Heat sesame oil in a non-stick skillet or cast iron pan / cast iron skillet over medium-high heat

Gently transfer tuna steaks to the pan, leaving at least 1″ space between each.

This will give you a nice rare tuna steak – cook for longer if you prefer it to be more cooked.

Also: I like to do a sear on the sides, when possible.

Salad Assembly

Arrange cabbage, edamame, and any other toppings on the salads.

More Keto Main Dish Salad Recipes

Looking for more low carb salad recipes that are substantial enough to serve as a meal? Look no further!

Buffalo Chicken Salad
Chicken Bacon Ranch Salad
Cobb Salad
Italian Sub Salad
Keto Taco Salad
Mediterranean Chicken Salad
Salad Meal Prep
Seafood Cobb Salad
Sesame Ginger Chicken Salad
Shawarma Chicken Salad
Steak Salad with Creamy Wasabi Dressing
Thai Pesto Salmon Salad

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