Keto Ahi Tuna Recipe: A Quick and Delicious Guide

Do you admire those perfectly cooked, keto-friendly meals you enjoy at restaurants, thinking they're too complicated to make at home? Seared tuna steak might seem fancy, but it's surprisingly easy to prepare in your own kitchen in under 30 minutes. This article will guide you through creating a restaurant-worthy tuna dish that's both satisfying and delicious.

Why Ahi Tuna is Perfect for Keto

Tuna is naturally low in carbs and an excellent source of protein, making it ideal for keto diets. This recipe requires only a few ingredients and minimal cooking time-about six minutes on the stove. The combination of simple seasonings can create an incredibly flavorful dish. Its quick preparation makes it a great option for a fast, healthy, and delicious lunch or dinner.

Selecting the Best Tuna

For the best results, choose fresh ahi tuna steaks. Find a local fish market that carries fresh fish and can guide you toward purchasing the best tuna steaks possible. The quality of the tuna is crucial, especially when preparing it rare.

Simple Yet Flavorful Marinade

The marinade for this tuna consists of just sesame oil and soy sauce. This simple combination packs a flavorful punch. If you’re watching your sodium intake, use coconut aminos as a substitute for soy sauce. It offers a similar taste with significantly less salt.

Cooking the Tuna to Perfection

Given how quickly fish cooks, be careful not to overcook the tuna steaks. The goal is to achieve a tasty pink center, showcasing the quality of the ahi tuna. This dish is quick enough for a fast lunch but satisfying enough for dinner.

Read also: Healthy Tuna Salad

Keto Benefits and Flavor

A key to a good keto recipe is its balance of low carbs and high fats. This recipe delivers both, along with great taste in just minutes. Eating healthy doesn’t have to mean sacrificing flavor, spending a fortune, or investing too much time. Whether you're experienced with the keto diet or just starting, seared tuna steak is an excellent recipe to try.

Recipe: Keto Seared Ahi Tuna

Here's a detailed recipe to create your own keto seared ahi tuna:

Ingredients:

  • Ahi tuna steaks
  • Salt and pepper
  • Soy sauce (or coconut aminos)
  • Sesame oil
  • Sesame seeds (for garnish)

Instructions:

  1. Marinate the Tuna: Season the tuna steaks with salt and pepper and place them in a shallow dish. In a bowl, whisk together the soy sauce and sesame oil. Pour the mixture over the tuna steaks, ensuring they are well coated. Marinate at room temperature for 15 minutes.
  2. Sear the Tuna: Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat until hot. Add the tuna steaks and cook for 3 minutes, allowing them to sear underneath. Flip the steaks and cook for another 2 to 3 minutes, or until done to your liking.
  3. Serve: Slice the steaks into ½-inch slices and garnish with sesame seeds before serving.

Nutritional Information

Nutritional data is provided as a courtesy. To calculate the nutrition, fiber and sugar alcohols, like erythritol, are removed from the total carbohydrate count to get to the net carb count, as they do not affect blood glucose levels. It is recommended to independently calculate nutritional information on your own and not rely on provided data.

Ahi Tuna Bowls: A Summer Delight

Ahi Tuna Bowls are perfect for summer. They feature seared ahi tuna steaks served on a bed of fresh vegetables and avocado, drizzled with a sesame-ginger dressing, and topped with sesame seeds. Ahi tuna refers to both yellowfin and bigeye tuna.

Asian-Style Tuna Salad: A Keto Recipe

This Asian-style tuna salad is a clean keto recipe that's free of grains, gluten, dairy, nuts, and eggs. It can also be made Whole30-approved by skipping the sweetener. If you avoid nightshades, substitute spiralized daikon radish for bell pepper.

Read also: Easy Low-Carb Cheese Crackers

Recipe: Seared Ahi Tuna Bowl

Ingredients:

Sesame Ginger Dressing:

  • 3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil (45 ml)
  • 2 tbsp coconut aminos or tamari sauce (30 ml)
  • 2 tbsp toasted sesame oil (30 ml)
  • 1 tbsp rice vinegar or white wine vinegar (15 ml)
  • 1 tsp grated fresh ginger
  • Optional: 1 tbsp Allulose or Erythritol (10 g/ 0.4 oz)
  • 1/4 tsp sea salt, or more to taste
  • 1/4 tsp black pepper

Salad Bowls:

  • 1 small carrot (50 g/ 1.8 oz)
  • 1 medium cucumber (150 g/ 5.3 oz)
  • 1 small yellow, red, or orange bell pepper (75 g/ 2.7 oz)
  • 1/2 large avocado (100 g/ 3.5 oz)
  • 4 cups salad greens of choice (100 g/ 3.5 oz)
  • 2 tsp virgin avocado oil or extra virgin olive oil
  • 2 ahi tuna steaks (300 g/ 10.6 oz)
  • 2 tsp sesame seeds

Instructions:

  1. Prepare the Dressing/Marinade: In a small bowl, mix the olive oil, coconut aminos (or tamari sauce), sesame oil, rice vinegar (or white wine vinegar), grated ginger, salt, and pepper. Add the sweetener if desired. Stir until well combined and set aside.
  2. Marinate the Tuna: Place the tuna steaks in a ziplock bag or a small bowl and pour over about half of the dressing. Let it marinate in the fridge for at least 10 minutes, or ideally 30 minutes.
  3. Prepare the Vegetables: Peel and julienne or grate the carrot. Use a potato peeler to slice the cucumber into wide noodles. Halve, deseed, and slice the bell pepper. Peel and slice the avocado.
  4. Cook the Tuna: Heat a non-stick pan or a well-seasoned cast iron skillet over medium to medium-high heat. Once the pan is very hot (about a minute for a non-stick pan, or 3 minutes for a cast iron skillet), add the avocado oil (or olive oil) and the tuna steaks.
  5. Sear the Tuna: Sear the tuna for 1-2 minutes (rare) to 2-3 minutes (medium) per side. The time needed will depend on the thickness of the steaks.
  6. Assemble the Salad: Divide the greens between two bowls and add the carrot, cucumber, pepper, and avocado. Add the tuna slices and drizzle with the remaining marinade/dressing. Finally, sprinkle with sesame seeds.
  7. Enjoy: Serve immediately.

Spicy Ahi Tuna Poke Bowl

Making Poke at home may seem intimidating but with an Easy Keto Spicy Ahi Tuna Poke Bowl Recipe, it’s easy to make this restaurant favorite.

What is Poke?

Poke consists of raw fish cut into bite-sized pieces and marinated or served with a sauce.

Poke can be made with various seafood options like crab, shrimp, mussels, squid, octopus, abalone, and different species of fish. Ahi or yellowfin tuna is most common. The tuna's quality is crucial since Poke is made with raw tuna.

Selecting Tuna for Poke

Purchase fresh, sashimi-grade tuna for poke. If only frozen tuna is available, ensure it is sushi/sashimi grade.

The Sauce

The second most important part of a spicy tuna poke bowl is the sauce. A Keto Sweet & Spicy Asian Mayo Sauce Recipe is an addictively versatile sauce.

Read also: Keto Calorie Counting: A Detailed Guide

Serving

Fill a bowl with keto-friendly poke bowl ingredients and top it with bite-sized cubes of raw ahi tuna.

Keto-Friendly Poke Bowl Ingredients

A base of finely shredded cabbage with a pinch of fermented carrots, topped with shelled edamame with cucumbers and radishes. Add Keto Asian Sweet & Spicy Mayo Sauce.

Poke vs. Ceviche

Poke and ceviche are both seafood dishes from warm coastal areas, but they come from different geographical regions and use different ingredients. Poke is Hawaiian with Asian flavors, while ceviche is Latin American inspired. Ceviche marinates raw fish in citrus, which "cooks" the proteins, giving it a different consistency than poke.

Recipe: Easy Keto Spicy Ahi Yellowfin Tuna Poke Bowl

  1. Make a batch of asian sweet and spicy mayo in a small bowl. Set aside.
  2. Arrange ingredients in your bowl and top with cubed sushi grade tuna.
  3. Drizzle sauce over top.
  4. Enjoy immediately.

Nutritional info cannot be calculated for this recipe since you determine what accessories you include in the poke bowl.

Sesame Crusted Tuna Steaks

Sesame crusted and seared tuna steaks are marinated in a quick sauce, crusted in black sesame seeds, and seared in a hot skillet.

Ingredients

  • Tuna steaks
  • Sesame oil
  • Soy sauce
  • Black sesame seeds

Instructions

  1. Marinate the tuna in sesame oil and soy sauce.
  2. Get skillet hot and pull out a separate plate for the sesame seeds.
  3. Crust the tuna steaks in the sesame seeds, then place them in the hot skillet.
  4. Sear them on all sides for 1 minute.
  5. Place the tuna steaks in a shallow plate or bowl. Pour the sesame oil and soy sauce on top of the steaks and flip to coat in the sauce. Set aside to marinate.
  6. In a separate shallow bowl or plate, add the sesame seeds. Place a non-stick skillet large enough for both steaks over medium-hi heat. leave to get hot.
  7. Coat each tuna steak in the sesame seeds on all sides. Place in the hot skillet and sear for 1 minute on each side.
  8. Remove from the skillet to a cutting board and slice in ½ inch thick slices.

Keto Seared Ahi Tuna with Sesame Crust

Elevate your low-carb dining experience with this Keto Seared Ahi Tuna recipe, a quick and gourmet-worthy dish that’s healthy and delicious. Perfectly seared ahi tuna steaks are crusted with white and black sesame seeds for a nutty crunch and elegant presentation, while remaining tender and juicy on the inside. This keto-friendly recipe is paired with a zesty dipping sauce made with coconut aminos, lime juice, ginger, garlic, and a hint of wasabi for a flavorful kick. Ready in just 15 minutes and bursting with protein and healthy fats, this dish is ideal for a quick lunch, dinner, or fancy appetizer.

Instructions

  1. Pat the ahi tuna steaks dry with paper towels.
  2. Sear the tuna steaks for about 1 to 1.5 minutes per side, depending on your preferred level of doneness.

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