Spicy Tuna Fish Bowl Recipe

Spicy tuna rolls are delicious, but if you’ve ever tried to make sushi yourself, you know that it’s no walk in the park. This tuna bowl is practically foolproof, but it still has all of those delicious flavors that you know and love in spicy tuna rolls! Here’s how to turn a tuna and rice recipe into something so good! Love tuna fish recipes then check out these Crispy Lemon Parmesan, Garlic & Herb Tuna Patties. 

 Tuna bowl 

Not only is this tuna bowl easier than making a spicy tuna roll, it’s safer and more cost-effective. When you purchase raw tuna, it comes with a high price point and you’re also running the risk of contracting illnesses that come with ingesting raw food. 

Here, you have a healthy meal that is perfect for a small family or great for meal prep.  It can also easily be made in bulk and brought to your next party!

Tuna bowls are a great way to use up some of that canned tuna in your pantry that you might have forgotten about. Also, if you need something different that tastes great with rice. This is it! This recipe is way more creative than your run-of-the-mill tuna recipe. This tuna and rice recipe is taking things to a whole nother level! If you need more tuna recipes, check out my Crispy Lemon Parmesan, Garlic & Herb Tuna Patties . Love bowl recipes but don’t have the ingredient to make this, then maybe you can make a Burger in a Bowl with Special Sauce

What is a tuna bowl? 

You might be thinking this sounds like one of those poke bowls that you’ve seen before. While they are similar because they both are made with tuna and stem from traditional Japanese cuisine, they are not the same. The biggest difference is that poke bowls are made with sliced tuna that is either raw or seared on the edges. In this case, a tuna bowl is like a deconstructed spicy tuna roll made with canned tuna. 

What is the spicy mayo made of?

I absolutely LOVE spicy mayo. Whenever we go out to eat at a Japanese restaurant, I’ve got to ask for more spicy mayo on the side. With this recipe, you can make your own whenever your heart desires! So this is my take on spicy mayo. It’s so good. FYI, If you don’t like it too spicy, don’t add the full amount called for in the recipe. 

Spicy mayonnaise ingredients:

• Buttermilk – to make it nice and creamy
• Mayonnaise – if you’d like your mayo to be light, you can use a olive-oil based mayo
• Sour cream – to give it depth and tang
• Sriracha – to make it spicy! You can customize the measurements to your personal spice tolerance and flavor
• Lemon juice – to give it zest
• Sesame oil – to balance out the lemon juice (it’s earthy and nutty)
• Soy sauce – gives it the necessary umami flavor
• Rice vinegar – don’t swap this out for another vinegar. Rice vinegar has the right balance of tangy and fermented flavors
• Sugar – just a bit to balance out the flavors
  

Grains Alternatives 

The base of your tuna bowl is going to be a nice, hearty grain. I like to use brown rice because I like the texture of it in this recipe but you can use white if you like. For a shortcut, I always use instant brown rice. For some reason my regular brown rice is always mushy no matter what I do. Instant brown rice never disappoints me. Okay here’s some rice alternatives: 

• Quinoa
• White rice
• Black rice
• Cauliflower rice
• Bulgar
• Barley
• Couscous

How to serve it? 

The possibilities are endless… My favorite additions to a tuna bowl are:

• Cucumbers – just like in a spicy tuna roll
• Avocado – also in spicy tuna rolls!
• Carrot sticks or shredded carrot – I love to dip carrot sticks in almost anything
• Salt, pepper, and sesame seeds – sprinkled on top or mixed into the salad
• Pickled ginger – to give it a traditional sushi feel
• Soy sauce or sesame oil – drizzled on top for an extra punch of flavor
• Seaweed/Nori chips – You can find a small package at the grocery store for about a buck. 

Tuna alternatives

If you dislike tuna, you can use canned salmon. Canned salmon has a pretty similar texture and shreds easily. 

For a vegan alternative, you can use mashed chickpeas! When making the spicy mayo, you can use vegan mayo, soy milk, and eliminate the sour cream (or use a vegan sour cream if you’d like).

Making the spicy tuna bowl

This recipe is so easy, you could make this tuna bowl with your eyes closed! The step by step below looks different from the main picture above because I ended up making making the second serving in a smaller bowl. Plus, I styled the food differently. I also added avocado, seaweed chips and pickled ginger. 

1. To a small mixing bowl or jar, add the buttermilk, sour cream, mayonnaise, sriracha, lemon juice, sesame oil, soy sauce, rice vinegar, and sugar and mix until combined.

2. In another bowl, add the cucumber sticks, vinegar, sugar, sesame oil and salt and pepper to a bowl. Toss to combine.

3. To serve, to each bowl add the carrots, the cucumber and avocado tuna and rice. Then drizzle over the spicy mayo or mix into the tuna. 

4. Add some pickled ginger, avocado and seaweed chips/nori if you like.

   

How to store it

If you don’t gobble it all up in one sitting, you can put the remaining tuna in an airtight container or simply cover your serving bowl with saran wrap. It will keep in the fridge for a few days, just like regular tuna salad!

This tuna and rice dish is a super simple way to whip up a healthy lunch for yourself or prepare something that will really wow guests at the next party you attend. I think my favorite part about this tuna bowl is that it’s so customizable so absolutely anyone can enjoy it!

Spicy Tuna Bowl Recipe

April Boller Wright

This spicy tuna bowl with sriracha mayonnaise is so good and easy, you can make it with your eyes closed! Here's how you turn a tuna and rice recipe into something amazingly good!

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 10 minutes mins

Course Dinner, Lunch

Cuisine American

Servings 4 people

Ingredients

  

1x2x3x

For the Spicy Mayonnaise

• 2 tbsp buttermilk
• 1 cup mayonnaise
• 2 tbsp sour cream
• 2 tbsp lemon juice
• 2 1/2 sesame oil
• 1 tsp soy sauce
• 3-4 tsp sriracha see notes below
• 1 1/2 tsp rice vinegar
• 1 1/4 tsp soy sauce
• 1/16 tsp sugar

For the tuna salad bowl

• cooked brown rice
• 3 cans of tuna in water or you can use canned salmon too
• cucumbers sliced into stick or slices
• shredded carrots or cut your carrots into sticks
• avocados

Optional toppings

• pickled ginger
• seaweed chips These can be found at the grocery store
• sesame seeds
• nori

Pickled cucumbers

• 1 english cucumber large and sliced into sticks or slices
• 1 tsp vinegar
• 1/4 tsp sugar plus a pinch
• 1 tsp sesame oil

Instructions

 

• To a small mixing bowl, add the buttermilk, sour cream, mayonnaise, sriracha, lemon juice, sesame oil, soy sauce, rice vinegar, and sugar and mix until combined.
• In another bowl, add the cucumber sticks, vinegar, sugar, sesame oil and salt and pepper to a bowl. Toss to combine.
• To serve, to each bowl add the carrots, the cucumber and avocado tuna and rice. Then drizzle over the spicy mayo or mix into the tuna. 
• Add the optional toppings if you like.

Notes

Storing your tuna salad bowl

If you don’t gobble it all up in one sitting, you can put the remaining tuna salad in an airtight container or simply cover your serving bowl with saran wrap. It will keep in the fridge for a few days, just like regular tuna salad!

_____________

Grains Alternatives 

The base of your tuna salad bowl is going to be a nice, hearty grain. I like to use brown rice because it has lots of health benefits and I enjoy the texture. However, you can use whatever you have! A few suggestions:

• Quinoa
• Black rice
• Cauliflower rice
• Bulgar
• Barley
• Couscous

______________

Tuna alternatives

If you’re not a huge fan of tuna, you can absolutely use canned salmon. Canned salmon has similar textures and shred easily so the recipe will work just as well with one or the other. I actually can't tell the difference between the two when I make this.

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Vegan alternatives

If you’re looking for a vegan alternative, you can use mashed chickpeas! When making the spicy mayo, you can use vegan mayo, soy milk, and eliminate the sour cream (or use a vegan sour cream if you’d like).

____________________

Toppings for the Tuna bowl 

• Cucumbers – just like in a spicy tuna roll
• Avocado – also in spicy tuna rolls!
• Carrot sticks or shredded carrot – I love to dip carrot sticks in almost anything
• Salt, pepper, and sesame seeds – sprinkled on top or mixed into the salad
• Pickled ginger – to give it a traditional sushi feel
• Soy sauce or sesame oil – drizzled on top for an extra punch of flavor
• Seaweed/Nori chips - You can find a small package at the grocery store for about a buck.

____________________

Spicy Mayo, Carrots and rice 

FYI, If you don't like it too spicy, don't add the full amount of srirachi called for in the recipe. Add more of an ingredient or less to the spicy mayo to satisfy your tase preference.

Sometimes for more flavor, I'll saute the shredded carrots in a bit of butter for a few a few minute then sprinkle with ground ginger. Just make sure the pan is hot before you add the butter and carrots. It's absolutely delicious. So that's something you can try if you don't like raw carrots.

 

 

 

I like to use brown rice because I like the texture of it in this recipe, plus it's quick, but you can use white if you like. For a shortcut I always use instant brown rice. For some reason my regular brown rice is always mushy no matter what I do. 

____________________

This tuna salad recipe is a super simple way to whip up a healthy lunch for yourself or prepare something that will really wow guests at the next party you attend. I love how customizable it is. With that said, you can easily eliminate whatever you don't like and add what you do like. 

Keyword rice and tuna recipe, tuna and rice recipe, tuna bowl, tuna bowl recipe

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