Mediterranean Tuna Steaks are so delicious and happen to be good for you, too!
The Tuscan-influenced sauce marries perfectly with the Mediterranean flavors of tomatoes, olives, olive oil, capers, and basil. And the perfect side-dish is our incredible Sautéed White Beans with Garlic, Beans and Sage! And it all comes together in less than 40 minutes!
Mediterranean Tuna Steaks are Easy to Prepare
Fresh tuna is one of our favorites. It is so flavorful, healthy, and bursting with flavor. And comes together so fast!
Watch us show you how simple (and fun) it is to make this amazing dish!
Besides being delicious, tuna is good for you, too. It’s great for your heart, blood pressure, and helping you lost weight!
Read more about the benefits here.
All you need is a nice pinch of salt and pepper to season the tuna steaks.
Fresh Tuna Recipes are Healthy
We love the Italian and Greek influences in Mediterranean cuisine.
And, just like tuna, the primary ingredients are all good for you, too. Tomatoes, olives, capers, and garlic? Yes, please!
Just look at this amazing sauce for tuna steak!
How to Cook Tuna Steak
After you finish the sauce, you’ll need another skillet to sear the tuna steaks in. We think seared tuna steak is just amazing. It’s quick and easy, and locks in the flavor, keeping the inside flakey and delicious.
As mentioned, the steaks cook very quickly, only about 4 minutes per side.
Tuna should be cooked to approximately 115°F.
Finishing the Dish
After you have seared the tuna steaks, just add them into the sauce to heat through.
The flavors of the sauce match perfectly with the flaky, yet the meaty texture of the tuna.
We love black olives so much and are so wonderful with the stewed tomatoes and the briny capers. And of course the sautéed garlic.
This is such a delicious meal and you can feel good about eating it all up because, as we keep saying, it’s so healthy!
This tuna steak recipe is perfect for a weeknight meal, but elegant enough for a dinner party.
Oh, that’s good stuff.
The time has come for you to run, not walk, to your nearest fish market (or seafood department of your supermarket), and pick up some beautiful tuna steaks.
Even if you’re not a big seafood fan, these Mediterranean Tuna Steaks will make a believer out of you. And, what’s even better, it’s such an easy tuna steak recipe!
And amazingly delicious!
Ready to make the best tuna steak recipe in town? Go for it!
And when you do, be sure to take a photo of it, post it on Instagram, and tag @HowToFeedaLoon and hashtag #HowToFeedaLoon!
Mediterranean Tuna Steaks
Equipment
- Large saucepan
Ingredients
- 6 tbsp olive oil
- 1 large yellow onion chopped
- 3 cloves garlic 2 minced and 1 crushed
- 1 cup whole tomatoes We love San Marzano, drained and chopped
- 8 basil leaves fresh, roughly chopped
- 2 tbsp flat-leaf parsley fresh, chopped, plus more for garnish
- 4 tuna steaks each about 1/2 lb
- Kosher or Sea salt and freshly ground pepper
- 1 cup black olives pitted, left whole, or, sliced/chopped
- 4 tsp capers rinsed
Instructions
- In a large skillet over medium heat, warm 3 tablespoons of the olive oil.
- Add the onion and saute until it begins to soften, about 3 minutes.
- Add the minced garlic and saute until golden, about 2 minutes longer.
- Stir in the tomatoes, basil and 2 tablespoons of the parsley and cook, uncovered, stirring occasionally, until slightly thickened, about 15 minutes.
- Remove from heat and set aside.
- Lightly season the tuna steaks on both sides with salt and pepper.
- In another skillet, large enough to hold the fish in a single layer, warm the remaining 3 tablespoons olive oil over medium heat.
- Add the crushed garlic and cook, stirring often, until golden, about 2 minutes. Remove and discard the garlic.
- Add the tuna steaks to the skillet, raise the heat to medium-high, and cook, turning once, until lightly browned on both sides, about 2 - 3 minutes per side.
- Pour the reserved sauce directly over the fish, reduce the heat to low, and add the olives and capers, and cook for another 5 minutes (sauce will thicken a little more).
- Transfer tuna steaks and sauce to plates and garnish with parsley.
Delicious! We have used the sauce since for pasta as well.
Hi Linda! Awesome! Yes! The sauce is great over pasta! We are so happy you are enjoying the recipe and having such great success with it. And thank you so much for sharing and the wonderful review. That means the world to us! Stay in touch! All the best, Kris & Wesley
Came out great!
John! That is AWESOME! So glad it all turned out great! And thank you for letting us know! Fantastic!
I would like to use fresh tomatoes instead of canned. How would I substitute plum tomatoes in your recipe?
Hi John, so sorry for the delayed response. Simply cut up 4 to 5 plum tomatoes and cook them in the sauce until they soften, about 10 to 12 minutes. Take the tuna out during this process so they don’t dry out. Then return to the pan to reheat. Hope this helps! Please let us know how everything turns out! Should be great!
Flavors are spot on! I do not like my tuna cooked well done so next time I will not return them back to the skillet for the last 5 minutes. I added about 1/2 c of white wine to the sauce as well. Thank you for sharing!
Hi Angela! We are so so happy you enjoyed the tuna steaks! We agree, we like the steaks more on the rare side. Not returning to the pan will give you perfectly rare/medium-rare steaks! Thanks for sharing and for the GREAT review! That means the world to us! Please stay in touch! All the best, Kris & Wesley
We loved this recipe. We eat tuna often and we will add this recipe into our tuna rotation, much healthier than our creamy sauces we often use.
Hi Marcy! We are so so happy you loved this tuna recipe. It is one of our favorites and we make it at least twice a month! So good, and you’re right…nice and healthy! Thanks so much for letting us know and for the wonderful review! We truly appreciate that so much. All the best, Kris & Wesley
I’m not a cook. Like many of my fellow quarantites (or maybe quarantinians, if it is a word and if it isn’t I am taking ownership of its creations) I have been shut in looking for ways to fill my time. Since I’m not working, Ive been tasked with cooking. This recipe has cemented me as the chef in my house. It was so simple and beyond delicious. I paired it with the sautéed white beans and I had a fabulous meal that would be comparable at any restaurant. Great recipe.
I found this recipe doing a google search and I was a little hesitant to try it but with the killer ingredients how could it be bad. I made it as the recipe called for and was not disappointed. I absolutely love the flavor combinations in this dish. It will be in heavy rotation at our house. Thanks guys.
Hi Jeff! We are so glad you had success with our Mediterranean tuna steaks! Those are heavy in our rotation, too! Again, so thrilled you loved them and thank you so much for letting us know! We truly appreciate that! Stay in touch! Best, Kris & Wesley
This recipe is absolutely fabulous. Added extra black olives. Would not change anything else. Could not stop eating it. Thank you……
Absolutely love this recipe. It’s PERFECT with tuna
Thank you so much, Caroline!!
Made the Mediterranean Tuna steaks..thank you..tastes amazing…trying to post a pic but…not working…
TY..Gentlemen for this recipe.
Holy crap! This is AMAZEBALLS!!!! Must say, I had to start with a substitution, because one of my kiddos is allergic to tomatoes, but that did not stop me from making a simple adaptation: in place of the tomatoes, I used jarred roasted red peppers (I buy the big jar of organic ones at Sam’s Club) and a splash of balsalmic vinegar. The rest of the recipe, I followed exactly, and we all LOVED the result. Great, great recipe! Thank you!
I am working on an experiment with my family to see if a Mediterranean Diet is sustainable for us. Biggest issue: my son has a tomato allergy. Any suggestions for something that we could add to give it some depth/additional layering of flavor? Sometimes I try an extra acid, like balsamic vinegar, sometimes Worcestershire sauce… tomato is difficult to omit!
Hi Julie! We hear you, tomato is tough to substitute. But, I used roasted red bell pepper before, and liked the taste and texture. You get the same red color and similar texture, and the taste is really nice. Balsamic is definitely a nice touch, especially in the sauce for the tuna steaks. Hope this helps somewhat, and let us know how things turn out!! All the best, Kris & Wesley
Do you think substituting kalamata olives for the black olives would still work with the overall flavor? I have some kalamatas that I wanted to find a good use for.
Kalamata olives would be GREAT!! We have used them before in this dish, and love it! Let us know how it turns out and what you think! Thanks, Charles!
We love tuna steaks and this looks amazing but I have one question. My husband doesn’t like olives of any kind. Is there something else I might use in place of the olives without losing flavor? I would really like to try this. Thanks so much!
Hi Lynn! I think you could just leave the olives out and you’ll be just fine. There is such a deep flavor from the wine, garlic, capers, tomatoes and herbs, it’s still going to be delicious. Let us know what you and your husband think of it. We’re pretty sure you guys will love it as much as we do!! Best, Kris & Wesley
I don’t see wine listed in the ingredients or instructions…?
Good catch, Calla! I got myself confused and was thinking of our shrimp with artichokes, black olives and lemon. We use white wine there. But…hmmm…white wine would be delicious in this dish, too! We’re always tweaking. We may do some testing and if we think we can make the dish even better, we’ll update and re-issue. Thanks!!
Delicious, healthy, and so beautiful! Can’t wait to make this.
Thank you, Marie!! It really is amazingly delicious and is so good for you, too! Please let us know if you make the dish and what you think! We feel pretty certain you’re going to like it! All the best, Kris & Wesley
Loved it! Would definitely prepare it for company!
Awesome! Yes! It’s an impressive dish to prepare when entertaining! Thanks again for letting us know!
Your recipe for Mediterranean Tuna Steaks was perfection. When I saw capers and olives in the recipe and seeing that it was so simple to prepare I knew I would make it asap. I wouldn’t change a thing. Thank you for sharing. It will now get printed, rated A+, and filed in my recipe folder under seafood so I will be sure to make it again. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
Thank you, Becca, so much!! We are so very happy you liked the recipe. That has been one of our favorites for years. So thrilled you like it, too. And thank you SO MUCH for letting us know. We just can’t tell you enough how much we appreciate that. Have a beautiful Christmas and a wonderful new year!!! xo Kris & Wesley
You have some beans in the photo, did you pair these with this dish and how did you make them/season to go along with it? Looks very good. TIA
This was very good, but mine were a little dry. Next time I’ll shorten the cook times. Sauce went perfectly with it. Thanks.