Tuna Steak Air Fryer Recipe

Tuna Steak air fryer style comes out great! Perfectly pink inside with a bit of sear on the outside and tons of flavor. Air fryer fish in a Cosori or Ninja Foodi is fabulous.

Air Fryer Tuna Steaks

We love going to Japanese restaurants and ordering sushi and rolls. I don’t like mine completely raw and after our air fryer fish turned out so good, I thought of trying this. Talk about easy and perfectly done.

If you have a local Asian or fish market near your home that is the best place to grab a few of these. Most grocery stores will carry fresh tuna as well but it may not be as fresh, or just defrosted from frozen which isn’t as good.

Frozen Tuna Steak Air Fryer

We have cooked a lot of frozen fish in air fryer over the years and it surprisingly turns out so well. If yours are rock hard preheat to 370 f for 5 minutes to begin with. Lay inside the basket and cook for 2.5 minutes. Then flip to the other side and continue heating for another 1 minute for rare or 1.5 for more medium rare.

Air Fryer Tuna Steak Medium Rare

The “doneness” is up to you. Less takes less time, more well done you just leave in for longer, duh. If you do want it barely cooked you should buy sushi grade tuna for safety purposes.

Should tuna steak be raw in the middle?

We say yes, and that is the most common way to serve this. Of course with anything that isn’t cooked all the way, including eating raw tuna, there IS a chance it could make you sick. Sushi grade tuna steaks are safest but none can be 100% free of parasites. That being said we have never had an issue.

Best way is to choose quality pieces from a reputable location and keep it in the fridge until you’re ready to cook it. You never want to allow fish or other meats to come to room temperature while you’re prepping because it can cause bacterial growth quicker.

Easy Tuna Steak Recipe

Now this is for thawed pieces. If you need to know how to cook frozen tuna steaks you can refer to this post. The oven is better for that.

How to season tuna steak?

The simpler the better if you ask me. You don’t want a lot of seasonings to overpower the natural flavors of the seafood. Let the pink shine thru sorta speak.

Just a pinch of salt is best, pepper too if you like that flavor. I do add a spray of olive oil into the basket so it doesn’t stick too which adds a bit of flavor but not overpowering at all.

That is all you need, it is that easy y’all:

1. Tuna steaks that are the same or similar sizes so they cook evenly together.
2. Salt and pepper, just a sprinkle is best.
3. I always like to spray the air fryer basket with some olive oil spray for an easier cleanup.

Do not overlap these babies or it will inhibit an even cook on all sides. You do not have to flip them over as there are holes at the bottom which will allow for proper hot air flow.

Air Fryer Ahi Tuna Steak

This is how they should look when done. If you wanted a deeper color on the outside you could increase the temperature for the last 2 minutes at 400 F. If you marinated them beforehand they would be a different color too obviously.

• Preheat the air fryer to 300 degrees F for 5 minutes.
• Spray inside basket lightly with non stick cooking spray.
  Sprinkle salt on both sides of raw tuna steaks.
• Lay inside basket without overlapping.

Cook for 3 minutes. Lower temp to 250 F and continue cooking air frying for 2 more minutes cooking time, for a total of 5 minutes.

• This timing will vary slightly depending on how thick your steaks are.
• Mine were average and this timing created a medium rare on outside pink in middle which was perfect

Slice, plate with veggies, sprinkle with sesame seeds and green onions and enjoy. Air fryer cooked to perfection this works for ahi tuna steaks and yellowfin tuna pieces too. There are a variety of types out there and they all have a slightly different taste.

With your seared tuna steaks you could serve it with white rice of course, and a side of bok choy is delicious. If you want to serve broccoli as a side dish, that is a great choice. Just cook this first and let it sit, covered, with some parmesan on top to melt. Then throw in your fish and enjoy.

Can I reheat cooked tuna steak?

If you don’t finish it all you might need this information for sure. I hate wasting food and warming the next day can be tricky. Take it out of the fridge (where it should’ve been stored overnight). Allow it to sit on the counter for about 15 minutes so it isn’t so cold. One idea is to chop it up and make a batch of Crockpot tuna noodle casserole with it, or throw it into an air fryer tuna melt sandwich!

You can also heat a pan on the stovetop on medium/low heat and rewarm each side for about 3 minutes or until it’s warm to the touch on the outside. Serve with a fresh cauliflower steak air fryer style that way.

Once you have tried this you may be all about this new method of hot air cooking your food. We have lots of other ideas because I don’t know, we love fish!! You can start with scallops in air fryer and then move on to air fryer tilapia.

A printable recipe card with nutritional information is provided for you below. I hope you enjoy this creation and others here on The Typical Mom blog and share your successes below!