Easy Fresh Ahi Tuna Poke Bowl Recipe | Sweet Tea + Thyme (2024)

Ahi tuna poke bowls are a fresh, fast, and filling take on the Hawaiian dish with rice, veg, and a spicy mayo drizzle.

Yes, I know it’s fall.

Apparently, y’all don’t care. You want poke all year long.

How do I know? Because that’s what you voted for on Instagram. Which you should be following me on. Because…food. And wisdom. I like handing you guys nuggets of wisdom when they pop into my head. Also delicious nuggets of chicken. Or, in this case, tuna. Mm!

What is a poke bowl?

Poké (pronounced Po-Kay) means “Cut or slice”, and poke itself is a Hawaiian snack of fresh, raw sushi grade fish, usually tuna, chopped into bite sized pieces then marinated in all kinds of good stuff like spices, soy sauce, sesame oil, and more.

So a poke bowl is usually rice in a bowl and topped with that flavorful marinated raw tuna poke (or salmon poke, which I love!). It also has other delicious toppings like seaweed salad, tobiko or masago, green onions, diced up fruit and vegetables like mango and cucumber, sesame seeds, nori strips, furikake (a Japanese seasoning made with nori), bean sprouts, eel sauce, pickled ginger, the list goes on and on.

You could think of it like a raw fish salad or like deconstructed sushi rolls. All that sushi goodness that’s wrapped up in a roll is on display right there in your bowl, with none of the fuss of being an expert sushi chef.

My personal favorite poke bowl is made with sushi rice, topped with the tuna poke, cubed mango, tobiko, avocado slices, green onion, some nori, and eel sauce and spicy mayo sauce. So good!

In fact, I also have the spicy mayo recipe with this post so if you want to try it, or you love spicy tuna just as much as I do, this is a homemade spicy mayo that tastes just like the ones in the restaurants.

Are tuna poke bowls gluten free or diet friendly?

The poke you’ll get in most restaurants is not gluten-free! Soy sauce and rice vinegar both contain gluten. So to make your homemade tuna poke gluten free, use plain white rice -or brown rice to stay on that healthy route- instead of sushi rice, and use tamari or coconut aminos in lieu of regular soy sauce.

You can even make your tuna poke bowl Keto/Paleo by swapping the rice for cauliflower rice and using the tamari or coconut aminos!

How to make poke bowls.

How do I choose the fish for poke bowls at the grocery store?

Safety first! Always, always, make sure to choose sashimi grade or sushi grade fish. At the market, the packaging will say that it is sushi/sashimi grade, meaning it’s been previously frozen in a certain way that helps kill any parasites that may live in fish. If you don’t have a fishmonger you trust nearby, your local Whole Foods store may carry it, though at higher prices than the local fish market.

Making the ahi tuna poke bowls

Use your raw tuna the day of. Raw fish is best eaten as soon as possible. But this poke bowl recipe is so good, that there’ll be no leftovers anyway!

You’re going to chop your fresh tuna into bite sized pieces, toss it in a bowl with the marinade ingredients, and let it marinate for about 10 to 15 minutes.

I like adding red pepper flakes for a bit of spice, but it’s totally optional. I wouldn't season with salt, simply because soy sauce is already really salty. If you are serving a crowd, do the marinating in a large serving bowl so you can toss it all together easily. and let the tuna really mingle with all those marinade flavors.

Add the marinated fish to a bowl of room temperature sushi rice, and add on your favorite toppings.

Boom, your ahi tuna poke bowl is ready to be enjoyed! It’s a perfect summertime lunch or dinner, since there’s no cooking required other than steaming some rice, which if you can swap out for things like zoodles or even leave out entirely.

I like to think of poke bowls as super healthy regardless since tuna and salmon are full of omega-3 fatty acids and are pretty lean, not to mention all the fruit, vegetables, array of different seaweeds, sprouts, and so on.

For more delicious seafood recipes, checkout:

Spicy Tuna Avocado Towers

Shrimp Scampi

Salmon Poke

Warm Butter Lobster Rolls

Salmon en Papillote with Gremolata

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