Ahi Tuna Nachos

On a recent date night, my husband and I ordered poke bowls for takeout from a favourite local restaurant.

I got my normal order - Ahi tuna poke over spiralized zucchini, a bunch of vegetables, topped with their homemade spicy mayo.

And I had an idea: poke nachos!

Sure, it may have been the lack of carbs talking - or the fact that Superbowl talk was in full swing at the time - but the idea of the same basic idea served over crispy chips sounded like the PERFECT snack - or a quick dinner

Unfortunately, my spicy tuna nachos idea turned out to not be a unique one - tuna nachos are apparently a popular dish in Northern Mexico, and show up on a lot of happy hour menus in California and Florida.

Oh well - no reason I couldn’t make my OWN easy recipe for ahi tuna nachos!

And, hey - designing a nacho recipe was the best way to get the next day started, with my husband.

Spoiler: What we came up with was AMAZING, and would work just as well as a fancy-ish dinner for two (would be great with a white wine, like Sauvignon Blanc), as it would be served as an appetizer at your next party.

It was SO good, we’d keep referring to it for the next day or 2, just randomly saying “Those nachos were SO GOOD.”.

... we eat a lot of really good food, it’s just the nature of my career. It’s wild for us to still be obsessing over a dish, days later!

We’re usually too focused on the NEXT amazing meal!

Designing our Ahi Tuna Nachos Recipe

Designing the flavor profile for our original recipe was a lot of fun.

First off, the nacho chips. We knew we wanted a colourful nacho platter, so we decided to go with white tortilla chips.

We later found out that most of the tuna nachos recipes out there start on a base of crispy wonton chips - deep fried wonton wrappers.

The good news? While fried wonton chips aren’t gluten free, it’s easy enough to find safe corn chips.

From there, it was a bunch of decision making:

Stick with the original idea of poke tuna, or do a seared tuna? (Poke!)

Cheese or no? If so, what kind? Shredded, sauce...? (No cheese!)

Which of our favourite sushi toppings would we use? SO many options to choose from!

We cycled through possibilities like Sriracha mayo, sliced red onion, nori, edamame (would roll off too easily!), and even the possibility of using seaweed salad.

In the end, we designed a simple, elegant Ahi tuna nacho platter:

White corn chips, purple cabbage, chunks of mango and creamy avocado.

The tuna would get a quick dip in a very simple sauce, and the whole thing would be topped off with sesame seeds and wasabi mayo drizzled over it.

We were NOT prepared for how great it turned out.

While my husband was initially resistant to my idea of red cabbage on nachos, he later commented on how well it went with everything else, and his surprise at his drive to scoop up every last but of cabbage and wasabi sauce.

Augh! So good.

This is going to make it hard to stay on a low carb diet....

Ingredients

This recipe uses simple ingredients that should be easy to find at any larger local grocery store. A few notes:

Sushi-Grade Tuna

Because we’re using raw fish on our tuna nachos, it’s important to use sushi grade tuna. It’s tuna that’s been flash frozen to / held at a certain temperature to kill off any existing parasites.

Any raw tuna that’s touted as NOT having been previously frozen is - by definition - NOT sushi grade.

Not sure how common - or accurate - tuna labeled that way is, though. I’ve come across it a couple times, before finding out that food regulations here pretty much render all frozen tuna sushi grade.

Anyway, regulations may be different where you are, so be sure to ask questions.

If you’re buying fresh, previously frozen tuna, you’ll want to know when it was thawed AND use it right away - if you go that way.

Personally, I prefer to buy frozen and have control over - and knowledge of - the thawing process.

I thaw my tuna in the package, in a large bowl of cold water. I’ll keep an eye on it until it’s mostly thawed, then keep it in the fridge for up to a day before use. (But I usually use it within hours, to be extra safe!)

As a note: Slicing clean pieces of tuna is easiest when it’s partially frozen, so you can either re-freeze it for 15-30 minutes before cutting, or just cut before it’s all the way thawed.

In terms of the kind of tuna, I prefer to use ahi tuna for this, mostly because of the colour.

I also love the sushi grade albacore tuna we get - from Skipper Otto - which, IMHO, has the best taste... it’s just not as PRETTY on this nacho plate!

Soy Sauce

I need this to be gluten free, so I use Coconut Aminos, as it’s what I tend to have on hand.

Gluten Free Soy Sauce would be another option for me, and some people prefer to use Tamari.

If you don’t need it to be GF, feel free to use whatever soy sauce you like!

Everything Else

Rounding out this recipe, you will need:

White Corn Tortillas
Purple Cabbage
Avocado
Mango
Jalapeño peppers
Green onions
Mayonnaise
Wasabi Powder
Sesame Oil
Black Sesame Seeds

... I just don’t really have anything to add, for these ingredients!

How to Make Ahi Tuna Nachos

The full recipe is in the recipe card at the end of this post, here is the pictorial walk through:

Wasabi Mayo:

In a small bowl, whisk together the wasabi powder and water. Let sit for 5-10 minutes.

Add Mayonnaise, whisk until smooth and well combined.

Cover with plastic and chill until ready to use. Because it’s mayo, you don’t want to leave it out at room temperature any longer than you have to!

Note: Wasabi mayo can be kept in an airtight container in the fridge for a week or more - I generally go by the expiry date on the mayo as a worst case scenario, we just never keep it around THAT long!

Tuna Nachos

15 minutes before getting started, place your tuna in the freezer.

Remove tuna from the freezer. Using a very sharp knife, cut tuna into small, bite sized pieces.

In a small bowl, whisk together the soy sauce and sesame oil. (Add a small pinch of salt if your chips are low salt.)

Add tuna to the bowl, toss to coat.

Make a bed of tortilla chips on your serving platter.

Scatter purple cabbage shreds over the tortillas, top with avocado, mango, jalapeno slices, and green onion.

Scatter tuna over the prepared plate of nachos. Sprinkle generously with sesame seeds.

More Delicious Gluten-Free Snacks and Appetizer Recipes!

Looking for even more fantastic gluten-free munchies that *everyone* will love? Look no further, I’ve got some great recipes for you !

Air Fryer Jalapeno Poppers
Ahi Tuna Crudo
Gluten-Free Beaver Tail Recipe
Gluten Free Cheez-Its
Gluten-Free Chicken Nuggets
Gluten Free Chicken Pakora
Gluten-Free Chicken Satay
Gluten Free Corn Dogs
Gluten-Free Doughnut Holes Recipe
Gluten Free Fried Brie
Gluten-Free Gougeres
Gluten Free Mixed Vegetable Pakora
Gluten Free Mushroom Turnovers
Gluten-Free Paneer Pakora
Gluten Free Pizza Bites
Gluten-Free Samosa Recipe
Gluten Free Soft Pretzels
Gluten-Free Sauerkraut Buns [Piroshki]
Gluten Free Tempura
Homemade Mushroom Jerky
Hot Smoky Bacon Crab Dip
Jalapeno Popper Dip
Loaded Mini Baked Potatoes
Marinated Feta Cheese

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