How to Make Healthy Tuna Poke Lettuce Wraps

Tuna Poke Lettuce Wraps deliver an amazing bite of fresh, Asian inspired flavors.  A great at-home take on fresh fish!

Tuna Poke Lettuce Wraps are about building layers of flavor, each with a deliberate purpose to build an amazing bite.  This dish comes together quickly and goes down easy.  An absolutely guilt-free dinner delight!

Who will love it: Anyone who loves poke, sushi or sashimi!  If you dig that fresh bite of raw tuna, this thing is going to delight your senses!

Why they'll love it:  Tuna Poke Lettuce Wraps meld together the traditional tastes that we love in sushi with some poke favs to boot.

When to make it: Since you're not really cooking anything, this is a great weeknight recipe to make when you're in a rush.  They're great to make when you're looking for something light and refreshing and perfect for a hot summer day.  Since raw fish isn't exactly kid friendly, you might want to have another option ready to go as well if you're feeding little ones.  My three year old got one of her favorite delicacies instead - mac and cheese with hot dogs.

Nerd Chefs' Tips and Trips

• Since we're not really cooking anything here (aside from toasting some sesame seeds, this is a pretty prep-heavy dish.  But, the good news is that's where all your work lays.  You can make a lot of the elements a few hours ahead of time and stick them in the fridge, and just construct them when the time is right.
• As with all raw fish dishes, a high quality piece of fish is key.  I used the flash-frozen yellowfin tuna steaks from Whole Foods, which are really good quality.
• I find boston bibb lettuce makes for the best cups.  The leaves are large and gives you plenty of room to pack in the layers of goodness.

Let's Make Tuna Poke Lettuce Wraps

Pickled Red Onions

We're going to start with one our our key ingredients, pickled red onions.  Thinly slice your red onion and place in a a small, heatproof bowl.  Make sure the bowl is large enough so that onions do not mound over top. 

Meanwhile, add white vinegar, sugar and grenadine to a small pot (affiliate) and bring to a boil.  As soon as it comes to a boil, remove it from the heat and pour it over the onions.  Cover with plastic wrap and place in fridge for at least 30 minutes.  A couple hours will deliver the best result.

Seaweed Cucumber Salad

In a small pan, heat 2 tsp sesame oil over medium high heat.  Add sesame seeds and toast until golden brown.  Remove from heat and let cool.

Soak nori sheets in water for about 30 seconds.  Remove, strain and place along cutting board.  Roll the longer edge of the nori sheets up toward toward the top, rolling it like a magazine.  Cut the nori into ribbons and add to a medium sized mixing bowl (affiliate). 

Next, dice English cucumber into small cubes.  Add diced cucumber to bowl.  In small bowl, mix together sesame seeds, sesame oil, soy sauce, rice vinegar, sugar, salt and toasted sesame seeds.  Mix well with a spoon that add to mixing bowl (affiliate) with cucumber and seaweed. 

Toss well and place in refrigerator to cool for 30 minutes.

Cilantro Avocado Yogurt Sauce

Next up in our tuna poke lettuce wraps prep is our beautifully green Cilantro Avocado Yogurt Sauce.  To make, halve avocado and remove the pit.  Scoop out the flesh and place it all in a food processor (affiliate).  Peel garlic and add to food processor (affiliate), along with roughly chopped cilantro.  Drizzle in olive oil and using a citrus juicer to squeeze in lemon juice. 

Add greek yogurt and kosher salt.  Close top of food processor (affiliate) and pulse until smooth.  Add water and stir in to thin sauce a bit.  Scrape into a bowl and cover tightly with plastic wrap.  Place in the fridge.

The sauce was inspired by Gimme Delicious' Healthy Creamy Avocado Cilantro Lime Dressing.

Final Prep

As your last step, dice the tuna steaks into about ½ inch cubes.  I do this by slicing them in ½ inch slices first, then I typically have to cut each slice in half horizontally.  I then cut each strip into ½ inch sections to make the cubes.  If not immediately assembling wraps, place tuna in fridge until ready.

Finally, add just enough water to wasabi powder so that it mixes to desired consistency.

Make wraps

To make wraps, wash lettuce leaves and drain all excess water off.  Place on plate or cutting board to prepare.  First, place a heaping spoonful of the seaweed cucumber salad down, topped by a healthy pinch of pickled red onions. 

Next, a healthy spoonful of cubed tuna.  Top the tuna with wasabi and spoon over the cilantro avocado sauce.  Serve immediately alongside steamed and salted edamame.

Tuna Poke Lettuce Wraps

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• Author: Mike
• Total Time: 45 minutes
• Yield: 3 1x

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Description

Tuna Poke Lettuce Wraps deliver an amazing bite of fresh, Asian inspired flavors.  A great at-home take on fresh fish!

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Ingredients

Scale 1x2x3x

• 8 oz Yellowfin Tuna Steaks (high quality)
• 1 head (boston bibb lettuce)

Pickled Red Onions

• 1 red onion (thinly sliced)
• 1 cup white vinegar
• 2 tbsp grenadine
• 1 tbsp sugar
• 1 tsp kosher salt

Seaweed Cucumber Salad

• ½ english cucumber
• 2 sheets nori
• 2 tbsp rice wine vinegar
• 1 tbsp sesame oil
• 1 tbsp sugar
• 2 tsp soy sauce
• ½ tsp kosher salt
• 1 tsp toasted sesame seeds

Cilantro Avocado Sauce

• 1 avocado
• 2 tbsp cilantro
• 1 clove garlic
• 1 cup greek yogurt
• 3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• dash kosher salt
• dash fresh ground black pepper
• ½ cup cold water

Wasabi

• 1 tsp wasabi powder
• 1 tsp cold water

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Instructions

Pickled Red Onions

1. Place onion in small heatproof bowl. Bowl should still be big enough to hold liquid and cover the onions fully.
2. Place vinegar, grenadine, sugar and kosher salt in a small pot (affiliate) and bring to boil.
3. As soon as water comes to boil, remove it from the heat and pour over onions. Cover the onions with plastic wrap and into fridge for at least 30 minutes.

Seaweed Cucumber Salad

1. Soak nori sheets in water for about 30 seconds, until nori is no longer dry and fully bend-able.
2. Drain nori and place on cutting board. Roll nori up along the longer edge toward the top, rolling continiously like a magazine. Cut seaweed into thin ribbons and place in medium mixing bowl (affiliate).
3. Next, cut english cucumber into small cubes and place in bowl.
4. In seperate small bowl, add sesame oil, sugar, soy sauce, kosher salt and toasted sesame seeds. Mix well, then pour into bowl with seaweed and cucumber. Mix well and place in fridge for 30 minutes.

Cilantro Avocado Sauce

1. Halve your avocado and remove the pit. Scoop out flesh and palce in food processor (affiliate). Add cilantro, garlic, greek yogurt, extra virgin olive oil, salt and pepper and pulse until smooth.
2. Scrape mixture to small bowl. Add cold water and mix together to thin slightly. Place in fridge until ready to make wraps.

Final Prep

1. Combine wasabi powder and cold water together. Place into fridge for 5 mintues.
2. Dice tuna steaks into half inch cupes. If not making wraps immediately, place in metal bowl (affiliate) and into referigerator until ready.

Constuct Wraps

1. Pull off lettuce leaves from head and wash well. Drain excess water and place on plate or cutting board.
2. First, place a heaping spoonful of seaweed cucumber salad.
3. Next, add a healthy pinch of pickled red onions.
4. Top with a spoonful of diced tuna.
5. Finally, top tuna with wasabi and spoon over your avocado cilantro sauce.
6. Serve immediately.
7. Fillings can remain in fridge for about a day before quality degrades.

• Prep Time: 45 minutes
• Category: Main Course
• Method: Raw
• Cuisine: Asian, Poke, Seafood

Keywords: fresh seafood, poke, healthy dinner ideas