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Red’s Favorite Spicy Tuna Poke Bowls. Homemade tuna poke with spicy gingery tuna, steamed rice, all the best toppings, and our favorite spicy, sweet, and creamy mayo sauce. I top each bowl off with fried shallot crumbs for crunch, then add fresh avocado, and a generous side of the creamy mayo. Each bowl is colorful and full of so much flavor. A great family dinner, any night of the week.
After months of requests, I am finally sharing the poke bowls I’ve been making for my younger brother, Red. Everyone has been asking for this recipe, but I hesitated for so long.
Not because this isn’t a good recipe, but more because I make the poke a little differently each time and have never written down the recipe. Poke is one of those dinners you can make with just a few ingredients or with a lot of ingredients. None of the measurements have to be exact. And each person can customize their bowls to their liking, which makes it great if you’re feeding a more picky crowd.
Anyway, I’ve never written down the poke bowl recipe I put together for Red, so I’ve never shared it, but the time has finally come. I wrote some things down, figured out our favorite poke combinations, and here we are!
Poke bowls for Monday night dinner…just in time for Red, who’s finally coming home to CO tonight after being in China.
The Poke
Since poke is really all about the tuna, make sure you’re using fresh sushi-grade tuna. I always buy mine at Whole Foods, but I will say, they don’t always have it. It’s a little hit or miss, but when they do, I snatch it up for poke.
Cube the tuna, and for the marinade, I like to keep mine simple: tamari (soy sauce), sesame chili oil, ginger, and then green onions and toasted sesame seeds. I’ve found this to be the combo everyone loves most. If you don’t like spicy food, just use sesame oil.
Most poke bowls have a spicy mayo on top. It’s usually just mayo and sriracha mixed together. This is great and super simple, but I like to add tamari and a small amount of honey to balance the spiciness.
The added salt and sweetness make the sauce just a little more special. It’s creamy and honestly so delicious. And we’re not really a mayo-loving family either.
Everything else
The only other “must-have” is rice. You have to have rice to serve the poke over, then the rest is all extra.
My bowls almost always include a quick cucumber salad and avocado.
I made these bowls extra special with some fried shallots mixed with Panko breadcrumbs and sesame seeds. It’s definitely extra, but so delicious.
Everyone in my family has agreed (well except my mom, she will not eat fish), they could easily eat this once a week. It’s on rotation when Red and Hailey are home.
Looking for other seafood?
Bang Bang Shrimp Tacos with Fried Avocado
Coconut Curry Salmon with Garlic Butter
Honey Garlic Salmon Soba Noodle Bowls
Lastly, if you make Red’s Favorite Spicy Tuna Poke Bowl, be sure to leave a comment and/or give this recipe a rating! Above all, I love to hear from you guys and always do my best to respond to each and every comment. And of course, if you do make this recipe, don’t forget to tag me on Instagram! Looking through the photos of recipes you all have made is my favorite!
Red’s Favorite Spicy Tuna Poke Bowl
Servings: 4
Calories Per Serving: 843 kcal
Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
Ingredients
Poke
- 2 (4 ounce) sushi grade tuna steaks, cubed
- 1/4 cup soy sauce or tamari
- 1 tablespoon sesame chili oil or regular sesame oil
- 2 teaspoons grated ginger
- 1 to 2 teaspoons crushed red pepper flakes
- 1/4 cup chopped green onions
- 1 tablespoon toasted sesame seeds
- 1 cup Persian cucumbers, sliced
- 1 tablespoon rice vinegar
- 1 teaspoon honey
- 3-4 cups sushi rice, cooked
- avocado, pickled ginger, and nori sheets – for serving
- fried shallot crumbs (recipe in notes)
Spicy Mayo
- 1/3 cup olive oil mayo
- 1 to 2 tablespoons sriracha
- 2 teaspoons soy sauce or tamari
- 1 teaspoon honey
Instructions
- 1. To make the poke. In a medium bowl, combine the tuna, soy sauce (or tamari), sesame chili oil, ginger, red pepper flakes, green onion, and sesame seeds. Toss to mix.2. To make the cucumber salad. Toss together the cucumbers, rice vinegar, honey, and a pinch each of chili flakes and salt. 3. To make the Spicy Mayo. In a small bowl, stir together the mayo, sriracha, honey, and soy sauce (or tamari). 4. To assemble, add the rice to bowls, top with avocado, cucumber salad, poke, pickled ginger, green onions, and nori. Spoon over the spicy mayo. Sprinkle on the crumbs. Serve with additional spicy mayo.
Notes
Fried Shallot Crumbs: In a skillet combine 2 tablespoons sesame oil and 2 thinly sliced shallots over medium heat. Cook until golden, 4-5 minutes. Remove from the heat and add 1/3 cup Panko and 2 tablespoons sesame seeds. Season with salt.
I just bought all the ingredients to make this and I can’t wait to try it! Is it okay to marinade the tuna over night?
Thank you,
Hi Susan,
No, you will not want the tuna to marinate for more than 2 hours:) Please let me know if you have any other questions! xx
Absolutely delightful!
Thank you Marina! Love to hear that this recipe was enjoyed! 🙂 xT
This is now my absolute go-to bowl. It’s got just the right amount of sweet and spicy. I used crispy jalapeño chips (Trader Joe’s sells them in a can) in place of the crisped shallots for even more heat 🔥
Thanks Teagan and thank Red for requesting it!
Thanks so much Julie! So glad you’re loving this bowl! xT
Simply fabulous ♥️
Thanks so much Lisa!
We made this for Christmas eve dinner – Love it. Thank you for sharing!
Hi Cheryl! Thank you so so much for trying out the recipe! Hope you had a wonderful Christmas! xT
I would definitely pay to eat this.
Hi Renie,
I appreciate you making this recipe and your feedback! So glad it was enjoyed:) Have a great week! xT
This is delicious!!!! We love it! I add a bit more heat because we love spicy.
Do you think I can mix up the marinade a few days before I need it?
Hey Vicky,
Happy Wednesday!! So glad to hear that you enjoyed this dish, thanks a lot for trying it out! Yes, that should be just fine for you to do! xT
Just made this as kind of a poke bowl bar with friends that were over for lunch and it was generally well received! The sauces and recommended additions were spot on, and I would leave nothing out. We had some garlic edemame on the side and it was a very satisfying meal.
Unfortunately, the fish was pretty salty, as others have mentioned, but there were enough other flavors (and rice) for us that it was able to be masked decently enough. We do have some leftover and are trying to figure out how to salvage it since it’s by far the most expensive part.
Overall, I think we let it sit in the liquid too long and it basically marinated as we prepped other things; next time I think we’ll just toss it together right before serving, once everything else is ready to go.
Oh no I’m so sorry the fish was too salty for you! But that’s such a fun idea to do a poke bowl bar, love it! xT
Fantastic!
Thanks Jen! xT
Omg!! Tieghan !!this is soooo freaking good; my 9 year old inhaled it! This is definitely going into rotation ; thank you thank you 🙏 God Bless you!!
Thank you so so much for giving this recipe a try! And thanks for taking the time to leave a comment! Have a great day! xT
This is the best meal I’ve ever eaten. I dream about it weekly. Don’t skip out on any of the ingredients. The effort is worth the end result.
Hi there! Thank you so much for trying out the recipe! So glad you enjoyed it! xT
I cook a lot and rarely leave reviews, but I’ve made this several times and it’s SO GOOD! Served with cauliflower rice.
Thank you so so much for trying out the recipe! So happy to hear that you enjoyed it! xT
Just made this for dinner it was great ! We added a couple things like shiitake mushrooms, red cabbage, and cilantro. Otherwise we followed the recipe spot on.
We both don’t eat big portions usually and it only fed the two of us with no leftovers however. So double the recipe if you want to make for 4 people
Hey Cynthia,
Fantastic!! I love to hear that this recipe was enjoyed, thanks a lot for making it! xx
Amazing recipe which would take many different proteins. Don’t skip the shallots though-I left mine quite a bit longer than 4-5 mins so they got nice and crispy. so good!
Next time I will use low sodium soya as the salt crowded out the other tastes a bit. But maybe because the recipe (using all components as above, but cooking only 1 cup of rice), fed 2 of us, not 4, so I ate more tuna in my bowl.
Silly question – because I live in Romania and don’t have a lot of experience with poke. Is the rice usually served room temp? hot?
Hey there,
Wonderful!! I appreciate you making this recipe and sharing your comment, so glad it was a hit! Typically the rice is room temp:) Happy Memorial Day weekend!🇺🇸
I’ve been eyeing this recipe for a while, and finally made it this evening. WOW – what a hit! It was so easy to prepare and the flavors were beyond restaurant quality. Instead of using red pepper flakes I used spicy chili crisp, which I think kicked up a notch.
Hi Susie,
Happy Friday!!😎 I love to hear that this recipe was a hit, thanks for making it and your comment! xx