How to Cook Frozen Tuna Steak

Co-authored by Daniel Siriban

Last Updated: January 4, 2023 References

Tuna steaks are delicious fish meals. Whether you bought the tuna steak frozen or found it in your freezer, you can thaw it using your fridge or microwave. Once you've thawed the tuna steaks, you can sear them or grill them to make a delicious meal.

Ingredients

Seared Tuna Steak

Makes 2 servings

2 tuna steaks
2 tbsp (30 mL) of soy sauce
2 tbsp (30 mL) of olive oil
Salt and black pepper
Cayenne pepper

Grilled Tuna Steak

Makes 4 servings

4 4 ounces (110 g) tuna steaks
1/4 cup (32 g) of chopped Italian parsley
2 sprigs of tarragon, leaves removed, stems discarded
2 cloves of garlic
2 tsp (10 mL) of lemon zest
Sea salt and black pepper
1 tbsp (15 mL) of olive oil

Method 1

Method 1 of 4:

Defrosting in the Fridge

1
Leave the tuna steak in the packaging to thaw. Fish is normally sold in plastic bags or another type of plastic wrapping. For tuna steaks and other fish, there's no need to remove the bags when thawing the fish. The tuna steak will still properly thaw when wrapped in the plastic bag.^{[1]
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2
Place the tuna steak in the fridge. It's very important that you don't leave the tuna steaks out at room temperature in the kitchen or elsewhere in the house. Fish spoils easily and the fridge will thaw the tuna steak while also keeping it cool at the same time. Room temperature defrosting will thaw the outside layers of the tuna steak while the inside layers go bad.^{[2]
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- Use a thermometer to make sure your fridge is 5 °C (41 °F) or cooler. This is the right temperature for defrosting fish.
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3
Leave the tuna steak in the fridge overnight. While it might only take the tuna steak a few hours to thaw in the fridge, you want to be sure that it's completely defrosted before using it. By leaving it overnight, you give the tuna steak enough time to properly defrost.^{[3]
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- Don't leave the tuna steak in the fridge for longer than 24 hours. The longer the fish is in the fridge, the higher the chances of it going bad.
4
Remove the tuna steak from the fridge the next day. Now that you gave your tuna steak the entire night in the fridge to defrost, you can remove it from the fridge. Take the tuna steak from the plastic bag and inspect it to make sure there's no signs of frost or ice.^{[4]
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Method 2

Method 2 of 4:

Using the Microwave to Thaw

1
Weight the tuna steak on a weighing scales. Most microwave manuals have instructions on how to defrost different types of frozen food. Generally, the first step is to weigh your tuna steak. Place the tuna steak on your kitchen weighing scales or on a paper towel on top of your household weighing scales.^{[5]
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- Make a note of the weight of the tuna steak on a piece of paper or on your phone.
2
Put the microwave on the defrost setting and enter the tuna steak weight. If your microwave doesn't ask for the tuna steak's weight, you can just defrost the fish in 5-minute intervals. If it does ask, it'll tell you how long the fish will need to defrost.^{[6]
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3
Check the tuna steak every 5 minutes to see if you can bend it. After 5 minutes, take the fish out of the microwave and use some light pressure to see if you're able to bend the tuna steak. If it's still too rigid or tough, place it back in the microwave for another 5 minutes.^{[7]
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- Flip the fish over after the first 5 minutes have passed. You want the fish to be evenly thawed, which will also make cooking easier.
- Don't be worried if you can bend the fish but it still looks icy or cold. Once you can easily bend it, the fish is defrosted.

Method 3

Method 3 of 4:

Making Seared Tuna Steak

1
Cover the tuna steaks with soy sauce, oil, salt, and pepper. Place your tuna steaks on a clean plate. Pour 2 tbsp (30 mL) of soy sauce and 1 tbsp (15 mL) of olive oil over the steaks. Next, sprinkle salt and pepper over the steaks.^{[8]
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- Try to cover the tuna steaks as evenly as possible when adding these items.
- Use as much salt and pepper as you'd like. Add in some chili peppers if you want a more dynamic taste and spice.
2
Let the tuna steaks marinate in a container or bag. Place the tuna steaks into a large container or resealable bag. You can let the steak soak in the ingredients for 10 minutes if you're in a hurry. If you have the time, let the steaks marinate overnight.^{[9]
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- Letting the steaks marinate overnight will ensure you get maximum flavor from every bite of the steaks when they're ready to eat.^{[10]
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3
Heat a large pan on medium-high to high heat until hot. Add 1 tbsp (15 mL) of olive oil to the pan and give the pan a few minutes to heat up. Don't let the pan get too hot as your tuna steaks will burn very quickly when added to the pan.^{[11]
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4
Add the tuna steaks to the pan and sear. Sear the steaks for 2.5 minutes on each side for medium rare steaks. Sear for 2 minutes on each side for rare steaks, 3 minutes on each side for medium steaks.^{[12]
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5
Slice the steaks into .5 inches (1.3 cm) slices and serve. Use a sharp knife to cut the steaks into pieces of this size. You can serve the steaks garnished with green onions or on a bed of salad.^{[13]
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- If you want to keep the tuna steaks for leftovers, store the tuna steaks in a fridge and consume within 3 days of refrigerating.

Method 4

Method 4 of 4:

Making Grilled Tuna Steak

1
Rub the tuna steaks with the garlic, sprinkle with salt and pepper. Lay your tuna steaks out on a plate. Cut your cloves of garlic and rub the chopped garlic over the tuna steaks. Sprinkle as much salt and pepper as you like over the tuna steaks to add flavor.^{[14]
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- Add some cayenne pepper for extra flavor.
2
Place the tuna steaks in resealable bags and soak in lemon zest. Open the resealable bags and place your steaks into the bags. Add 2 tsp (10 mL) of lemon zest into the bags and seal the bags. Shake the bags to scatter the lemon zest over the steaks.^{[15]
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- You can also lay the resealable bags flat on the table or another surface and rub the zest into the steaks.
3
Open the bags and drizzle olive oil over the tuna steaks. Add 1 tbsp (15 mL) of olive oil to each bag and push out all the air from the bag before sealing it again. Shake the bags to spread the olive oil over the tuna steaks.^{[16]
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4
Put the tuna steaks in the fridge overnight to marinate. Leave the tuna steaks in the resealable bags and place them in the fridge overnight to marinate. This will ensure that the lemon zest and olive oil soaks into the tuna steaks.^{[17]
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- Remove the tuna steaks from the fridge the next morning before you heat up the grill.
5
Light your grill and let it heat up for 15-20 minutes. Gas grills are easy to turn on. Simply make sure that the lid is open when you're lighting the grill. If you have a charcoal grill, don't light it with lighter fluid as this will make your food taste like chemicals. Use a chimney starter to light your charcoal grill.^{[18]
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- Gas grills will need 10 minutes to properly heat up. Give your charcoal grill around 20 minutes to heat up.
- Chimney starters can be bought for a cheap price online or at your local electrical store.
6
Add the tuna steaks to the grill. Remove the tuna steaks from the resealable bags before you add them to the grill. Grill one side until the red tuna starts to turn beige in color on the side. Flip the tuna to the other side and grill that side until there's only a tiny bit of pink showing on the side.^{[19]
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- When the sides are almost fully beige, your tuna steak is grilled.
7
Serve the tuna steaks. You can serve the tuna steaks with a salad or your favorite dressing. Green onions also go well with tuna steak.^{[20]
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- If you want to keep the tuna steaks for leftovers, place them in a container and put the container in the fridge. Consume the steaks within 3 days.

Community Q&A

Question

Is it bad if it is still raw inside?

Clheart

Community Answer

No. Tuna steak is like beef and lamb steak in that it's generally okay to eat as long as the outside is cooked. How much the inside is cooked depends on your personal preferences. However, the inside should be room temperature or warmer, not frozen.
Question

How can one tell if defrosted tuna steak is okay to use if defrosted in the fridge for more than 24 hours, say 48 hours? Smells okay, still bright pink and firm.

Community Answer

Even if the smell gets a little strong, it's OK to cook and eat, but after 48 hours the flavor is going to be a bit more intense.