This fresh, lightened up Asian Avocado Tuna Salad Grain Bowl is finished with a silky honey miso dressing and it’s ridiculously delicious! Quick and easy to prepare, plus packed with flavor and nutrients (NO MAYO!), this grain salad will be your new favorite lunch, or it’s perfect as a light, healthy dinner! Tuna salad has never looked so good!
This post was created in partnership with Bella Portofino Tuna. All text and opinions are 100% my own. Thank you for supporting the brands that make No Spoon Necessary Possible!
Hey there, friends!
Before we get to today’s ridiculously delicious dish, I want to let you in on a random, fun fact about me. I have a moderate to severe obsession with tuna.
Whether it be albacore, yellowfin, canned, seared, sushi, sashimi, whatever (!), it doesn’t really matter. I love it ALL.
Given my admiration for all things tuna, it should come as no real surprise that I eat some form of tuna at least 5 times a week. (<– I told you, the obsession is real.)
And the recipe I’m sharing today is my new, all-time favorite way to devour my beloved, choice fish. AND, I’m also sharing my preferred brand of tuna!
Asian Avocado Tuna Salad Grain Bowl
Refreshing, healthy, and packed with both protein and nutrients, this salad seriously stellar, you guys!
This Asian grain bowl is loaded with carefully chosen, seasonally fresh ingredients that your beach-body-goals-driven self DESERVES.
Crisp lettuce is tossed with creamy avocado, cool cucumber, fresh scallions, spicy jalapeños and herbaceous cilantro, piled high on fluffy, nutty forbidden black rice, and then topped with rich, meaty, protein packed tuna.
This fresh tuna salad gets finished off with a generous drizzle (or glug) of silky, sweet and savory, umami-spiked homemade honey miso dressing.
Say goodbye to that old school, mayo laden tuna salad from your past and HELLO to your new favorite, easy to make, lightened up, CLEAN and nutritious tuna salad… sans the mayo!
Now that I have filled you in on how fabulous this salad bowl tastes, I feel like I should let you in on the secret ingredient – Bella Portofino Tuna packed in extra virgin olive oil.
Not only does using Bella Portofino make this salad a breeze to throw together, but their hand selected, high quality tuna is so tender and luscious in texture, plus smooth and mellow in flavor, that it takes this salad to the next level of YUM!
Each can of eye-catching, authentically packaged Bella Portofino Italian style tuna only contains three ingredients – wild caught (albacore or yellowfin) tuna, high-quality extra virgin olive oil and a touch of flaky sea salt. Packing the tuna in olive oil versus water results in an exceptionally smooth, seriously luxurious flavor. BUT, not only that, the olive oil provides heart healthy, unsaturated fats to your diet.
And, in case you didn’t know, May is Mediterranean Diet Month and the perfect time to start adding more tuna (and this salad) to your meal plan!
Is tuna salad healthy?
Short answer – it totally depends.
Obviously if you are eating old school tuna salad swimming in mayo, no, tuna salad is not healthy at all!
But, this tuna salad you see here today?! It is healthy and hearty!
Packed with protein, omega-3 fatty acids, fiber and probiotics, plus loaded with flavor, this salad isn’t just something you can feel good about eating, it is also something you will ENJOY eating too!
How to make Asian Avocado Tuna Salad Grain Bowl (Notes, Tips & Tricks):
- The recipe below calls for neutral oil to make the dressing. You can use any neutral oil you would like, such as vegetable, corn or grapeseed. Make sure you do not use a flavored oil, such as olive oil, or it will overpower the dressing.
- Always make sure you taste and adjust recipes with salt and pepper to suit your own taste buds! This especially applies to the dressing. Make sure you prepare the dressing according to the recipe instructions and then adjust with salt and pepper to taste. As
well, if a thinner, weaker dressing is desired, you can whisk in more oil, 1 tablespoon at a time. The dressing can be made up to 5 days in advance and stored, covered in the refrigerator. Make sure to give it a good whisk or shake before using. - While the recipe below calls for forbidden black rice, you can absolutely substitute brown or wild rice if desired. To keep things super quick and easy, I like to make the rice in advance and keep it stored in a container with a tight-fitting lid in the refrigerator. That way I can make this Asian Avocado Tuna Salad in a flash whenever a craving strikes… which is on the daily!
- This grain salad is easily customizable with whatever add-ins or toppings your heart desires! Some of my favorites are: shredded carrots, shelled edamame, microgreens and seaweed salad.
This fresh, delicious Asian grain bowl twist on classic tuna salad is a protein powerhouse meal you are sure to love! Light on unnecessary, unhealthy fats, and bold on flavor, THIS is how you do tuna salad without mayonnaise!
Until next time, friends, cheers – to giving canned tuna new life!
XOXO
Cheyanne
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The best Asian Avocado Tuna Salad recipe👇
Asian Avocado Tuna Salad Grain Bowl with Honey Miso Dressing
Ingredients
Salad:
- 2 4.5 ounce cans Bella Portofino Tuna
- 3 Cups Baby Arugula or Spring Mix
- 2 Avocados – pitted and cubed or sliced
- 1 Cup Seedless Cucumber – sliced
- 4 Scallions – sliced
- 1 Jalapeno – seeded and chopped
- Fresh Cilantro – chopped, to taste
- 4 Cups Forbidden Black Rice cooked according to package directions (can substitute brown or wild rice)
- 2 TBS Sesame Seeds
- Kosher Salt & Ground Black Pepper
Dressing:
- 3 TBS White Miso Paste also known as Shiro Miso
- 3 TBS Rice Vinegar
- 1 ½ TBS Ginger – grated
- ¼ Cup Honey can substitute Agave
- 2 tsp Sesame Oil
- 2 TBS Neutral Oil such as vegetable or corn*
Optional Add-ins: Shredded Carrots, Microgreens, Edamame, Seaweed Salad, Furikake
Instructions
- Make the dressing*: In a small bowl, whisk together miso, vinegar, ginger, honey, sesame oil and pinch of salt. Slowly whisk in oil. Taste and add salt, pepper and additional tablespoon of oil as desired*. Set aside.
- Prep the salad: In a large bowl, gently toss together the lettuce, avocado, cucumber, scallions, jalapeno and cilantro. Season with a pinch of salt and pepper.
- To serve: Arrange the rice in the bottom of serving bowls. Arrange the salad on top of the rice. Use a fork to gently lift the tuna out of the can (making sure to keep the chunks of tuna intact, but leaving most of the oil behind in the can) and arrange it on top of the salad. Sprinkle with sesame seeds and drizzle with dressing. Enjoy!
Notes
- The recipe below calls for neutral oil to make the dressing. You can use any neutral oil you would like, such as vegetable, corn or grapeseed. Make sure you do not use a flavored oil, such as olive oil, or it will overpower the dressing.
- Always make sure you taste and adjust recipes with salt and pepper to suit your own taste buds! This especially applies to the dressing. Make sure you prepare the dressing according to the recipe instructions and then adjust with salt and pepper to taste. As well, if a thinner, weaker dressing is desired, you can whisk in more oil, 1 tablespoon at a time. The dressing can be made up to 5 days in advance and stored, covered in the refrigerator. Make sure to give it a good whisk or shake before using.
- While the recipe below calls for forbidden black rice, you can absolutely substitute brown or wild rice if desired. To keep things super quick and easy, I like to make the rice in advance and keep it stored in a container with a tight fitted lid in the refrigerator. That way I can make this Asian Avocado Tuna Salad in a flash whenever a craving strikes… which is on the daily!
- This grain salad is easily customizable with whatever add-ins, or toppings, your heart desires! Some of my favorites are: shredded carrots, shelled edamame, microgreens and seaweed salad.
Nutrition
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Your tuna salad bowl sounds great…I especially like your use of black rice.
We’ve been traveling for the past couple of weeks and it’s been impossible to find a big, crunchy tasty salad, so I’m literally drooling over this!! And love the Asian flavor twist – so perfect with tuna and avocado!
This looks amazing! How do you like black rice?
Thanks so much for the kind comment! I absolutely love black rice and use it often. It has a delicious nutty flavor which is a nice change from plain white rice. 🙂 Cheers and thank you for stopping by!
Putting this on my lunch menu right now!
Tuna is one of my favorites too! But I detest mayo so I’m loving that this is made without it! This sounds SO dang good I think I’m going to have to make a lunch out of it! Have a great weekend, Chey 🙂
Loving the flavors here Cheyanne! That miso dressing sounds incredible. And I am still on a mission to lose my 5 lbs. before summer, so I totally need to be eating stuff like this.
Wow! Such a great bowl and since I share your love of tuna, I’ll be trying this one, for sure 🙂
Wow! What a spectacular way to change up tuna Chey! This bowl looks amazing! Tuna is one of my favorites too. Unfortunately, most of the time I go the boring route. I’ll need to try your version ASAP, because this is anything but boring! That dressing sounds fabulous and I love the addition of the forbidden black rice! You’ve knocked it out of the park with this one!!
Healthy fat, lots of fiber and lean protein…an awesome tuna salad bowl, Chey.