Gordon Ramsay’s tuna salad is the tuna panzanella from Ramsay in 10 (2021). Seared tuna steaks are sliced over a Tuscan tomato and bread salad with roasted peppers, red onion and basil, then finished with a caper and anchovy dressing. It takes about 10 minutes and serves 4.
Forget the can of tuna and the mayo for this one. When Tasting Table asked him for his ultimate tuna salad, his first words were “First of all, get some ahi tuna and lightly sear it”. This recipe starts the same way. His other seared tuna salad is on our salad niçoise page.
Tuna salad has a history with him online, too. In 2017 a fan tweeted him a “deconstructed tuna salad”. Later, his channel ran a Ramsay Redemption episode to rescue a tuna and mayo dish he’d roasted there, which you’ll find as his tuna roast video on YouTube.
Gordon Ramsay’s Tuna Panzanella
Course: SaladsCuisine: ItalianDifficulty: Easy4
8
minutes2
560
kcalGordon Ramsay’s tuna salad recipe from Ramsay in 10, with seared tuna steaks over a tomato, pepper and toasted sourdough salad. These amounts serve 4.
Ingredients
- For the salad:
4 thick slices of sourdough bread
2 garlic cloves, peeled
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
400 g (14 oz) heirloom tomatoes, at room temperature
240 g (9 oz) jarred wood-roasted bell peppers
½ red onion
small handful of basil leaves
vegetable oil, for the pan
4 tuna steaks, 220 g (7¾ oz) each
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
- For the caper and anchovy dressing:
½ red chili
zest and juice of 1 lemon
2 heaped tablespoons capers
2 anchovy fillets in oil, chopped
3 tablespoons olive oil
olive oil, to drizzle
1 lemon, cut into quarters
Directions
- Heat: Put a griddle pan over high heat.
- Toast: Toast the bread in the toaster, then rub each slice with one of the garlic cloves.
- Base: Crush or grate the other garlic clove into a large bowl and add the vinegar. Slice or chop the tomatoes, depending on their shape, and add them. Cut the peppers into large pieces, then peel and slice the onion, and add both to the bowl.
- Toss: Tear the toast into chunks and add it to the salad with half the basil. Toss gently.
- Dress: Grate the chili into a small bowl with a microplane, then add the lemon zest and juice, capers, chopped anchovies and olive oil. Mix well.
- Sear: Brush the griddle with a little vegetable oil. Season the tuna all over with salt and pepper and griddle it for 30 seconds on each side.
- Serve: Arrange the panzanella on a platter and scatter over the rest of the basil. Slice the tuna and lay it on top, spoon over the dressing and drizzle with a little olive oil. Serve with the lemon wedges.
Notes
- Calories are about 560 a serving, and the tuna and the bread bring the most.
FAQs
Can I use canned tuna?
Not for this recipe. The tuna gets only 30 seconds a side on the griddle, so it stays rare in the middle, and that only works with a tuna steak.
Which tuna should I buy?
A piece of loin from the tail end, if your fish counter will cut it. In A Chef for All Seasons he explains that the tail end is less likely to have any signs of congealed blood.
He also calls tuna “a dense, meaty fish”, so you need less of it than other fish, no more than 100 g (3½ oz) a portion in his starter.
How do I keep the tuna from going dry?
Get the griddle really hot and don’t leave the tuna on longer than the recipe says. His warning is plain: “Do not overcook tuna, as it will toughen and dry out.”
Season it just before it goes on, then slice it straight onto the salad.
Do I need stale bread?
No, and that’s the point of his quick version. A real panzanella uses day-old bread, but here a regular loaf of sourdough goes in the toaster, then gets rubbed with garlic and torn into the salad.
Do I have to roast the peppers myself?
No, he skips that step on purpose. A jar of wood-roasted peppers preserved in olive oil can be “sliced and added without any bother at all”.
Zaytouna Studio Team is the kitchen team behind Chef Ramsay Recipes. We cook Gordon Ramsay’s recipes from his cookbooks and videos in a home kitchen and write them up for yours, with US and metric measurements.