Gordon Ramsay’s tuna tartare is 400g of sushi-grade tuna finely chopped and tossed with chives, soy sauce, half a lime and sesame oil, served with diced avocado dressed in the remaining lime juice, finished with toasted sesame seeds. No cooking. No heat. Ten minutes from board to plate.
The recipe is from Ultimate Fit Food, where Ramsay says “tuna tartare looks really sophisticated and impressive, but you can pull it all together in a matter of minutes.” He warns: “don’t assemble the dish until just before you are ready to eat it, otherwise the lime juice will cook the fish and turn it brown.”
That split lime is the technique nobody explains. Half goes into the tuna dressing, half goes onto the avocado in a separate bowl. If you mix them together too early, the acid turns the fish opaque and mushy, like a ceviche instead of a tartare.
Gordon Ramsay’s Tuna and Avocado Tartare
Course: Starter, LunchCuisine: Japanese, BritishDifficulty: Easy4
servings10
minutes224
kcal10
minutesFresh tuna and avocado tartare from Gordon Ramsay’s Ultimate Fit Food. Sushi-grade tuna with chives, soy sauce, lime and sesame oil, topped with diced avocado and toasted sesame seeds. No cooking required. He also makes a spicy version in Bread Street Kitchen with tosa soy, chilli-garlic paste and deep-fried wonton crisps. 224 kcal per serving.
Ingredients
2 tsp white or black sesame seeds
Small bunch of chives, very finely chopped
1 tbsp soy sauce
Juice of 1 lime
½ tsp sesame oil
400g (14 oz) sushi-grade tuna steak, finely chopped
1 large ripe avocado, peeled, stoned and diced
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Directions
- Toast the sesame seeds: Place a small frying pan over a low heat and toast the sesame seeds until golden and aromatic. Leave to cool. If using black sesame seeds, skip the toasting.
- Make the dressing: Put the chives, soy sauce, half the lime juice and the sesame oil into a mixing bowl.
- Dress the tuna: Add the finely chopped tuna to the dressing. Season with salt and pepper. Toss gently to coat.
- Prepare the avocado: Put the diced avocado into a separate bowl and gently fold in the remaining lime juice.
- Plate: Divide the tuna between four plates, making a small mound in the centre. Spoon the avocado on top. Sprinkle with toasted sesame seeds. Serve immediately.
FAQs
Why does the lime juice go in two stages?
Because lime acid “cooks” raw fish. Ramsay warns that if you assemble too early, “the lime juice will cook the fish and turn it brown.” That’s what happens in a ceviche, but a tartare should stay ruby red and silky.
So the lime is split: half in the tuna dressing, half on the avocado. The avocado needs its own lime for a different reason. Without it, the flesh oxidises and turns grey within minutes.
The separate lime keeps the avocado green and the tuna red. If you mixed everything in one bowl, you’d end up with brown fish and grey avocado, which tastes fine but looks like it’s been sitting out all afternoon.
How do you chop the tuna without it turning to mush?
Start with the sharpest knife you have. Ramsay says “finely chopped” in the book, not minced or diced. You want small pieces that still have structure, roughly 0.5cm cubes.
If the knife is dull, it drags through the flesh and tears the fibres into paste. His restaurant method from Bread Street Kitchen adds a step: “wrap the tuna tightly in cling film and freeze” before dicing. The par-frozen tuna holds its shape under the knife and gives you cleaner cubes.
At home with the freshest fish, you can skip the freezing. But if your tuna is soft and hard to handle, 15 minutes in the freezer firms it up enough to dice neatly.
What is the difference between this and Ramsay’s spicy tartare?
Two completely different recipes. This version from Ultimate Fit Food is light and clean: soy sauce, lime, chives, sesame oil, avocado on top. No heat at all, 224 kcal per serving.
In Bread Street Kitchen he makes a spicy version with tosa soy, which he describes as “a rich, dark Japanese soy sauce that has been infused with dried tuna flakes.” That one uses 50g of chilli-garlic paste, no avocado, and the tuna marinates for a full hour before serving on deep-fried wonton crisps with soured cream.
Same fish, opposite direction. The UFF version is a light lunch. The BSK version is a dinner party starter.
Do you need to freeze the tuna first?
Not for this recipe. Ramsay says “make sure you get sushi grade tuna which is as fresh as possible” and doesn’t mention freezing. You chop it fresh and serve it immediately.
His restaurant version does freeze first: “tuna must be frozen to kill all bacteria and also for ease of cutting.” That makes sense when you’re serving 50 covers a night and need consistent cubes from every cook on the line.
At home with sushi-grade fish from a trusted fishmonger, the freshness is the point. Buy it the day you make it. If your fishmonger doesn’t sell sushi-grade tuna, don’t make tartare.
What should you serve with tuna tartare?
Ramsay suggests “a rocket salad and pitta crisps to scoop up the tuna.” The pitta crisps recipe is also in Ultimate Fit Food: wholemeal pitta cut into triangles, brushed with garlic and olive oil, baked until crisp.
For a restaurant look at home, he gives a plating tip: “rub the inside of a 6 to 8cm round pastry ring with a little extra sesame oil, spoon in the tartare, add the avocado on top, sprinkle with sesame seeds, then gently and slowly remove the ring.”
His tuna steak with sesame crust works as a main after the tartare as a starter, since both use soy and sesame. His tuna niçoise salad is the tinned tuna version if fresh sushi-grade is not available. His tuna cakes are the cooked option: same Asian flavours, completely different texture.
