Quickest Tuna Rice Bowl: A nutritious, flavorful meal in 15 minutes! Start with rice, top with a creamy, spicy tuna blend, add veggies, and finish with a squeeze of lemon. Packed with protein, fats, carbs, and fiber for a satisfying meal.
This Tuna Rice Bowl is part of our Back-To-School Lifesavers — a series of recipes that are intended to have little (or no) veggie chopping, minimal prep time, around 10 ingredients, or less (not including pantry staples), and use kid-friendly ingredients. Click here to see all the recipes in the series!
The Best Tuna Rice Bowl
If you’re on TikTok, you’ve probably seen the viral salmon rice bowls that everyone’s raving about. Have you tried them yet? Well, those bowls inspired this dish. Except we’re cutting down on prep time even more!
This dish is aimed to be one of the quickest, throw-together meals that is filling, satisfying, and downright delicious!
I enjoy this meal for lunch quite frequently, and I can attest to its staying power. If you’ve got a busy day ahead, this is the perfect choice to fuel you up! Not only is it satisfying, but it’s also super tasty. From the creamy-spicy mayo to the rice filled with green onions to the creamy avocado and crisp cucumbers, every bite is a treat!
Tuna Rice Bowl: The Rice
If you happen to have some leftover white rice, feel free to use it for these Tuna-Rice Bowls! Personally, I love to whip up a big batch of white rice during my weekly meal prep to use in various recipes–including this one– throughout the week.
However, if you don’t have any leftover rice and don’t feel like making a fresh batch from scratch (after all, this is our “short-cut” recipe series!), the best option is to use microwave rice. These little containers of Minute Rice® are perfect for this recipe as they only take a minute to microwave, and no other prep is needed. So easy and convenient!
To give the rice some extra flavor, we mix in some soy sauce and rice wine vinegar. Just a pinch of salt and pepper is all it takes to bring the rice to life! And if you’re a fan of green onions, you can also add the bottom halves of the onions to the rice. It’s a simple way to add loads of flavor with very little extra effort!
Tuna Rice Bowl: The Tuna Mixture
I highly recommend tuna packed in olive oil; it makes a huge difference to the overall taste of the bowls. My personal favorite is Genova’s® albacore tuna. The olive oil gives a richer and fresher flavor.
To the tuna, we add some mayo, sriracha, and another pinch of salt and pepper. The mayonnaise adds a nice creaminess and holds everything together well. We love either Kewpie® Mayo or Hellman’s/Best Foods® in this recipe. If you’re watching fat intake, feel free to use lite mayo, but know there is a sacrifice of flavor.
Quick Tip
What is sriracha? It’s a popular hot sauce that originated in Thailand and contains chili peppers, vinegar, garlic, sugar, and salt. The sauce has a bright red color and a spicy, tangy, and slightly sweet taste. Sriracha has become a popular condiment worldwide and is commonly used to add flavor and heat to dishes like these Tuna-Rice Bowls!
When using sriracha sauce, a little goes a long way to add lots of flavor and heat to your dish. If you’re cautious when it comes to hot sauces, you can always add the sriracha slowly and adjust it to taste. It’s always better to start with a small amount and add more gradually, rather than overdoing it and making your dish too spicy to enjoy.
Tuna Rice Bowl Toppings
The toppings are what take these bowls to the next level!
- Avocado: A ripe avocado adds a delicious creamy texture to the dish. To check if an avocado is ripe, give it a gentle press; it should yield slightly (similar to touching the tip of your nose).
- Cucumbers: We highly recommend using English or Persian cucumbers (sometimes labeled as mini cucumbers) for their wonderful crunchy texture and superior flavor.
- Lemon: A squeeze of lemon juice adds a burst of freshness and brightens up the dish. In my opinion, the more lemon, the better!
- Black sesame seeds: These tiny seeds add a subtle nutty flavor and a pop of visual interest to the dish. They’re a great optional addition for some added texture. You can usually find black sesame seeds in the spice aisle of the grocery store, near the regular sesame seeds. Note: These are not the same as poppy seeds!
More Easy Tuna Recipes:
- Tuna Patties with our favorite tartar sauce
- Avocado Tuna Salad with pickles and red onion
- Mediterranean Tuna Salad with orzo pasta
- Tuna Macaroni Salad with the best creamy dressing
- Tuna Salad Wrap with crunchy veggies
Tuna & Rice Bowl
Ingredients
- 1 cup white rice, cooked (or 1 packet of cooked Minute rice) (Note 1)
- 1 teaspoon each: rice wine vinegar and soy sauce
- Fine sea salt & pepper
- 1 can (4-5 oz) Tuna packed in olive oil drained (Note 2)
- 2 tablespoons Mayonnaise
- 2 teaspoons sriracha sauce plus more for topping (Note 3)
- Toppings: 1 small Persian/salad cucumber, 1/4th of a large ripe avocado, 1 large lemon
- Optional toppings: black sesame seeds, 1 green onion
Instructions
- RICE: Thinly slice the green onion, separating the green top section from the bottom whites. Measure out one cup of cooked and cooled rice. Or, follow package instructions to microwave packets of Minute Rice then add to a bowl. Drizzle in vinegar, soy sauce, a pinch of salt & pepper, and bottom whites of green onions. Stir.
- MAYO: In another small bowl, combine the tuna, mayonnaise, sriracha, and another pinch of salt & pepper. Thinly slice cucumber and add a tiny pinch of salt.
- ASSEMBLE: Add tuna mixture on top of the rice. Add cucumber, remaining green onion, and diced avocado, Drizzle extra sriracha on top of everything if desired. Squeeze on lots of lemon and sprinkle on black sesame seeds if using. Enjoy promptly.
Video
Recipe Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Just tried this and it was great! I didn’t feel like cooking what I had in the fridge but I was able to easily throw this together with rice I already had cooked and a can of tuna. I didn’t have any toppings or green onion on hand so mine was pretty plain but it was still great with the base seasoning and sauces. I look forward to using this recipe again and adding more to it!
I am so thrilled to hear this! Thanks so much for your comment Amanda!
Cant wait to make this soon for me can i use tofu and vegan mayo i never had quickest tuna and rice bowl before perfect for my after office meals love your recipes as always brightens up my day everyday after work
You’re going to love this one! Thanks Ramya! 🙂