Tuna with caper & olive salsa
This is the kind of dish that makes olives earn their keep: seared tuna, rare in the middle, crowned with a sharp, salty, sunny salsa of black olives, capers and semi-dried tomato. It takes about fifteen minutes and rewards a good olive far more than a fancy one.
A raw, chopped salsa is the friendliest way to cook with olives: no technique, no heat, just good ingredients cut and tossed together while a pan gets hot. Here the salty punch of olives and capers plays against sweet semi-dried tomato and the clean richness of seared tuna. Get a genuinely good olive — a proper brined Kalamata rather than a bland canned black — and the dish makes itself.
Ingredients (serves 4)
- 4 tuna steaks, about 125–150 g each
- About 20 semi-dried (or sun-dried) tomatoes, roughly chopped
- 3–4 tbsp black olives (Kalamata), pitted and sliced
- 3 tbsp capers, rinsed and drained
- A good handful of flat-leaf parsley, chopped
- 1 long red chilli, deseeded and finely sliced
- Juice of 1 lemon (about 2 tbsp), plus wedges to serve
- About 80 ml extra virgin olive oil, plus a little extra to brush
- 100 g baby salad leaves
- Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Method
- Make the salsa. In a bowl, combine the semi-dried tomatoes, sliced olives, capers, parsley and chilli.
- Dress it. Whisk the lemon juice with the extra virgin olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Set aside 2 tablespoons of this dressing for the leaves, then stir the rest through the salsa. Let it sit while you cook — a few minutes of mingling only helps.
- Sear the tuna. Heat a chargrill or heavy non-stick pan until very hot. Brush the tuna lightly with oil, season, and sear for just 1–2 minutes each side, leaving it rare in the middle — it keeps cooking off the heat.
- Rest and slice. Let the tuna rest a minute, then cut each steak into 3–4 thick slices.
- Plate. Toss the salad leaves with the reserved dressing and share between four plates. Add the tuna, spoon the olive-caper salsa over and around, and serve with lemon wedges.
Cook’s notes
The olives and capers are already salty, so season the salsa lightly and taste before adding more. If you can only find capers in salt rather than brine, rinse them well and soak for ten minutes. Tuna is best served rare to just-pink; cooked through, it turns dry and grey, and no salsa saves it. Swap the tuna for seared swordfish, salmon or even thick slabs of grilled halloumi — the salsa carries them all.
| If you don’t have | Use instead |
|---|---|
| Kalamata olives | Any good brined black olive — avoid bland canned ones |
| Semi-dried tomatoes | Sun-dried tomatoes in oil, or halved roasted cherry tomatoes |
| Fresh tuna | Swordfish, salmon, or grilled halloumi for a veggie version |
| Fresh chilli | A pinch of dried chilli flakes |
Make it your own
- Lean on a real brined olive — it is the flavour engine of the whole plate.
- Keep the tuna rare; treat the pan like a brand, hot and quick.
- Season the salsa lightly — olives and capers bring their own salt.
- The salsa is a template: it flatters most seared fish and grilled halloumi.
Tuna with olive salsa: common questions
What olives work best in this salsa?
A proper brined black olive such as Kalamata — fruity, tart and meaty. Avoid bland canned ‘black’ olives, which add colour but little flavour.
How long do I sear the tuna?
Just 1–2 minutes each side in a very hot pan, leaving it rare in the middle. It continues cooking off the heat, and overcooked tuna turns dry.
Can I make it without fish?
Yes — the olive-and-caper salsa is delicious over thick slabs of grilled halloumi, roasted vegetables or a bean salad for a vegetarian version.
Can I prepare the salsa ahead?
Yes. It actually improves after mingling for a little while, so make it up to a couple of hours ahead and keep it at room temperature; add the leaves only at serving.
Do I need to add much salt?
No — the olives and capers are already salty. Season lightly and taste before adding more, or the salsa can easily tip over into too salty.
This is exactly the sort of cooking that shows what a good olive is for. There’s no clever technique here to hide behind : the whole dish leans on the quality of a handful of olives and capers, so it’s worth using a proper brined Kalamata rather than a limp canned black olive that brings colour and nothing else. Two things make or break it — a genuinely good olive, and not overcooking the tuna. Sear it hard and fast, keep it rare, and let the bright, salty salsa do the talking. Master the salsa and you’ve got a template that rescues almost any quick-cooked fish on a busy night.
An original olives101 kitchen recipe; a seared-tuna-and-olive-salsa idea common across the Mediterranean.