We eat this spicy canned tuna at least twice a week. It's great in a rice bowl, on top of rice cakes, or in a sushi roll. We serve it with a spicy mayo sauce, cucumbers, and avocado and it's so good. You won't even remember you're eating canned tuna.

Jump to:
Why We Love This Canned Tuna
- It's easy: We make this for lunch during the work day all the time. Pop open a can of tuna, throw a few ingredients into a bowl, mix it up, and serve it on top of some rice stackers or white rice. No cooking necessary and minimal cleanup.
- It's versatile: You can eat this for lunch or dinner, on rice or in sushi, and with avocados or cucumbers. The possibilities are endless.
- It's delicious: This spicy canned tuna is seriously so good. Canned tuna gets a bad rep, but the spicy soy mayo sauce covers up any "fishy" taste in this recipe. It can satisfy any sushi craving in just a few minutes for a few dollars.
Looking for other easy Asian-inspired recipes? Try our Air Fryer Miso Salmon.
Ingredients Notes and Substitutions
Canned tuna: We use albacore tuna, but use whatever you have on hand or usually prefer. This recipe also works well with canned salmon, which happens to be slightly lower in mercury if you're watching your intake.
Soy sauce: If you're gluten free, substitute tamari or coconut aminos.
Sriracha: Sriracha is a hot sauce made from chili peppers. If you don’t have sriracha (or don’t like it), you can substitute your favorite hot sauce or leave it out.
Rice vinegar: If you have to substitute the rice vinegar, try apple cider vinegar.
Mayonnaise: A lot of people are a fan of Kewpie mayonnaise for recipes like this—it's a Japanese brand made with egg yolks rather than whole eggs, which makes it super rich and smooth. We usually don't have it on hand and use regular mayonnaise—it also works just fine.
See recipe card for full ingredient list and amounts.
Step-by-Step Instructions
Step 1: Add tuna, soy sauce, sriracha, rice vinegar, and mayonnaise to a mixing bowl and mix until well-combined.
Step 2: Serve on top of rice stackers, over rice, or in a sushi roll. We like ours over rice or on a rice stacker with avocado, cucumbers, sesame seeds, and shredded nori (seaweed).
Step 3: Optionally, top your finished product with spicy mayonnaise. Combine mayonnaise, lime juice, and sriracha in a bowl and drizzle over your meal.
Serving Ideas
Rice bowl: Serve this spicy canned tuna over rice (we love it with sushi rice or microwavable Jasmine rice for an easy option) with sliced avocado, thin-sliced mini cucumbers (or big ones), carrot strips, spicy mayo, sesame seeds, and shredded nori.
Sushi rolls: Make a sushi roll with a nori sheet, sushi rice, spicy canned tuna, and (optionally) avocado and cucumber strips. If you don't know how to make a sushi roll, check out this tutorial.
On rice stackers or rice cakes: We get rice stackers from Trader Joe's and top them with thinly sliced cucumbers, thin strips of avocados, canned spicy tuna, and spicy mayonnaise. They're so easy and fast, and a great option for lunch.
Top Tips
- The best thing about this spicy canned tuna is its versatility. Utilize ingredients that you have and love. It goes great with everything, especially Asian-inspired flavors.
- Serve this in different ways for different meals. The rice bowls are great for dinner, while the sushi rolls and rice stackers are great for lunch.
- Make the tuna ahead of time for an easy meal-prep lunch (or dinner) option.
Frequently asked questions
Yes! This recipe works great with canned salmon. We make it with salmon often.
Store the prepared tuna in an air-tight container in the refrigerator for up to 3-4 days. Use it directly from the fridge.
We love ours in a rice bowl, on rice stackers, or in sushi rolls. Check out our "Serving Ideas" section for more details on how we serve ours!
📖 Recipe
Spicy Canned Tuna
- Total Time: 5 minutes
- Yield: 4 servings 1x
Description
We eat this spicy canned tuna at least twice a week. It's great in a rice bowl, on top of rice cakes, or in a sushi roll. We serve it with a spicy mayo sauce, cucumbers, and avocado and it's so good. You won't even remember you're eating canned tuna.
Ingredients
For the spicy tuna:
2 5-ounce cans albacore tuna
3 tablespoons soy sauce (use tamari or coconut aminos for gluten free)
2 tablespoons sriracha
2 teaspoons rice vinegar
¼ cup mayonnaise
For the optional spicy mayonnaise:
¼ cup mayonnaise
1 tablespoon sriracha
Juice of 1 lime
Instructions
- Add tuna, soy sauce, sriracha, rice vinegar, and mayonnaise to a mixing bowl and mix until well-combined.
- Serve on top of rice stackers, over rice, or in a sushi roll. We like ours over rice or on a rice stacker with avocado, cucumbers, sesame seeds, and shredded nori (seaweed).
- Optionally, top your finished product with spicy mayonnaise. Combine mayonnaise, lime juice, and sriracha in a bowl and drizzle over your meal.
Notes
We use albacore tuna for this recipe, but use whatever you have on hand or usually prefer. This recipe also works well with canned salmon, which happens to be slightly lower in mercury if you're watching your intake.
See "serving ideas" for additional details on how we serve this tuna.
Nutritional information is only an estimate and only includes the spicy tuna mixture.
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 0 minutes
- Category: Seafood
- Method: No Cook
- Cuisine: Asian-American
Nutrition
- Serving Size: ¼ of recipe
- Calories: 202
- Sugar: 1.7 g
- Sodium: 822.7 mg
- Fat: 12.5 g
- Carbohydrates: 3.2 g
- Protein: 18 g
- Cholesterol: 35.5 mg
Michael Stegeman says
Such an easy and delicious lunch recipe!
Ronda M. says
Super easy for lunch!
Brian says
Great for a quick lunch!
Sharie says
A go to lunch recipe now!