Ahi Tuna with Dill Sauce Recipe
A spring-inspired recipe for Seared Ahi with dill sauce, yogurt and chive blossoms, a Nordic-style dish highlighting spring potatoes. Feel free to sub-halibut or salmon!
How to Make the Best Ahi Tuna with Dill Sauce
This Nordic-inspired seared ahi tuna with dill sauce is a spring dinner showstopper that brings restaurant-quality elegance to your home kitchen. The fennel and coriander-crusted ahi is seared to rare perfection, creating a beautiful golden crust while keeping the center pink and tender. It’s paired with a silky green dill sauce made from fresh spinach and dill that adds a vibrant, fresh flavor to every bite.
The beauty of this dish lies in how well each component works together. Tender baby potatoes provide an earthy base, the fresh dill sauce adds brightness, and the perfectly seared ahi is the star of the plate. This is the kind of dish that looks like you spent hours in the kitchen but actually comes together in just about 35 minutes. It’s perfect for impressing dinner guests or treating yourself to something special.
Spring vegetables and bright herbs are what make this dish shine. If fresh dill and chive blossoms aren’t available, fresh herbs like tarragon or chervil work beautifully too. Some home cooks even add a touch of Dijon mustard to the sauce for extra complexity. This is definitely a recipe worth keeping in your rotation for those moments when you want to elevate your weeknight dinner.
Ahi Tuna with Dill Sauce
A spring-inspired recipe for Seared Ahi with dill sauce, yogurt and chive blossoms, a Nordic-style dish highlighting spring potatoes. Feel free to sub-halibut or salmon!
Ingredients
For the Potatoes & Sauce
For the Seared Ahi
Instructions
Prepare
- Place potatoes in a small pot, cover with water and bring to a boil over high heat. Cover, turn heat down and simmer until fork tender, about 15-25 minutes depending on size.
- Place the water, olive oil, and spinach in a blender and blend until smooth. Add dill, scallions, salt, and pepper and blend until smooth. Taste and adjust salt as needed, add a squeeze of fresh lemon juice. Place in a small pot and set aside.
Sear the Ahi
- Place whole fennel and coriander seeds, salt, and pepper on a small plate and mix well. Coat all sides of the ahi with the mixture, pressing seeds in firmly.
- Heat oil over medium-high heat in a cast iron skillet until hot and just smoking. Place ahi gently in the skillet and cover partially if seeds begin to spatter. Sear on very high heat for 1-2 minutes, until it develops a nice golden brown crust. Then, turn over and cook the other side for 1 minute or so. You want the inside to stay pink—rare or medium-rare. Set aside.
Plate & Serve
- Heat the small pot of green dill sauce over low heat, gently warming, careful not to overheat or it may lose its vibrant color.
- Place a circle of warmed green dill sauce in the middle of the plate. Slice potatoes and place them over the green sauce. Slice the Ahi with a very sharp knife and place it atop the potato slices. Garnish the plate with diluted yogurt or sour cream, sprigs of fresh dill, and chive blossoms. Serve!
Notes
- Feel free to substitute halibut or salmon for the ahi tuna.
- The green dill sauce is delicate—be careful not to overheat it or it will lose its vibrant color.
- Make sure to use a very sharp knife when slicing the seared ahi to get clean cuts.
