Should Tuna Steaks Rest After Cooking?

There are plenty of different cuts of steak, and usually when you hear the word, you think of beef. The beef industry is happy to market itself that way, too. But technically, a steak is any cut of meat typically sliced across the grain and suited for relatively fast cooking, usually from a tender part of the animal like the flank. The term can refer to bison, ostrich, shark, and even tuna. But just because they share the name steak, it doesn’t mean they should be handled or prepared the same way. For example, you shouldn’t let tuna rest.

While letting most meats rest after cooking is key to getting the best result, tuna steaks do not need to rest and that’s thanks to carry-over cooking. In simple terms, carry-over cooking is what happens when you remove meat from a heat source. The outside of the meat will be hotter than the inside. As it rests, the heat moves inward, cooking the cooler interior until the temperature evens out. For tuna, this process can overcook your steak, which is best served rarer in the middle. You can eat a well-done tuna steak, but it’s usually the moisture and delicate texture that make tuna desirable in the first place. If you overcook it, you lose that.

One of the most popular ways to prepare tuna is to sear the outside, but keep the inside raw. Searing triggers a Maillard reaction, creating a flavorful caramelization in the crust while preserving the interior’s delicate texture. Slicing your tuna straight after you take it out of the pan, rather than letting it sit, allows more heat to escape, helping prevent overcooking.

Another reason letting tuna steak rest is a mistake is that the connective tissue in fish breaks down much faster than it does in beef as fish is naturally far more tender than red meat. When meat cooks, the proteins denature and force moisture out. This is why meat should rest: As the temperature drops, the internal structure relaxes and reabsorbs those flavorful juices. If you cut a steak fresh off the grill, the juices go everywhere, but if you let it rest for ten minutes, almost no juices come out. By then, the juices have been redistributed throughout the tissue, which can retain them again. But in fish, this isn’t an issue. The proteins will dry out if you give them the same treatment.

A fish like tuna needs to reach an internal temperature of 145 degrees Fahrenheit. That’s what the FDA recommends to destroy parasites and bacteria. As soon as you reach that temperature, you can slice, serve, and enjoy.