Fresh Tuna Meatballs with Creamy Avocado Dip

These fresh tuna meatballs are easy to make, delicious and healthy! Serve them with the creamy avocado dip for an extra special appetizer. 

While I love canned tuna fish, it is a completely different ingredient from fresh tuna steaks. Fresh tuna shouldn’t smell fishy at all. Like all fresh fish, it should have a nice clean smell and a nice clean taste. If you aren’t a fan of the canned stuff, consider giving fresh tuna a chance. 

If you are willing, look for bright pink flesh and choose the tuna steak with the least amount of white filaments running through it. Sushi grade tuna has none or almost none but who can find/afford that? 

We have a couple of ways we like eating fresh tuna. Most often, we like it sliced relatively thinly as sashimi. (Pop it in the freezer till it's almost firm and easier to slice.) A little wasabi and soy sauce for dipping purposes is all you need to make that fresh tuna a meal. But it’s also great packed with spices and seared on the outside, still a lovely pink on the inside. I serve it on a bed of greens. Delightful. 

The third way is in meatballs! 

Fresh Tuna Meatballs with Creamy Avocado Dip

These are really meaty so you can simmer them in a rich tomato sauce after baking to serve over pasta but they also make a great appetizer as below. This makes about 20 meatballs. 

Ingredients

For the fresh tuna meatballs:

1 1/4 lb or 560 fresh tuna fillets

1 large egg

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley

1 teaspoon Dijon mustard

½ teaspoon fine sea salt

¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Zest 1 lemon

Olive oil for brushing on the meatballs before baking

For the creamy avocado sauce:

1 ripe avocado

1 clove garlic

2 tablespoons Greek yogurt

1 tablespoon lemon juice

Fine sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Water (to thin, if needed)

Method

Preheat your oven to 400°F or 200°C and line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone liner. 

Cut the tuna into small chunks.

In a food processor, pulse about 2/3 of the tuna along with the egg, minced garlic, parsley, Dijon mustard, salt, pepper, and lemon zest until the tuna is finely chopped but not pureed.

Add in the reserved tuna and pulse again briefly.

You want to have some nice pink bits still showing. 

Take about 1 tablespoon of the mixture and form it into a patty.

 Pan fry until just cooked through and taste it for salt and pepper. 

Add more and mix through thoroughly, if needed. 

With damp hands, form the mixture into small meatballs (about 1 inch in diameter) and place them on the prepared baking sheet. I use a small scoop to measure them out, then use my damp hands to roll them in to smoother balls. Brush with a little olive oil. 

Bake in your preheated oven for about 10-12 minutes, or until cooked through and slightly golden on the outside. You can use the broiler to add a little extra color if you’d like but you don’t want to overcook them or the tuna meatballs can become dry. 

While the meatballs are baking, combine the avocado, garlic, Greek yogurt, lemon juice, salt and pepper in a food processor. 

Blend until smooth. Add water a little at a time to reach your desired dipping consistency.

Serve the baked fresh tuna meatballs with the creamy avocado dip and some toothpicks to facilitate dipping. 

Enjoy! 

It’s Sunday FunDay and today we are all sharing meatball recipes. Many thanks to our host, Wendy of A Day in the Life on the Farm. Check out our WELL-ROUNDED (get it? I do crack myself up) list below.

• Amy's Cooking Adventures: Bacon Cheeseburger Stuffed Meatballs 
• Karen's Kitchen Stories: Coconut-Ginger Turkey Meatballs 
• Food Lust People Love: Fresh Tuna Meatballs with Creamy Avocado Dip 
• Sneha's Recipe: Keto Pan Fried Pork Meatballs 
• A Day in the Life on the Farm: Swedish Meatballs 
• Culinary Cam: Zuppa Maritata, a Misinterpreted Italian Wedding Soup 

 

We are a group of food bloggers who believe that Sunday should be a family fun day, so every Sunday we share recipes that will help you to enjoy your day. If you're a blogger interested in joining us, just visit our Facebook group and request to join.

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 with Creamy Avocado Dip!

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Whipped Espresso Cream

This rich whipped espresso cream is just sweet enough to qualify as dessert with a good hit of bitter coffee. It’s the perfect after dinner pick me up! 

I grew up drinking café au lait, my grandmother’s bitter dark roast coffee warmed with milk and sugar in her little enamel pot. If I close my eyes, I can still smell her warm kitchen, redolent of fried chicken, roux and onions, with a hint of mothballs that seemed to linger year-round. It was probably my favorite place on earth. 

My grandmother gave me a love of coffee that has lasted my whole life. The aroma as coffee brews is the best smell to wake up to! In fact, even as a child, my favorite ice cream flavor was coffee. That’s why I love this easy dessert. 

Whipped Espresso Cream

This makes four servings. It takes just minutes to make and can be eaten right away or chilled in the refrigerator until you are ready to serve.

Ingredients

2 teaspoons instant espresso powder, plus more to sprinkle on top

1/3 cup or 41g powdered sugar

1/4 cup or 60ml hot water

1 1/4 cups or 300ml whipping cream

Pinch cream of tartar

Optional for decoration (and eating!): Chocolate-covered espresso beans

Method

In a small bowl, dissolve the espresso powder and sugar in the hot water, stirring well until it is completely liquid. 

Chill in the refrigerator or freezer until cold. 

Whisk the whipping cream with the cream of tartar until you have medium hard peaks. As you can see, I use my stand mixer for this step but you can use electric beaters. 

Add a couple of good spoons of the whipped cream to the coffee mixture and fold to combine. 

Add the coffee/cream mixture to the cream bowl.

Fold gently till it’s almost homogeneous. A few little streaks of espresso are fine. 

Spoon the whipped espresso cream in four pretty glasses or ramekins. Sprinkle some more espresso powder on top.

Add a few chocolate-covered espresso beans, if desired.  

Serve immediately or refrigerate until ready to serve. 

Enjoy! 

Welcome to the 5th edition of Alphabet Challenge 2025, brought to you by the letter E. Many thanks to Wendy from A Day in the Life on the Farm for organizing and creating the challenge. Check out all the E recipes below:

• A Messy Kitchen: Eggs Benedict for One or Two 
• Blogghetti: Easy Easter Egg Sugar Cookies 
• Sneha’s Recipe: Egg Jalfrezi 
• Jolene’s Recipe Journal: Espresso Martinis 
• Mayuri’s Jikoni: Avocado Egg Salad Cups 
• Culinary Cam: A Dozen Eggs - Stuffed, Scotch, Curried, and More 
• Karen’s Kitchen Stories: Pork and Cabbage Egg Rolls 
• A Day in the Life on the Farm: Escargot a la Bourguignon
• Food Lust People Love: Whipped Espresso Cream 
• Faith, Hope, Love, & Luck Survive Despite a Whiskered Accomplice: Cajun Deviled Eggs Garnished with Pickled Okra 
• Palatable Pastime: Emerald Isle Pub Spread

Here are my posts for the 2025 alphabet challenge, thus far:

A: Roasted Asparagus Soup

B: Blistered Sugar Snap Peas

C. Jersey Royal Chicken Chorizo Traybake 

D. Small Batch Dried Apricot Jam 

E. Whipped Espresso Cream – this post!

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Double Apricot Jam Muffins #MuffinMonday

These are called double apricot jam muffins because they have jam in the batter and a filling of jam as well. Full of flavor, with a tender crumb!

If you were reading this space last week, you know that I made a single jar of apricot jam from dried apricots. I was very pleased with how it turned out, using it as a glaze for my cheater pain aux raisin so I decided it would be a good idea to employ it in muffins as well. 

I brought some over to my neighbor and she was delighted, as were we. The muffins are sweet but not too sweet and the little spoon of jam in the middle is a nice surprise.

Double Apricot Jam Muffins

This recipe makes about 8 muffins when using silicone muffins cups. Your output may vary if your muffin cups are larger or smaller. No buttermilk? Add 1 1/2 teaspoons of lemon juice or white vinegar to your measuring cup then pour in the milk up to the 1/2 cup or 120ml line.  

Ingredients

1 1/4 cups or 156g flour

1/4 cup or 50g sugar

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup or 120ml buttermilk

1 egg

1/4 cup or 60ml canola or other light oil

1/2 cup or 140g apricot jam, divided

Method

Preheat your oven to 350°F or 180°C and prepare your muffin pan by greasing it with oil or butter or lining it with paper muffin cups. Or use silicone liners. Mine came from Crate & Barrel and were a gift from my daughter. I love them! 

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt. 

In a smaller mixing bowl whisk the egg, buttermilk, oil and half of the apricot jam together. 

Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredient bowl. Fold to combine. Do not over mix.

Put about 1 1/2 -2 tablespoons or a scoop of the batter in each muffin cup. 

Divide the reserved apricot jam between the muffins. 

Top with the remaining batter, divided between the muffins. 

Bake the muffins in the preheated oven for 20-25 minutes or until golden and a wooden skewer comes out clean. 

Remove from the pan or silicone liners after they’ve cooled a few minutes and put them on a wire rack to cool completely before storing in an airtight container. 

Enjoy!

It's the last Monday in this short month of February so it's time for Muffin Monday! Check out the lovely muffins my blogger friends are sharing.

• Banana Blueberry Buttermilk Muffins from Jolene’s Recipe Journal
• Double Apricot Jam Muffins from Food Lust People Love
• Ginger Lime Muffins from A Messy Kitchen
• Small Batch Sourdough Muffins studded with Chocolate Caramel from A Day in the Life on the Farm

#MuffinMonday is a group of muffin loving bakers who get together once a month to bake muffins. You can see all of our lovely muffins by following our Pinterest board. Updated links for all of our past events and more information about Muffin Monday can be found on our home page.

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