Tuna steak in an air fryer
Fresh — the short answer
260°C (500°F) for 4–6 min
- For
- 140g per piece, about 25mm at the thickest point, 4 pieces, From the fridge
- In
- Multicooker with air fry, single layer, pieces not touching
- Preheat
- Yes, before the food goes in
- Check
- A pale cooked band a few millimetres deep on each face with a deep red centre
- Safety
- Plug an air fryer directly into a wall socket. Do not run one from an extension lead. Full rule below.
Four to six minutes, and it is a decision about doneness rather than a cook.
Fresh
The quick answer
260°C (500°F) for 4–6 min
Steak weight within the published 110-170g band, and how far through you want it. This is a searing figure, not a cooking-through one.
- Assuming
- 140g per piece, about 25mm at the thickest point, 4 pieces, From the fridge
- In
- Multicooker with air fry
- Loaded
- Single layer, pieces not touching
- Preheat
- Yes, before the food goes in
- Result
- Just cooked
Preparation
Patted dry and seasoned, laid straight onto a very hot plate.
How to load the basket
Single layer, pieces not touching. The reference condition. Air reaches every surface, and times are the shortest the food will achieve.
How to tell it is done
- A pale cooked band a few millimetres deep on each face with a deep red centre
- The surface releases from the plate without tearing
Where these figures came from — fresh
- Applies to
- Specific to this model
- Why this rating
- A published row from the manufacturer's grill chart, with the named temperature level converted to degrees using the table in the same manufacturer's instruction booklet. Both documents were read; neither figure is inferred.
- Last reviewed
- 2026-08-13
What this does not cover
- Published by the manufacturer for this appliance. It is evidence about this machine and is not general advice.
- This is a contact grill plate rather than a perforated basket. Heat reaches the food by conduction from the plate as well as by airflow, which is a different mechanism from air frying and transfers poorly to a basket machine.
- The chart heads its seafood block with an internal temperature of 75°C. A tuna steak cooked to that is dry right through, and the chart's own time will not achieve it — the two statements in that document do not agree, and this record follows the time.
Sources (1)
Ninja Foodi MAX Health Grill & Air Fryer AG551UK — Inspiration Guide and cooking charts (PDF)
SharkNinja Europe Limited — Manufacturer cooking chart (United Kingdom)
Relied on for: The temperature, time and quantity for tuna steak.
States this directly
Passage read and verified
Retrieved 2026-08-13 from argos-support.co.uk
Retrieved from Argos's manual library for Argos product 735/0124, published alongside the instruction booklet as a second document.
Chilled
No time or temperature for this, and not by accident
Tuna steak is sold and cooked chilled, so the question is a real one. AirfryerHQ holds no published figure for it: not one of the manufacturer manuals read for this catalogue gives a chart row for this food in this state.
We are not going to produce one by adjusting the fresh figure above. A time arrived at that way would appear on this page looking exactly like a time somebody measured, and you would have no way to tell the difference.
What we do hold for tuna steak: fresh. Those are a different question, not a starting point for this one.
Defrosted
No time or temperature for this, and not by accident
Tuna steak is sold and cooked defrosted, so the question is a real one. AirfryerHQ holds no published figure for it: not one of the manufacturer manuals read for this catalogue gives a chart row for this food in this state.
Same reason as above: a figure adjusted from one we do hold would be indistinguishable from one somebody measured.
What we do hold for tuna steak: fresh. Those are a different question, not a starting point for this one.
Marinated
No time or temperature for this, and not by accident
Tuna steak is sold and cooked marinated, so the question is a real one. AirfryerHQ holds no published figure for it: not one of the manufacturer manuals read for this catalogue gives a chart row for this food in this state.
Same reason as above: a figure adjusted from one we do hold would be indistinguishable from one somebody measured.
What we do hold for tuna steak: fresh. Those are a different question, not a starting point for this one.
What usually goes wrong
Dry and grainy right through, from cooking it like white fish. Tuna has almost no fat and its proteins set hard; once the centre has gone opaque there is nothing to be done about the texture.
Running the appliance safely
These apply to every food and every air fryer, so they are here once rather than repeated under each state above. They come from Electrical Safety First, from UK product-safety notices and from the manufacturers’ own manuals.
- Plug an air fryer directly into a wall socket. Do not run one from an extension lead.
- An unusual smell, an unusual noise, or scorch marks on the plug mean stop using it and contact the manufacturer.
- Do not overfill. Food touching the heating element is a fire risk, not a cooking problem.
- White smoke from fatty food is usually normal. Black smoke means unplug it immediately.
- Do not leave an air fryer running unattended.
- Leave clear space above and around the appliance, and never cover the air intake or the outlet.
- Aim for a golden yellow colour or lighter on starchy foods such as chips and roast potatoes, rather than a darker brown.
- Buy from a reputable retailer rather than a third-party marketplace seller.
- Clean the drawer, the plate and the element after use. Accumulated grease is what smokes, and then what burns.
- Register the appliance with its manufacturer. It is how a recall reaches you.
- Do not rely on the appliance's own thermal protection. A UK recall was issued because it did not operate.
Each links to its own page, with what it means in practice, what to do if it has already happened, and the source it comes from. Every safety rule AirfryerHQ holds.
Why tuna behaves this way
Tuna muscle is dense, dark and almost fat-free, and its proteins set hard. Cooked through it becomes dry and grainy in a way no amount of care recovers, which is why the published time is four to six minutes for a steak of over a hundred grams — enough to colour the outside and leave the centre rare. The surface browns fast because there is very little surface water to drive off first. Thickness decides everything: a thin steak has no centre left to keep rare by the time the outside has colour, which makes it the wrong cut for this appliance rather than a shorter cook.
Where to go from here
The pages that answer the questions this one tends to raise.
- How food actually gets crispyWhy patting it dry, spacing it out and a little oil are all the same instruction — so you can apply it when a page runs out.
- Why published timings differIf another chart says something else, this is usually why — and which one to believe.
Easily confused with
- Salmon fillet — A different cooking problem with a different answer.
- White fish fillet — A different cooking problem with a different answer.