🇲🇹 Maltese Recipes

Traditional Mediterranean Cuisine

Tonn biz-Zalza (Tuna in Tomato Sauce)

A simple Maltese tuna dish simmered with tomato, onion, garlic, capers, olives, and herbs. Quick, savoury, and full of coastal flavour.

Prep: 10 minutes Cook: 25 minutes Servings: 4 people
Jump to recipe
Watercolour illustration of tuna steaks in tomato sauce with olives, capers and parsley.

Ingredients

Have your ingredients ready? Go to instructions
Measures: 1 tbsp = 15ml; 1 tsp = 5ml. For local ingredient names and substitutions, see our guide to Maltese ingredients abroad.

Instructions

  1. Make the sauce: Heat the olive oil and cook the onion until soft. Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute.
  2. Simmer: Add the chopped tomatoes, tomato paste, capers, olives, and black pepper. Simmer for 15 minutes until thick.
  3. Add tuna: If using fresh tuna, nestle the steaks into the sauce and cook for 3-5 minutes per side until just done. If using tinned tuna, fold it in gently and heat through.
  4. Finish: Taste before adding salt, then sprinkle with parsley.

Tonn biz-Zalza is a simple Maltese tuna dish cooked with tomato, onion, garlic, capers, olives, and parsley. It can be made with fresh tuna steaks or good tinned tuna for a quicker everyday version.

Serving Suggestions

  • Serve with spaghetti, rice, or potatoes
  • Eat with Maltese bread
  • Add a squeeze of lemon at the table
  • Good as a quick weeknight meal

Traditional Notes & Tips

  • Capers and olives bring the familiar Maltese coastal flavour
  • Fresh tuna should stay slightly moist, not dry
  • Tinned tuna makes a practical pantry version
  • The sauce should be thick enough to cling
  • Taste before salting because capers and olives are salty