Seafood & Fish
2025 recipes found
Crab Pasta With Snap Peas and Mint
Sweet crab meat and even sweeter sugar snap peas are a lovely match in this green-flecked springtime pasta. Don’t overlook the final garnish of olive oil, lemon juice, black pepper and flaky sea salt – it really brings out the saline flavor of the crab. Try replacing the mint with basil or chives, or even with tender pea shoots, which will increase the pea quotient in a delightful way.
Grilled Tuna in Flank Steak Marinade
Pesce all’Acqua Pazza (Fish in Crazy Water)
This classic Neapolitan dish involves poaching fish in a liquid that Marcella Hazan explained as being “denser than a broth, looser, more vivacious and fresher in taste than any sauce.” It’s made by simmering chopped extra-ripe tomatoes with water, garlic, chile and other flavorings. Once the water tastes like tomato, fish fillets are poached in it. This foolproof method prevents overcooking, so it’s ideal for all kinds of delicate seafood. Some think “crazy” refers to the broth’s spiciness, while others think the name comes from the fact that fishermen made the dish with seawater (but it could also simply reflect that water is the key ingredient).
Tomato-Poached Fish With Chile Oil and Herbs
Poaching boneless, skinless fish fillets in a brothy sauce is a foolproof (and undeniably delicious) method for cooking fish. Here, go for meaty, mild-flavored, firm-fleshed varieties like cod, haddock, pollack, halibut or flounder. This flavorful sauce, made from burst cherry (or other small) tomatoes, sizzled shallots and toasted garlic, definitely has a summery vibe; feel free to substitute a can of peeled tomatoes if the real deal isn’t in season.
Grilled Swordfish With Corn Salad
Swordfish is one of the easiest fish to grill. Because it’s firm and thick, it can be cooked over hot coals for a while to pick up their smoky flavor, and it doesn’t fall apart when flipped. Serve with anything you’d eat with a steak or pork chop, like a bright and crunchy corn salad. Here, raw corn is mixed with long pieces of chives and cilantro in a move inspired by lao hu cai, or tiger salad, a Dongbei salad of cilantro and scallions, and buchu muchim, or Korean chive salad. When the salad is piled onto the fish, the rice vinegar and sesame oil dressing seasons the fish, and the corn and herbs soften slightly from the heat. The result is all at once fragrant, crunchy, juicy and satisfying.
Salmon in Fig Leaves
While this salmon dish evokes pure summer in California, it’s easily done almost anywhere. The salmon is king salmon, and its season is summer, which coincides perfectly with the ripening of figs in all but the northernmost parts of the country. There is nothing better than a good fig, but for this recipe, incorporate the underused leaves, which make a perfect package for the fish, contributing a kind of nutty flavor to it.
Grilled Swordfish Kebabs With Golden Raisin Chimichurri
Swordfish is the perfect seafood for grilling — the flesh is sturdy and firm, with a mild flavor that readily absorbs the aroma of smoke without losing its own. Most people grill swordfish as steaks; the Miami chef Michael Schwartz cuts it into chunks for kebabs, a format that allows him to intersperse the chunks of fish with lemon slices and bay leaves, and grills them over wood (though you could use charcoal or, if necessary, grill over gas). The tips of the bay leaves char, imparting a fragrant herbal smoke. By way of a sauce, Mr. Schwartz serves a classic Argentine chimichurri with a not-so-classic twist — the addition of yellow raisins, which counter the traditional garlic and vinegar with an unexpected note of sweetness. If swordfish is unavailable, use another sturdy fish, like tuna or mako shark.
Anytime Fish and Shellfish Stew
This is a sort of ad-lib fish stew, inspired by the kind of stew you’d find served in the South of France: Its exact proportions and quantities aren’t set in stone. Use whatever white-fleshed fish and shellfish you like. Potatoes make the dish more substantial, and the slices really absorb all the lovely flavors of the stew.
Pan-Seared Salmon With Celery, Olives and Capers
The salsa that I spoon over the salmon here is an explosion of contrasting flavors – sweet, salty and sharp – common in Sicilian cooking. I like serving this with sautéed greens and some bread.
Saffron Fish With Red Peppers and Preserved Lemon
This very flexible recipe is often served by Moroccan Jews and their descendants. Many who moved to France, for example, tend to prepare it with preserved lemons and olives. Others living in Jerusalem, like Danielle Renov, author of “Peas, Love & Carrots” (Mesorah Publications, 2020), might incorporate more spice. (Ms. Renov omits the saffron for Passover.) With the addition of red peppers and tomatoes coming from the Americas, it became the rich Moroccan dish it is today. Traditionally made with white fish, it also works with salmon or shad. Serve this as an appetizer, symbolic of the wish for abundance. Assemble it in the morning and cook it just before serving, or eat the fish at room temperature. For a main course, add quinoa or couscous to soak up the flavorful juices.
Fish Pie With a Sourdough Crust
This British fish pie deviates from the traditional potato topping by using sourdough bread as a crust. The result leaves you with a happy balance of crispy bread bits on top and softer bits where the bread has absorbed some of the creamy sauce. You can easily make this pie your own by swapping out the sourdough for any other good-quality white loaf, using other cuts of fish or seafood, such as cod, trout or baby squid, and playing around with whatever herbs you might have on hand. The English mustard is quite a dominant flavor here, and cuts through the richness of the pie itself. If mustard isn’t your thing, feel free to reduce the amount to 2 tablespoons.
Rocky Mountain Rainbow Trout With Trout Roe
Whole trout makes for a stunning presentation, especially when it is topped with delicate pink roe, which sparkles like gems on top of the fish and imparts a salty, mineral flavor. Trout from the icy Rocky Mountain streams are at their best in late spring, when the ice has just melted. Cooks from the Shoshone tribe, among many others, make delicious meals using the entire fish, wasting nothing: Cheeks and eyes are considered a delicacy, as is the roe harvested from the females, which is prized for its distinct flavor and its relationship to renewal.
Mackerel With Lemon Olive Oil and Tomatoes
Mackerel is a sustainable, velvety, sweet-tasting fish that deserves more attention than it usually gets. Here, the pale fillets are roasted on a bed of fragrant basil leaves with a lemon zest-infused olive oil, chopped olives and juicy cherry tomatoes. If you have a bottle of cold-pressed lemon olive oil on hand, you can use it here in place of making your own. If infusing your own oil, feel free to use either a regular lemon or a Meyer lemon. Leftover lemon oil is great on salads, tossed with vegetables, or drizzled over avocado toast.
Seafood Chowder
This chowder of root-cellar vegetables, clams and fish is one of the easiest and best things to cook for a weekend dinner with family and friends. Use a mixture of butter and the powdered dried seaweed called dulse as the flavored fat in which you sauté the vegetables before deglazing them, and each individual flavor in the resulting stew will pop — from carrot to leek, parsnip to potato, bacon to clam to scallop to fish. The seaweed is a powerful flavor enhancer. You can omit it if you want, but really, you shouldn't.
Saffron Salmon Kababs
Buttery, saffron-stained and gently spiced, these Iranian kababs come together in no time and make for a beautiful, flavorful meal. The warming spice mix of oregano, coriander, black pepper and turmeric balances and lifts the sweet notes from the saffron and salmon. To keep the fish in place when turning the kababs on the grill, use 1/2-inch-wide flat skewers or two thin, round skewers. You can entertain with these skewers or enjoy them on a quiet weeknight, along with dill rice and a side of fresh herbs, or cucumber, tomato and onion salad.
Whole Roasted Fish With Wild Mushrooms
A very large whole roasted fish brought to the table with head and tail intact is a visually dramatic and incredibly tasty dinner party main course. Even better is that it's both a breeze to cook (season it up, throw it in the oven and wait), and to serve (big fish have big bones, which makes it easy to scoop the flesh off the skeleton). Do not forget to call your fishmonger ahead to order a large fish. This recipe, with lemons, herbs and crisp wild mushrooms, will work with any 4- to 6-pounder, from delicate black sea bass to salmon-colored arctic char. The variety of fish here is less important than the size. Generally speaking, you'll need about a pound of fish per person, though three-quarters of a pound will do if you're serving it in the context of a multi-course meal. Also, if you can't find one very large fish, you can use two smaller ones, 1 1/2 to 2 1/2 pounds each. In that case, feel free to squeeze them into one roasting pan.
Fish Milanese
This fast weeknight dinner features quick-cooking flounder prepared alla Milanese, the style of breading and frying meat cutlets. The fillets are lightly breaded and pan-fried until golden and crisp on the outside and tender in the middle. A lemony, brown-butter pan sauce with capers comes together quickly to add a tangy brininess to the dish. A bit of avocado on the side adds creaminess that balances the crisp fish and peppery arugula. Any leftover fish makes for terrific sandwiches the next day, stacked with lettuce, tomato, pickles and mayo.
Corn on the Cob With Lime, Fish Sauce and Peanuts
As this recipe proves, lime juice, fish sauce and sugar is a powerful combination you should commit to memory. Traditionally, those three ingredients form the base of several classic Thai and Vietnamese sauces like nuoc cham and nam pla prik. The mayonnaise here is barely noticeable, but it serves an important role in helping the flavors adhere to the corn. The cilantro is optional so no one will throw a fit.
Roasted Fish With Lemon, Sesame and Herb Bread Crumbs
Trout is an ideal weeknight dinner because its thin fillets cook in minutes. All it really needs is some butter and lemon, but an herb-panko mixture adds freshness and crunch. The breadcrumb mixture is inspired by za’atar, a spice blend that includes sesame seeds, dried herbs and tart-citrusy sumac. Using fresh thyme and oregano instead of dried herbs, and lemon zest in place of dried sumac yields a brighter final dish. If you want to use dried za’atar, swap in 3 tablespoons of the blend for the first four ingredients. Serve the fish alongside rice, a green salad, boiled potatoes or braised chickpeas. The fish roasts in about the same time as string beans, broccolini or snap peas would, so you can also roast vegetables on a second baking sheet while the fish cooks.
Baked Fish and Chips
Baking fish and chips is not only easier and less messy than frying, but it also has the distinct advantage of allowing you to cook both fish and potatoes at the same time in your oven. The key to getting the crunchiest fries is to cut them thin (leave the skin on for extra flavor) and spread them out in one layer onto a preheated sheet pan to jump-start the crisping. (If you want to save a few minutes, start the potatoes in the oven while you prepare the fish.) We’ve paired this dish with a piquant horseradish tartar sauce, but ketchup works well, too, particularly for the grade-school set.
Fish Larb
Larb, a boldly flavored Thai dish, often combines ground chicken, ground pork or other ground meat with dried chile, scallions, shallots, fish sauce, lime, fresh herbs and nutty toasted rice, which you can make yourself or find at Asian markets. The dish also works with crumbled tofu, mushrooms, cauliflower or fish. In this quick-cooking fish version, fish fillets are pan-seared until cooked through, then broken into bite-sized pieces and tossed with the rest of the ingredients. Serve with sticky rice, small wedges of salted green cabbage, cucumber spears or lettuce leaves.
Crispy Salmon With Mixed Seeds
This recipe produces not only silky salmon with a crunchy coating of fragrant seeds, but also a shatteringly crisp skin. That’s all thanks to yogurt, which secures the seeds to the salmon and caramelizes into a crust when cooked. Mix assertive and mild seeds for a balance of textures and flavors, or swap in a ready-made seed mix like everything bagel spice or dukkah. Eat the seared salmon with more yogurt, as well as a squeeze of citrus and tuft of herbs for freshness.
One-Pot Smoky Fish With Tomato, Olives and Couscous
Flaky white fish and pearl couscous simmer together in a rich, smoky tomato sauce for a punchy one-pot dinner that comes together in just half an hour. The sauce relies heavily on pantry ingredients (think anchovies, roasted red peppers, crushed tomatoes and paprika); if you like more green on your dinner plate, a lemony arugula salad is a nice complement to the smoky flavors in this dish.
Fish Skewers With Herbs and Lime
In this simple, speedy recipe, meaty cubes of fish are marinated with fish sauce and red-pepper flakes, then lined up on skewers and grilled until seared at their corners, but still juicy and tender inside. Topped with herbs and lime juice, it’s a minimalist take that lets the flavors of good, fresh fish shine through. If you have a fish basket and would rather line up the cubes inside that, go right ahead. Just watch it carefully and adjust the cooking time if needed. If you’re looking to add a sauce, this is lovely served with some garlic-spiked yogurt on the side.