How to Cook Fish At Home Like A Pro

  04/20/2019

Perhaps you love fish when you go out to eat, but you don’t make enough of it at home. Plenty of people become intimidated with the prospect of cooking fish at home, but it’s fast, easy, healthy, and delicious. Here are some tried and true cooking techniques for fish that will have you eating more of it at home.

Pan-seared

One of the easiest ways to cook your fish is to pan-sear it. It’s great with fillets that still have the skin on like salmon or mackerel, but you can do it sans skin if you prefer. Simply heat olive oil in your nonstick skillet on medium-high heat. Season your fillet the way you prefer though keeping it simple is best to enjoy the freshness. If you’re using a fillet with skin, score the skin and put the skin-side down first. Cook for about 4 minutes, then flip to cook between 2 to 4 minute on the other side.

Baked

Another wonderfully easy way to make fish at home is to bake it. Salmon and whole sides of oily fillets are ideal for your oven because they won’t dry out. Season away, remembering not to overdo it (lemon and garlic make for a very tasty flavoring). Add your fish to an oven preheated to 400˚F. Using parchment paper makes things less messy. Bake it for about 10 to 12 minutes depending on thickness (ideal for most fillets though whole sides will take longer). You can throw some vegetables on the tray too to roast it for an easy one-pan meal that’s ready in less than 20 minutes.

Broiled

Similar to baking, this technique makes short work of getting that caramelized and charred flavor that you’d get from a grill with much less work. Salmon and tuna with sweeter sauces like teriyaki for example do brilliantly like this. Simply preheat the broiler to high, brush your fish with the sauce of your choosing and put it in a pan just 2 inches from the broiler. Cooking time depends on how thick your fillets are. As a rule of thumb, it’s 5 minutes per inch of thickness.

Packet-style

This universal technique can be used on any type of skinless fillet, plus it has the added bonus of not stinking your home up with the scent of fish. Simply cut a square of parchment paper for each fillet and season your fish. Then, wrap the paper around the fish to create a secure envelope. Adding things like ginger, lemongrass, or garlic will give you some tasty results. This method takes about 13 minute per inch of thickness.

Cooking fish at home is very simple with these methods. You can now enjoy more fish daily for much less than dining out. That’s good news for your health and your wallet!