Blackened Fish
This blackened fish recipe is the perfect easy weeknight meal with your favorite fish butter basted, generously seasoned with blackening seasoning and seared.
Quick and easy dinner recipe alert, my friends! We’re cooking up some fish fillets in the Chili Pepper Madness kitchen tonight, and it’s going to be fast. Tonight we’re making Blackened Fish, and it’s bound to become of your favorite go-to cooking methods.
All of us need simple recipes for easy weeknight cooking. We all get crazy busy with work, family and life in general. We can’t always spend a lot of time in the kitchen. That doesn’t mean we can’t have enjoy good home cooked meals, though, right? Especially meals with a nice level of spice!
Enter “Blackening”. Blackening is a simple cooking method of coating the star of your dish with butter, seasoning it generously with homemade blackening seasoning, then searing it over high heat to form a nice spicy crust. This cooking method works wonderfully with fish and cooks up in no time.
The result is big flavor and huge satisfaction, a meal you won’t soon forget! I think you’ll love it so much that it will enter your regular cooking routine.
It has for me!
Let’s talk about how we make blackened fish, shall we?
Blackened Fish Ingredients
- FOR THE BLACKENING SEASONING
- Chili Powders. Use 2 tablespoons smoked paprika (or use regular paprika) + 1 tablespoon cayenne powder (use more for a spicier blend)
- Spices. Use 1 tablespoon onion powder, 1 teaspoon garlic powder, 1 teaspoon ground black pepper and 1 teaspoon sea salt
- Herbs. Use ½ teaspoon dried basil, ½ teaspoon dried oregano and ½ teaspoon dried thyme
- FOR THE FISH
- 4 fish fillets, 6 ounces each, skinless – I used Icelandic cod today, but any fish fillet will do for this recipe.
- ¼ cup melted butter
How to Blacken Fish – the Recipe Method
Make the Blackening Seasoning. Mix all of the blackening spices together in a small bowl. Make sure it is blended evenly. You’ll have extra seasoning for this recipe, so store the remainder in airtight jars or containers. It’s great on so many things!
Butter and Season the Fish Fillets. Brush one side of each fish fillet generously with melted butter and generously spoon on the blackening seasoning. Use a couple tablespoons, or really as much as you’d like. Make it as spicy as you want. You can easily dip each fillet of fish into a shallow dish filled with seasoning to get a good, even coating.
Get Cooking. Heat a heavy cast iron skillet to medium-high heat and add the salmon fillets, buttery-seasoned side down. Cook 3-5 minutes to blacken. Brush or drizzle on the remaining butter, then generously add more seasoning. Flip the fish fillet and cook another 2-3 minutes, or until the fish is cooked through and flaky. Usually just a few minutes on each side is enough to cook the fish through, depending on thickness. Cook them to 145 degrees F internal temperature minimum.
Serve!
Boom! Done! Blackened fish is ready to serve. This one is SO GOOD. Such a great recipe. Just look at all that wonderful flavor and seasoning. Yum.
Recipe Tips & Notes
- The Fish. This recipe will work with ANY type of fish. I have made this with all sorts of fish, from blackened salmon to cod, monkfish, tilapia, blackened sheepshead, redfish, swordfish, so many others. You name it! Use your favorite fish.
- The Blackening Seasoning. This is my own homemade blackening seasoning recipe, but you can very easily alter it to fit your own preferences. Sometimes I like to slip in a bit of ghost pepper powder to heat things up nicely. Feel free to adjust with other ingredients, or use a good Cajun Seasoning or Creole Seasoning blend, which are very similar. You can also use your favorite store bought blend.
That’s it, my friends. I hope you enjoy my blackened fish recipe. Extra spicy for me, please! Definitely one of my favorite ways to make it. Let me know if you make it. I’d love to hear how it turned out for you. Keep it spicy!
Try Some of My Other Popular Recipes
- Blackened Chicken
- Blackened Shrimp
- Blackened Shrimp Pasta
- Blackened Salmon
- Low Country Boil
- Check out all of my Spicy Seafood Recipes!
Got any questions? Ask away! I’m happy to help. If you enjoy this recipe, I hope you’ll leave a comment with some STARS. Also, please share it on social media. Don’t forget to tag us at #ChiliPepperMadness. I’ll be sure to share! Thanks! — Mike H.
Blackened Fish Recipe
Ingredients
FOR THE BLACKENING SEASONING
- 2 tablespoons smoked paprika or use regular paprika
- 1 tablespoon cayenne powder use more for a spicier blend
- 1 tablespoon onion powder
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
- ½ teaspoon dried basil
- ½ teaspoon dried oregano
- ½ teaspoon dried thyme
FOR THE FISH
- 4 fish fillets 6 ounces each, skinless - I used Icelandic cod today, but any fish fillet will do
- ¼ cup butter melted
Instructions
- Mix all of the blackening spices together in a small bowl. Make sure it is blended evenly.
- Brush one side of each fish fillet generously with melted butter.
- Generously spoon on the blackening seasoning.
- Heat a large cast iron skillet to high heat and add the salmon fillets, buttery-seasoned side down.
- Cook 3-5 minutes to blacken.
- Brush or drizzle on the remaining butter, then generously add more seasoning.
- Flip the fish fillet and cook another 2-3 minutes, or until the fish is cooked through and flaky.
- Serve!
Video
Notes
Nutrition
6 comments
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I used this spice recipe on haddock and it was so good I scraped all the remaining blackened spiciness off the bottom of my plate. I am not a fan of really spicy foods but this was really flavorful it was worth the heat. I will definitely save this recipe to use on other seafood and chicken.
Terry
Awesome! Glad you enjoyed it, Terry!
I made grouper using this recipe. I also madexa lemon basil sauce and I used the extra seasoning to blacken some gigantic shrimp. I plated my fish, topped with a scoop of lemon basil sauce, topped that with artfully arranged shrimp. I served this meal with rice pilaf. AWESOME!! I will top my fish with soft shell crab when in season. Thank you so much for the recipe for the blackened fish!! Love, love, love it!
Excellent, Jill! Sounds perfect!
Excited to try this. I love all your ideas as I am new to your blog.
Thanks, Teresa! I hope you enjoy it! One of my favorite ways to prepare fish and other foods!