Mahi Mahi, otherwise known as Dorado, is a deservedly popular fish. When done right, mahi mahi is tender, flaky, and deliciously flavorful. This lemon garlic butter sauce is sensational.
Easy Perfect Mahi Mahi Recipe
I grew up in a family that often dished up fish for dinner. Any given weeknight, we would sit down to a meal that included fresh cooked fish. My parents served up all varieties of fish, from whole fish to fillets. They used all methods of cooking with their fish recipes, from braised to pan fried.
Maybe some of you are just trying to wrap your taste buds around the idea of whole braised fish. For reals, when done right, it’s stunningly delicious.
As a child, I naively thought everyone adored at least some fish. Alas, one [gray] day I discovered that was far from truth. (Pssst: I’ve been kinda secretly convinced that it must be because some haven’t found their perfect fish recipe just yet.) 😉
Though there are a myriad of ways to cook up delicious fish (Sheet Pan Lemon Salmon), this easy mahi mahi fish recipe is perfect for anyone to make. It only takes about 20 minutes, it’s super tender, and incredibly tasty…
What’s the best way to cook mahi mahi?
Whether you’re a pro fish cooker-eater or you’re trying to start incorporating more fish into your diet, this recipe is a perfect way to serve it up. We use the stovetop-to-oven method of cooking here, like we do with this trusty lemon garlic swordfish, which yields a nicely browned exterior yet tender center.
Here are some of our helpful tips for cooking mahi mahi:
- Get either super fresh or quick-frozen, high quality mahi mahi… wild is best, and will provide best flavor.
- Be sure your mahi portions are about 6-7oz each, with at least 1-inch thickness. If your portions are thin or too small, they’ll tend to overcook and the seasoning proportions will be off.
- Always pat dry excess moisture from the fish; this step is super important, as it affects how well your fish will brown. I use paper towels to fully pat away all extra moisture.
- Your cooking oil needs to be very hot [like, sizzling] before adding the fish. This allows for quick and even browning of exterior.
- Preheat oven ahead of time so that it’s nice and hot when you transfer the mahi mahi directly from stovetop to oven.
What do I need for the lemon garlic sauce?
- Plenty of freshly minced garlic is called for.
- Grab one fresh lemon and zest the peel; then squeeze 1 TB of tangy juice from it.
- I prefer to use salted pure butter, but feel free to use unsalted if you like.
- For freshly chopped herbs, we use chives or parsley…or both.
- Tip: sauce can be prepared ahead of time, covered, and chilled until you’re ready to warm it up for serving. It’s a great sauce to have on hand.
What to serve with this dish?
I love this Perfect Instant Pot Brown Rice, as it goes so well with most meals and is healthy yet easy.
For a skillet easy rice dish, this Easy Rice Pilaf with Mushrooms is fantastic.
We really like this 20-Minute Lemon Spinach Orzo Salad for some greens and a complete meal.
A nice serving of this Best Easy Roasted Vegetables Recipe makes an amazing dinner with your fish as well.
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Mahi Mahi, otherwise known as Dorado, is deservedly a popular fish. When done right, mahi mahi is tender, flaky, and deliciously flavorful. This lemon garlic butter sauce is sensational.
Ingredients
- For the Lemon Garlic Mixture:
- 2 TB salted butter, softened to room temp
- 1 TB freshly chopped chives or parsley
- 2 TB garlic cloves, minced
- 1/8 tsp kosher salt
- 1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper
- 1 TB juice from fresh lemon
- 1TB grated lemon peel
- For the Fish: 2 TB olive oil 2 (1-inch thick each) mahi-mahi fillets, 6-8oz each kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400F with rack on middle position. In a small pan, combine all Lemon Garlic Mixture ingredients and stir to fully combine. Set aside.
- Use paper towels to pat-dry all excess moisture from the fish fillets. This step is important, so be sure to pat off as much moisture as you can.
- Evenly sprinkle both sides of fillets with pinches of kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper. Set aside. In a large, oven-proof pan, heat the olive oil over high heat. Once oil is sizzling hot, add the fish fillets to pan and let cook until browned on one side, about 3 minutes (do not move fish around much.) Carefully flip fish fillets over to the other side, turn stove burner off, and immediately transfer pan into already-hot oven. Let fish roast at 400F about 5 minutes or just until the top is golden and center is just cooked through. Take care not to overcook.
- A minute before fish is done cooking in oven, cook small pan of prepared lemon-garlic mixture over medium high heat, constantly stirring, just until melted and bubbly. Immediately turn heat off and pour mixture over the cooked fish. Be sure to pour on any juices from the fish pan as well.
Notes
- Be sure to use coarse kosher salt, and not fine table salt. Fine salt is much saltier than kosher in recipes.
- Lemon Garlic Sauce can be made ahead of time and reheated to serve.
Keywords: mahi mahi recipe
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The mahi mahi looks soooooo delicious, yum!!! Thank you so much for the awesome recipe.
You’re so welcome; enjoy!
I need to try Mahi Mahi one of these days. I keep hearing that it tastes really good and your photos make me want to try it this weekend. LOL Thanks for sharing this recipe. I am definitely going to be trying it soon for sure!
It has awesome flavor and is super easy!
Holy mackerel, er, mahi mahi. That looks amazing. I mean, it’s perfect. Now I’m starving.
This looks delicious. The lemon must add such a fresh flavor to the fish!
I have never heard of Mahi mahi fish but glad to learn it here and I have a little research and found out the Mahi Mahi ‘s head is quite huge. Well, I am going to check out this type of fish in the fish market and try out this recipe. Love how there are so many garlic used in this recipe.
Wow! This is is really for me. The color is perfect and I like how its toasted. With the lemon on top, how did you know I like both of them. haha!
This looks like such a tasty meal idea! I love the sound of the lemon garlic butter sauce.
I had tried Mahi Mahi once. The recipe looks amazing. And you have a popular blog which pops up in many google searches.
I have literally been craving fish for the past two weeks (specifically salmon but thats besides the point) that first dish looks amazing!! Ahh!
Thank you for posting this. I am following this new diet ( for health reasons) and I am basically a Pescatarian now. Needless to say i need more recipes! you posted this just in time!
Awesome!! Hope you love this. Happy cooking!
Learning to prepare some new dishes is always exciting. Thanks.
I would love to make this for dinner tonight. Going to check if our supermarket has any Mahi Mahi.
I bought mahi mahi once and totally forgot about it. I wish I’d remembered and had this recipe!
I loved your pictures…they look super tasty..need to try this out with tofu.
This tasted so good the whole family really enjoyed it! The flavors are just right and the fish came out perfect!
Yay!! Thanks for coming over to let us know. Glad you liked it!
It has been a long time since I’ve had mahi mahi and yours looks perfect! I wish I could try it now! Beautiful meal 🙂
I haven’t had mahi mahi in ages but yours looks and sounds delicious! I wish I could have this tonight…definitely need to make soon!
This was incredible. I served it alongside green beans and quinoa salad. Will definitely make this again.
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★★★★★
So so glad you liked this dish, James! Thanks for back coming over to let us know 🙂
Oh yum! It has been a while since I had Mahi Mahi. I love the touch of lemon zest, flavor overload in the best way possible.
Mani mani is my cather’s favorite. I’ll have to treat him to this delicious recipe!
Mahi Mahi is my absolute favorite fish to eat! This looks so perfect and spot on; yum!
What a beautiful presentation! This looks restaurant worthy; can’t wait to make it for myself!
This seafoood dish might be worth giving it a try sometimWe. We love trying something new with the kidss.
This Mahi Mahi recipe looks great and tasty. I would love to try this.
Looks super delicious! I would love to eat it so much. Fish lover spotted!
My family was the opposite and we never had fish growing up! I’m starting to develop a taste for it and I think this recipe would be perfect to get me into eating fish! Thanks for sharing!
I heard and ate Mahi Mahi before in a restaurant but never tried to cook it myself. Seems like I can start to do the cooking experiment with your recipe this weekend! 🙂
I love this fish! We don’t get it in Italy sadly, but I like the texture. Great recipe.
I never thought I would like mahi-mahi, but after reading this and looking at your pictures I think I would absolutely love it!
Yum! This recipe looks so good! I need to try to make this at home sometime. I think my family would love it.
I need to try this out for lent season! It sounds so yummy!!
I will have to share this with my Mum, she loves fish dishes
Mmm this looks really tasty!
Oh wow this looks super delicious! I love fish dishes so may have to give this a try.
I love mahi!! This really does look easy and something I could make!! Thank you!
OMGeeeee! This recipe sounds delicious! I’d love to give it a whirl sometime, and it seems pretty simple to follow (so even a crap cook like me wouldn’t balls it up LOL) x
This was such a great dish! The fish really turned out perfectly. But just the addition of the lemon zest elevated your sauce to bistro quality. Thanks, I will have this again.
Yay, Heather! So happy you liked this 🙂 Thanks for coming over and letting us know. Have a great summer!
The recipe looks good but in the instructions you refer to it as swordfish! LOL think you converted from a different recipe…
Linda, thanks, good catch! I made both swordfish and mahi mahi separately and did a typo 😛 Changed to the correct word. Thanks!
Excellent recipe. Whole family loves it, even grandson. We serve over natural brown rice. [email protected]
Yay, Sandy! So happy your family enjoys this recipe. Thanks for stopping over today 🙂
This dish was delicious! I used a vegan butter and basil instead of dairy and parsley. I used the same sauce to make chicken thighs for the kids and it was just as delicious! I served it with brown rice and a spring salad with balsamic dressing. I cannot wait to make this dish again!
Sounds amazing, Sarah! SO happy you guys all liked this 🙂 🙂 🙂
I made the Mahi Mahi tonight for my husband and he loved it. I don’t even like fish but I tasted it and it was fab! Thx for the recipe!
You’re so welcome, Michele! Great to hear you guys liked this! 🙂
Can I use frozen Mahi and should it be thawed?
I stead of putting the oven on for 5 minutes, could you just put the lid on and cook for a few minutes?
Thank you
Vicki, you can definitely do that if you want to avoid the oven. However, the oven time really helps with the browning of exterior, whereas a closed-lid pan would steam it. Hope you love it 🙂
Thank you for the recipe! I had never cooked fish, and had to substitute coconut oil for butter and lime for lemon but it came out fantastic.
So so happy to hear you liked this dish, Tia! Yay!! 🙂
The recipe nutrition info says 31 grams of carbohydrates per portion?
Where are they coming from?
The garlic, the chives and the lemon zest may have a few carbs, but what else?
I followed recipe to a T and it was perfect! My husband said “don’t loose this recipe “
★★★★★
Yay, Christine! So happy you guys loved this recipe 🙂 Happy continued cooking!
This recipe was so easy and simple to make. It taste so good and the lemon was refreshing yet mild in the cold weather in NYC . Will use the sauce for other dishes as well. Thank you!!!!
★★★★★
You’re so very welcome, Ronald! Thanks for coming back to let us know you liked the dish!
If I could give 10 stars i would. Delicious, had my 6 year old with his nose in the wondering what dada was cooking. I made cocktail winners and beans which he loves also incase he did not like it, we make him try everything new… well all he ate was fish. Said he wants it again tomorrow. My wife loved it also and she dosent eat fish. Thank you for sharing!!!!!!!!
★★★★★
Makes me super happy to hear that!! It’s awesome 🙂 🙂