This buttery Lemon Garlic Swordfish is stunningly delicious. This recipe results in a tender, flavor-packed fish that tastes like you spent way more time on it than you did.
The Only Swordfish Recipe you’ll need
This yum-licious Lemon Garlic Swordfish totally brought me back to our long-ago BK years (Before Kids) when Hubby and I frequently experimented with various fish, whole grains, and fresh veggies for dinner.
In those early BK years, we would take time preparing healthy sauteed greens almost every night. We’d often grill, bake, or pan-sear some kind of fish…Mahi Mahi with Mango Avocado Salsa or Marinated Seared Ahi were among our favorites. Halibut and Swordfish made regular appearances on our little kitchen table as well.
Then came the BK years, when just about the only things we managed to “grill” were cheese sandwiches. And the only kind of fish that made it onto our plates were covered in breading and shaped like sticks. Some of you know what I’m talking about. If you don’t, rest assured that you’re not missing out on the food scene.
Thankfully, those spoon-throwing Littles took on slightly more refined palates as they grew. They didn’t have much choice, since their mama somehow morphed into a food blogger.
This Lemon Garlic Swordfish feels like a throwback that’s making a comeback. It’s totally back in dinner rotation. Get ready to devour this buttery, lemony, garlicky goodness…
How to make Lemon Garlic Swordfish:
Start off with high quality 1-inch thick swordfish fillets. It’s important to towel-dry the fish so that all excess water/moisture is removed. Give it a sprinkle of kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper on both sides.
Swordfish is a steaky white fish that is firm, with great flavor potential. It stands up really well to pan-roasting, so that’s exactly what we do here. We start off with browning one side of the fish for a few minutes and then immediately flipping the fish over to its other side and transferring the pan into a hot oven. It only takes 5-ish minutes for the fish to finish cooking in the oven; as a rule of thumb, always try to have your fish just-cooked and no more. Avoid overcooking at all costs, as that is what makes fish lose its tender texture.
Lastly, you’ll slather on the amazing butter-garlic-lemon mixture. The flavor combination is stunning and perfect over swordfish.
It’ll taste like you spent way more time on it than you actually did. Enjoy 🙂
See this recipe in action:
Prep Time:
Yield:
Category:
Method:
Cuisine:
Print
PinDescription
This buttery Lemon Garlic Swordfish is stunningly delicious. This recipe results in a tender, flavor-packed fish that tastes like you spent way more time on it than you did.
Ingredients
For the Lemon Garlic Mixture:
- 2 TB salted butter, softened to room temp
- 1 TB freshly chopped chives
- 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) swordfish fillets, about 6–7 oz 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 swordfish fillets. 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 medium high heat. Once oil is hot, add the swordfish 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 off, and immediately transfer pan into hot oven.
- Let fish roast about 5-6 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 swordfish pan as well.
Notes
This dish is amazing with Easy Rice Pilaf with Mushrooms or Farro Salad with Butternut and Avocado
Keywords: lemon butter swordfish recipe
Kitchen Stuff we Love:
What a Catch:
Crispy Baja Fish Tacos with Creamy Lime Sauce
15-Minute Ginger Soy Asian Steamed Fish
Easy Lemon Butter Fish in 20 Minutes
I certainly know the first thing I am going to be eating post pregnancy!
Haha, Gigi! I went straight for all the fish (like sushi!) that I wasn’t able to eat for 9 months every single time 🙂
This recipe lost me when they said “kosher salt”. Seriously!
Kosher salt is very coarse (and less salty per measurement) compared with fine table salt. If using regular table salt, use half the amount. 🙂
Idiot…
Huge fan of Swordfish and love anything with Lemon. I will definitely try this recipe
Great recipe, we love swordfish, loaded with protein and taste so delicious!
This looks yummy! I love lemon and fish. My husband isn’t a fan though so I don’t often get to try it.
Wow so easy to make and it looks incredible! Yummy Yummy
I do love fish and this is a great recipe to try, very simple to make too. I am not sure that swordfish is easy to find where I live but I am sure I can replace it with cod or monkfish.
The Lemon Garlic swordfish looks so delicious. I would love to try it out someday. Thanks for sharing this great recipe.
unfortunately I am highy allergic to seafood but even so, this looks delish!
Pinning! This looks so light and delicious. I bet my family would love it.
I have always been fearful of cooking fish, but this makes it seem more doable. I can’t wait to try this recipe.
Wow, this recipe looks so easy to make and really delicious. Honestly, seeing this makes me really hungry.
I love swordfish, but I don’t think it’s a fish common to the North Atlantic. I would try this recipe with haddock or salmon.
What a lovely recipe for those who enjoy fish. I like the sound of lemon and garlic together I bet it is just lovely indeed.
Mouth watering, absolutely yummy looking food. I would love to try it out. I meant eating and not cooking Hahahaha … I don’t know if it will look as delicious as it is looking in your pics
I tried the same recipe with chicken and it’s so yummy.. you’ll never go wrong with Lemon LOL, lemme try it with fish next time.
Oh, Rhea, this would be definitely SO good with chicken too!
That looks really really good! I love seafood so much.I can;t wait to try this at home. The ingredients are all easy to find as well.
I love how something feels brand new when it makes it back to rotation. Swordfish sounds like a great thing to add to our menu here too!
This looks beyond AMAZING! I have no idea what I’m even have for dinner tonight but I’d love this!
This swordfish looks so moist and tasty. It also looks incredibly healthy. I am definitely trying this recipe.
This sounds so delicious! I have never tasted Swordfish before, but this looks like a delicious recipe. I will have to give it a try.
Wow, this dish looks really delicious and the procedures looks so easy to follow. I will definitely try to make this once I got home.
We eat a lot of seafood in my home so this recipe is right up my alley! It’s sounds to die for! Can’t wait to try it.
I love fish and I love ANYTHING Garlic so this will be in the top of recipes to try next week!
Your post is making me rethink what I brought for lunch. Thank you. I guess I know now what I will be getting and today’s lunch from home will be tomorrow’s lunch.
It’s hard to make cooked food that is not interesting to children with cute kids features of bread crumbs, star fish, etc….
Will be using this over the weekend.
You always seem to showcase the most scrumptious meals and deserts. This one looks/sounds like it is one that will not disappoint.
I’d rate this a 7 out of 5!! It looks that good. I love a good fish meal and the way this is prepared and seasoned, should make my weekend. Cheers!!
I am not a big fan of swordfish but I feel like this recipe may just change my mind!
This looks good. Love how simple this recipe is. Will def. have to try it
This recipe looks amazing. I would love to try this at home. I know this fish tastes amazing with lemon and garlic.
What a yummy list of recipes! Will definitely try some post Labor Day.
I happened to find your recipe for this swordfish, and sooo glad I did. It’s fantastic! I’m not one to use any type of measuring while cooking. Just what looks good to me. It is incredibly easy to make and serve. The sauce was even good on the zucchini that I served with it.
That’s so great, Nancy! Glad you guys liked this. Can’t wait to hear what you cook up next
I get so tired of people rating or raving about a recipe that they haven’t even tried. I really don’t care how good it looks, or if you will eventually try it. MAKE IT FIRST, THEN RATE OR RAVE. I did finally find ONE review from someone who actually made this, and they said it’s good, buthanks that means that there is truly only ONE REVIEW of this recipe. And while the recipe does sound/look good, I don’t know if I want to chance a beautiful, expensive piece of swordfish to it.
My mother -in -law who is a very picky eater now, ate every bite, my husband said it was resturant quality that he would order, I myself, don’t usually like my cooking, at all, wished I had actually cooked more of it for seconds. It’s on the menu for this Sundays night dinner, again. Don’t knock it until you try it. Yes, it is an expensive fish in a fish market, fortunately I have a good friend that sells fish to resturants, and I buy the pieces much cheaper than market price, that they can’t sell, end pieces, not pretty pieces, I have to cut and trim them up, but their fresh.
So awesome,Nancy! Happy continued cooking 🙂
“tun stove off”… I assume you mean turn the burner off that you were using? The oven stays on when you put the fish into it, right?
(and big thumbs-up to Kim’s rant about people making comments when they haven’t even made the recipe… :smh:)
Correct, Denis…turn burner off but oven is nice and hot when fish goes in 🙂 Enjoy and happy cooking!
Hello Gigi. I never cooked swordfish, but because you’re recipes are simple and well-explained, I thought I’d give it a try, Quelle suprise! The swordfish came out tender and the lemon butter sauce made the dish delicious. Your exposition is excellent. This is the best site I’ve encountered for great family meals.
Well done & Thank you.
So glad you enjoyed this recipe, Susanna! YAY 🙂
Swordfish was on a great sale at the store today, so I bought it and then (as usual) looked up easy recipes when I got home. This recipe was within my skill set, fortunately, and it gets an A+ on everything, especially the timing. (Well, I did have to look up how to zest a lemon properly.)
My husband kept commenting throughout the dinner how great it was. I cooked the swordfish as the recipe indicated, only substituting dried chives for fresh chives since I had already shopped. (Thanks for the reminder to return the pan juices to the butter sauce.) I served it with a side dish of yellow squash cut into circles, added to sauteed onions (in rings), with a little salt and a bunch of dried dill.
Could not be more pleased with this recipe. Thank you for making me a star in the kitchen!
Aww, that puts a happy smile on me 🙂 Thanks for coming over and letting us know, Ellen! So glad you guys enjoyed it 🙂
This is a spectacular dish full of flavor that perfectly complements the swordfish. I have made it twice now and the second time was better than the first. Thank you Amy for this wonderful and easy recipe.
That is so great! Thank you for coming over to let us know you enjoyed this, Laurie!! Happy continued cooking
This was amazing! I’ve never had swordfish before and I’m a beginner cook, but I was able to make something great following this! One thing I did differently (because I love intense zestiness) is to use lemon pepper seasoning instead of pepper, and it worked great to give that little extra kick that I love so much. I’m definitely going to be using this recipe more!
I served over linguini pasta, which went with the sauce really well.
★★★★★
Delicious, tender and easy. Would only use 1 clove of garlic; it was a bit overpowering.
★★★★★
So happy you enjoyed this! Thanks for cooking along
I made this yesterday and it is so good I could eat it everyday. Easy and quick to make. Simply delicious!
Diana, that makes me super happy!!! So so glad you loved this recipe, and thank you for coming over to let us know!
Loving your easy flavorful heathy fish recipes!