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Lemon Garlic Swordfish Recipe

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.

lemon garlic swordfish recipe fish recipe
Tender, flavorful swordfish is way easier than you might iimagine.

The Only Swordfish Recipe you’ll need

This delicious Lemon Garlic Swordfish 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.

We would take time preparing healthy sautéed 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. Seared Halibut and Lemon Butter Cod made regular appearances on our little kitchen table as well.

Then came the kid-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.

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.

lemon garlic swordfish recipe fish recipe
Be sure your swordfish fillets are at least 1-inch thick

How to make Lemon Garlic Swordfish

  1. Start off with high quality 1-inch thick swordfish fillets.
  2. 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.
  3. Swordfish is a steaky white fish that is firm, with great flavor potential. It stands up really well to pan-roasting with a large oven-proof pan, 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.
  4. 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.
  5. Lastly, you’ll slather on the amazing butter-garlic-lemon mixture. The flavor combination is stunning and perfect over swordfish.
  6. It’ll taste like you spent way more time on it than you actually did. Enjoy 🙂

Watch Us Make This Swordfish Recipe

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lemon butter swordfish recipe

Lemon Garlic Swordfish Recipe

4.71 from 271 ratings
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. 
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 10 minutes
Servings: 4
Author: Amy Dong

Ingredients  

For the Lemon Garlic Mixture:

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

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Nutrition (per serving)

Calories: 241kcal | Carbohydrates: 2g | Protein: 17g | Fat: 18.5g | Saturated Fat: 6g | Trans Fat: 0.3g | Cholesterol: 71.4mg | Sodium: 696.4mg | Fiber: 0.3g | Sugar: 0.4g
Course: fish, Main, seafood
Cuisine: American
Diet: Gluten Free, Low Lactose
Method: Oven, pan fry, roast, Stovetop

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Add a comment

Recipe Rating




211 comments

    • Kim
    • 5 stars

    Oh My Gosh! This is my new favorite recipe! I use a cast iron skillet and made the recipe exactly as stated. I would not change a single thing.

    • Ruth
    • 5 stars

    This is so good even my 6 year old loved it!!

    • Fran P
    • 5 stars

    My first time making swordfish. This recipe is quick & easy. It’s a delicious dish. I will make it again and again. If you’ve never eaten or cooked swordfish, believe me, this is the one to try. Thanks for the recipe. Bon Appetite!

    • Tracy
    • 5 stars

    I’ve made this twice and it will be part of my regular meals.. we love it. I add chopped fresh dill to butter, lemon and garlic and heat it through in the pan after removing swordfish from oven.. it soaks up the pan juices from frying the fish.. delicious !

    • Kristin T
    • 5 stars

    This recipe was amazing! My first time making swordfish and my family loved it. I can’t wait to make it again.

    • Joe A
    • 5 stars

    Made the lemon garlic swordfish tonight. Turned out great! I was about an hour late in serving the dinner. First time making it just takes longer. Thanks for the recipe.

    • Linda
    • 5 stars

    Perfectly delicious! Was a big hit and I will make it again!

    • sophie v
    • 5 stars

    i never comment on these but OMG i’m literally obsessed with this recipe !! just got out of the gym late and needed a high protein dinner and pulled up this recipe — other than the prep work, this tool no time AT ALL, and tasted absolutely delicious. the recommended cooking times for the fish were spot on too. i will definitely be buying more swordfish for easy week night dinners!!

      • Amy Dong

      That’s fantastic, Sophie! 🙂

    • Sherry
    • 5 stars

    Delicious!! Used parsley instead of chives. Didn’t have any chives.

    • Tim Gorman
    • 5 stars

    So easy, so tasty, so satisfying!! Thank you!

    • Christine O’Brien
    • 5 stars

    Sooo sooo good! Great recipe!

    • Anne Marie Geggis
    • 5 stars

    my hubby thought it was restaurant worthy! Came together easily and fast! Great stuff.

    • Louise Labbe
    • 5 stars

    The Lemon Garlic Swordfish Recipe is excellent. My wife and I are having company and we will be serving this incredible dish.

    • Lori
    • 5 stars

    Delicious and easy! Winning combination. I used chili salt instead of kosher salt for a bit of heat, and some lemon balsamic to balance the butter. Definitely making this recipe part of my regular rotation.

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