You’re going to love my buttery ginger garlic pan-seared swordfish recipe! It’s amazingly delicious and so very easy to make. My restaurant-quality recipe produces a tender, moist, flavor-packed swordfish that tastes better than your favorite seafood restaurant.
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Cooking swordfish can be a disaster when it’s overcooked. The mild flavors of the swordfish make it a blank canvas for flavor. Have fun adding your favorite seasonings and fresh herbs to customize my easy swordfish recipe to your taste preference.
Making a simple marinade is a great option, but my compound butter is easier and turns fresh swordfish into a culinary masterpiece.
Try our Pan-Seared Rockfish and Tilefish Recipes if you love fresh fish recipes.
Ingredients for Swordfish Recipe
Let’s start by gathering the ingredients needed for our Ginger Garlic Swordfish Recipe. In Chef Speak, this is called the “Mise en Place,” which translates to “Everything in its Place.”
Not only does setting up your ingredients ahead of time speed up the cooking process, it also helps ensure you have everything you need to make the dish.
Simple Ingredients
- swordfish steaks
- butter
- fresh Italian parsley
- garlic cloves
- ginger
- lemon zest (or chopped lemon peel)
- red pepper flakes (or black pepper)
- extra virgin olive oil
- sea salt
How do I make Compound Butter?
Before you start making the swordfish recipe, prepare the compound butter you’ll be using at the end of the preparation.
Compound butter is made by mixing additional elements, such as herbs, spices, or aromatic liquids, into softened butter. I used minced garlic cloves, red pepper flakes, chopped Italian parsley, grated lemon peel, and freshly grated ginger for my compound butter.
You can easily swap out ingredients to customize the compound butter and have fun experimenting with the flavors.
How to make our Swordfish Recipe
Follow along with my simple step-by-step instructions to learn how to make our swordfish recipe in your home kitchen.
Rinse the swordfish steaks with cold water, then pat dry with paper towels. Salt the swordfish generously using your favorite sea salt (kosher salt can also be used).
- Place an ovenproof frying pan (or grill pan) over medium-high heat, and when hot, add one tablespoon of olive oil and the swordfish, salted side down. Sear the swordfish for 1-2 minutes or until the seared swordfish has a lovely color.
- Turn the swordfish over and drain any excess oil from the pan. Carefully add a few tablespoons of water to the pan and place it in a preheated 400-degree oven.
*Roast the swordfish until just cooked through, about 6-8 minutes or until the desired doneness.
How do I know if the swordfish is thoroughly cooked?
Swordfish is a meaty fish, and the easiest way to tell if it’s done is to use an instant-read or meat thermometer. The temperature should read 130°F for medium, 135°F for medium-well, or 140 to 145°F for well-done.
Another way to tell if your swordfish is thoroughly cooked is by inserting the tines of a fork into the thickest portion of the swordfish at a 45° angle. Gently twist the fork and pull up some of the fish. If it flakes easily, without resistance, the fish is done.
- Transfer the seared swordfish to a serving dish. I like serving my swordfish with wilted spinach, but feel free to use your vegetable or grain.
- Add seasoned butter mixture to the same skillet. Allow it to cook slightly over medium-high heat until melted and bubbling (1-2 minutes).
Spoon the seasoned butter over the cooked swordfish and serve with your favorite side dishes. My Pan-roasted swordfish is seared in a pan and finished in the oven, just like we did in the restaurant!
*You can do this fish in the oven for the entire cooking process, but I like to sear the swordfish before finishing in the oven. You can also add the butter directly to the swordfish before it goes in the oven instead of cooking the compound butter in a pan.
*This swordfish recipe can also be prepared on the gas grill or air fryer. But you still need to use a frying pan to cook the topping.
What fish can I use instead of Swordfish?
Compound butter is an excellent way to enhance any fresh fish that may be on the drier side. Tuna, shark, mahi-mahi, red snapper, or your favorite white fish will also work well with my recipe.
Compound butters also work well with grilled chicken, steaks, and pork chops.
After one bite, I know you’ll agree that this is The Best Swordfish Recipe you’ve ever tried.
Swordfish is a delicious and nutritious fish. The bold flavors of ginger and garlic, combined with the meaty texture of swordfish, create a satisfying and delicious meal that is perfect for your next date night, dinner party, or any occasion.
Recipe FAQ’s
Overcooking any fish is an easy way to ruin it. Swordfish is not as forgiving as salmon, so it’s essential to cook swordfish to medium well, cooked to the point where it is just cooked through but still remains juicy.
Swordfish is an excellent source of selenium, a micronutrient with cancer-fighting and heart-health benefits. It’s also protein-rich and loaded with niacin, vitamin B12, zinc, and Omega-3. Swordfish is also low in fat and calories, which makes it a guilt-free choice when it comes to seafood.
I think it’s always a good idea to rinse any fish under cold running water. Pat the rinsed fillet dry with paper towels before seasoning and cooking.
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Ginger-Garlic Swordfish Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons butter room temperature
- 2 teaspoons chopped fresh parsley
- 1 clove garlic minced
- ½ teaspoon ginger grated
- ⅕ teaspoon crushed red pepper
- ½ teaspoon lemon peel grated
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 12 ounces swordfish fillets should be 6-7 ounces each
- sea salt to taste
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Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400°F.
- In a small bowl blend together the butter, parsley, garlic, ginger, red pepper and lemon peel.
- Season the swordfish to taste with sea salt.
- Place an ovenproof skillet over medium-high heat and when hot add one tablespoon of olive oil and the swordfish, salted side down.
- Pan sear the swordfish for 1-2 minutes or until it has a nice color.
- Turn the swordfish over, and drain out any excess oil from the pan. Carefully add a few tablespoons of water to the pan and place the pan in a preheated 400 degree oven
- Roast the swordfish until just cooked through, about 6-8 minutes or until desired doneness.
- Transfer swordfish to a serving dish
- Add seasoned butter mixture to the same skillet. Allow it to cook slightly over medium-high heat until melted and bubbling (1-2 minutes).
- Pour butter sauce over swordfish and serve with your favorite side dishes
Video
Notes
Laurie O'Neill says
We made this last night and it was delicious and easy! I had smallish pieces of swordfish so they cooked somewhat beyond the ideal internal temperature but they were still very good. (I did shave off time, just not enough.) The techniques of searing the fish first on the stove and cooking the compound butter into a sauce were new to me. I thought they made a big difference. Thanks so much for posting this recipe!
Chef Dennis Littley says
I’m happy to hear you enjoyed the swordfish, pan searing makes all the difference in the flavor. You really have to watch the time on fish like swordfish and tuna, it should be just a little uncooked to keep it moist.
Mitzi says
Oh so good! It was my first time eating and cooking swordfish. My swordfish piece was much thicker than the ones pictured, so it was good you included the temperature to cook it to. So much flavor and the texture was incredible.
Chef Dennis Littley says
Thanks for letting me know you enjoyed my swordfish recipe. It was a big hit during my restaurant days.
Leslie says
Fantastic!!! Thanks so much.
Chef Dennis Littley says
You’re welcome! Happy to hear you enjoyed the swordfish.
Robin says
I bought 2 nice swordfish steaks at my local fish market and came home and searched on Pinterest for a recipe with ingredients that I had. This one turned out fabulously! I also had bought some apple-mango salsa and served it with that as well. It was a nice sweet, crunchy addition to a perfect fish dish. Recipe was easy to follow and I’ll have leftovers for tomorrow too. Well done Chef Dennis. I’ll take a look at your other recipes as well.
Chef Dennis Littley says
I’m very happy to hear you enjoyed my swordfish recipe, its one of my wife’s favorites!
Mary Ann says
My first time cooking and eating swordfish. This recipe was really easy and tasty!
Chef Dennis Littley says
I’m happy to hear you enjoyed my swordfish recipe. I hope you find more delicious recipes on my website to try!
Marijo says
Delicious and easy! This is our go to recipe for swordfish.
Marci says
Very good.. I used cilantro with a pinch of mint—that’s what I had.
Judy Roberts says
Love this recipe !!!!
Donna Dzielnik says
Best swordfish I have ever had ! Poured off butter after it was melted so it was also very light & healthy. I served it with homemade coleslaw & garden cukes ! Delicious ❤️
Christine Brennan says
Made this swordfish recipe it was delicious very moist will definitely make my swordfish this way jn the future, was not at all dry like some if my other recipes. highly recommend.. Christine,,
Vinny DelGiudice says
Made this tonight for dinner. I’m still a beginner in the seafood world. This recipe and blog were super helpful. Came out so delicious. Definitely can add this to the repertoire!
Diane T says
Can this fish be cooked on the stovetop from start to end without using the oven though?
Chef Dennis Littley says
Yes it can be cooked entirely on stove top.
Wolfie says
Made this for my family and they loved it. We always had salmon but this time I introduced them to swordfish and got great reviews from them. Thank you for this recipe. I usually use garlic and ginger for Chinese cuisine but it was a great touch to the swordfish. Looking forward to seeing and trying your other recipes.
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