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
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
Sata says
Tasty!
Vera Rabino says
Dear Chef Dennis
Last night I made your recipe for pan seared Garlic/Ginger/Lemon Swordfish! I served it with sauté spinach & baked acorn squash! It was delicious so thanks to you I was able to create not only a delicious restaurant approved menu choice but it also encouraged me to continue my culinary search for other easy but satisfying meals!
Ramona says
I really love the sound and looks of this recipe. I normally avoid swordfish in restaurants for the reason you said. It can be a disaster if overcooked and truthfully I rarely happened to have a good dish. I only eat it at the one restaurant that does it very well.
I must try this recipe- it looks awesome!
Jeanne Robert says
This was delicious. I followed another reviewer’s suggestion and marinated in Almond milk for a couple hours. Because my filets weren’t too thick, I only cooked in the oven for 6 minutes. It wasn’t dry at all. My husband, who is less than enthusiastic with his compliments said, “that was pretty good” which is high praise for him.
Lola Lorie says
This was so easy and so delicious. Will make again for sure. Served on a bed of sauteed spinach with lemon and olive oil. It was not only delicious but a beautiful presentation. Will make a great dinner when entertaining and don’t want to spend a lot of time in the kitchen.
Anna Lynn says
Quick, easy and delicious! My teenagers loved it. I substituted cilantro for the parsley only because I didn’t want to go to the market to get parsley, and it tasted great also.
Ania says
Hi, this looks wonderful! Can I ask – sorry probably really daft question – when you say ‘add the butter to the same skillet’ – does this mean you take the skillet with the fish out of the oven once done, put it back on the stove and add the butter to it, with fish still in the pan – or – do you take the fish out of the pan before doing the butter heating till melted and bubbling bit and then pour butter over the fish? (Don’t want to ruin what looks a scrummy feast!)
Chef Dennis Littley says
take fish out of the pan first so it doesn’t continue cooking. Heat the seasoned butter, pour it over the fish and enjoy!
Alan Babbitt says
Very easy and very tasty. As always, the quality and freshness of the fish is paramount, so it’s worthwhile to splurge and get the best fish you can from a source you trust. This recipe gives a subtle seasoning and allows the flavor of the fish to shine. I paired this with roasted smashed Yukon gold potatoes and steamed broccoli that was stirred briefly in the last bit of sauce left in the pan after the fish was removed and dressed. Outstanding!
Randall Morrison says
One trick I learned with cooking Swordfish is you need to marinate the fish in the fridge for 3 or 4+ hours. I use Almond milk. It provides a creamy texture to the Swordfish and the fish takes on hints of the Almond milk flavoring.
After I do the marinating I rinse off the fish and then follow Dennis’s recipe. My only change to this is I add fresh lemon juice in the iron skillet while it’s searing and finish it off after I have added the compound butter with a drizzle of lemon juice.
David K says
Most swordfish I’ve eaten were dry and overcooked–I thought it was a fish I didn’t like. This delightful and very easy recipe showed me that, no, it’s easy to cook them so they’re moist, tender, and flavorful. Next time I might use a bit more ginger in the butter–with the other flavors, it got a little lost.
Roberta Herman says
Loved the recipe
Daddy cooks says
You the fucking man Dennis!
Chef Dennis Littley says
thank you!
Diane L Yarid says
My new favorite for swordfish. Delicious! Had a friend over who had never tried swordfish, he was blown away by the flavor! So easy to make! Thank you Chef Dennis!
Georgia says
Wonderful flavor!!!
Natassa says
Amazing recipe. I just made it, so juicy and tender. Thank you chef 🌷