Tender, flaky and mild is how I would describe this beautiful Golden Tilefish. It’s easy to prepare and can be pan-seared, broiled, baked, grilled, fried, and even cooked in an air fryer.
If you’ve never had tilefish before, you don’t know what your missing. Keep an eye out at the fish counter of your grocery store or where you buy fresh seafood.
Fresh tilefish fillets are always preferable, but frozen will also work with this recipe. Just let the fish thaw overnight in the refrigerator before using.
I had read that tilefish was comparable to lobster, but I can’t agree with that. If I had to compare the flavor to another fish, I think cod might be the closest.
It had a nice mild flavor and was firm and flaky. Tilefish can be prepared in a number of ways, broiled, grilled, and even breaded and fried. But any way you cook it, make sure you don’t overcook it because it will get dry on you.
Ingredients to make Pan Seared Tilefish
Let’s start by gathering the ingredients we need to make Pan Seared Tilefish. 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.
How to make Pan-Seared Tilefish
- Pat dry the fresh tilefish fillets with paper towels, then liberally season both sides with sea salt and black pepper.
- Dredge the white fish fillets in the seasoned flour, coating both sides of the fillets.
- Add one tablespoon of butter and one tablespoon of olive oil to a large skillet over medium-high heat.
- Add the tilefish to the hot pan and sear the fillet on both sides for 3-4 minutes per side until golden brown with a slight crust.
- Add the seared tilefish to a baking dish. Then add one ounce of white wine and one tablespoon of lemon juice to the baking dish.
- Place the baking dish on the center rack of the preheated oven and bake for 12-15 minutes (time depends on how thick the fillets are).
*I used a non-stick skillet to sear the fish. If you have a cast iron pan, that would add better color to the fish.
How to make Lemon Butter Sauce
- Add one tablespoon of butter to a small saucepan over medium. Add the shallots to the pan and cook for one minute.
- Add the chicken broth, white wine, and fresh lemon juice to the saucepan and bring to a light boil. Reduce the heat to medium-low.
- Take pieces of butter and roll them in flour, pushing the flour into the butter. The butter should be just a little soft.
- Add the beurre manie (the butter pieces rolled in flour) to the pan and whisk it to thicken the lemon butter sauce.
- Taste and reseason with salt and pepper if necessary and add the chopped Italian parsley to the sauce.
- Mix the parsley into the sauce and keep on the stovetop until needed.
*If you want to perk up the lemon flavor, add a little lemon zest to the sauce. If you’re not a fan of lemon, lime juice could be substituted. And to take a little of the tart edge off of the sauce, add ½ teaspoon of brown sugar when cooking the shallots.
You’re going to love the flaky texture of the pan-seared tilefish. Mild and moist it goes perfectly with the lemon butter sauce. Serve it with your favorite vegetables, rice, or roasted potatoes, and garnish with lemon slices for a delicious meal.
Recipe FAQ’s
Yes, you can. My standard preparation for any oven-roasted fish is pretty much the same. Add a little coating of olive oil (or melted butter), salt, and black pepper to taste. Add a little water to the pan before placing it in the oven and roast at 350 degrees F. for 16-20 minutes, depending on the thickness of the fish.
I have read that some people compare tilefish to lobster or crab. I can’t say that I agree. Tilefish is a firm, mild-tasting fish that reminds me more of cod or halibut.
Yes, you certainly can. You can just leave the wine out and replace it with additional chicken broth or sparkling water. Wine is not essential in making the sauce.
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Pan Seared Tilefish
Ingredients
Tilefish
- 14 oz tilefish two 6-8 ounce fillets (I used golden tilefish)
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 tablespoon butter
- sea salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste
Lemon Butter Sauce
- 1 tbsp shallots finely minced (or substitute garlic)
- 1 tbsp unsalted butter
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice fresh
- 2 tablespoon chicken broth
- 1 tablespoon white wine
- 1 tbsp all-purpose flour
- 2 tablespoon unsalted butter
- 1 teaspoon Italian parsley finely chopped
- lemon circles garnish
Instructions
Tilefish
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees
- Rinse the tilefish in cold water and pat them dry with paper towels.
- Liberally season both sides of the tilefish with sea salt and black pepper.
- Dredge the rockfish in the seasoned flour, coating both sides of the fillets.
- Add one tablespoon of butter and one tablespoon of olive oil to a pan over medium-high heat
- Add the tilefish to the hot pan and sear the fillet on both sides for 3-4 minutes per side.
- Add the seared tilefish to a baking dish. Then add one ounce of white wine and one tablespoon of lemon juice to the baking dish.
- Place the baking dish on the center rack of the preheated oven and bake for 12-15 minutes (time depends on how thick the fillets are).
Lemon Butter Sauce
- Add one tablespoon of butter to a small saucepan over medium heat.
- Add the shallots to the pan and cook for one minute.
- Add the chicken broth, white wine, and lemon juice to the saucepot and bring to a light boil. Reduce the heat to medium-low.
- Take pieces of butter and roll them in flour, pushing the flour into the butter. The butter should be just a little soft.
- Add the beurre manie (the butter pieces rolled in flour) to the pan and whisk it to thicken the lemon butter sauce.
- Taste and reseason with salt and pepper if necessary and add the chopped Italian parsley to the sauce.
- Mix the parsley into the sauce and keep on the stove.
Becki's Whole Life says
This looks delish! I have never heard of Tile Fish, but I have heard that Monk fish is supposed to taste like lobster so I wonder if they are similar? This looks great and thanks for the tip on cooking with a little water – that makes sense to me!
Stephanie @ Eat. Drink. Love. says
This fish looks delicious! I’ve never had tile fish! I always find that you only need a few ingredients for fish to taste good.
And thank you so much for the tips on how to handle copyright infringement. I’m so paranoid about it happening to me and you would be the first person I would come to with questions if it did happen so this post is very helpful!
Is there a way to tell, say, in Google, if someone has stolen your images? It’s scary to think someone might be stealing images and I would not know about it unless someone I know stumbled upon it!
Kiri W. says
Absolutely beautiful 🙂 I love tilefish, and I’m excited to soon take a cooking class on sustainable fish 🙂
Kaitlin says
I’ve never heard of Golden Tile Fish before either, but I will now be sure to keep a look out for it!
Brian @ A Thought For Food says
I’m so glad to see this fish on here. Always good to hear about sustainable seafood! Thanks Dennis!
The Mom Chef ~ Taking on Magazines One Recipe at a Time says
I don’t think there’s much content on my site anyone would WANT to steal, but I do think what you’re doing is incredible. It is sad that we live during a time when this kind of watch is necessary at all.
Your fish looks amazing. I do enjoy a good, tender white fish so I’m sure I’d like this one. Cost is usually what holds me back from purchasing though. Many thanks for the recommendation on the tilefish.
Jeanette says
Love the simplicity of this dish – I’ve never seen tilefish in the market. Will have to keep my eyes open for it.
Liz says
You rock, my friend! I haven’t had to deal with content theft, but thank you for a complete tutorial on what to do if it happens!! I need to up our fish intake to ONCE a month…hubby will only eat salmon, but it’s a start 🙂
Nuria says
Cheff, I want to thank you for your support. I want to try this recipe, it looks delicious the quality of the products is so important. I am not familiar with Tile fish (I will have to check on some of my books), you mentioned that for what you have read the Tile fish compares to lobster. The only fish I know it compares to lobster is Monk fish. I used to be able to order here in town but they don’t want to do it anymore. Here it is hard to find good and a variety of fish.
Loveforfood says
May I just say how much I love your blog! The food looks amazing and I swear I did not know how much saliva my mouth was capable of producing
Alyssa says
I agree, sometimes just a simple preparation of good ingredients is best. That looks like a wonderful meal! And I keep forgetting to sign up for the watch. Silly kids always get me side tracked. Although it is sad that a watch is needed, it’s nice to know that there are actions you can take against offending blogs or websites. Thanks as always for your hard work and all that you do to help other bloggers!
Dionne Baldwin says
Oh goodness, I can totally do that! I support the blog watch regardless.
I like fish but I get tired of the same. Salmon. I do LOVE LOVE LOVE salmon but you can have too much of a good thing. Seriously. I would love to try tilefish.
I appreciate your expertise and everything you do. Ah, well you already know that. Must be the wine inspiring me to remind you how appreciated you are…
Christine says
I’ve never heard of Tile Fish, but it does sound good. I agree with y’all, it’s important to know where your fish is coming from.
Kim - Liv Life says
Once again: We ❤ Chef Dennis!! Thanks again for all your help in directing me to help with my own content thievery. You have so much info Dennis, I truly appreciate all of your efforts.
Now on to the fish… I’ve never heard of Tile Fish, though it really sounds like something I would like. I’m going to have to keep my eye out for it. I’m with you on knowing where your fish is coming from. I’ve been reading about some fish imported from China and it’s not pretty.
Thanks again Dennis!
Lynn @ I'll Have What She's Having says
Great dish, simple but I’m sure very flavourful. Trying new ingredients is always fun.