If fish has turned up in a recipe or caught your eye at the store, here's what you need to use it with confidence and how to choose it, cook it, store it, what to substitute, and 108 recipes to try it in.

What is fish?

Fish covers a huge range of creatures that swim, and on a recipe site that means everything from a delicate flounder fillet to a meaty swordfish steak.

This page is the catch-all. It explains how fish behaves in the pan so you can cook any type with confidence, then points you to the specific kinds.

The single most useful split is lean white fish versus oily fish. Lean white fish like cod, flounder, snapper, tilapia, and catfish is mild and low in fat, and it cooks fast.

Oily fish like salmon, tuna, mackerel, and swordfish runs richer and denser, and it forgives a few extra seconds on the grill.

You will also buy fish in a few shapes. Fillets and crosscut steaks are the boneless options; a whole fish keeps the bones in. Each shape wants a slightly different approach.

How to Cook Fish

Match the method to the cut. Thin lean fillets like flounder or sole cook in three or four minutes and do best pan-fried or broiled. Whole fish takes longest and rewards roasting or steaming, which keeps the flesh moist against the bone.

Thick firm steaks like swordfish and tuna grill and sear well, because they hold together over high heat.

For most fillets, get the pan or oven hot before the fish goes in. A 400°F (205°C) oven cooks a half-inch fillet in roughly 10 to 12 minutes. Pan-frying takes two to four minutes a side over medium-high heat.

Baked Fish Fillet, one of the most-cooked recipes on the site, shows the simplest path: season, dot with butter, bake hot, done. White Wine & Cilantro Braised Fish takes the gentler braising route for a saucy finish.

The One Rule: Don't Overcook It

Fish has very little connective tissue, so it goes from juicy to dry and chalky in under a minute. This is the mistake that ruins more fish than any other.

Cook until the flesh turns from translucent to opaque and just flakes when you press it with a fork. Lean white fish is done at 137°F (58°C).

Pull it a touch early, because residual heat keeps cooking it on the plate. Oily fish like tuna is often served with a pink center on purpose.

When in doubt, check the thickest part and stop the moment it flakes. An extra two minutes "to be safe" is exactly what dries it out.

Flavors That Work

Mild white fish is a blank canvas, so it loves bright, acidic partners. Lemon, lime, capers, and a splash of white wine all lift it, with fresh dill and plenty of butter or olive oil to round it out.

Sri Lanka Malu Soup Fish & Lentils shows how well that mild flesh takes warm spice and coconut.

Richer fish stands up to bolder company. Garlic, soy, ginger, tomato, olives, and chili all suit it, the way black bean and scallion carry Chinese Whole Fish with Black Bean Sauce.

The common beginner mistake is underseasoning. Salt fish properly and squeeze citrus over it at the end; the acid wakes everything up. Skip heavy cream sauces on delicate fillets that would bury their flavor.

Choosing Between Types

Most white fish swap cleanly for one another. If a recipe calls for flounder and your market only has tilapia or catfish, use it. The cooking time barely changes for similar thickness.

For specifics on each kind, see the individual pages: salmon and tuna for the oily side, fish fillets for general fillet handling, and fish stock for what to do with the trimmings. Cod, snapper, swordfish, flounder, catfish, monkfish, and whitefish each have their own notes on flavor and method.

Buying and Storing Fish

Fresh fish should smell clean and briny like the sea, never sour or strongly "fishy." Look for bright, clear eyes on whole fish, firm flesh that springs back, and shiny skin. Fillets should look moist and translucent, not dull or dried at the edges.

Buy fish the day you plan to cook it when you can. Stored in the coldest part of the fridge, fresh fish keeps only one to two days. Set it on ice or a rack over a bowl so it never sits in its own liquid.

Frozen fish is genuinely good now, often frozen at sea within hours of the catch.

Thaw it overnight in the fridge rather than on the counter, then pat it bone-dry so it sears instead of steams. Cooked fish keeps three to four days refrigerated.

Nutrition

Quick facts

Where to find fish: Fish is usually found in the meats section or aisle of the grocery store or supermarket.

Food group: Fish is a member of the Finfish and Shellfish Products US Department of Agriculture nutritional food group.

In Chinese

鱼

British (UK) term

Fish

en français

le poisson

en español

los peces

How much does fish weigh?

Amount	Weight
1 fillet	72 grams
3 ounce	85 grams

Related

Finfish and Shellfish Products

Recipes using fish

There are 108 recipes that contain this ingredient.

All 108 recipes

More fish recipes

• Cioppino
• Easy Cioppino
• Fish Broth
• Fish Crumb Fry
• Fish Fumet
• Legendary Lemon-Thyme Fish Steaks
• Lorraines Red Stew Fish
• Parmesan Fish Saute
• Pineapple Fish Chowder
• Portugal: Fish Stew
• San Ton Pa (Mincemeat of Raw Fish)
• Sauteed Salmon Steaks.
• Soy-Grilled Fish
• Steamed Fish with Black Beans
• Whole Fish Baked in Salt Crust