Steamed Fish

Steamed fish is the quick week night dish you didn't know you needed. Although I am a stay at home mom, I have a very busy schedule chauffeuring my kids from one activity to another. So I love having quick week night recipes in my back pocket and this is one of my faves. I don't season the fish ahead of time and it still works (although if you have the extra time, do it, it will make this dish even tastier).

I am using Tilapia for this dish and I know there is a lot out there about how Tilapia is not good for you, but it's an easy fish to cook and I bought my tilapia from Whole Foods and it said responsibly farmed, so I figured it couldn't be that bad for you, right? You can choose a different kind of white fish for this dish if you're not down with tilapia.

Bring on the veggies

The sautéed vegetables amps up the flavor in this steamed fish recipe. The more vegetables the better. In this version I kept it simple with tomatoes, onions, garlic, fresh parsley and baby bell peppers but I often also add broccoli, cauliflower, mushrooms and carrots. Make it your own!

Steaming the fish

This steamed fish dish is not complicated or fancy. It is simple, clean and delicious. Sautéed vegetables are cooked until slightly mushy. Once your vegetables cook down add your seasoned fish on top of the veggies by simply placing the whole seasoned filets on top of the veggies. That's it.

Then I top it off with some grapefruit juice. Not lemon, not lime, but grapefruit juice. Just ½ of a medium sized grapefruit will work. This bit of grapefruit juice adds a bright and fresh burst of citrus flavor and when combined with the sautéed vegetables and the steamed fish it is the perfect addition to a really tasty dish. After adding the grapefruit juice, cover the dish and let the fish steam on the lowest heat possible for 10 minutes.

After about 10 minutes, I removed the lid and spooned the sauce that forms over the steamed fish. Then I replaced the cover, remove the dish from the heat and let it sit for 5 to 10 minutes before serving. It takes me about 15 minutes to make this dish and dinner is ready. When not doing whole30 I serve this dish with some rice and a quick side salad.

While on whole30 I eat this with some cauliflower rice or over crushed potatoes (sweet or white) or over some boil and fry root vegetables, especially boil and fry cassava. For those not familiar with Guyanese cuisine, boil and fry is what we call any dish where root vegetables of any variety are first boiled until fork tender, then sautéed with onion, garlic, tomatoes or other herbs and spices.

Is this dish Whole30?

While I didn't label this dish whole30 it completely is. It is simple, doesn't have any off plan ingredients and is clean. But more importantly it is just food. It is just wholesome, clean, nutritious and delicious food. By now you all know that I am doing The Whole30 this month. If you are new here, welcome. Want to know more about The Whole30, click here . Curious about why I'm doing The Whole30? Please check out this post where I talk about The Whole30 and Me.

The Printable Steamed Fish Recipe:

Printable Recipe Card

Steamed Fish

Althea Brown

Steamed Fish is a quick and easy dinner that brings together white fish and sautéed veggies in a simple recipe.

5 from 1 vote

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Prep Time 5 minutes mins

Cook Time 15 minutes mins

Total Time 20 minutes mins

Course Whole30

Cuisine Caribbean

Servings 6 servings

Ingredients

  

1x2x3x

• 8 tilapia filets
• 1 tablespoon of olive oil
• 4 to matoes roughly chopped
• 6 cloves of garlic roughly chopped
• 1 large yellow onion sliced
• 8 to 10 baby bell peppers roughly chopped. Can sub for 2 regular bell peppers
• Additional vegetables of your choice
• Juice of ½ a medium grapefruit
• 1 tablespoon of coconut aminos optional
• 2 tablespoons of finely chopped fresh parsley or parsley flakes
• 1 ½ teaspoons of salt

Homemade Seafood Seasoning Blend

• 1 teaspoon of garlic powder
• ¼ teaspoon of paprika
• 1 tablespoon of onion powder
• pinch of cayenne powder
• pinch of black pepper
• 1 teaspoon of dried parsley flakes
• ½ teaspoon of ground ginger

Instructions

 

• Add all of the ingredients for the homemade seafood seasoning into a small bowl or zip top bag and mix together well.
• Then add your defrosted tilapia filets into a large bowl and sprinkle with 1 teaspoon of salt and then generously with the seafood seasoning on both sides. Set aside
• Warm the olive oil in a large skillet on medium heat
• When it comes up to temperature add the sliced onions and chopped garlic and cook until it is soft and slightly translucent
• Then add the tomatoes and baby bell peppers followed by the chopped fresh parsley, reserving some to garnish at the end
• Continue to sauté the vegetables until they are soft and a bit mushy.
  At this point you may add any additional vegetables you would like to add.
  You may also add coconut aminos if you choose to use those
• Sprinkle with a bit of salt (about ½ teaspoon) and continue to sauté for another minute
• Then place your seasoned tilapia filets on top of the cooked vegetables
• Next drizzle the juice of half of a medium sized grapefruit over all of the fish
• Cover the dish, reduce the heat to the lowest possible heat level and let the fish steam for 10 minutes
  When the fish changes from the pink color to an opaque white color it is done steaming but be careful not to over cook or it will be dry
• Once the fish cooks spoon the pan sauce and vegetables over the filets
• Cover the skillet and remove from the heat
• Let the fish sit in the sauce for 5 to 10 minutes before serving. It just helps the pan juices to soak into the fish without overcooking
• Sprinkle with remaining fresh parsley and enjoy

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