25 Ways to Grill Fish, From Foil Packets to Grill Baskets

From salmon to snapper and tuna to tilapia, grilling fish is a relatively quick and easy way to put dinner on the table in the warmer months.

SWORDFISH STEAKS WITH SALMORIGLIO on a blue plate
Photo:

Greg Dupree / Food Styling by Chelsea Zimmer / Prop Styling by Thom Driver

As legendary cookbook author Marcella Hazan pointed out, it's best to purchase what's freshest at the market and build your meal from there, so don't get too caught up in seeking out a particular type. No matter what you come home with, we have a tasty way to grill your fish. Wrap grouper or halibut in foil with aromatics and butter to create a built-in sauce, whip up a flavor-packed marinade for dishes like Gregory Gourdet's Epis-Rubbed Steelhead Trout, or keep things ultra-simple with a complementary lemon sauce. Grab your grill basket, it's time to grill some fish!

01 of 25

Tuna Steaks with Lemon Caper Sauce

Tuna Steaks with Lemon Caper Sauce

Kelsey Hansen / Food Styling by Kelsey Moylan / Prop Styling by Addelyn Evans

Grilled tuna steaks can be satisfying even when unadorned. Here, the pleasant tartness of a quick lemon and caper sauce balances the richness of the fish. 

02 of 25

Grilled Whole Snapper

Grilled Whole Snapper

Cara Cormack

Stuff whole snapper with rosemary sprigs, then rub with olive oil, garlic, chopped rosemary, and salt. Top it off with a sprinkle of breadcrumbs and a drizzle of olive oil for a crisp, flavorful crust. Cover the grill while you're cooking the fish to keep the flesh moist and to prevent flare-ups that would burn the breadcrumbs.

03 of 25

Grilled Trout with Crispy Fish Skin

Crispy Grilled Trout

Jennifer Causey / Food Styling by Jennifer Wendorf / Prop Styling by Christina Daley

Fillets of rainbow trout take well to fast cooking on the grill, which is made easier with a grill basket. You can pull off the skin after grilling if it’s not your thing, but do leave it on while cooking because it protects the flesh — there’s a thin layer of subcutaneous fat that melts and keeps the fillets juicy.

04 of 25

Swordfish Steaks with Salmoriglio

SWORDFISH STEAKS WITH SALMORIGLIO on a blue plate

Greg Dupree / Food Styling by Chelsea Zimmer / Prop Styling by Thom Driver

A simple Italian lemon-and-herb marinade called salmoriglio infuses into meaty swordfish steaks in this easy summer recipe while still allowing the fish’s natural sweetness to shine through.

05 of 25

Grilled Grouper

Grilled Grouper
Photo by Jennifer Causey / Food Styling by Margaret Monroe Dickey / Prop Styling by Lydia Pursell

Simply season mild grouper fillets with salt, pepper, and smoked paprika before grilling in scallion, lemon, and butter-stuffed packets. The fish will pick up lightly smoky, savory flavor, and the butter and lemon will melt into the fish. Serve atop fluffy cooked rice or crusty baguettes for sopping.

06 of 25

Grilled Mahi-Mahi with Lemongrass-Lime Aïoli

Grilled Mahi Mahi with Lemongrass Lime Aioli
Photo by Greg DuPree / Food Styling by Margaret Monroe Dickey / Prop Styling by Christina Daley

Grill sweet, mild mahi-mahi and serve with an aïoli featuring lemongrass and lime for richness and zest. This classic summer meal is ready in 25 minutes.

07 of 25

Grilled Swordfish with Carrot-and-Walnut Salsa

Grilled Swordfish with Carrot-and-Walnut Salsa

Greg Dupree / Food Styling by Chelsea Zimmer / Prop Styling by Christine Keely

Grilled fish maintains our mantra of simple, easy, and delicious for summertime cooking. 2013 F&W Best New Chef Jason Vincent steeps swordfish steaks in a savory kombu marinade and serves them with a nutty, slightly piquant gremolata-like salsa with roasted walnuts and Calabrian chiles.

08 of 25

Lemon-Stuffed Grilled Branzino

Lemon-Stuffed Grilled Branzino

Morgan Hunt Glaze / Food Styling by Emily Nabors Hall / Prop Styling by Julia Bayless,

Boston chef Barbara Lynch stuffs branzino with lemon and herbs, then grills it until the skin is browned and crispy to add even more flavor.

09 of 25

Grilled Halibut with Roasted Red Pepper Sauce

Roasted Red SAuce with Grilled Halibut and Summer Squash
Photo by Christopher Testani / Food Styling by Margaret Monroe Dickey / Prop Styling by Claire Spollen

A punchy, sweet roasted red bell pepper sauce does double duty here as both a marinade and mildly spicy sauce for grilled halibut. Serve the fish fillets with crusty bread to soak up the extra sauce with juicy grilled squash on the side.

10 of 25

Kingfish Escabeche

Kingfish Escabeche

Greg Dupree / Food Styling by Chelsea Zimmer and Melissa Gray / Prop Styling by Audrey Taylor

Instead of the typical fried fish, this version of escabeche showcases grilled kingfish, a rich and oily type of mackerel, bathed in an acidic pepper-and-onion marinade.

11 of 25

Grilled King Salmon with Meyer Lemon Relish

Grilled King Salmon with Meyer Lemon Relish Recipe
Victor Protasio

Floral and lightly acidic salsa brings out the buttery, rich flavors of grilled king salmon. Salmon is meaty enough to stay intact on a grill and gets meltingly tender as it cooks. Serve leftover salsa with grilled lamb, chicken, or pork.

12 of 25

Epis-Rubbed Steelhead Trout

Epis-Rubbed Steelhead Trout

© José Mandojana

Chef Gregory Gourdet's steelhead trout — tender, flaky, and with a delicate taste — gets a flavor boost from epis, a classic Haitian pepper-garlic-herb marinade. It's served with stewed red bell peppers spiked with habanero.

13 of 25

Grilled Whole Flatfish with Lemon-Herb Butter

Grilled Whole Flatfish with Lemon Herb Butter
Greg DuPree

Robin Bashinsky shares how to grill a whole flatfish, such as sole, fluke, or flounder, and serve it with a simple lemon-herb butter. You'll need to scrub the fish with coarse sea salt, rinse it, and then dry it out in the fridge for 36 to 48 hours, so plan accordingly.

14 of 25

Grilled Sea Bass with Marinated Eggplant

Grilled Sea Bass with Marinated Eggplant
John Kernick

Chef Tom Colicchio seasons wild sea bass fillets simply and grills for 15 minutes to serve with grilled eggplant. Add flavor to any grilled vegetables with his marinade of olive oil, chiles, and fresh herbs.

15 of 25

Grilled Cobia Salad with Corn and Watermelon

Grilled Cobia Salad with Corn and Watermelon
John Kernick

Chef Kevin Willmann likes to grill cobia, a sweet, flaky whitefish, for this bright, refreshing salad. He suggests chilling the grilled fish before assembling the salad for easier and cleaner flakes. Garnish the dish with plantain chips for a nice, salty crunch that works marvelously with the sweet watermelon and grilled corn.

16 of 25

Grilled Herring with Peas, Mint, and Meyer Lemon

Grilled Herring with Peas, Mint and Meyer Lemon
Abby Hocking / Food & Wine

Andrew Zimmern’s essence-of-spring dish features the season’s first fresh herring with pea shoots and a lovely sauce made from pureed peas, olive oil, buttermilk, lemon juice, mint, and shallot.

17 of 25

Salmon Skewers with Almond Charmoula

Salmon Skewers with Almond Charmoula
Abby Hocking / Food & Wine

Simply grilling fish is TV chef Andrew Zimmern’s favorite way to eat what comes out of the ocean. For these skewers, he pairs rich salmon with North African charmoula, a brightly acidic herb paste tempered with sweet fruit and — his personal touch — crunchy nuts.

18 of 25

Grilled Snapper with Four-Herb Gremolata

Grilled Snapper with Four-Herb Gremolata
John Kernick

For snapper fillets with perfectly crisp skin, Top Chef alum Jennifer Carroll seasons just the flesh side before placing the fish on a very hot grill. The accompanying gremolata can be refrigerated for three hours if you want to make it slightly in advance.

19 of 25

Marinated Fish with Salmoriglio Sauce

Marinated Fish with Salmoriglio Sauce

© Yunhee Kim

Cookbook author and Italian cuisine expert Marcella Hazan's tangy, buttery salmoriglio sauce — a Sicilian classic — is spectacularly delicious with many kinds of fish, such as wild salmon, arctic char, ruby trout, or halibut. It's always best to simply trust your eyes and nose and buy what's freshest at the fish market.

20 of 25

Grilled Fish with Artichoke Caponata

Grilled Fish with Artichoke Caponata
© Stephanie Foley

Chef Michael White makes a vinegary caponata (a Sicilian relish) with fresh artichoke hearts, not the traditional tomatoes and eggplant. Since trimming artichokes can be time-consuming, our simplified recipe calls for marinated artichoke hearts instead.

21 of 25

Salt-Crusted Tilapia with Lemongrass

Salt-Crusted Tilapia with Lemongrass
© Cedric Angeles

Thai cooks love tilapia for its versatility. "You can steam it, fry it, or grill it," chef Andy Ricker says about this mild white fish. At Pok Pok, he used to stuff whole fish with lemongrass, encase it in a salt crust, and cook it over a charcoal fire. Be sure the heat stays relatively low, or the crust will burn before the fish is ready to emerge, moist and fragrant.

22 of 25

Grilled Branzino Fillets with Potato & Spinach Salad

Grilled Branzino Fillets with Potato & Spinach Salad
© Christina Holmes

Zahav chef Michael Solomonov brushes branzino with olive oil and seasons with a combination of Aleppo pepper, fenugreek, and salt. He flavors his warm potato-and-egg salad with a red wine vinaigrette, then spices it with za’atar, the Middle Eastern blend of sesame seeds, herbs, and sumac.

23 of 25

Halibut and Corn Grill Packets with Herb Butter

Halibut and Corn Hobo Packs with Herbed Butter Recipe
© Ryan Liebe

If you're looking for an easy summertime meal for the grill, look no further than these foil packets filled with halibut, fresh corn, shiitake mushrooms, and an herb butter made with chives and tarragon. Simply wrap everything in heavy-duty foil, then grill the packets for eight to 10 minutes.

24 of 25

Grilled Sardines with Mint and Almonds

Grilled Sardines with Mint and Almonds
© Stephanie Meyer

Grill sardines with an herb rub to get all the complex flavors of traditional North African cuisine in a half hour.

25 of 25

Fish Grilled in Banana Leaves with Chile-Lime Sauce

Fish Grilled in Banana Leaves with Chile-Lime Sauce
© Cedric Angeles

For this quick and bold sauce, chef Zak Pelaccio purees vibrant ingredients like fresh lemongrass and ginger with chiles and fish sauce. Here, Pelaccio serves it with mackerel, but it's delicious with any grilled or roasted fish, with or without the banana leaves.

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