I love Spring. I love the light and airy recipes that come along with spring. I love the seasonal vegetables and the freshly-caught wild halibut that start appearing at my local grocery store. Today, I picked up a couple of those fresh halibut fillets to prepare an almond-crusted halibut with lemon garlic butter.
First things first. Don't be fooled by it's professional and aesthetic appearance. This fish is easy to make. Which is why I obviously chose to make it on a good old Wednesday. But in hindsight, I should have saved this to make on the weekend when I have guests over because it would literally blow them away. Plus, I would spend way less time in the kitchen. Halibut only takes a record-breaking 10 minutes to cook.
So the halibut takes 10 minutes to cook, but what about the prep? Well, the only prep involved is the making of the butter and the almond topping. These 2 ingredients are crucial to this recipe.
Lemon Garlic Butter
The lemon garlic butter brings so much flavour and life to the halibut. And guess what? It only takes about 5 minutes to make. I make it in the time that I am waiting for my oven to preheat. I suggest making an even larger batch of this stuff because this lemon garlic butter is versatile. It can be spread over all your favourite meats and/or served alongside them this entire summer barbecue season. Try it with steak, lamb chops, salmon or chicken breast.
So go ahead, double or triple this part of the recipe and store the extra butter in your fridge for another day.
Almond Topping
The almond topping is the icing on cake. It keeps the fish juicy and moist inside and seals in the delicious buttery, lemony and garlicky juices that are seeping out.
All this talk means one thing: almond-crusted halibut with lemon garlic butter will be appearing on my dinner table regularly this season.
How to Make the Best Almond-Crusted Halibut
The Secret to Making the Best Halibut
This part is so important that it gets a heading all on its own. The 10-minute cooking time is the secret to producing the best and flakiest halibut. Do not overcook. Halibut can dry out very quickly! It is only tasty when it is flaky and just cooked through. Once overcooked, you can kiss it good-bye because at that point it basically becomes inedible.
So head over to your local grocery store or fish market and pick up some halibut! Make this in your own home and be amazed with your skills. I served this alongside some quick and easy sauteed asparagus and creamy garlic mashed cauliflower.
Once cooked, it can last for up to 2 days in the fridge.
Tip: if you have an extra thick halibut filet, you may need to adjust the cooking time a few minutes longer.
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Almond-Crusted Halibut with Lemon Garlic Butter
- Total Time: 15 minutes
- Yield: 2 servings
- Diet: Gluten Free
Description
You won't believe how easy it is to make fresh, flavourful and delicious almond-crusted halibut with lemon garlic butter this season.
Ingredients
Lemon Garlic Butter
- ½ tablespoon garlic, minced
- ½ tablespoon fresh lemon juice
- ½ teaspoon lemon zest
- ⅛ teaspoon salt
- ⅛ teaspoon ground black pepper
- ¼ cup butter, unsalted (at room temperature)
Halibut
- 2 fresh halibut fillets
- 2 tablespoon lemon garlic butter (as per recipe set out above)
- salt and pepper, to taste
- 3 tablespoon ground almonds
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 F. Place the halibut fillets on a lined baking tray and set aside.
- Lemon Garlic Butter: In a blender or food processor, blend together the garlic, lemon juice, lemon zest, salt and pepper until pureed. Add the butter and continue to blend until fully combined.
- Spread ½ tablespoon of the lemon garlic butter on the top surface of each halibut fillet, covering the surface completely. Sprinkle a pinch of salt and pepper on top.
- Sprinkle 1 and ½ tablespoons of the ground almonds on each fillet and carefully spread over the butter to fully cover it.
- Bake the halibut for 5 minutes.
- While the halibut is still in the oven, change the oven to broil on high. Broil for 2-5 more minutes (my oven takes 5 minutes). Keep a close eye on your broiler as every oven is different, and things can burn quickly. The inside of the fillets should be moist and flaky, while the outside almond crust should be a little crispy.
- Remove from oven and serve hot with a teaspoon of the remaining lemon garlic butter on top.
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 10 minutes
- Category: Seafood
- Method: Bake
- Cuisine: American
Jean says
Tasty! Make sure to scrape up any brown toasted nut buttery bits and add them to the top of the fish before serving. Yum!
Brian says
This looks great! Question for you...my broiler isn't working at the moment. Do you have suggestions for how to cook without using the broiler? Thanks!
Julie says
I used the recipe minus the almonds which I didn’t have. I put Parmesan on top instead. My 15 year old had two fillets. He loved it! I made extra butter for more fish. Thanks for the recipe. I watched mine under the broiler as recommended. It took about three minutes but the fish was cooked to perfection!
Sam Hu | Ahead of Thyme says
That makes me so happy to hear! Glad you all liked the recipe!
Gary says
Followed recipe to the letter. After 3 minutes under a high broiler (even on middle rack) burned the almond crust. 5 minutes would of needed fire department.
Sam Hu | Ahead of Thyme says
Hi Gary, I am sorry that happened to you. It sounds like your oven might run a little hot. My oven takes about 5 minutes for this recipe, and I have not heard any issues with it from readers thus far. I have however updated the recipe to suggest 2-5 minutes for broiling and a note to keep a close eye on it as every oven is different. Thank you for bringing this to my attention.
Kelly Mullen says
I never would have thought to add almonds to a halibut preparation, but the fish itself is so sweet and delicate. This combination was wonderful! Would highly recommend to any fan of white fish, especially if you buy the good stuff online: https://qualityseafooddelivery.com/halibut/
Sam | Ahead of Thyme says
Thanks Kelly. I totally agree, this somewhat unconventional pairing goes SO well together.