Grilled Swordfish With Lemon, Garlic & Pepper

Prepare these grilled swordfish steaks with a zest of lemon and pepper. Marinate the swordfish with a zest of lemon, garlic, pepper, and oregano to offer your guests a finger-licking treat.

Swordfish is steaky white with firm and lean meat with great flavor. It tastes mild and slightly sweet but not as strong as baked salmon. It’s firm, moist, and dense at the same time. Swordfish is also great for a healthy diet. It is low in fat, carbs, and calories but high in protein. It is enriched with beneficial vitamins such as B12, zinc, and omega-3 fatty acids. 

The swordfish is marinated in a marinade prepared with lemon, garlic, extra virgin olive oil, and other herbs before grilling. After marinating, the steaks undergo grilling until they turn golden brown. It is the absolute and easy yet elegant way to grill a swordfish. 

The mildness and delicacy of the swordfish soak up all the flavors in the marinade quickly. Moreover, it pairs perfectly with a variety of starches and vegetables. 

Swordfish seems easy to grill, but it is not as forgiving as fatty fish like Tuna or black sea bass. So, grilling a swordfish requires you to consider extreme care. So, let’s start with the recipe for grilled swordfish. 

How To Make Lemon Garlic Swordfish?

 Here is the list of ingredients you need to collect for cooking the swordfish recipe.

• 4 swordfish steaks 
• 1 lemon, juiced 
• Zest of the lemon 
• ¼ cup olive oil 
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce 
• 3 cloves garlic, minced 
• ½ teaspoon salt 
• ¼ teaspoon pepper 
• 2 tablespoons butter 
• Cracked black pepper
• Oregano
• Melted butter, lemon slices, and parsley to decorate 

1. Collect all the ingredients, including lemon juice, lemon zest, olive oil, soy sauce, and garlic. Take 6 to 10 cloves of garlic and make sure they are fresh. The garlic will be slightly tamed as we add a little lemon juice. Take 1/3 cup of good quality extra virgin olive oil and 2 tablespoons of fresh lemon juice. 

Spices: Take 1 teaspoon of coriander, 1 teaspoon of sweet paprika, and ¾ teaspoon of cumin in a bowl. Add a dash of black pepper and kosher salt.  

Mix all these ingredients in a bowl and whisk them together in a food processor. Run the food processor for a few minutes until you get a smooth marinade.

2. Marinate the swordfish: Rinse and pat dry the fish steaks from both sides with a paper towel to remove the access moisture. Then sprinkle a bit of kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper on both sides.    

3. Add the marinade to a ziplock bag and add the swordfish steaks. Marinate the fish for 20 minutes. Then remove it from the ziplock bag and turn on the skillet for heating. Brush off excess marinade from the steaks and place them on the hot grill grates. 

4. Heat a non-stick skillet over medium heat. Add the butter and once it melts, add the swordfish steaks and cook for 3 to 4 minutes per side until fully cooked.

If you prefer cooking the swordfish on a grill, place the fish steaks on the grill and cook for 3 to 4 minutes. Then flip the steaks on the other side and grill for 3 to 4 minutes. If you prefer cooking longer, you can heat each side for 2 minutes more. 

If you prefer checking the temperature of the fish steaks while grilling, you can check it using an instant-read thermometer. Insert the thermometer into each steak at its center, and it should read around 145 degrees F or 63 degrees C. 

5. Remove from the heat and let it cool for a few minutes. Brush with melted butter, add cracked black pepper, soya sauce, and sprinkle parsley on top to decorate before serving. 

Some FAQ’s

How Do You Know That Swordfish Is Cooked?

To know whether the swordfish is fully cooked, check its texture. If the flesh has turned opaque, you have finished cooking the fish. Prick it with a fork and if it flakes easily, turn off the grill or remove it from the grill. Another way is to use a thermometer, as mentioned above. If the temperature reads 145 degrees F or 63 degrees C, you can remove it from the heat. 

How To Choose The Best Swordfish?

Always buy fresh swordfish to get a fresh taste. It should be pink, not brown, and have a fishy odor. Cook the fish on the same day you buy it from the store. Another way to check the freshness of the swordfish is to see if it has a bloodline or a muscle in its center. If the fish is fresh, it should have a red bloodline. The older it gets after removing from the water, the browner it turns. 

If you buy frozen swordfish, defrost it in a bowl of cold water without removing it from the package. You can remove the package after defrosting it. The seafood suppliers often deliver frozen fish to the grocery stores, and the stores defrost it before placing it in the fresh fish case. 

Some Tips To Grill The Perfect Swordfish

You can prepare the marinade up to 3 days before you grill your fish. Simply store the marinade in a refrigerator until you want to use it to prepare the fish. The olive oil may solidify, and you must take it out of the fridge for at least 20 minutes before using the marinade. 

You can use the same marinade for cooking other seafood, such as salmon, shrimp, scallops, and halibut. 

You can choose the herbs such as oregano, black pepper, basil, spices, and green onions according to the flavor you want in the fish. 

Grill the fish outdoors if the weather is fine or indoors on a non-stick grill pan if it’s too cold outside. If you prefer using an outdoor grill, you must ensure that the fish steaks don’t stick to the grates.