Pan Seared Halibut with Lemon Butter Sauce
This pan seared halibut recipe with lemon butter sauce takes just 20 minutes... which you'd never guess with how fancy pan fried halibut looks.
Ingredients
Halibut:
- 4 6- oz Halibut fillets 1.5 lb total
- ½ tsp Garlic powder
- ½ tsp Paprika
- 1 tsp Sea salt
- ¼ tsp Black pepper
- 2 tbsp Olive oil
Lemon Butter Sauce:
- ½ cup Salted butter
- 1 medium Lemon cut in half
Instructions
- Use paper towels to pat the halibut fillets completely dry - this will ensure even browning. Season the fish on both sides with garlic powder, paprika, sea salt, and black pepper. Set aside.
- Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat for 2 minutes.
- Add the fish fillets in a single layer (you can do it in batches if all the fish won't fit in a single layer). Sear, without moving, for 3-4 minutes, until the edges of the fish are opaque. Flip and cook for 2-4 minutes, until cooked through.
- Remove the fish from the pan and cover tightly with foil to keep warm.
- Reduce heat to medium-low. Add the butter to the same pan. Wait for it to melt, then heat for 2-3 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the butter is browned and smells nutty.
- Use a lemon squeezer to squeeze all the juice from both halves of the lemon into the pan. Bring to a simmer, then reduce heat and simmer for about 3-4 minutes, stirring often, until volume is reduced by half. The lemon butter sauce will still be thin.
- Drizzle a little lemon butter sauce over each serving plate. Place the pan seared halibut fillets over the sauce, then drizzle more sauce on top.
Notes
I made this with a single piece of Halibut (about 3/4 lb). I very lightly seasoned it on both sides, and otherwise followed the recipe above. I used approximately the same amount of ingredients for the Lemon Butter sauce. We really loved the result, especially the sauce.
It's possible that you could use this same recipe with other kinds of fish. Halibut is certainly more expensive than most other kinds of fish!