Baked Swordfish Recipe with Lemon Garlic Cream Sauce

This baked swordfish recipe is so easy, creamy, garlicky, and just bursting with bright lemon flavor! It all comes together in about 25 minutes and is sure to be a new family favorite. It’s seriously the best swordfish recipe I’ve ever tried!

Why You’ll Love This Baked Swordfish Recipe

This easy baked swordfish recipe is my favorite way to cook this delicious fish. There are lots of swordfish recipes out there, but you just can’t go wrong with this one.

It’s simple, flavorful, and perfect for any occasion. From weeknight dinners to date nights to dinner parties. It’s really a crowd-pleaser. 

Swordfish is a hearty, yet mild tasting fish that is perfect for customizing with your favorite flavors. And two things that I absolutely LOVE are garlic and cream sauce. I mean, come on. Who doesn’t??

Let’s not forget about the lemon. Ahhhh so good! The lemon flavor here comes from the lemon juice, of course, but also the delicious lemon zest! Make sure you don’t skip the lemon zest!

Lemon zest is the key to getting that delicious lemon flavor without adding too much acidity. The lemon peel contains delicious lemon oil to flavor your dish without having to add more and more lemon juice, which can just end with a dish that’s way too sour.

This swordfish recipe is SO SIMPLE

I’m obsessed with how easy this swordfish recipe is. Like so easy. Even a novice cook can make this and it will come out perfect every time. That’s one of the main reasons this is the best swordfish recipe on the internet. It’s just so easy! 

Oven baking swordfish is honestly the best way to cook swordfish if you are a novice cook. Pan-searing and grilling are great, but a simple quick roast in the oven is perfect for avoiding any mishaps and ensuring that your dinner is just perfect with little to no stress involved.

Honestly, even for an experienced cook like myself, I often turn to recipes like this when I’m looking for something quick, easy, and stress-free for cooking white fish.

How to cook swordfish

Okay, now let’s talk about how to cook swordfish. When cooking swordfish, there are a variety of great methods to choose from including grilling, pan-searing, baking/roasting, broiling, air frying, and even sous vide! 

If you’re wondering how to cook swordfish, then there are so many great options. The best way to cook swordfish is truly up to you! Your skill level and your taste preferences. 

Grilling: The most popular way to cook swordfish is grilling because it’s such a meaty fish that it holds up so well to grilling! It’s actually one of the few fish that can be grilled in steaks/fillets since it’s such a firm fish and holds together. Most fish need to be grilled whole and in a fish basket so their tender flesh doesn’t fall apart. You can use a gas grill or charcoal grill for grilling fish.

Pan-Searing: Like most fish, pan-searing is a great way to cook fillets. A simple pan-sear in butter with salt, pepper, and some fresh herbs over medium-high heat will never disappoint. Add some capers for that extra salty briny flavor. Deglaze with a little white wine or rosé for some delicious pan juices for serving. This method can be tricky for novice cooks due to the flipping, but swordfish is very hearty so it won’t break apart as easily when flipping.

Baking/Roasting: The easiest and most fool-proof of all the methods. Just prep, stick it in the oven, and let it do its thing. Easy, tasty, and quick. You can bake in a sauce like this cream sauce or you can dry the fillets and roast on parchment paper and season with salt and pepper or other seasonings.

Air-frying: Using an air fryer is one of the less common ways to cook swordfish, but a great option if you are cooking for just 1 or 2 people. Air frying cooks the fish super quickly and gives you that nice crispy crust on the outside! Just make sure to rub with plenty of oil before cooking.

Ingredients to make this easy swordfish recipe

(printable recipe card below!)

• 4 swordfish fillets (approx 6oz each and 1-inch thickness)
• 1 Tbsp grass-fed butter or ghee (avocado oil for dairy free)
• 1 medium shallot, finely diced
• 5 large cloves garlic, minced
• 1 ⅓ cups heavy cream (coconut cream for dairy free)
• 3 Tbsp capers
• 1 tsp Dijon mustard
• ¾ teaspoon salt (fine sea salt)
• ¼ tsp freshly ground black pepper
• 2 pinches cayenne pepper
• 2 tsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
• Fresh parsley for garnish, chopped
• Lemon zest and wedges for serving

How to make this creamy lemon garlic baked swordfish recipe

(printable recipe card below!)

1. Preheat oven to 400ºF (205ºC).

2. Lightly grease a large ceramic or glass baking dish with butter. Do not use a baking sheet / sheet pan because the shallow sides will not hold the sauce.

3. Dry swordfish fillets well with paper towels. Place fish in baking dish.

4. Make cream sauce. Melt butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. Once it’s hot, add the minced shallot and garlic cloves and sauté for 2 minutes. Add cream, capers, dijon, salt, pepper, and cayenne, and heat until warm. Stir in lemon juice and turn off the heat. 

5. Pour cream sauce over swordfish fillets.

6. Bake for 13-14 minutes (or until the centers reach 135ºF/57ºC). If your swordfish steaks are thinner than 1″, you may want to try 10-12 minutes total time and test for doneness. 

7. Garnish with parsley and lemon zest. 

8. Serve with cream sauce and lemon wedges. Lemon wedges can go on top or to the side of the fish when serving. 

What do I serve with this delicious baked swordfish steak recipe?

For a light meal, I love to serve this lemon garlic swordfish steak recipe with a big green salad full of crunchy romaine. Big crunchy salads are one of my all-time favorite side dishes!

Since this delicious fish will be in a cream sauce, I like the sides to be on the lighter side. Simple sautéed green beans and a fresh baguette are another great option!

Love pasta? This baked swordfish with cream sauce is just divine over some linguine or pappardelle! Just cook your pasta in salted water, then top with the fish, the cream sauce, a drizzle of good quality extra virgin olive oil, and some lemon zest and you are going to be in seafood pasta heaven! YUM!!

What does swordfish taste like?

Swordfish has a mild taste and even people who don’t like seafood much will usually like swordfish if it’s made correctly. Some people even describe swordfish has having a slightly sweet flavor. This steak of the sea is a great option if you want to reduce your consumption of red meat.

The key is to get really fresh swordfish. But even frozen swordfish can work. Just make sure the swordfish that you choose is flash frozen and from a sustainable, trusted source. 

How do I find sustainable swordfish?

If you are in the United States, you can look for the MSC certification on swordfish packaging. That will tell you for sure that the swordfish you’re choosing is sustainable and from a trusted source.

This means that you’re choosing a swordfish source that promotes the sustainability of the swordfish population. In more simple terms, this means that the fishing practices are not causing overfishing of the population.

Is this oven baked swordfish recipe healthy?

Like most white fish, swordfish is high in protein, low in calories, low in fat, and has no carbs.

This creamy baked fish recipe is made with real ingredients from high quality sources. This is especially true if you are choosing grass-fed dairy. In my opinion, this is healthy. Cream and butter are just fine in moderation!

If you are concerned about the fat content or watching your calories, you can always serve your portion with just a little bit of the sauce on top.

This recipe is considered keto since it is very low in carbohydrates. It’s really the perfect healthy dinner that really fills you up. Try it with some cauliflower rice for the perfect low carb pairing!

Assuming you serve each portion of fish with about 2 Tbsp of the sauce, each serving has approximately 360 calories, 22 g fat, 3 g carbohydrates, and 34 g protein.

How to Serve Baked Swordfish

Once the fish is cooked, place swordfish on plates and pour the cream sauce over the top of the fish. I recommend serving directly onto people’s plates instead of using a serving plate or platter. This helps keep the fish warm. Nothing worse than room temperature fish.

You can also place the hot pan directly on the table and allow guests or family to serve themselves family style.

How to Store Cooked Fish

Store any leftover baked swordfish in an airtight container in the fridge. It is best to eat any leftover fish within 2 days.

Is swordfish safe for pregnant women and young children?

Due to its higher than average level of mercury, swordfish is not recommended for pregnant women, those breastfeeding, or young children. Even for normal adults, swordfish and other top ocean predators should only be eaten in moderation.

Because swordfish are at the top of the ocean food chain, they accumulate lots of mercury in their flesh. Basically, they eat medium fish who eat smaller fish, who eat even smaller fish. The lower fish are on the food chain in the ocean, the less mercury accumulation they usually have.

How do I know when swordfish is done?

It’s important to make sure that the fish is done before eating. The easiest way to tell if it’s done is to try to flake it with a fork. The meat of the fish should be fork-tender. You can also touch the fish, and it should be firm to the touch.

You can also use a meat thermometer to measure the temperature in the center of the fillet. When cooked properly, this temperature should be 135ºF (57ºC).

Do you need to rinse off swordfish before cooking it?

I like to rinse my fish and other seafood and pat completely dry before cooking. It washes away any bone fragments, blood, or scales before you begin the cooking process. This is just personal preference though. 

Some people don’t rinse their fish though and I think that’s fine too. Especially if it’s really fresh, just bought from your local fishmonger.

Other ingredients and variations to try with baked swordfish

It’s always fun to experiment with additional flavors and ingredients, here are a few to try out for your swordfish steak recipes:

• Spicy – If you love spice, you’ll want to add more cayenne pepper to this recipe. The 2 pinches in the recipe are just for flavor enhancement and do not add a detectable spice. Add more for a little kick! YUM!
• Red pepper flakes – use as a garnish for extra spice
• Green onions – always a yummy garnish!
• White wine – just a splash with the cream before cooking would be divine. Don’t forget a glass of wine for the cook!
• Compound butter – a compound garlic butter would be great if you want to skip the cream sauce and cook in just butter instead. Just mix softened butter together with finely chopped garlic and herbs in a small bowl and use as desired. Fresh thyme and Italian parsley are always great with fish! Fresh rosemary is also a yummy option, but only use a little bit because it can easily overpower the fish.
• Extra-virgin olive oil – can be used in place of the butter or avocado oil
• Yellow onion – If you can’t find shallots then I recommend replacing with yellow onion. But only if you absolutely must! Shallots give the best flavor! I do not recommend replacing with red onion.
• Kosher salt – I always recommend using sea salt as it is a healthier option than table salt and kosher salt. But if you don’t have any sea salt, you can substitute with kosher salt. Do not use iodized table salt as iodine will alter the taste of the dish.
• Cherry tomatoes or grape tomatoes – tomatoes are always a great garnish for swordfish
• White beans – if you love beans then white beans can be a great option to add to the cream sauce. 
• Katsuobushi – if you love fish flavor you will love using Katsuobushi (Japanese fish flakes) as a garnish on this dish. Make sure to grab the very very thinly sliced kind since we will be using it as a garnish and not dissolving in hot water to make dashi.
• Red bell pepper
• Cast iron pan – You can make this recipe in small to medium cast iron pan or another type of nonstick oven-safe skillet.
• Soy sauce
• Garlic powder – Not recommended as a substitute for the garlic here unless absolutely necessary. It’s really a different flavor entirely.
• Green olives – they can be chopped and used instead of capers if you can’t find capers. Green olives are a staple in Spanish recipes, as I have found from my time living here in Spain.
• Convection oven – I do not recommend using a convection oven for this recipe. You want the direct heat of the oven.
• Marinade – You can try a swordfish marinade for extra flavor, but I don’t think marinades are necessary for seasoning swordfish, or any other fish really. 
• Fresh lemon slices – They can be added to the top of the fillets before baking for extra flavor.
• Drizzle of olive oil – For garnish to add some fresh olive oil flavor to the dish. Yum!
• Maldon salt flakes – A little sprinkle of salt at the end in the form of Maldon salt flakes is always a tasty touch if you like a little extra salt and crunch!

Love seafood? Me too! Here are some of my top seafood recipes!

• Seared Wahoo with Mango Salsa
• Paleo Fried Fish
• Baja Fish Tacos with Chipotle Lime Crema

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Baked Swordfish Recipe with Lemon Garlic Cream Sauce

• Gluten-Free
• Low Carb
• Keto
• Pescatarian

4.95 from 77 votes

Print

You’re going to love how easy this swordfish recipe is. It’s baked in the most delicious lemon garlic cream sauce and ready in less than 30 minutes! Perfect for a weeknight dinner or a date night in!

Prep Time: 8 minutes mins

Cook Time: 17 minutes mins

Total Time: 25 minutes mins

Servings: 4 people

Ingredients 

• 4 swordfish fillets (approx 6oz each and 1-inch thickness)
• 1 Tbsp grass-fed butter or ghee
• 1 medium shallot, finely diced
• 5 large cloves garlic, minced
• 1 ⅓ cups heavy cream
• 3 Tbsp capers
• 1 tsp Dijon mustard
• ¾ tsp fine sea salt
• ¼ tsp freshly ground black pepper
• 2 pinches cayenne pepper
• 2 tsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
• Parsley for garnish, chopped
• Lemon zest and wedges for serving

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 400ºF (205ºC).
• Lightly grease large ceramic or glass baking dish with a bit of butter.
• Dry swordfish fillets well with paper towels. Place in baking dish.
• Melt butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. Once it’s hot, add the shallot and garlic and sauté for 2 minutes. Add cream, capers, dijon, salt, pepper, and cayenne and heat until warm. Stir in lemon juice and turn off heat.
• Pour cream sauce over swordfish fillets.
• Bake for 13-14 minutes (or until the centers reach 135ºF/57ºC).
• Top with parsley and lemon zest.
• Serve with cream sauce and lemon wedges.

Did you love the recipe? I would love it if you left me a 5-star review below!

Notes

Add more cayenne pepper if you want a little kick. The 2 pinches of cayenne in this recipe just acts as a flavor-enhancer, not adding any detectable spice.

Sub avocado oil and coconut milk for dairy free!

Category:

• 25 minutes
• American
• Date Night
• Dinner
• Family Friendly
• Fish
• French
• Gluten-Free
• Keto
• Low Carb
• Main Dish
• Pescatarian
• Quick Weeknight Dinners
• Spring
• Valentine’s Day
• White fish
• Winter

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Some other great swordfish recipes to try

While this is one of my favorite recipes for swordfish there are so many good ones out there here are some other great wants to try:

• Fish tacos
• Swordfish burgers – if you’re not sure about cooking with the whole steak, making swordfish burgers with finely minced swordfish is a fun option!
• Swordfish with mango salsa – mango salsa is always a good choice with fish!
• Swordfish cutlets
• Swordfish skewers

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