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Paleo Halibut Lemon Piccata Asparagus Salad ! Golden crispy Paleo fish fillet with light and refreshing lemon caper sauce. Perfect for quick easy weeknight meals and hot summer days.
Not a fan of fish ?
My husband’s not crazy about fish either but HE FINISHED IT …probably for the first time in his life. So here’s the proof how good this Paleo Halibut Lemon Piccata is. :))
And if you do love that golden crispy wild caught fish fillet, then this dish will become your go-to summer favorite !
No prep time – Paleo halibut lemon piccata
When I was guest posting for Whole30 recipes, one thing people loved the most was my no prep time / last minute go-to recipes.
Seafood – like fish fillets – has always been my go-to because it’s nutritious, quick, and delicious.
If I weren’t severely allergic to shellfish, shrimps would be on the top of my go-to list too !
Does your fish fillet stick to your pan ?
Knowing how to work with the type of skillet you have is extremely important to making a gorgeous light golden brown fillet.
Here I use a stainless steel skillet. Yes I know …stainless steel sticks. But here’s what I did to make it work for me :))
- Preheat the skillet over medium heat and leave it over the stovetop until hot.
- Pat dry the fish before drenching in flour then use a combination of ghee and avocado oil to pan fry the fillet.
- Be patient and do not move the fish fillet once it’s in the skillet. Depending on the thickness of the cut, watch it like a hawk and give some love ❤️❤️to bast the fillet with juice and oil in the skillet (like the video demo above).
- When you see a light golden brown color on one side, carefully turn to cook the other side. Cook until center of fillet is just opaque and the surface is in light golden brown color (about 2-3 mins per side)
And you are done! How quick is that ??
From Mark Bittman to you – simple asparagus salad
I adapted this recipe from Mark Bittman. It’s ridiculously simple, requiring no stove time, and what an amazing gorgeous way to enjoy asparagus.
If you like to find more tips on how to store asparagus to make it last longer in the fridge, here’s a great article from the Kitchn.
So save and share this gorgeous looking Paleo Halibut Lemon Piccata with your friends and loved ones. It will come in handy when life gets crazy busy ! :))
Hit the Play Button & Let’s make some gorgeous Paleo halibut lemon piccata!
Paleo Halibut Lemon Piccata Asparagus Salad
Video
Ingredients
For halibut/cod –
- Two 8 oz. (½ lb) fish fillets Halibut or Cod , boneless and skin removed
- 2 tbsp Ghee
- 2 tbsp Avocado oil
- 4-5 tbsp Almond flour
- Salt and pepper to taste
Sauce:
- ¾ cup chicken stock
- 3-4 tbsp lemon juice
- 1 to 1 ½ tbsp capers , drained
- 2 tbsp fresh italian flat parsley , finely chopped
For asparagus salad –
- About 1 lb Asparagus , not too skinny shape (fat shape is good)
- 2 tbsp good olive oil
- Lemon juice to taste
- Salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
Asparagus:
- Snap or cut off the tough bottom ends of the asparagus. Cut off the tip flower ends and set aside to a large bowl. Use a vegetable peeler to remove the green outer skin of each spear, about 3 to 4 ribbons from each spear. Set aside to the bowl. Cut the stalks crosswise into ¼ inch rounds. Combine ribbons, sliced rounds, and flower end tips with olive oil, lemon juice, salt and pepper to taste.
Fish fillets:
- Heat a large flat skillet (do not use a ridged pan) over medium heat, and leave it over the stovetop until hot. Season almond flour with a few pinches of coarse sea salt. Pat dry the fish and dredge the fish in the almond flour mixture to coat nice and evenly.
- Add ghee and avocado oil to the heated skillet. Add fish fillet (work in separate batches) and season it lightly with salt and pepper. Brown fish and basting with oil and juices. Cook about 2-3 minutes, depending on the thickness of the fish. Carefully turn and sear the other side, about 2-3 more minutes. Basting with oil and juices again. Cook until center of fillet is just opaque and the surface is in light golden brown color. Set aside.
- Use the same skillet, add chicken stock, lemon juice, and drained capers. Simmer to reduce the sauce by almost half and scrape any browned bits off the bottom of the skillet. Taste sauce and see if more lemon juice or capers are needed. Before turning off the heat, add and stir-in finely chopped flat parsley.
- Spoon sauce over fish fillets. Serve immediately with asparagus salad.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
More Healthy and Easy Paleo Seafood Recipes:
- Paleo Seafood Dim Sum (from my Asian Paleo Cookbook)
- Paleo Japanese Tempura-Inspired Fish Tacos
- Thai Fish En Papillote
- Chinese Jumbo Shrimp Stir-Fry
- Zucchini Pasta Shrimp
- Paleo Salmon Cakes
- Broccoli Fried Rice with Shrimp and Scallops
- Crispy Salmon Filet with Lemon Balsamic Dressing
- Smoked salmon salad
- Baked cod recipe with herb butter
This is a go-to recipe! I have never felt confident pan-frying fish but your instructions were spot-on. The flavor in this dish is superb! Thanks!
Thank you so much! Aww, you found one of my older recipes 😀 I have a lot more cod and white fish fillet dishes on my site. Hopefully you’ll give them a try when you can! Thank you!
This was so delicious. So fulling and juicy.
Day 27 of Whole30 and was feeling pretty grumpy… I made this halibut tonight and it was absolutely perfect. It actually served three of us (but we’re not huge portion folks) and all three of us loved it:)
Thank you so much. So happy to hear!
This looks amazing!! Would it be possible to substitute tapioca flour for the almond flour?
Hi Emily, I haven’t tried it with tapioca. The almond flour adds color and a slight crunch to the fillet though.
I would love to try this but I am allergic to almonds. Would it be possible to use coconut or arrow root work?
Hi Melissa, try dusting with a light layer of arrowroot and some coconut flour. It should work!
Your recipes are always DELICIOUS! Was looking at your salmon cakes and found this Halibut recipe. Tried it last night and loved it. Of course, we love anything a la Piccata but this is a fantastic way to get more fish into the rotation 🙂 Any ideas about oven “frying” this instead of stove top? Thanks for your great energy and recipes ~
Hi Judy, thank you. I appreciate it. I haven’t tried using oven. I’m a girl who prefers to control the temperature and heat based on the type and thickness of the fish (fillets) so personally I found cooking from a stovetop gives me greater flexibility. I also like my fillets crispy and I absolutely enjoy using my stainless steel skillet. I wrote a blog post on how to turn Stainless steel skillet to non-stick through some simple cooking techniques – it’s under my BLOG section – if you have some time come check it out ! And if you happen to try this recipe using oven please let me know how it goes ! Thanks again !
I loooove piccata but haven’t tried it with fish. This looks so crispy and delicious that it’s definitely going right to the top of my to-make list!
I made this the other day and was pleasantly surprised by how well the almond flour crisped up when pan fried! Loved the colours, textures and flavours of this dish! Thanks for sharing!
Thank you so much Marisa ! So happy to hear and thank you for taking the time to share with us !
I love fish! Thanks for providing interesting ways to make fish even more tasty.