This Moroccan Paprika Fish is flavorful, healthy, and couldn’t be easier to make. Slowly steamed with aromatic herbs and spices, then drizzled in a rich red paprika sauce, it’s an impressive dish that requires very little effort. Whether you’re cooking an easy weeknight dinner or a special holiday meal, you can’t go wrong with this Moroccan-inspired fish recipe.
There are many variations on red paprika-sauced fish in Moroccan cuisine. I like this particular preparation because it’s very easy, light and flavorful. The combination of garlic cloves, sweet red bell peppers and cilantro create an aromatic bed on which the fish steams. Dried chili peppers give it a touch of heat; the end result is fairly mild, but you can up the spice quotient by adding red pepper flakes or a touch of cayenne pepper. The spiced fish is liberally doused in deep red paprika-spiced oil, giving it a wonderful flavor and a very pretty red color.
I originally learned this recipe from Sharone, a family member who is Sephardic Jewish with Moroccan ancestry. It is customary in many Sephardic families to eat fish every Friday night as part of the Shabbat meal. Sharone’s little girl nicknamed this recipe “Maman’s Fish”—Maman is what she calls her grandmother, Sharone’s mom. I like this name, so I have taken to calling it that as well.
You can use any firm white fish fillet for this recipe. We enjoy it with halibut or sustainable sea bass. You want fillets that are thick and firm enough to stand up to a longer simmer; part of what makes the recipe so flavorful is the low and slow cooking process, which allows the fish time to soak up all of the flavors. I think this recipe would be fabulous as the centerpiece of a healthy Seder meal, or for any day of the year. Enjoy!
Food Photography and Styling by Kelly Jaggers
Moroccan Paprika Fish
Ingredients
- 4 fillets white fish, 8 ounces each (best if you use a firm, dense fish like halibut, sea bass or snapper)
- 1 bunch fresh cilantro, cut into large pieces (you may substitute fresh parsley or basil if you prefer)
- 1 red bell pepper, seeded and cut into long thin strips
- 5 large garlic cloves, coarsely chopped
- 3 large dried red chili peppers
- 1/4 teaspoon turmeric
- 1 1/2 cups water
- 1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
- 1 tablespoon paprika (heaping)
- Salt and pepper to taste
NOTES
Instructions
- For this recipe, you will need a sauté pan, it’s like a wide, deep skillet with higher sides. Before you start cooking, reserve a few pieces of the cilantro for garnish.Place cilantro, bell pepper slices, garlic and chili peppers in the bottom of the pan to create a “bed” for the fish.Place fish fillets on top of the other ingredients. Season fillets generously with salt and pepper, then sprinkle turmeric evenly across fillets.
- Add 1 ½ cups of water to the pan. Cover pan, turn flame on high, and bring to a boil. As soon as the water boils, reduce heat to medium and uncover the pan. Mixture should be simmering lightly at this point. Allow mixture to simmer uncovered for 10-15 minutes, basting fillets periodically, until the water reduces by half and turns yellow.
- In a small bowl, mix together olive oil and paprika with a fork. Pour red oil mixture over the fish fillets, coating them evenly. Let the fish simmer uncovered for 20 minutes more, basting frequently. Fish is done when liquid is reduced to about a quarter of what it was originally, and the fish has turned a rich red color.
- Serve fish and bell peppers together with the grain and/or vegetable of your choice. I like to serve it with a starch like mashed potatoes (or couscous, if it’s not Passover); the red sauce from the pan can be poured over the top of the fish and the potatoes. Garnish with fresh cilantro leaves.
Nutrition
May this for dinner the other night and it came out nothing shy of amazing.
Did this in a cast iron skillet because I don’t have a saute pan, but it worked wonderfully. The flavor was nothing shy of spectacular, it plated it beautifully, and it was an accidentally very impressive dinner in like 40 minutes which required very little actual doing.
Modifications we made did *not* change the spirit of the recipe: cooked an onion first, added extra bell pepper, and used fresh hot peppers because we had them.
We did need to thicken the sauce a little bit (hungry), so used I think two tablespoons of orzo under the fish. Like sweeping it under the rug.
Very excited to try this again. the method of cooking the fish on top of a stew that reduces itself is very intriguing, and I think will lend itself to other flavors… if we can get past how fantastic this version is.
So glad you posted this gem!
So happy to hear you enjoyed this one! I love how easy this recipe is. The orzo is a great idea.
Thank you!!!
Just made this yesterday for a visiting family with lots of food allergies (gluten, soy, dairy) and who are picky on top of it and, wow, another terrific recipe. They went for thirds of this fish, which I’ve never seen them do before :). Many have commented on cooking times, and I think it depends on your fish. We used tilapia, and stage 1 felt right for me at about 15 minutes, stage 2 I think needed about 10. We had a terrific quality sweet paprika, which I think is critical for a recipe like this one. Great job! When do you do a cookbook?? 🙂
Working on it as we speak! 🙂
I love your recipes -schwmara a constant hit
Could this fish dish be done with fresh tuna
I’ve never tried it with tuna, but I think it probably could – it’s a very flexible recipe. 🙂
Hi,
Firstly I love your recipes. I have made your tomato rice soup and cholent many times, and just tried the chickpea chili. Question on the paprika fish recipe- can I use fresh chili peppers? I have never seen dried. Where would I find that?
Thanks.
Dried chili peppers can usually be found in the seasoning aisle. If you can’t locate any, just omit them and add a pinch of cayenne to the paprika for a slight kick. If you like it spicier, add more cayenne, but be careful, it’s very spicy!
I’m making this for Shavuos 2019. I really appreciated the pictures.
Chag Shameach!!
Thanks so much!!!!
I’ve never left a comment on a recipe blog before, so this is a first! We loved this dish! I used mahi mahi, skipped the dried chili peppers and put in several good shakes of red pepper flakes. I did use less cooking time – approx 13 minutes for the first simmer without the oil, and an additional 10 with the paprika oil – and my fish was cooked through and tender. Served it over couscous cooked in veggie broth and used up every drop of the sauce. We will definitely be making this again! My husband said we just needed a bigger pan so we could cook more pieces of fish (he wanted seconds) 🙂
Hi Tori.
A fair while ago I posted a comment about this recipe regarding what I perceived to be an overlong cooking time. You removed my post after a few weeks and I’m just wondering why? It was meant in a positive spirit and I complimented you on a great recipe which I’ve cooked often – with the modifications I suggested – which always turn out well. You didn’t inform me when you removed my post and I’m really curious as to what was wrong with what I posted. I’d like a response please.
Regards
Brian
Hi Brian, I just searched my comment archives and don’t see your comment anywhere. I also don’t remember reading it, but I get hundreds of comments every month so that’s not surprising. Every comment on the site is moderated, so it’s possible that yours was auto-marked spam – which means you would have seen it on your end, but it was never was actually on the site and it would have been automatically trashed after a certain period of time. If you would like to leave the specifics of your modifications here again I’d be happy to keep a lookout for it to approve. I welcome all feedback, positive and negative, if it’s offered in a constructive way.
Too much red meat over Christmas so made your fish dish in the interim… this is definitely going on regular rotation!
Made this last night using frozen halibut. Served it with your roasted potatoes. It was simple and really delicious! Thanks. I love your site.