Top 31 French Fish Dishes

This classic French seafood dish is prepared with sole fillets that are lightly breaded in plain flour and pan-fried in butter. When the fish is ready, lemon juice is added to the pan and cooked shortly until all of the flavors are combined. The fish is typically seasoned with salt, pepper, and chopped parsley. Even though fillets are usually employed in the dish, some like to use the whole fish, which is then traditionally filleted tableside in front of the guests. In traditional cuisine, the name meunière refers to the technique of cooking ingredients in brown butter and lemon juice or lightly coating the ingredients in flour before frying. In French, meunière refers to the miller’s wife, referring to the fact that flour is used to dust the fish. This traditional French dish rose to worldwide fame when the renowned cookbook author Julia Child first mentioned it in her bestselling book. Sole meunière is usually served with mashed or boiled potatoes on the side.Expand

Roughly translated as in the manner of miller’s wife, the term à la meunière refers to a French cooking technique in which a whole fish or fish fillets are lightly dusted in flour and then sautéed in butter. Traditionally, meunière dishes are made with white flesh fish and are commonly finished off with the addition of lemon juice and parsley, but the technique is easily adapted by replacing the main ingredients or incorporating additional elements such as capers or almonds. The most common dish prepared with this technique is called sole meunière.Expand

Poisson à la bordelaise is a traditional fish dish originating from Bordeaux. The dish is usually made with a combination of hake, cod or halibut, breadcrumbs, butter, white wine, lemon juice, garlic, shallots, olive oil, salt, and black pepper. The garlic and shallots are chopped and sautéed in butter. White wine, breadcrumbs, lemon juice, salt, and pepper are added to the pan and simmered over low heat. The fish is placed into an ovenproof pan, and the fillets are covered with the mixture from the other pan and drizzled with olive oil. The dish is baked in the oven until everything is fully cooked, and it's then ready to be enjoyed.Expand

Grilled sardines are a simple, traditional seafood dish especially common in coastal Mediterranean areas and during summer months, when fresh sardines are plentiful. The dish is straightforward and emphasizes the natural flavors of the sardines: they are typically marinated in a mixture of olive oil, lemon juice, black pepper, and salt (although a variety of spices and herbs can also be added, depending on the region) before being grilled over a charcoal fire. The dish is usually served as an appetizer or a part of a meze, along with bread, boiled potatoes, sautéed vegetables, or salads, and is best paired with lighter, sweeter local white wines.Expand

Originally a poor man’s dish, soupe de poisson à la rouille is a classic French soup and a close cousin of the famous bouillabaisse. The soup is usually prepared with white fish that is cooked in a flavorful broth that mostly incorporates tomatoes, olive oil, garlic, saffron, and various herbs. The soup is then strained and served with rouille, a classic Provençal sauce that usually incorporates bread, garlic, spices, egg yolks, and olive oil while some versions can also include monkfish liver, tomatoes, or potatoes. Soupe de poisson originated in the Provençal region, most probably in Marseille, and it can be found all along the French Mediterranean coast. It is often enjoyed as an appetizer, typically served hot and topped with crunchy croutons and Gruyère cheese.Expand

Saumon à l'oseille is a French dish consisting of a salmon fillet with sorrel in a creamy fish sauce. It's made with salmon, dry white wine, fish stock, crème fraîche, sorrel leaves, lemon, butter, shallots, and a bit of Marsala. The shallots are sautéed in butter, then deglazed with Marsala. The fish stock and white wine are added to the sauce along with the cream. The salmon is fried, then combined with the sauce, which is enriched with a drizzle of lemon juice and mixed with sorrel. When served, the sauce is poured into a deep plate, while the salmon is carefully arranged on top. The dish was created by a French chef Pierre Troisgros in the 1960s, and today it's often served in bistros.Expand

Merlu koskera is a traditional dish originating from the Basque region. The dish is prepared with hake (merlu), peas, mussels, asparagus, carrots, shallots, white wine, butter, garlic, eggs, thyme, bay leaves, and parsley. The hake is cut into fillets, then cooked with other ingredients. When served, the hake is usually placed on the bottom and topped with hard-boiled eggs, peas, asparagus, and mussels. It is recommended to serve merlu koskera with crusty bread or new potatoes on the side.Expand

Brochet au four is a traditional fish dish originating from France. The dish is usually made with a combination of pike, onions, garlic, sorrel, butter, eggs, wine, cornflour, heavy cream, breadcrumbs, parsley, thyme, bay leaves, salt, and pepper. The fish is scaled, gutted, washed, and stuffed with a combination of breadcrumbs soaked in cream, butter-sautéed onions, garlic, and sorrel; breadcrumbs, eggs, salt, and pepper. The opening is sewn shut and the stuffed pike is placed on top of the onions and herbs in a roasting tin. The dish is seasoned with salt and pepper, dotted with butter, and roasted in the oven while being basted during the process. Once done, the pike is served on a platter with a warm sauce consisting of cornflour, heavy cream, and leftover onions and pan juices.Expand

Bar au beurre blanc is a traditional fish dish prepared with sea bass (also called loup de mer) as the main ingredient. The fish has a delicate flavor, and it's poached in a lightly flavored court-bouillon in this dish, either whole or after it's been cut into sections. The beurre blanc sauce is made with a combination of shallots, wine vinegar, court-bouillon, and butter, while a bit of fresh cream may be stirred in at the end. In order to finish the dish, the sea bass is served with the beurre blanc sauce.Expand