29 Luxurious Fish Dishes For A Festive Christmas Eve Dinner
There's something magical about the eve before Christmas. It's a night for staying in before a Christmas Day feast and enjoying a special meal that celebrates the start of the holidays. It's a heartfelt time to enjoy a romantic, home-cooked dinner, especially if any little ones are tucked up waiting for Santa. For others, it's the perfect opportunity to sit down with family and perhaps close friends, to enjoy good times and amazing food.
There are so many Christmas morning breakfast ideas to start the day in style that a lighter yet still gourmet meal the night before often appeals. Before you focus on ways to give Brussels sprouts a serious flavor boost and roasting turkey, consider this important meal, too. You no doubt will welcome a less intense time in the kitchen.
Celebrate with a seafood supper. Indulge in some simple yet luxurious fish dishes for a festive Christmas Eve dinner.
1. Walnut And Sage-Crusted Salmon
Walnuts and sage add a wild, almost romantic essence to this baked salmon dish. It certainly feels special enough for a quiet, cozy night with a nice dinner before a day of family and feasting. The nuts add a festive crunch to the crusted fish that contrasts with the just-cooked texture of the salmon.
Covering the fillet with melted butter with maple syrup, garlic, and Dijon mustard, along with the fresh herb leaves, creates a warm, sweet, slightly spiced, and citrusy subtlety. Serve with asparagus and sous vide mashed potatoes.
Recipe: Walnut And Sage-Crusted Salmon
2. 5-Ingredient Brown Sugar Glazed Salmon
With a stacked fridge for Christmas Day dinner the night before, it was simple. Chilled salmon fillets are perfect with a gorgeous sweet and salty glaze with a little heat.
Whisk brown sugar, mustard, and black pepper with soy sauce. Add a few red pepper flakes or a dash of your favorite hot sauce to make this a six-ingredient recipe. Add this sauce with care so that it completely covers the fish. And do so once the fillets are laid out on parchment paper and ready to go in the oven.
3. Lemon-Herb Steamed Salmon
With a blow-out day of indulgence to follow, light, luxurious-tasting fare is ideal for Christmas Eve. The citrusy, aromatic flavors and gentle texture of this steamed salmon dish taste beautifully delicate.
Add a single fillet of fish to parchment paper in a heavy-bottomed pan. To give it flavor, season and add butter, lemon slices, parsley, and lemon thyme. What makes the difference is the steaming. Add veg stock to the salmon so it's surrounded but not submerged. Close the lid and open it 10 minutes later to a tender piece of fish.
Recipe: Lemon-Herb Steamed Salmon
4. White Wine Seared Swai Fish
The secret to a special-tasting fish dish is knowing the right techniques. This dish is quick to create in one pan on the stove, and yet it's one of the most luxurious fish dishes for a festive Christmas Eve dinner.
Only fry the fillets for a couple of minutes on each side so that they cook, yet don't dry out. Let the wine reduce after briefly sautéeing garlic in butter before adding the lemon juice and capers. Cover the swai with the sauce as it warms through.
Recipe: White Wine Seared Swai Fish
5. Simple Grilled Swordfish
The distinct, meaty taste of swordfish makes for a fantastic alternative to a heavy steak. It's especially welcome if you're planning a big meal the next day with roast turkey or baked ham. The best way to cook this thick piece of fish is in a cast iron grill pan. That way, you'll get those mouthwatering charred marks that create texture and improve the taste magnificently.
Less is more in terms of other ingredients. Olive oil, butter, and lemon juice create a buttery citrus sauce, with parsley and garlic completing the flavor.
Recipe: Simple Grilled Swordfish
6. Pan-Seared Grouper With Lemon-Garlic Sauce
Luxury food isn't always about fancy ingredients. Sometimes, it's enough to cook with produce that you don't eat that often. Likely, pan-seared grouper isn't a dish you make regularly. That makes it a perfect choice when deciding between luxurious fish dishes for a festive Christmas Eve dinner.
If you've never tried it before, it's fairly firm, so you don't have to be on point with cooking times, or it's ruined. The taste is mild, too, so what better way to lift the flavor than a punchy lemon and garlic sauce?
7. Slow-Baked Salmon And Citrus Butter
If you're the Christmas Eve chef, then you might enjoy announcing this fish dish as you serve it. Slow-baked salmon with citrus butter sure beats fish sticks when it comes to a luxurious main course.
Imagine how sublimely succulent the fish will taste when cooked at a low temperature. Compound butter with the zest of lemon, lime, and orange promises a knockout flavor. Make enough of this buttery log for more seafood dinners over the holidays. Half slices of lemon add a dinner-party look to your dish, too.
8. Pan-Seared Swordfish
Take the pressure off on December 24th with a simple seafood supper that still feels special. Swordfish is a wonderfully robust fish, so it's not going to turn into fragile flakes once pan-fried. It doesn't have an overpowering fishy taste, though, which suits a lot of different palates.
What adds to the deliciousness of this dish is soaking the steaks in milk before frying to tenderize them. After seasoning, fry in olive oil, and be mindful of not overcooking as you don't want them to dry out. Serve with a generous squirt of fresh lemon.
Recipe: Pan-Seared Swordfish
9. Garlic Butter Baked Flounder
When flaky fish sticks to a skillet, it can be a challenge to pry it off. You can't get away with the fact that baking flounder fillets in the oven is way easier. A good tip is to add them to greased parchment paper to keep your baking tray free of stuck-on bits.
What takes this simple meal to a whole other level is the lavish garlic butter with fresh basil and parsley. What about serving this dish with lemon slices, more basil, and a citrusy pasta side?
Recipe: Garlic Butter Baked Flounder
10. Crusted Baked Red Snapper
If you can, use panko for this crusted baked red snapper. The super-crunchy topping is mouthwateringly awesome against the succulent softness of this appetizing fish. Without any seasonings, you're not going to get as flavorful a result. So brown the panko, or breadcrumbs, if that's what you're using, in melted butter with salt, black pepper, and garlic powder. The crumbs should stick to the top of the fillets easily.
If you want to push the boat out for a fancier meal, pair the golden-crumbed fish with a citrusy white wine sauce.
Recipe: Crusted Baked Red Snapper
11. Easy Baked Tilapia
Tilapia is fairly common, so you might not consider it a fish for the holidays in particular. However, its mild taste and flaky texture when baked are boosted by the fact that the fillets are affordable and easy to source. With Christmas often a costly occasion, fresh food cooked well that doesn't attract luxury prices is a bonus.
The garlicky, lemony butter sauce is what propels this dish into dinner-party quality. With a few crushed chili flakes and fresh parsley, you have an impressive plate of food ready for greens and carbs.
Recipe: Easy Baked Tilapia
12. Bobby Flay's Grilled Halibut With A Twist
A marvelous marinade maketh this grilled halibut dish. If you're wondering what the twist is, it's swapping out lemons and rosemary for the warmth of freshly squeezed orange juice and the licorice notes of tarragon. If you've never paired these two ingredients, know that they are tremendous together.
Grilling fish that you've marinated locks in that flavor. Add white wine and olive oil, and leave the halibut in a sealable bag in the fridge for an hour. The grill marks caramelize the surface beautifully.
13. Salmon With Lemon Dill Sauce
It's Christmas Eve, and you want to make a lovely meal that's light yet luxurious. Sautéeing shallots and garlic in butter, adding dry white wine and lemon juice, and then heavy whipping cream fills the kitchen with glorious aromas.
Add salmon fillets that you've cooked just a few minutes before back into the pan, ladling the creamy sauce on top. What about using bubbly in place of the wine for an extra special fizz? Add wisps of fresh dill to serve along with buttery new potatoes.
Recipe: Salmon With Lemon Dill Sauce
14. Easy Baked Pesto Salmon
Covering the top of salmon fillets with pesto and baking them in the oven is about as simple as a recipe can get. That doesn't mean to say it's not divine. Glam this recipe up by choosing good quality fish and make sure there aren't any bones left in the pieces. Rather than store-bought, you could make homemade pesto with fresh basil, Parmesan, pine nuts, and garlic.
What's striking about the taste is how bold the flavors are, and the taste bowls you over. Fancy the topping up with crunchy pistachios.
Recipe: Easy Baked Pesto Salmon
15. Easy Honey Baked Salmon
Once you've baked salmon with honey and soy, you'll want to make it again and again. There's something almost magical about how well these ingredients complement each other. And with a traditional table full of all-American fare to look forward to on Christmas Day, it's great to embrace Asian flavors.
Enhance the sweet and salty glaze with lemon juice and minced garlic for the full effect. You don't need any oil in the sauce because the fish is already quite fatty. This is what gives it such a succulent taste.
Recipe: Easy Honey Baked Salmon
16. Easy Pan Fried Pacific Rockfish
Make sure you've not had more than a glass of wine if you plan on announcing this mouthful of a dish at dinner. Rockfish fillets are thin and firm; if you can't source them, you can easily use cod or sea bass for this recipe.
What gives this fried fish dish a more upmarket appeal is that there's no heavy batter. Instead, salt the pieces first and then dredge in a flour and cornstarch mix with dried dill seasoning. Make sure the oil is hot and ready.
Recipe: Easy Pan Fried Pacific Rockfish
17. Gordon Ramsay's Tuna Tartare
If you want to enjoy Christmas, then the bold letter health and safety warning about this dish is that you must use sushi-grade tuna. As well as mixing sesame oil, chili garlic sauce, and soy sauce, as per Brit chef, Gordon Ramsay's version, add freshly grated ginger, too. For this recipe, combine chopped fresh mango with cubed pieces of fish and the Asian-inspired sauce.
Half-freeze the tuna so that it's not mushy, but you can still easily cut it up. Halve wonton wrappers and fry for a must-have crispy accompaniment.
Recipe: Gordon Ramsay's Tuna Tartare
18. Crispy Fried Trout
Butterflied trout fillets are delicate and fresh-tasting. It's not recommended to use thawed-out frozen fish for this recipe as it'll be too waterlogged. Before dredging the pieces ready for frying, dab dry with a kitchen towel and make sure there aren't any pin bones remaining.
You don't need a whole load of flavors because you want the simplicity of the mild taste to be compromised. Add onion and garlic powders to flour and season with salt and pepper. Coat the fish and fry in butter. Add a spritz of lemon juice to serve.
Recipe: Crispy Fried Trout
19. Giada's Chicken Piccata With A Twist
Don't get thrown off by the name of this recipe. Cooking flattened chicken in butter with lemon and capers is the inspiration behind this fishy version. You'll also need olive oil and chicken stock to make the sauce.
Choose a firm white fish such as cod or tilapia. A fattier one like salmon also works. Not fying or adding any flour creates a lighter texture that lets the citrusy sauce shine. Throw the capers in at the end of the cooking time to warm through.
20. Pistachio-Crusted Salmon
A honey and mustard glaze gives salmon a mouthwatering taste. However, what brings this recipe to more gourmet heights is adding a pistachio crust. Chop the nuts so that they are fairly fine, otherwise they won't taste as good with the other ingredients. Use fresh rosemary and thyme if you can, but if you use dried herbs instead then add less as the flavor is more concentrated.
A pastry brush might help you cover the whole of the fillets with the sweet, spiced, herby glazing. Press down on the crust to keep it in place.
Recipe: Pistachio-Crusted Salmon
21. Creamy Salmon Pasta
One of the most luxurious fish dishes for a festive Christmas Eve dinner that's also comfort food is creamy salmon pasta. Baking fresh salmon fillets for this dish makes a difference in how marvelous it tastes. Whomever you're sharing this meal with, they are going to appreciate the effort, too. And can you ever go wrong with a white wine and heavy cream sauce with lemon zest, Parmesan, and asparagus tips?
Flake the fish and add to the penne and sauce without the skin. Serve with homemade garlic bread and a citrusy cocktail.
Recipe: Creamy Salmon Pasta
22. Smoked Salmon And Shrimp Pasta
Smoked salmon is a high-end treat for the holidays, and it's also a fine ingredient for a fresh-tasting penne dish. What makes this recipe perfect for Christmas Eve is that it's simple yet special, as well as being nice and light before a day of feasting. Using cooked shrimp means that you only have to warm the seafood through.
Frying garlic, red chili, and onion and adding lemon juice and zest creates an intense flavor. A generous scattering of parsley finishes this gourmet pasta meal off colorfully before serving.
Recipe: Smoked Salmon And Shrimp Pasta
23. Sea Bass
The delicately soft texture and sweet taste of sea bass make it a spectacular fish for Christmas Eve dinner. Cooking with fillets is more sophisticated, too, as you won't have to pick through bones for a forkful of succulent flakes during a nice dinner. To highlight the quality of the produce, keep it simple with a buttery lemon and garlic sauce. Spoon this over the fish as it fries in the pan.
Serve with lemon wedges and crunchy greens like a peppery arugula salad or microgreens. Or what about serving up a creamy risotto?
Recipe: Sea Bass
24. Honey Garlic And Ginger Cod
Cod fillets soak up marinade fantastically, especially when baked in foil parcels in the oven. The heat and steam lock the moisture in as the ingredients permeate the fish. As the name suggests, you need honey, garlic, and ginger for this recipe to add a wonderful warmth.
What's also a must-include is soy sauce. It brings a salty, umami-boosting essence that turns a fine fish dish into a fabulous one. You also add apple cider vinegar to balance the flavors. Caramelization creates a browned, savory crust that's tasty.
Recipe: Honey Garlic And Ginger Cod
25. Easy Baked Haddock
While certain types of seafood have a powerful taste, haddock isn't one of them, unless it's smoked, of course. The mild taste and spectacularly firm and flaky texture make it a pleasure to eat. And it's also fabulous baked in the oven with melted butter.
Elevate the flavor of the fish with minced garlic, lemon juice, and the distinct taste of dried oregano. If you want to create some heat, make up a customized seasoning mix. What about cumin, onion powder, and paprika? The fillets can take a variety of different types of flavors.
Recipe: Easy Baked Haddock
26. Whole-Roasted Rainbow Trout
In certain parts of the world, like Poland, serving a whole fish is a Christmas tradition. There's something grand about a dinner of roasted rainbow trout. And it's light enough not to be too indulgent before the big day of festivities.
If you're heading to a fishmonger, you might prefer to ask them to gut the trout so you don't have to. Although, it's not difficult to do yourself. What gives this dish a luxurious-tasting edge is the pecan butter spooned over the top of the garlic, lemon, and fresh herb stuffed fish.
Recipe: Whole-Roasted Rainbow Trout
27. Baked Trout With Sweet Chili Sauce
The sweet taste of trout is exquisite with a sweet chili sauce. Pairing fish with dynamic-tasting ingredients knocks it out of the ballpark. You can use other seafood for this recipe, so if you don't have trout, you don't have to go without it. Make sure to use fillets, though.
Honey and soy sauce are an amazing combination, with garlic and lime juice and zest natural ingredients to add a savory tang. What you're going to love about this recipe is the effect of cumin and chili powder.
28. Seared Ahi Tuna
The quality of ingredients can be everything, and this seared ahi tuna is a perfect example. The taste of the brown crust and rare, melt-in-the-mouth center of each exquisite piece of fish is divine. If you want an upmarket, gourmet fish dish on Christmas Eve, then this could be the one you've been looking for. You can also use yellowfin tuna for this recipe.
Use untoasted sesame oil, which has a higher smoke point than the toasted variety. You are literally going to flash-fry the steaks. Season with salt and garlic powder beforehand.
Recipe: Seared Ahi Tuna
29. Fresh Sardine Pasta
Sardines can be a love-them-or-hate-them fish because of their rich taste. You might want to check if Christmas Eve dinner guests are down with these fishy treats before choosing this recipe. If you do, you won't be disappointed, as the saltiness is so darned good with spaghetti. It's more high-end to use fresh fish for this dish rather than canned, too.
Keep with the Italian theme, and add toasted pine nuts, basil, and sundried tomatoes. You'll also need onion, raisins, and freshly squeezed lemon juice, plus cherry tomato oil if you have it.
Recipe: Fresh Sardine Pasta