Mackerel dishes

Mackerel dishes are various options for preparing tasty and healthy fish in baked, stewed, salted, smoked, stuffed and fried forms, which are appreciated not only by lovers of fish dishes. Mackerel prepared by any method is always distinguished by tender and almost seedless flesh with a special taste, different from the taste of other fish and preserved after freezing.

Fresh frozen mackerel baked in foil in the oven

Freshly frozen mackerel baked in foil in the oven will be the easiest and fastest way for you to prepare this fish, not only for the everyday menu, but also for a beautiful presentation at the holiday table. Mackerel has a specific smell that is not acceptable to everyone, so we will add lemon and onion to it in this recipe. To ensure that fish retains its texture and juiciness, proper thawing is important.

1. 
   How to cook a delicious mackerel dish? Defrost freshly frozen mackerel in advance under natural conditions, preferably on the bottom shelf of the refrigerator.
2. 
   Remove the head and tail, entrails, and especially the black film from the carcasses by cutting the belly lengthwise. Then rinse the fish well under running water. Peel and cut the onion into half rings. Wash the lemon and cut it with the peel into thin slices.
3. 
   Sprinkle the prepared mackerel outside and inside with salt and seasoning. Place chopped onion with lemon slices in the belly of the mackerel.
4. 
   Stuff all three mackerels in this way.
5. 
   Then wrap each mackerel tightly in a piece of foil and secure the edges so that the juice does not leak during cooking. Place the carcasses in foil on a baking sheet or in a baking dish. Turn on the oven at 180°C. Bake the fish for 40 minutes, but the time depends on the size of the carcass, because there are both large and small.
6. 
   Free the freshly frozen mackerel baked in the oven from the foil, arrange into portioned plates, add a side dish of vegetables and serve the dish to the table. Bon appetit!

Mackerel baked with potatoes in the oven

Mackerel baked with potatoes in the oven will be a hearty and tasty option for your second course, especially for a Lenten table. In this recipe we bake mackerel whole carcasses and the baking time for fish and potatoes is the same. Add lemon to the fish so that its specific smell is not felt, and add onions and any seasoning to the potatoes. Bake the dish on an open baking sheet and without foil to get a golden brown crust.

Cooking time: 1 hour 20 minutes.

Cooking time: 20 minutes.

Servings: 3.

Ingredients:

• Fresh frozen mackerel – 3 pcs.
• Potatoes – 1 kg.
• Onion – 1 pc.
• Lemon – 1 pc.
• Vegetable oil – 20 ml.
• Seasoning - to taste.
• Salt - to taste.
• Ground black pepper - to taste.

Cooking process:

Step 1. Mackerel, and we always have it frozen, defrost it in advance under natural conditions. Then clean the carcasses well, removing the heads, tails and entrails and rinse under running water. Rub the fish outside and inside with a mixture of salt and black pepper.

Step 2. Make shallow oblique cuts on both sides of the carcass.

Step 3. Peel the potatoes, rinse and cut into lengthwise slices.

Step 4. Cut the peeled onion into thin half rings. Rinse the lemon thoroughly, cut in half and cut one half into thin semicircles.

Step 5. Grease a baking tray or baking dish well with vegetable oil. Place sliced ​​potatoes on it in an even layer and sprinkle with salt and any seasoning.

Step 6. Place onion half rings evenly on top of the potatoes and place the prepared mackerel carcasses on it. Pour the juice of half a lemon over the fish. Insert lemon half-circles into the cuts on the carcasses.

Step 7. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees. Bake the fish and potatoes for 1 hour until the ingredients are cooked through and the top is golden brown. For an impressive presentation, serve the mackerel baked with potatoes to the table, placing it on portioned plates. Bon appetit!

Mackerel baked with lemon in the oven

Mackerel in almost all oven baking options is supplemented with lemon, which gives this fish a pleasant aroma, makes the texture more delicate and removes the specific fishy smell. In this recipe we bake mackerel only with lemon and without various additions, which will preserve the natural taste of the fish.The juiciest mackerel is obtained in foil, but the mackerel must be defrosted properly.

Cooking time: 40 minutes.

Cooking time: 20 minutes.

Servings: 3.

Ingredients:

• Mackerel – 2 pcs.
• Lemon – 1 pc.
• Salt - to taste.

Cooking process:

Step 1. Prepare thawed mackerel carcasses for baking: cut off the head and tail, remove the insides with a black film through a longitudinal cut, rinse the fish well under running water. Then rub the carcasses with salt on the outside and inside.

Step 2. Rinse the lemon with a brush, scald with boiling water and cut into half rings up to 5 mm thick.

Step 3. Make 4-5 cuts on one side of each carcass with a sharp knife, and place lemon slices in them.

Step 4. Then wrap each carcass or all together tightly in foil and place in a baking dish. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees. Bake the mackerel for 20 minutes. Then open the foil on top and continue baking for another 10 minutes until a golden brown crust forms on top. Serve mackerel baked with lemon hot, but it retains its taste even when cold. Bon appetit!

Mackerel with onions and carrots in the oven

Mackerel baked in the oven harmonizes well with onions and carrots and you will immediately have a ready-made side dish. The dish is formed in different ways: stuffed with these vegetables or made into a “pillow”, which does not affect the taste. In this recipe we bake a mackerel carcass according to the second option. We briefly marinate the fish with spices, and do not fry the vegetables so that they turn out baked, like the mackerel.

Cooking time: 1 hour 20 minutes.

Cooking time: 15 minutes.

Servings: 2.

Ingredients:

• Mackerel – 500 gr.
• Onion – 1 pc.
• Carrots – 1 pc.
• Lemon – ½ pc.
• Olive oil – 60 ml.
• Dry basil – 20 gr.
• Garlic – 1 clove.
• Ground black pepper – 3 gr.
• Paprika – 4 gr.
• Salt - to taste.

Cooking process:

Step 1. Clean the previously thawed mackerel carcass from all excess and rinse well under running water.

Step 2. Then use a sharp knife to cut it into 2 fillets, removing as many bones as possible.

Step 3. Cut the fillet into small pieces. In a bowl, prepare a marinade of olive oil, dry basil, chopped garlic, pepper and salt. In a separate bowl, pour the marinade over the mackerel pieces, mix gently and leave to marinate for 20 minutes, refrigerating.

Step 4. Peel the carrots, rinse and cut into thin strips.

Step 5. Cut the peeled onion into thin feathers or half rings.

Step 6: Place the chopped vegetables into a small baking dish. Add half of the thinly sliced ​​lemon. Then sprinkle the vegetables with salt, black pepper and paprika, pour in olive oil and stir.

Step 7. Place pickled pieces of mackerel on top of the vegetables and pour a little oil over them as well.

Step 8. Place a few lemon slices on the fish and maybe add some vegetable mixture.

Step 9. Preheat the oven to 190°C. Bake the mackerel for 45 minutes.

Step 10. Transfer the mackerel baked in the oven with onions and carrots to a dish and serve. Bon appetit!

Mackerel in foil with vegetables

Mackerel in foil with vegetables, hot or cold, has different flavors, unlike other types of fish. This mackerel is served hot as a main course, and cold it is served as a tasty appetizer. The set of vegetables for baking mackerel is limited and only carrots and onions are taken, not counting potatoes.In this recipe, we complement the vegetables with celery, canned corn and herbs, which will turn out delicious.

Cooking time: 50 minutes.

Cooking time: 20 minutes.

Servings: 2.

Ingredients:

• Small mackerel – 2 pcs.
• Onion – 2 pcs.
• Carrots – 1 pc.
• Celery – 50 gr.
• Corn, canned – 3 tbsp.
• Lemon juice – 2 tbsp.
• Vegetable oil - for frying.
• Greens - to taste.
• Ground black pepper - to taste.
• Seasonings for fish - to taste.
• Salt - to taste.

Cooking process:

Step 1. To bake mackerel according to this recipe, remove only the tail with entrails, fins and gills from the carcasses. Then rinse the carcasses well. Pour lemon juice over them, sprinkle salt and seasonings on all sides, and Provençal herbs with coriander are perfect for fish. Leave the mackerel to marinate for a while.

Step 2. Peel and rinse the vegetables. Grind the carrots and celery on a coarse grater. Cut the onion into small cubes. In heated oil, fry the chopped onion until golden brown, add the carrots and celery and fry until soft, and at the end of frying, add the corn. This will be the vegetable filling for the mackerel.

Step 3. Cool the filling a little and then compactly fill the bellies of the fish with it. Use toothpicks to secure the abdominal walls. Line a baking dish with foil and grease with oil. Place the prepared mackerel carcasses with vegetables on it and cover them tightly with foil.

Step 4. Preheat the oven to 180°C. Bake the mackerel for 20 minutes. Then open the foil on top and turn on the “Grill” mode for 5 minutes so that the fish is covered with a golden brown crust.

Step 5. Sprinkle mackerel baked in foil with vegetables with finely chopped herbs and serve hot, or leave for a cold appetizer.Bon appetit!

Mackerel with onions and carrots, stewed in a frying pan

Mackerel with onions and carrots, stewed in a frying pan, can be a good and quick dinner option for the whole family. This dish will replace fried or simply boiled mackerel, and given the low calorie content, although the fish is fatty, it is perfect for PP or diet food. In this recipe, we will add a little tomato sauce to the dish and complement the vegetables with sweet pepper.

Cooking time: 45 minutes.

Cooking time: 20 minutes.

Servings: 4.

Ingredients:

• Mackerel – 1-1.2 kg.
• Onion – 2 pcs.
• Carrots – 2 pcs.
• Sweet pepper – 100 gr.
• Tomato paste – 75 gr.
• Sugar – 1 tbsp.
• Water – 150 ml.
• Celery – 50 gr.
• Ground black pepper - to taste.
• Seasonings for fish – 1 tbsp.
• Salt - to taste.
• Vegetable oil - for frying.

Cooking process:

Step 1. Clean, rinse, pre-defrost mackerel carcasses, cut into pieces and place in a separate bowl.

Step 2. Then sprinkle them with salt and any fish seasoning of your choice and mix.

Step 3. Cut the peeled onions into thin quarter rings.

Step 4. Fry the chopped onion in heated vegetable oil until lightly browned.

Step 5. Grind the peeled carrots on a coarse or medium grater, add to the onion and fry the vegetables for another 5-7 minutes.

Step 6. Cut the peeled bell pepper into thin strips, add to the vegetables in a frying pan and fry over medium heat for another 3 minutes.

Step 7. Then add tomato paste to the vegetables and add sugar and black pepper.

Step 8. Pour clean water into the frying mixture and mix everything well.

Step 9. Add mackerel pieces to the vegetables. Cover the frying pan with a lid.

Step 10Simmer the fish over low heat for half an hour and do not need to turn it over.

Step 11. Place mackerel stewed in a frying pan with onions and carrots on a dish and serve hot, but it will also be delicious cold.

Bon appetit!

Fried mackerel in batter in a frying pan

Mackerel, as a noble fish with a high fat content and low calorie content, fried in batter in a frying pan turns out to be a simple and tasty dish. To do this, the fish is filleted, and it can be cooked for children, and one carcass yields 4 servings. The batter in this recipe is mixed with milk and egg. Whether to use fish seasonings or not is the choice of every housewife.

Cooking time: 30 minutes.

Cooking time: 15 minutes.

Servings: 4.

Ingredients:

• Mackerel – 1 pc.
• Egg – 1 pc.
• Flour – 4 tbsp.
• Milk – 40 ml.
• Salt - to taste.
• Vegetable oil for frying – 3 tbsp.

Cooking process:

Step 1. Thaw the mackerel in advance under natural conditions, but you don’t have to defrost it completely, then it will be more convenient to cut. Clean the carcass, rinse and cut into two fillets, removing the bones.

Step 2. Cut each fillet into portions. Place them on a cutting board and sprinkle with salt and seasonings as desired.

Step 3. For the batter, pour flour into a separate bowl and break the chicken egg. Add a little salt to the batter so that it is not bland.

Step 4. Then pour milk into these ingredients and whisk well until smooth. The batter should have the same texture as pancakes, not too runny.

Step 5. Heat the vegetable oil well in a frying pan. Dip each piece of mackerel in batter and place in hot oil.

Step 6.Over low to medium heat, fry the pieces until golden brown on both sides.

Step 7. Transfer the mackerel fried in a frying pan in batter to a dish. If there is too much oil, remove it with a paper towel. Mackerel in batter can be served either hot or cold. Bon appetit!

Stuffed mackerel in the oven

Stuffed mackerel in the oven is prepared in two versions: for serving hot or as a delicious cold appetizer. The fish always turns out juicy due to the filling. In this recipe we prepare the vegetable filling and bake the mackerel under a cheese crust. For stuffing, we cut the carcass in a special way and choose large mackerel.

Cooking time: 1 hour.

Cooking time: 30 minutes.

Servings: 6.

Ingredients:

• Mackerel – 2 pcs.
• Onion – 1 pc.
• Carrots – 1 pc.
• Zucchini – ½ pc.
• Sweet pepper – 1 pc.
• Tomatoes – 2 pcs.
• Garlic – 3 cloves.
• Cheese – 100 gr.
• Ground black pepper - to taste.
• Salt - to taste.
• Vegetable oil – 2 tbsp.
• Greens - to taste.

Cooking process:

Step 1. Thaw the mackerel carcasses in advance on the bottom shelf of the refrigerator. Cut them lengthwise along the back. Carefully remove the spinal bone with small bones, entrails and black film.

Step 2. Remove the gills, but leave the head and tail so that the mackerel retains its shape. Rinse the fish with cold water and sprinkle with salt and black pepper to your taste.

Step 3. Peel, rinse and cut the vegetables indicated in the recipe into small cubes. Chop the garlic with a knife. Heat vegetable oil in a frying pan. In it, first fry the chopped garlic, then the onion and carrots until transparent. Then add the remaining vegetables with finely chopped herbs and fry them until half cooked.Salt the vegetable mixture.

Step 4. Cover a baking sheet or baking dish with a piece of foil and transfer the prepared mackerel carcasses onto it. Place vegetable filling compactly into each carcass.

Step 5. Grind a piece of cheese on a coarse grater and cover the filling with it. Preheat the oven to 200°C. Bake the fish for 25-30 minutes until the cheese crust is golden brown.

Step 6. Transfer the stuffed and oven-baked mackerel to a dish, decorate to your liking and serve hot. Bon appetit!

Salting mackerel pieces at home

Salting mackerel into pieces at home is done in various ways and there are many recipes. The pieces are salted quickly, from 2 hours to one day, and the mackerel for salting is chosen frozen, not fresh. In this recipe, salt the mackerel in pieces and in vegetable oil. This fish has a delicate texture compared to brine and dry salting options. Salting time – 2 hours. Among the spices we take only onions. Salt is taken at the rate of 50 g per mackerel carcass, and the taste will be lightly salted.

Cooking time: 3 hours 30 minutes.

Cooking time: 30 minutes.

Servings: 6.

Ingredients:

• Fresh frozen mackerel – 3 pcs.
• Onion – 3 pcs.
• Salt – 100-150 gr.
• Vegetable oil – 200 ml.

Cooking process:

Step 1. Place the mackerel on the bottom shelf of the refrigerator overnight to defrost. Then cut the carcasses, removing the head with the tail, entrails and black film.

Step 2. Using a sharp knife, cut the carcasses into halves and remove the backbone with small bones. Rinse the fillet well under running water.

Step 3. Carefully remove the skin from the fillet, this will make the dish more tender.

Step 4. For pickling, take any container, for example, a plastic container.Immediately measure the salt according to the recipe proportions. Place mackerel fillets in a bowl in layers, sprinkling them with salt.

Step 5. Thus, place all the fillets, and the top layer should be salt. Cover the fish with a flat plate and you can place a small weight on it. Leave the mackerel for salting for 1 hour at room temperature.

Step 6. During this time, cut the peeled onions into thin half rings.

Step 7. After an hour, rinse the fillet well under cold running water and remove excess moisture with paper napkins.

Step 8. Cut the prepared salted fillet into small pieces.

Step 9. In a clean jar corresponding to the amount of mackerel, place pieces of fillet in layers, alternating with chopped onions. If desired, you can add any fish seasonings. Fill the jar compactly and completely. The top layer should be onions.

Step 10. Then fill these ingredients with vegetable oil to the very top, close it with a lid, and put it in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours.

Step 11. After this time, you can serve the salted mackerel pieces to the table. Fish keeps well in the refrigerator for several days. Bon appetit!

Canned mackerel with vegetables in jars for the winter

Canned mackerel with vegetables in jars for the winter is not difficult to prepare, but for reliable storage and good taste of the product, you need to follow the cooking technology. In this recipe, we preserve mackerel in pieces, add only onions from vegetables, do not use tomato paste, and make a beautiful color by brewing tea. We cook the fish first in a saucepan and then sterilize it in jars.

Cooking time: 3 hours 30 minutes.

Cooking time: 30 minutes.

Servings: 1 l.

Ingredients:

• Fresh frozen mackerel – 1 kg.
• Large onion – 3 pcs.
• Vegetable oil – 80 ml.
• Salt – 1.5 tsp.
• Black peppercorns – 1 tsp.
• Sweet peas – 10 pcs.
• Bay leaf – 4 pcs.
• Water – 250 ml.
• Black tea – 2 tsp or 2 bags.

Cooking process:

Step 1. Mackerel for canning should be partially defrosted in natural conditions in advance, remove the head with tail and entrails, remove the black film and rinse the carcass well under running water.

Step 2. Then cut into small pieces.

Step 3. Place the chopped mackerel in one layer in a separate bowl and sprinkle with salt on all sides.

Step 4. Brew regular loose leaf tea or pour boiling water over two bags. Let the tea brew for a while.

Step 5. Peel the onion and cut into thin half rings.

Step 6. To stew the mackerel, take a thick-bottomed pan or cauldron. Place half of the onion slices in it.

Step 7. Place some of the fish pieces on top of the onion and sprinkle with peppers.

Step 8. Then repeat the layers and part of the onion should be the top layer.

Step 9. Pour the mackerel with onions with vegetable oil and tea leaves.

Step 10. Bring the canned food to a boil over medium heat and then simmer over low heat for 2.5 hours. During stewing, do not open the lid and do not stir the fish, because these are important aspects of the technology.

Step 11. After this time, add bay leaf to the mackerel and after 10 minutes turn off the heat.

Step 12. Canned mackerel with vegetables is ready.

Step 13. After cooling completely under the closed lid, they can be served.

Step 14. For winter preparation, transfer the hot mackerel with onions into small jars, sterilize like regular preparations, seal hermetically and cool under the “Shuba”. You can store canned food in any dark and cool place. Delicious and successful preparations!