Planning my blog posts can be so random, and this week is no exception. Last week I accidentally blackened the braised chicken thighs I made. And I loved them! And that happy accident got me to thinking, what about an intentionally blackened dish? Classic Blackened Red Snapper sounds like a good way to try this technique. It promises to be easy and loaded with zing–in other words, right up my alley. I use my cast iron pan so much that I keep it ready and waiting on my stove these days. And since it’s ready to go, let’s get cooking!
Blackened fish is one of my favorite ways to enjoy seafood. I love coating fish in big, bold spices and cooking it until they are blackened. Served with a wedge of lemon for some added freshness and zing, it’s just fantastic! This blackened red snapper recipe will wow your weeknight as it’s so easy to make, but packed with flavor.
The Ingredients
Is anything more convenient than having all the ingredients for a recipe on hand? Well, that’s what happened for this blackened red snapper recipe. I lucked out and found a snapper fillet on sale for about $9 a while back and froze it. It’s been waiting for me to find a yummy way to serve it.
The rest of the ingredients were dry spices, cooking oil, and things I always have around like lemon and parsley. So there was shopping for this recipe at one time, but not this week. This week, all I have to do is thaw the vacuum-packed snapper and get cooking. Love it!
The Process
Talk about the perfect weeknight dinner! I had my blackened snapper ready before the dirty rice I served on the side. It only took 16 minutes from start to finish, and I’m glad I started the rice first. They were ready nearly at the same time.
Making this blackened snapper was even easier than I thought it would be. I just heated the oil in a large nonstick skillet while I prepped the spices. Then I poured them over the fish and rubbed them in a bit. BTW, I used all of the Cajun spice mixture since my snapper fillet was pretty large.
Once the oil was good and hot, all I had to do was sear the fish on both sides. The times listed in the recipe were spot-on, and I had a moist blackened snapper fillet in 9 minutes.
And snapper was such a good choice for this cooking method since it’s a firm fish that holds up well when turned. I used an extra-wide spatula, but you could also use 2 smaller spatulas if you’re reasonably coordinated. Just be careful not to splash any excess oil when you put the fillet back down. Ouch!
