You’ll enjoy this simple, delicious recipe for panko crusted rockfish! Fish fillets are seasoned, coated with crispy panko crumbs, and pan-seared until done.
Have you ever eaten rockfish before? It is a mild flavored, medium firm fish that my husband and I started buying over the past couple years. The first time my husband bought some fillets at the grocery store, and brought them home, I wasn’t sure WHAT to do with it, since I’d never tasted it before!
Long story short, I wound up creating a recipe we loved, and have been buying and using rockfish fillets in recipes ever since! We’ve enjoyed Cornmeal Spice-Crusted Rockfish, and Pan-Seared Rockfish with Fresh Herbs, to name a couple!
Scroll Down for A Printable Recipe Card At the Bottom Of The Page
How I Came Up With This Simple Recipe
I came up with this super simple recipe for panko crusted rockfish one evening when my husband was invited out for dinner with a friend at the last minute. I had some rockfish already thawed, so I decided to cook a nice meal just for me! Sure beats cold cereal or a peanut butter and jelly sandwich!
The idea of panko coating to make the fish nice and crispy on the outside sounded good. I made a simple seasoning mix to season the fish with, and boom! A delicious seafood dinner was enjoyed by ME. Here’s how easy this seafood dish is to make!
Make The Seasoning For The Fish
In a small bowl, combine the spices used to season the rockfish. These spices are garlic powder, onion powder, salt and pepper, Italian seasoning, paprika and dried parsley. EASY!
Prepare The Rockfish Fillets
Pat the rockfish fillets dry, using paper towels. Sprinkle one side of the fish with the seasoning mix, dividing it equally between the two pieces.
Place the panko crumbs onto a dinner sized plate and spread them out. Place fish, one fillet at a time, onto the panko crumbs. Press down, to cover the bottom with the crumbs. Turn the fillet over and coat the other side with crumbs, as well.
Pat them firmly into the fish with your hands to make the crumbs adhere to the surface as much as possible. Set the fillet aside and repeat with other piece, keeping at it until you get as much of the fillet covered with panko crumbs, as possible.
Pan-Sear The Panko Crusted Rockfish
Heat oil in a large skillet on medium heat until very hot, but not smoking. Carefully place the fish into the hot oil, SEASONED SIDE DOWN. You should hear it sizzle when the fish goes into the skillet. Do not move the fish after it hits the skillet.
Cook for approximately 4 minutes, until you see the outside bottom edges of the panko crusted rockfish browning and getting crusty. Carefully turn each fillet to the other side, using a spatula. Cook the second side for about 4 minutes, until fish is cooked through and flakes easily.
Time To EAT!
Transfer the finished fish to serving plates, and dig in! I served the panko crusted rockfish with Quick Broccoli in Vinaigrette and a Wild Rice Salad (with pumpkin vinaigrette) on the side. It was a very satisfying and delicious meal!
See how flaky the rockfish is inside? It sure tastes good, too. Trust me, this was SUCH a simple dish to prepare, in under 20 minutes from start to finish!
Hope you enjoy this recipe for crispy panko crusted rockfish! I sure did. Be sure and check out the Recipe Index, located at the top of the page for a look at ALL of my Seafood recipes! Have a wonderful day.
Looking for More ROCKFISH Recipes?
You can find ALL my recipes in the Recipe Index, located at the top of the page. I have some other rockfish recipes you might want to check out, including:
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You'll enjoy this simple, delicious recipe for panko crusted rockfish! Fish fillets are seasoned, coated with crispy panko crumbs, and pan-seared.
- ¼ teaspoon garlic powder
- ¼ teaspoon onion powder
- ¼ teaspoon dried parsley
- ⅛ teaspoon salt
- ⅛ teaspoon black pepper
- ⅛ teaspoon Italian seasoning
- ⅛ teaspoon paprika
- 2 rockfish fillets (approx. 4-5 ounces each)
- 1 cup Panko bread crumbs (must use panko crumbs for crunchiest crust!)
- 1½ Tablespoons olive oil (or oil of your choice)
In a small bowl, combine the garlic powder, onion powder, salt, pepper, Italian seasoning, paprika and dried parsley. Pat the rockfish fillets dry, using paper towels. Sprinkle one side of the fish with the seasoning mix, dividing it equally between both pieces of fish.
Place panko crumbs onto a dinner sized plate and spread them out. Place fish, one fillet at a time, onto the panko crumbs. Press down, to cover the bottom with the crumbs. Turn the fillet over and coat the other side with crumbs, as well. Pat them into the fish with your hands to make the crumbs adhere to the surface as much as possible. Set fish aside and repeat with other fillet.
Heat oil in a large skillet on medium heat until very hot, but not smoking. Carefully place fish into the hot oil, SEASONED SIDE DOWN. You should hear it sizzle when it goes into the skillet. Do not move the fish after it hits the skillet. Cook for approximately 4 minutes, until you see the outside bottom edges of the rockfish browning. Once well browned and crusty, carefully turn each fillet to the other side, using a spatula. Cook the second side for about 4 minutes, until fish is cooked through and flakes easily. Transfer the fish to serving plate once done, and enjoy!
Here’s one more to pin on your Pinterest boards!
I’ve been using your recipe since I discovered rockfish. It is so easy and simple and I love the recommendation of one of your commenters about adding smoked paprika. I’ve also use powdered Chipotle for a little bit of southern flavour. Delicious!
Glad you enjoy this simple recipe, Deborah! Chipotle powder would be delicious on the rockfish… yum! Thanks for writing, and have a GREAT day!
great way to season the rockfish… but I think the salt and pepper measurements need to be regarded for accuracy. 1/8 plus an 1/8 is 1/4. So if you want us to add a 1/4 of each that would equal 1/2 tsp.
Thanks for your note, Annette! I updated the ingredient list to place salt and pepper as individual ingredients on their own line of the printable recipe card. The measurement for each is 1/8 teaspoon. Thanks for the catch… and have a great day.
Your dish looked grea
Thank you, Linda! We sure do enjoy it!
Substitute smoked paprika instead of regular & it’s extra delicious 😁
Awesome. Thanks for a great tip, Joe. Have a good day.
Please add me to your news letter
Hi, Linda… I have manually added you to the newsletter subscriber list. The next one comes out on the 15th, and you should receive it via e-mail! Thanks.