Do you have a love for healthy seafood? If so, you’ve likely eaten mahi mahi. If you’re new to this type of fish, let today be the day for trying something new – welcome to your first baked mahi mahi recipe. Let me start by giving you a few of basics about this healthy fish.
What is mahi mahi?
Mahi mahi is a fish found from the Pacific coast to the Caribbean to the Atlantic. You may also hear this fish referred to as dorado or dolphin fish. Mahi mahi has a firm flesh with a mild white fish flavor. The firmness of this flaky fish allows it to hold up well using any cooking method. You can bake, pan sear, or grill this fish. It also holds flavor well, so you can season or marinade it any way you’d like. The firm texture and mild flavor of this delicious fish can be prepared in multiple ways, leading to limitless recipe creations. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration offers more information about both Pacific and Atlantic mahi mahi.
Sustainability
According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, mahi mahi is not being overfished, so the population of this fish is stable and sustainable. Mahi mahi are highly reproducible fish – they reproduce and replenish their populations naturally. Sustainable fishery management is the process of using science to determine appropriate limits for catching some fish while leaving others to reproduce and replace them in the future. It’s important to us here at Live Each Day to support companies who use and support sustainable fishing practices.
Where to Buy Mahi Mahi
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It’s often difficult to find mahi mahi in local grocery stores, so I searched for online sources to purchase this wild caught fish and found a couple of great options. Sizzlefish offers a box of 12 – 6 ounce portions of mahi mahi for a very reasonable price. You can receive 10-15% off your first order by signing up to their e-mail communication. I love finding companies who have solid values and put their customers’ needs at the center of their business. Sizzlefish has a mission to help their people eat well and live better by eating more healthy seafood. Like us here at Live Each Day, Sizzlefish cares about sustainability and responsible sourcing of their seafood. Most of their fish is wild caught, with only a few types being farm-raised. Check it out by clicking below.
Another great option for purchasing wild caught mahi mahi online is through Crowd Cow. Yes, that’s right Crowd Cow! This online meat and seafood delivery service not only sells high quality grass fed organic beef, but also wild caught seafood. I tried a mixed box of their products and received both salmon and mahi mahi in the delivery. The mahi mahi from Crowd Cow comes from the seas of Iceland. As a Crowd Cow member, you can purchase 2 – 6 ounce mahi mahi fillets for less than $15.00! Or you can consider a subscription service to receive monthly deliveries of all your favorite meat and seafood. Now’s the perfect time to become a Crowd Cow member! New Members Get $100 of Free Meat + Free Shipping. Hurry up, offer ends soon! Check it out by clicking below.
Nutrition
For a 6-ounce portion of mahi mahi, you can pack some nutritional punch with this low calorie, lean protein. One 6-ounce portion provides only 140 calories and 1 gram of fat, while serving up a healthy dose of protein at 32 grams, along with 20% of your daily requirement for potassium. Mahi mahi also provides B12 and potassium to your daily diet. Given the versatility, sustainability and health benefits of mahi mahi, it’s the ideal healthy seafood to place on your weekly dinner rotation.
What to Serve with Mahi Mahi
This healthy baked mahi mahi recipe is a delightful light dinner to make any weeknight feel special. Serve with our Mango Salsa Recipe, some brown rice or cauliflower rice, and a green vegetable such as roasted broccoli, steamed green beans, or a green salad and voila – you have a healthy dinner the whole family will love!
Baked Mahi Mahi Recipe with White Balsamic Reduction
Ingredients:
- 2 portions of fresh Mahi Mahi fish fillets – 6 ounces each
- Few sprays of extra virgin olive oil
- Lime juice, from half a lime
- Lime zest
- 1/8 tsp coriander
- Pinch of sea salt
- Few twists of fresh ground black pepper
- Dusting of cayenne pepper
- ½ cup white peach balsamic vinegar reduced to a glaze (see notes below)
- Fresh cilantro
For the Mango Salsa:
- 1 mango, peeled and diced
- 1 red pepper, diced
- 2 tbsp red onion, diced very small
- ¼ cup chopped cilantro
- ½ lime juiced
- Pinch of sea salt
Directions:
Prepare the fish:
Pat the mahi mahi fillets dry with paper towels to remove any excess moisture.
Spray a few sprays of olive oil on both sides and rub on the fish.
Squeeze the juice from half a lime onto the fish.
Season both sides of the fish with the lime zest, coriander, sea salt, fresh black pepper and a dusting of cayenne pepper.
Place the seasoned mahi mahi in a glass baking dish or a prepared baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
Spoon one tablespoon of the balsamic reduction (directions below) on each mahi mahi fillet before baking. Reserve the other 2 tablespoons to drizzle on top of the baked fish fillets when plating.
Bake the fish at 350 degrees for approximately 15 minutes. Cook times depend on the thickness of the fillets so double check the fish around 10-12 minutes. A great rule of thumb is to cook fish for 10 minutes per inch of thickness. My mahi mahi fillets were approximately 1.5 inches thick.
When done, the fish will be opaque and flake easily with a fork. Cook to an internal temperature of 137 degrees.
Prepare the balsamic reduction glaze:
I used a white peach balsamic vinegar from F. Oliver’s. You can use any white balsamic for this recipe. The reduction technique is the same. If you only have plain white balsamic vinegar at home, add 1 teaspoon of honey to the vinegar before you reduce it.
In a small saucepan, reduce ½ cup white peach balsamic vinegar (or plain white balsamic vinegar plus 1 teaspoon of honey) for approximately 8-10 minutes until reduced to ¼ cup (4 tbsp). You cannot let it reduce for too long or you will have rock-hard candy as opposed to a balsamic reduction glaze.
Prepare the mango salsa:
Peel and dice the mango. Chop the red pepper, red onion and fresh cilantro. Combine in a bowl and add the lime juice and sea salt. Mix together and refrigerate until ready to use.
Plate it up:
Place the baked mahi mahi on a serving plate, drizzle with the remaining balsamic glaze, sprinkle the fresh cilantro on top of the fillets, and top with the fresh mango salsa.
If you love mango salsa, may we also suggest our Smoky Sweet Southwest Pork Tenderloin with Mango Salsa.
Baked Mahi Mahi Recipe with White Balsamic Reduction
Ingredients
- 2 Mahi Mahi fish fillets 6 ounces each
- 1/2 tsp extra virgin olive oil
- 1/2 lime juiced
- lime zest
- 1/8 tsp coriander
- 1/8 tsp sea salt
- fresh cracked pepper
For the White Balsamic Reduction
- 1/2 cup white balsamic vinegar I used a specialty peach white balsamic vinegar from F. Oliver's. I recommend a high quality white balsamic vinegar.
- 1 tsp honey optional to sweeten the reduction if using plain white balsamic vinegar.
For the Mango Salsa
- 1 mango peeled and diced
- 1 red pepper chopped
- 2 tbsp red onion chopped
- 1/2 lime juiced
- 1/4 cup fresh cilantro chopped
- pinch of sea salt
Instructions
For the mahi mahi fish:
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
- Pat the mahi mahi fillets dry with paper towels to remove any excess moisture.
- Spray a few sprays of olive oil on both sides and rub on the fish.
- Squeeze the juice from half a lime onto the fish.
- Season both sides of the fish with the lime zest, coriander, sea salt, fresh black pepper and a dusting of cayenne pepper.
- Place the seasoned mahi mahi in a glass baking dish or a prepared baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
- Before baking, make the balsamic reduction glaze (see below).
- Spoon one tablespoon on each mahi mahi fillet before baking. Reserve the other 2 tablespoons to drizzle on top of the baked fish fillets when plating.
- Bake at 350 degrees for approximately 15 minutes. Cook times depend on the thickness of the fillets so double check the fish around 10-12 minutes. A great rule of thumb is to cook fish for 10 minutes per inch of thickness. My mahi mahi fillets were approximately 1.5 inches thick. When it's done, the fish will be opaque and flake easily with a fork. Cook to an internal temperature of 137 degrees.
- Place mahi mahi on a serving plate, drizzle with the remaining balsamic glaze, sprinkle the fresh cilantro on top of the fillets, and top with the fresh mango salsa.
For the white balsamic reduction:
- In a small saucepan, reduce ½ cup peach white balsamic vinegar for approximately 8-10 minutes until reduced to ¼ cup (4 tbsp). You cannot let it reduce for too long or you will have rock-hard candy as opposed to a balsamic reduction glaze. Timing is important here - do NOT try to multi-task at this step or sadly you will have something that resembles a jolly rancher! (The only way I would know this is if I got busy multi-tasking and I made this mistake 🙂 )
- Only use the 1 tsp of honey if you have a plain white balsamic vinegar and want to sweeten it more. I highly recommend only using a high quality white balsamic vinegar for this reduction/glaze.
For the mango salsa:
- Peel and dice mango.
- Chop red pepper, red onion and fresh cilantro.
- Combine with juice of half a lime and a pinch of sea salt.
- Stir, cover and refrigerate until ready to serve.
This Post Has 2 Comments
I bet a fish like halibut would be good with this dish too. Halibut has a light flavor that I think would go well with the white balsamic and mango salad, just like the mahi mahi does. Halibut is also pretty healthy, too, from what I read here https://qualityseafooddelivery.com/2021/01/15/halibut-healthy/.
Yes Karrie, I love halibut too!