Instant Pot Fish Fillets

I will be the first to tell you I’m not a fan of fish. I love shellfish and sushi, but when it comes to fish fillets they were just never my thing (my beer battered fish & chips are an exception). But since the Instant Pot plays the role of a steam oven very well, I figured I needed to expand my horizons to see if I could make some mild fillets so melt-in-your-mouth delicious, I’d be able to tolerate it. It worked. Folks, this crazy simple and fast only takes TWO ingredients: fish fillets and marinade of your choice. Nothing fishy about this one! Serve with some rice pilaf.

Watch The Video!

Instant Pot Fish Fillets

Prepping The Fish

Adding water to Instant Pot
Add some water to your Instant Pot.
Adding trivet to pot
Lay in the trivet or a silicone sling.
Resting parchment round on trivet
Top the trivet or sling with a parchment round.
Fish fillets
Take some boneless, skinless fish fillets of your choice (see Jeff’s Tips in the recipe card below)…
Adding fish fillet to parchment round on trivet in Instant Pot
…and place a fillet on the parchment round on the trivet/sling.
Brushing marinade on fillet
Generously brush a marinade of your choice on the fillet.
Adding second fillet on top of first fillet in crisscross fashion
From there, add another fillet in a crisscross fashion…
Brushing more marinade on top and repeating the process so marinated fish fillets are stacked int a crisscross fashion.
…and repeat the process so you get a stack of crisscrossed, marinated fillets!

Pressure Cooking

Pressure cooking fish
If using the sling, close the handles. Secure the lid and pressure cook the fish fillets.

The Finishing Touches

Cooked fish
When done, you’re going to have very tender, juicy and delicate fish fillets!
Cooked fish on plate
Carefully transfer the fillets to a plate (they may break apart a bit since they’ll be so tender and flaky)…
Brushing more marinade on cooked fish fillets on plate
…and brush on more marinade to your heart’s content.
Finished fillets
Yummmmmmm. (Side Note: Since I’m not a huge fish lover, I personally like adding enough marinade to balance out the flavor of the fish itself).

The Taste Test

Inside of fillet to show it's perfectly cooked
You’ll easily be able to cut into the fillet with a fork as if it were softened butter. Look at how perfectly that cooked!
Man trying fish
Now for the moment of truth.
Man happy with fish
Okay! Okay! It’s really good (and healthy) – these fish fillets are like a fish stick without the breading! Goes great with my rice pilaf. Check out my beer battered fish & chips for an out-of-this-world fried treat!
Yield: 4-6

Instant Pot Fish Fillets

Instant Pot Fish Fillets

I will be the first to tell you I'm not a fan of fish. I love shellfish and sushi, but when it comes to fish fillets they were just never my thing. But since the Instant Pot plays the role of a steam oven very well, I figured I needed to expand my horizons to see if I could make some mild fillets so melt-in-your-mouth delicious, I'd be able to tolerate it. It worked. Folks, this crazy simple and fast only takes TWO ingredients: a fish fillet and marinade of your choice. Nothing fishy about this one! Serve with some rice pilaf.

Prep Time 5 minutes
Cook Time 5 minutes
Total Time 10 minutes

Ingredients

  • 4-6 boneless, skinless fish fillets of your choice, 1/4-1/2 inch thick and fully thawed if frozen (see Jeff's Tips)
  • Marinade of your choice (see Jeff's Tips)

Instructions

  1. Add 1 1/2 cups water to the Instant Pot followed by the trivet (or silicone sling). Place a parchment round on the trivet or sling and lay in a fillet. Generously brush the fillet with the marinade. Stack the next fillet on top in a crisscross fashion and repeat the process until all fillets are stacked and marinated.
  2. Secure the lid, move the valve to the sealing position and hi Pressure Cook or Manual at High Pressure for 5 minutes (see Jeff's Tips). Quick release when done.
  3. Carefully remove the trivet or sling with the fillets and transfer to a plate (they will be very delicate). Brush on more marinade before serving with some rice pilaf.

Jeffrey's Tips

For store-bought marinades, the sky's the limit as you'll find tons of options in your market. Some suggestions are teriyaki, lemon pepper, herb & garlic, sesame ginger or Italian.

For the fish fillets, I suggest flounder, tilapia, mahi mahi, salmon, cod, or haddock. Just make sure the skin is off and the fillets are thawed and between 1/4-1/2-inch thick so they fully cook properly. If, after pressure cooking, you find the fish is a bit underdone pressure cook for another 1-2 minutes.

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Martha

    Maybe you never liked fillet cause it was frozen. We only eat fresh in season. If you come to the SF Bay Area my wife n I would be happy to grill you fresh!!!
    I guess if we were land locked frozen would be our only choice!!!
    Thanks for all you cook and share and share with the IP!!!
    m

  2. Candy

    We have loved your chili, pot, roast, pasta dishes, and so many others. We cannot wait to try this new recipe! Thank you for continuing to introduce new ones Jeff so we too can cook a variety of dishes for our families‼️♥️

  3. Ken Wald

    I make tilapia filets in the Instapot. No matter what I do, the fish sticks to the metal trivet when it cooks. Does your method avoid this problem?

    • Jeffrey

      The parchment rounds are important for this reason. You can also place them in between each layer of fish so they don’t stick to each other when stacking before pressure cooking.

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