The Best Blackened Seafood Recipes

Check out our favorite Cajun blackened seafood recipes with the blackening technique by Chef Paul Prudhomme.

Learn how to blacken fish including mahi mahi, yellowtail, swordfish, tuna, and snapper. Shrimp tastes great blackened and learn how to blacken just about anything including salsa!

Blackened swordfish with salad and lemon slices.

This post will guide you through a collection of tried-and-true recipes featuring blackened seasoning.

The best blackened seafood recipes are homemade Cajun blackened seasoning, blackened tuna, seared and blackened yellowfin tuna, blackened baked snapper with key lime butter, Cajun blackened shrimp, Louisiana Cajun broiled fish fillets, blackened grilled grouper collars, blackened fish tacos, oven-roasted mahi mahi, and blackened mangrove snapper.

Jump to:

What is Blackened Seafood?

The blackening technique, renowned for its spicy kick and rich flavors, adds heat and great flavor to fish and shrimp.

Season seafood or meat with a bold mix of herbs and spices, then sear it in a hot cast-iron skillet for a charred crust and juicy center.

A Brief History of Louisiana Cooking

Louisiana's culinary scene is distinguished by two main traditions: Cajun and Creole, each shaped by the state's unique geographical and cultural landscape.

With many similarities, the two are distinct.

Louisiana has a unique geographic and cultural landscape that has significantly influenced its food traditions. Acadians, French settlers, were forcibly relocated from Canada's Nova Scotia in the mid-18th century to southwest Louisiana.

The settlers adapted to the swampy wetlands, and the bayou, rich in resources, especially fish and shellfish. Staples in the Cajun diet, such as catfish, crawfish, shrimp, alligator, and oysters from the Mississippi River, form the basis for iconic dishes including gumbo, étouffée, and jambalaya.

Creole cuisine, on the other hand, emerged in the urban setting of New Orleans, a melting pot of cultures due to its status as a major port in the 1800s.

What's the Difference between Cajun and Creole Cooking?

In a PBS interview, in 1984, Chef Paul Prudhomme described the difference between Cajun and Creole cooking.

Creole food is a thing of its own. Creole food is, they copied so many different cultures. There were 7 different flags over New Orleans. All of the people who came and went to the city of New Orleans left people behind and a lot of them obtained a lot of wealth.

They had people work in their homes and the people would work for a French family or an Italian family, or Yugoslavian family.

They had to cook for those people the way they taste but when they had to work for the next family they had to learn something there and they started combining those things and over a 200-year period they created a whole new kind of cooking.

Cajun food is old French cooking with Louisiana products. It’s 400-year-old French cooking. The brown Roux is something that was an Italian cooking 12 or 1500 years ago that the French used for 3 or 400 years, and they sort of dropped out of their cooking. But it’s still in ours because we have that heritage.
Louisiana Legends” from January 30, 1984, interview with Paul Prudhomme

Mahi filets with blackend seasoning, lemons, and butter.

What is Blackened Seasoning?

Cajun seasoning, also called Blackened Seasoning, was a creation of Paul Prudhomme at his restaurant, K-Paul's Louisiana Kitchen.

Made with a blend of salt, several different kinds of pepper, cayenne, thyme, oregano, and paprika, it is a blend of spices influenced by Cajun and Creole cooking.

Cajun seasoning and blackened seasoning are used interchangeably by cooks around the world. While some say Cajun is spicier than creole, the spice mix has influences from both types of cooking.

How to Blacken Fish in a Skillet

Mix up the seasoning blend of ground paprika, cayenne pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, salt, black pepper, cayenne pepper, dried thyme, and oregano.
Make sure you pat the fish dry with a paper towel.
Turn on your stove ventilation.
Lightly coat each fish fillet or piece of shellfish in melted butter or olive oil.
Heat 2 tablespoons of butter or oil in a heavy-bottomed stainless steel or cast iron skillet.
Place the fish in the hot fat over medium-high heat and cook until cooked through. A thin piece of fish and shrimp will cook in 5 minutes or less. A thicker fish fillet, like swordfish, will cook in about 15 minutes.

Top Tips For Blackened Fish

Find a great fish market to purchase fish.
Avoid overcooking the fish, as it can become dry.
Cooking your seafood in butter will make it blacker, but it might create smoke in your kitchen. Make sure your kitchen is well-ventilated. You can also use olive oil or a mixture of oil and butter instead of only butter.
Fresh fish: thin pieces of fish (yellowtail snapper, hogfish, mango snapper, for example) can be overwhelmed if seasoned too heavily.
Double the cayenne pepper in this recipe if you like spicy food. The recipe, as written, has a little kick to it, but it's mild.

Blackened Fish Seasoning Recipe

Examining the ingredients of this seasoning closely reveals the diverse heritage embedded in Louisiana culinary traditions.

Paprika, a key ingredient in Spain's iconic paella, adds a sweet, smoky depth to the blend.
Thyme and oregano are herbs used in French cooking, and signify the French foundation of Cajun food.
Cayenne pepper, a staple in African cooking, introduces a fiery heat, highlighting the significant impact of African culinary traditions on the American South.
Garlic, onion, salt, and pepper are universal seasonings.

Get The Recipe!

Blackened Swordfish

This blackened swordfish recipe brings out the big flavors of Cajun seasoning while keeping the fish moist and tender inside. It's the perfect dish for a quick weeknight dinner or a special occasion.

Get The Recipe!

Seared and Blackened Yellowfin Tuna

Blackened Tuna, either Yellowfin or Ahi Tuna, is seasoned with a coating of blackened seasoning. This recipe makes a great appetizer or main course. It can be served with rice or green salad.

The key to searing tuna is to sear the fish no more than 30 seconds per side. Place the fish in the refrigerator after searing to firm it up before slicing.

Get The Recipe!

Blackened Baked Snapper with Key Lime Butter

Traditionally, blackened fish is made in a hot cast-iron skillet. You can also cook the fish in the oven. Follow this easy recipe to create blackened fish fillets with a key lime butter sauce.

Roasted Snapper with ley lime butter sauce.

Get The Recipe!

Cajun Blackened Shrimp Recipe

Cajun Blackened Shrimp with Brown Butter Sauce combines spicy shrimp with a rich, nutty butter sauce. This dish perfectly balances the heat of the blackening seasoning with the smooth, luxurious taste of browned butter.

Get The Recipe!

Louisiana Cajun Broiled Fish Fillets

Broiling fish is a healthy way to cook as it uses minimal oil, preserving the fish's nutrients and giving it a flavorful, crispy cBroiling fish is a healthy, low-oil cooking method that preserves nutrients while creating a flavorful, crispy crust. It's quick, easy, and perfect for a tasty weeknight meal.

Get The Recipe!

Blackened Grilled Grouper Collar

While a grouper collar isn't something you'll find in grocery stores, when you find yourself on a fishing boat, you might want to claim the collar before someone else does. The collar is the area behind the head and around the clavicle. The flesh is sweet and tender.

This recipe is easy to follow and makes an easy meal for unwinding after a long day of fishing.

Grouper grouper collar with rice and beans.

Get The Recipe!

Blackened Fish Tacos

Blackened Fish Tacos made with seasoned, spicy fish enveloped in soft tortillas, are topped with mango slaw and creamy cilantro lime sauce. The sweet mango slaw and creamy sauce perfectly contrast the spicy blackened fish.

Red Snapper tacos with cilantro lime cream and cabbage.

Get The Recipe!

Oven Roasted Mahi Mahi

Our recipe for oven-roasted Mahi is simple. Coat the fresh fish with seasoning and bake at 375 °F (191 °C) for 15 to 20 minutes until thoroughly cooked. The fish is moist and flavorful with a seasoned crust, perfect for a simple yet delicious meal.

This recipe gives directions for both Old Bay seasoning, an East Coast favorite, and Cajun Blackened seasoning. The cooking method is the same for both.

Get The Recipe!

Blackened Mangrove Snapper

This recipe features Seared Mangrove Snapper, a local KeyWest fish, seasoned with blackened seasoning and seared in a hot pan. It is accompanied by a refreshing Mango Coleslaw made with cabbage, carrots, mango, lime juice, and a little honey.

Get The Recipe!

What Goes with Blackened Fish?

A simple side dish for blackened fish would be steamed rice or roasted veggies.

Try some of our delicious side dishes to serve with these blackened seafood recipes.

Can You Make Blackened Salsa?

Peach mango salsa with blackened seasoning in a bowl.

For this Peach Mango Salsa, I added a tablespoon of blackened seasoning to the bowl...it tastes great!

Here are some more of our favorite sides for blackened fish and shrimp:

This Dirty Rice Recipe is a classic Cajun side dish loaded with flavor!

Make dirty rice by sautéing chopped liver and ground meat with the Holy Trinity of Cajun cooking—onion, celery, and bell pepper—then season with cayenne, garlic, and spices. Stir in cooked rice, allowing it to absorb the rich, flavorful mixture.

Suggested Sides:

Takeaway

Learn to make the best blackened fish recipes for lunch or dinner any day of the week.

Featuring easy-to-follow recipes for blackened fish and shrimp from the warm waters of the Florida Keys, our recipes are simple and loaded with flavor!

Blackening is a method of coating seafood in a rich blend of spices and searing it in a hot pan, creating a crispy crust on various types of food.

Combining spices from Cajun and Creole foods, the late Chef Paul Prudhomme created blackened seasoning at his restaurant, K-Paul's Louisiana Kitchen.

Blackened seasoning, a key element in Cajun cuisine—a rich fusion influenced by Acadians, French, Caribbean immigrants, and Native Americans—creates a memorable crust when applied to seafood and cooked at high heat.

Serve the blackened seafood with lemon wedges and your favorite sides.

Check out all of Healthy Seafood Recipes from the Florida Keys!

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the best fish to blacken?

You can blacken any fish. Use the freshest locally caught fish you can get. In Florida, we have snapper, mahi, hogfish, grouper, snook, and flounder, to name a few. Wild-caught fish, from a local source, as opposed to farm-raised fish, is always a better choice.

Is blackened food spicy?

Blackened food is typically spicy due to the blend of spices used in the blackening seasoning. The level of heat can be controlled by adding more or less cayenne pepper.

What type of seafood can be blackened?

Any firm-fleshed fish can work, Chef Prudhomme popularized redfish, native to the Gulf of Mexico. Try Mahi-mahi, swordfish, catfish, cod, snapper, halibut, shrimp and scallops.

Does blackened spice work with meat?

Yes, blackened spice is great for meat too! The spicy seasoning blend creates a crispy crust and adds a deep flavor to chicken, beef, and pork when seared over high heat.