How To Blacken Fish (Butter vs. Olive Oil Challenge)
- By: Luke Simonds
- on June 18, 2019
- Found In: Fish Recipes, Fishing Tips

Ali vs. Frazier…
Florida vs. Florida State…
Redfish vs. Snook…
There are many great rivalries in life, but when it comes to the kitchen, one rivalry rules them all…
Olive Oil vs. Butter
In this video, this rivalry takes it’s talents to the cast iron skillet, where we’re finally deciding whether you should use olive oil or butter to blacken fish.
Watch the video below for the decision.
How To Blacken Fish (BUTTER vs OLIVE OIL) [VIDEO]
Disclaimer: we are not responsible for any sudden urges for blackened fish caused by the viewing of this video.
If you want to order the Blackened Redfish Magic online, you can get it here on Amazon.
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Butter vs. Olive Oil
Although both tasted delicious, I give butter the slight edge here.
It came off of the cast iron skillet easier and helped the fish stay more intact.
However, if you have allergies, are watching your cholesterol, or prefer healthier fats, then using olive oil is a fine choice and tasted very similar to butter.
Conclusion
Which do you prefer?
Olive oil or butter?
Have any questions about blackening fish?
Let us know in the comments below!
And if you want to catch more fish so you can have delicious meals like this, join our Insider Club.
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STOP WASTING TIME ON THE WATER!
Do what the “SMART ANGLERS” are doing and join the Insider Club.
Here’s what you’ll receive today when you join:
- Weekly fishing reports and TRENDS revealing exactly where you should fish every trip
- Weekly “spot dissection” videos that walk you through all the best spots in your area
- Exclusive fishing tips from the PROS you can’t find anywhere else
- Everything you need to start catching fish more consistently (regardless if you fish out of a boat, kayak, or land).
I use butter in the pan and olive oil on the fish with the blackened seasoning. You forgot to mention that the pan has to be VERY hot. By the way, excellent choice in blackened seasoning brand.
Now I crave some blackened dolfin
The best way to sear or blacken anything is to use a 1/2 & 1/2 mixture of REAL butter & olive oil. The olive oil helps to keep the butter from burning & the butter taste is obviously better!????
Thanks for leaving the blackening fish tip Kim!
Hi, just a few thoughts. Dry your fillets on paper towels to remove all excess water. I use avocado or grape seed oil from Costco in the pan with some butter to a high temp, add spices, fresh lemon, etc. dry white wine? Add fish and cook to the down side is well blackened and flip. Olive oil is actually a fairly heavy flavor and covers fish taste vs other oils. Love both alternative oils, deep fry fantastic and cheaper than peanut oil, same high flashpoint. Also, love half shell cooked fish. Try half shell redfish on the grill spiced anyway you want, low cal, never any left over!!
Thanks for the fish blackening tips Douglas!
I’m sure you have tried it, but I cook all my blackened fish on the half shell. Im not sure why, it just seems to taste better to me
What is the name of your outdoor kitchen cast iron cooking disc?
Wrong place for this comment, but I’m hoping you have an answer, because there was no place to leave a comment on your most recent post about the “braid cutting pliers”. Please say it ain’t so, Joe. Saw your post about the split ring/braid cutting pliers at mid day on the first day of the post, and they are sold out. How can this be. Hope you get more in asap. Please keep me informed.
We are so sorry about those scissors being sold out… we did not expect so much demand for them. More have been ordered, so we should have them back in stock in about 4 weeks.
Note: We’ll send an email out once they are in.
I have settled in on a tablespoon of clarified butter and good olive oil together in a cast iron skillet for this type of frying. Clarifying the butter raises its’ smoke point and rids the butter on impurities. If I’m doing more of a powered fish fry I’ll use peanut oil, enough to float the fillets, again in a cast iron skillet.
I use a combination of Olive oil and free ranged butter melted into the 100% pure virgin cold rolled olive oil from Costco
Use Advacado oil it’s more tolerent to high temps , and healthy, great taste.
Thanks for the tip Paul!
I always use butter – unsalted. I have a cast iron skillet and an infared side burner that gets really hot. Love to blacken grouper, snapper and mahi!
Thanks for making time to leave the comment Todd!
Butter is best any day ????
Butter is def tough to beat.
The video is frozen I’ve tried multiple times
Please try again if you have not already done so. It’s a video hosted on YouTube, so my guess is that there must have been a temporary internet connection issue.
yes sir cast iron, that seasoning and butter is the only way my wife will fry it. you mention calories so is it possible the way she cooks is how i have gone from about 180 to 280 in only about 40 years. 🙂
Haha! My guess is that it has more to do with how much bigger the fish you’re catching now are vs. 40 years ago:)
sounds good so that’s my story and sticking to it 🙂 but to be honest there is a lot of truth there. before seeing your first video and finding salt strong i went home skunked a lot more than with my limit. i spoke to my son the other night and he has rebuilt my gheenoe so the middle seat is gone. now i will not have to crawl over it and he don’t use it any more. he said i can come get it. watch out ozello, looks like i can get back into the skinny water again. yes sir that is real light and i have a trailer it will fit on just right so happy happy.
Great video Luke
Thanks!
My son and wife don’t like it charred so I cook it at a lower temp with butter and oil in the skillet. Butter for flavor and oil because when I do the second batch the butter tends to burn. Comes out still red from the seasoning but still as tasty. And you can cook it inside and not set off the smoke detectors! Lol
Thanks for making time to leave the helpful comment Therese!
The type of butter is important. Personally, I always cook with unsalted butter because it doesn’t burn that quickly. Salted butter burns almost immediately, so it ruins the taste. A cast iron skillet should be white hot (not glowing) before adding the butter and fish.
You can also use a small self-igniting single burner stove, the kind that coast $25-$30 at Walmart and use butane bottles. I’ve also put my cast iron on a grill. Wish I could post photos.
Thanks for making time to add the helpful comment Brett! We’ll be sure to add a feature that allows members to upload pics in these comment feeds in our next system update.
So now I’m craving blackened redfish! Looks great.
Haha! Thanks Wally.
Man I love blackened fish! Thanks for the cooking tips! I would love to get the best recipe for awesome hush puppies to make the perfect meal! Salt Strong Rocks!
Good suggestion John! I’ll have to add that to my list of recipes to test out. Fish On!
The secret of good cooking…….Butter!!!
Haha! Sure seems like that’s a fact.
Thanks for the cook-off and love that skillet! For those who want to try clarified butter, you can find it at most stores as “ghee”. We use it for a number of things instead of butter. Especially noticeable on popcorn since it’s pure fat whereas butter has water content that can make popcorn soggy. That’s a free side tip. :^)
Thanks for posting the helpful side tip David!
Luke, you can cook for us anytime! Looks good, bro. Thanks!
Thanks Greg!
I always use butter. You might try zatarains blackened seasoning. I’ve had it on spect trout , red fish and rockfish really tasty. Also good on shrimp.
Thanks for making time to leave the helpful comment!
Butter for sure. I also brush one side first, season and put on the griddle. Then before I flip them I butter the other side , season then flip. That seasoning is the best by far.
Thanks for adding the helpful tip Dave!
I enjoyed the cooking show. Butter all the way for me then drizzle more butter and lemon at the end. For those that don’t have a outdoor kitchen just fire the grill up and put your cast iron skillet on the grill
Thanks for adding the helpful tip John!
Looks really taste’ , planning to give it try soon.
I hope you enjoy it as much as we do.
Nice comparison video Luke. You got exactly the results I would have expected; with the oiled fish sticking a bit and the buttered filets releasing. The “smoke point” of butter is ~100 degrees lower than olive oil – so the butter chars faster and releases quicker. At least that’s the way I understand it. I would also have expected that the taste would be not too much different at the low temps you used. Yes, I said “low” temps. If you had done the process at the higher temps used in the blackening process as Paul Prudhomme invented it I fear the oiled fish would have suffered taste-wise, but it would probably have released a little better.
I had the good fortune to live in the NOLA area when Paul had just opened his restaurant and I learned the technique from him. He used a dry unseasoned iron skillet, which he heated until it began to start turning white and when he dropped the buttered fish there would be flames! He always used relatively thin fillets of around 1/2″ thickness and the cooking time on each side was very fast; two minutes per side or less. The beauty of Paul’s process was that the intense heat seared the fish instantly and it always came out wonderfully moist and tender inside even though it was charred outside. There’s a pretty accurate recipe and description of his process at https://www.nola.com/food/2015/10/blackened_redfish_recipe.html
LOVE that massive iron griddle! Your outdoor kitchen must be the envy of anyone who sees it.
Thanks so much for making time to leave the awesome tips Hal! I’ll be sure to zap them with more heat next time.
That’s how I’ve always blackened fish (I’ve always used a cast iron skillet on a fish cooker and almost feel like need to have the fire department on standby with the heat and flash when the buttered fish go on). A lot of smoke and flames.
I’ve used a lot of different blackening type seasonings. The Prudhomme seasoning is the original and by far the best for my taste buds.
Luke, I was trying to see what the source of heat was for your skillet is. Is it a grill or a “fish cooker” or something else? (I’ve recently bought a Blackstone (haven’t put it together yet – likely this weekend). I’m wondering if it generates the heat to cook blackened fish the old school way (mega heat). Will find out soon.
Love the fact that we’ve branched out from how to catch fish to how to prep them to eat. This site has something for everyone. Thanks!
Really enjoyed ‘the lesson’ and the delicious dinner with your beautiful family.
A class ACT!
Happy Fishing.
Thanks for making time to leave the nice comment!
For me clarified sweet cream butter adds that perfect flavor, texture and bronzing to any black-
end entree especially fish,shrimp and scallops.
Thanks for adding the tip John!
Nice.
Butter for the win, and I hate to throw a wrench in the works, but you gotta try Clarified Butter. With Clarified Butter you get a butter fat with complex flavors that can take temperatures up to 500 degrees. Great for searing meat.
That Paul Prudhomme is awesome. Zatarains is OK, but Chef Paul’s is an amazing combo.of spices.
Thanks for the tip Bill! I’ll be sure to give that a shot.
Great video Luke, never tried Olive Oil but I use unsalted butter when blackening.
Thanks Bill! The Olive Oil batch definitely turned out better than I was expecting.
That skillet!!! :O
That skillet sure makes blackening fish in big quantities much easier:)
WHERE MIGHT ONE FIND A SKILLET THAT SIZE??
THANKS