Skillet Halibut with Lime Butter
Fresh-caught white fish, browned butter, a squeeze of lime. Camp cooking for the day you catch something.
- calories
- 380
- weight
- 7 oz
- cal / oz
- 54
- protein
- 42 g
- serves
- 2, scales
- prep
- 5 min
- cook
- 6 min
- total time
- 11 min
- water
- none
- cost
- $$$
Calorie and protein figures are my own estimates, good enough for planning a food bag and not meant as precise nutrition data.
- Dinner
- Campfire coals
- Grill grate
- Car camping
- Basecamp
- Canoe / raft
- Gluten free
- Nut free
- One pot
- Grab and go
- Day one only
- Basic
Ingredients
| Halibut fillets | 2, about 6 oz each | skin off, cut down to 1/2 inch thick so they cook through fast |
|---|---|---|
| Butter | 2 tbsp | |
| Lime juice | 1 tbsp | one lime, or a small squeeze bottle |
| Salt and pepper | to taste |
Method
- Get the fire down to steady coals, or the grill to medium. You want even heat, not flames.
- Set a cast iron skillet on the grate and melt the butter. Let it go until it smells nutty and turns light brown, then stop.
- Salt and pepper both sides of the fillets and lay them in the pan.
- Cook 2 to 3 minutes a side. The fish is done when the center just turns opaque. Pull it early rather than late.
- Squeeze the lime over the fillets in the pan and serve straight out of it.
Fish is unforgiving on a fire because the window between raw and dry is about ninety seconds wide. Two things fix that. Cut the fillets to a half inch so heat gets to the center before the outside overcooks, and cook over coals rather than flame so the pan holds a steady temperature you can actually judge.
The butter is browned first, not added at the end. That gives you a fat already hot enough to sear the surface on contact, which keeps the fillet from sticking to cast iron and welding itself down. Lime goes in off-heat at the last second: acid on a hot pan cooks off, and the point of it is the raw brightness against the fat. This one stays in the cooler category on purpose. There is no shelf-stable version of fresh halibut worth eating.
Packing
This is a day-one meal or a same-day catch. Fish goes on the bottom of the cooler on ice, wrapped so it does not leak. Butter in a small sealed tub, lime whole, salt and pepper in a shaker.
Variations
- Salmon or any firm white fish works the same way. Adjust time for thickness.
- If you caught it yourself, the cheeks cook in about half the time and are worth saving.
- Serve over instant rice cooked in the same pan first, if you want carbs without a second pot.
https://campfirefoodie.com/perfect-grilled-halibut-recipe-for-camping