Flaky, flavorful, halibut, crusted with candied pistachios, and served on a bed of sautéed greens for a healthy, easy, and quick meal time solution.
My kids are the center of my world, and I really love them. But there is just something so nice about having all of them gone from time to time. It does not happen often, but earlier this week I had a day where my oldest 3 were in school, and my youngest was napping. I had a few hours to myself. Now I really wish I could have spent that time reading a silly romance novel, or taking a bubble bath. But really, like most moms I spent my time playing catch up.
But I did do one thing for me. THIS! I made a totally indulgent and heavenly lunch. And ate it by myself. And want to know the best part? This fantastic lunch literally took less than 15-20 minutes to make, leaving me plenty of time to do some dishes, laundry, return emails, and all those other things we do.
One of the reasons this was such an amazing lunch, and so quick to make is that I used tons of shortcuts to make it eazy peazy! For example, I used a “just add water” pancake mix to make the nuts stick to the fish filet. And I used already candied nuts. I used Santé Nuts Candied Pistachios. They are seriously amazing, with the perfect flavor to compliment this fish. (And are pretty awesome for snacking too).
Santé Nuts are pretty cool because they are a family run business (Which I just love (See here and here)), they are roasted in small batches so they get that handcrafted product goodness. When you open a bag you will notice hardly any broken nuts. So that is great for snacking, but for this fish you are going to break them up!
So should we just get to the recipe already? I think so too…
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Pistachio Crusted Halibut
Equipment
Ingredients
- 2 Filets of Halibut about 3/4-1 inch thick
- 3/4 cup Santé Nuts Candied Pistachios
- 1/2-1 cup Pancake mix already mixed with water so it is a wet batter
- Kosher salt and black pepper to taste
- 1-2 Tbs Oil for searing
Sauce
- 1/3 cup Sour cream
- 2 Tbs Parmesan cheese
- 1 tsp Garlic powder
- 1/2 tsp Paprika
- 1 Tbs Cream
Sauteed Greens
- 2 Large leaves Swiss Chard cut into strips, center removed
- 1 Tbs Olive oil optional, there may be enough oil left from searing your fish
- 1/2 Tbs Garlic minced
- 1/3 cup Crushed Sante Candied Pistachios divided
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350
- Pat your halibut filet dry, season with a little salt and pepper, then dip one side in a prepared pancake batter
- Use a blender, food processor, or nut chopper to chop Santé Nuts Candied Pistachios into small pieces (but not to a flour/dust)
- Put nuts on a plate or cutting board, and press the pancake batter dipped side of the fish into the nuts so they stick
- Heat a sautee pan with oil until the oil is hot, but not smoking
- Put fish, nut side down into hot pan and let sear for 3-4 minutes (do not move it, you want a nice crust to form)
- Remove from saute pan, and put on baking sheet, finish fish in the oven by baking at 350 for 8-10 minutes
- While fish is cooking in oven, saute your greens in the oil with the minced garlic, and after about 2 minutes sprinkle in pistachios. Then put on plate.
- Mix togehter the sauce ingredients in a bowl or plastic bag, if in a bag, cut the tip after mixing to make it easy to pipe over your fish.
- Remove fish from oven, serve over greens with sauce on top!
- Enjoy
Nutrition
Our recipe card software calculates these nutrition facts based on averages for the above ingredients, different brands, and quality of produce/meats may have different nutritional information, always calculate your own based on the specific products you use in order to achieve accurate macros for this recipe.
Complete the meal
What to serve with it
- Lemon Dill Rice
Rice on the side - Air Fryer Asparagus
A quick green side - Tossed Green Salad
A simple side salad - Cucumber Lemonade
A cool, refreshing drink
Halibut is the perfect fish for this as it is so nice and flaky, and the sweetness of the nuts compliments it well, while the slightly tangy sauce brings out the flavors of this mild, but delightful fish.
Enjoy!
*I received complimentary Santé Nuts in order to facilitate this post. But they really are awesome. All opinions are my own.
And if you love fish recipes, be sure to check out this quick Sweet Chili Salmon








Christine says
When you transfer the halibut from the frying pan to the baking sheet, do you keep the nut side down or do you put the fish nut side facing up?
Rachael says
Nut side up!
Jen says
YUM!!!! This is my kind of meal – and so beautiful too! I love that you used already candied nuts for such a quick meal and I am so intrigued by the pancake batter- can’t wait to try it!
Rachael says
Jen, I am all about the shortcuts. I think you will love it!
Shelby says
Yum, what a great me time moment and lunch for you!
Rachael says
Haha, yes Shelby, it really was! Thank you.
Sandra Shaffer says
Nice to add a little texture with those pistachios! This looks perfectly cooked! I’ll be trying that pancake mix tip!
Renee's Kitchen Adventures says
This looks like a pretty darn delicious lunch to me!
Rachael says
Thank you Renee!
Tyson G says
This looks delicious!!!!
Rachael says
Thank you so much!
Valerie Brunmeier says
Those Sante nuts are crazy good! I haven’t tried the pistachios yet but I need to. So, this is pretty much the perfect meal as far as I’m concerned. LOVE halibut and I’m so intrigued by the pancake batter. It looks so pretty too!
Rachael says
So my husband is the general manager of a restaurant, and the pancake batter is just a little trick I learned from his head chef! And I agree with you, this is my favorite thing I have eaten in a long time!
Bobbi's Kozy Kitchen (@BobbisKozyKtchn) says
Halibut it hands down my fave fish! This sounds amazing and your photos are fabulous!!!
Rachael says
Thank you! Mine too. And that is so nice. Always working on my photog. Slowly getting better.
Rachael says
Remember when you sear the fish to not touch it, just leave it alone for 3-4 minutes so it will get a nice crust.