Blackened Fish Seasoning

This Homemade Blackened Fish Seasoning Mix is the PERFECT blend of flavors. The key ingredient is small but makes all the difference! This seasoning blend tastes great on fish but can be used on everything from chicken, lamb, pork, vegetables, potatoes, salad and more!

this Recipe

Blackened Fish Seasoning – The EASY Way!

Homemade seasoning mix are one of my secrets for adding a TON of flavor to food, with just a tiny bit of time and effort.

My friend Reade makes the absolute BEST blackened fish, and he not only gave me his secret recipe, but also gave me permission to share it with you!!

This Blackened Fish Seasoning mix is one that I can rely on to really bring the flavor so I can make impressive meals quickly.

The great thing about homemade seasoning is that it takes about 5-10 minutes to make (depending on how organized your spice cabinet is!) and then you can pop it in an airtight container and it will stay good for UP TO A YEAR!

So for 5 minutes of work you can have this delicious seasoning on hand for a year!… or until you run out which very well may be sooner because this stuff is just that good.

You can easily make a single batch of homemade blackened fish seasoning, or if you enjoy it as much as me, you can make a double or triple batch in the same amount of time so you can always have it on hand.

What is blackened fish?

There are 3 common ways to prepare fish, grilled, fried, or blackened.

Blackened fish is fish prepared by the cooking method of blackening. To blacken, the meat is seasoned and then cooked quickly in a very hot skillet with butter. The fish develops a black crust from the seasoning and milk solids from the butter.

Blackening is traditionally associated with cajun cuisine, though it can appear in any type of restaurant or cuisine today. Typically blackening seasoning is spicy using black or cayenne pepper. When it is not spicy it is often referred to as bronzed instead of blackened.

In our Blackened Fish recipe we are using today, we use a spice mix that includes cayenne pepper, which can be omitted for a mild seasoning, with just as much delicious flavor.

How to use Blackened Fish Seasoning

The thing that makes homemade Blackened Fish Seasoning so great, is that it can add so much flavor to a recipe with so little effort!

Of course Blackened Fish is the number one way to use it, but I use it in SO many ways too, both for main dishes, and side dishes.

From seasoning meat, to sprinkling on something to add extra there are almost endless ways to use this seasoning.

These are a few of my go-to uses- but if you have a favorite I missed, I would love to hear in the comments.

Blackened Fish

The FULL recipe to make blackened fish from start to finish using this seasoning can be found here. This recipe is great and only takes about 10 minutes when you have this seasoning mix on hand.

I like to make my blackened fish in a skillet, but you can also use the oven or grill.

There are many types of fish that taste great when prepared blackened with this seasoning. I generally use a mild white fish, but any of these will work really well:

• Snapper
• Tilapia
• Cod
• Bass
• Grouper
• Haddock
• Catfish
• Salmon
• Drum

Other uses

• Other meat: Other proteins can also be prepared blackened using this seasoning mix. Chicken, pork chops, and steak all make a great pairing.
• Potatoes– This seasoning is DEVINE on potatoes. You can do roasted potatoes, smashed potatoes, or even just toss french fries with the seasoning for an amazingly delicious upgrade to boring fries!
• Vegetables– Whether you want to roast vegetables, steam them, or sauté them in a pan, a sprinkle of blackening seasoning will add so much flavor to the final dish.

Recipe Notes

This Blackened Fish Seasoning recipe is as simple as promised! Just mix together some key spices and seasonings and you have the perfect flavors.

In this section I am going to go through a few tips and tricks I use when making this recipe to get the absolute best and most delicious results.

Make sure to scroll to the bottom for the FULL recipe card.

Ingredients

All spices and seasonings in this blend are dried. If you only have fresh on hand, I would recommend either drying them to be used in this seasoning blend, or grabbing the dried version the next time you are at the store.

• Garlic powder
• Onion powder
• Paprika
• Italian seasoning – you can use store bought, or make your own homemade Italian seasoning.
• Old Bay seasoning
• cayenne pepper 

This list is super simple, and all of these are commonly found spices and there shouldn’t be anything you have to hunt down. You may even have every single one already in your spice cabinet!

Recipe Tips

1. Key Ingredients! It isn’t what you find in this mix, it is what you don’t find! Salt and pepper are left out of the mix intentionally since salt can draw moisture from fish. That way you can season the fish with the blackening seasoning and then just add salt and pepper to taste before cooking.
   
2. Mix to combine– There is no special magic here. To make this, you just dump it all together and mix it up. To make it even easier, you can use a mason jar or other container and dump, then shake. Then all you get messy is a couple of measuring spoons!
   
3. Control the heat level– Blackened Fish seasoning is traditionally a spicy (hot) seasoning. The cayenne pepper brings the heat to the seasoning mix, and can be reduced, or left out to make the seasoning mix more mild for those sensitive to spice.
   
4. Grinding is optional– In the blend of spices that make up the Blackened Fish seasoning there are a variety of sizes, from ground to larger leaves in the Italian seasoning blend. You can combine them, but as they sit, the seasoning blend can settle so that it is harder to grab an even scoop out with every spice evenly distributed. To solve this you can:
   • Shake or stir before each use – This is what I do
   • Grind- Run it through a grinder, food processor, or blender to get the spices to a smaller consistency so that they combine evenly.
     
5. Store in an airtight container in a cool dry place. When stored like this the blackening Seasoning should stay fresh for up to a year. Some also recommend putting it in the freezer to further extend the life but I have never found that necessary. I run out long before it would ever go bad.
   
6. Double, triple, or more! This recipe can easily be scaled up to make a big batch of blackening Seasoning. This will allow you to keep it on hand for longer periods of time, especially when you start throwing it in everything as your “secret ingredient” like I do!

Dietary Considerations

One of the best parts about this recipe is that not only is is AMAZINGLY DELICIOUS, but it is also very healthy! It naturally meets many dietary needs. 

As always, check all store bought ingredients for compliance on specific dietary needs. The notes below are a general guide.

• Gluten free: This recipe is naturally gluten free, however, keep in mind that Old Bay seasoning does not contain gluten ingredients, however it is not certified gluten free.
• Dairy free: This blackened fish seasoning recipe is naturally dairy free, however blackened fish is typically prepared by adding butter.
• Nut free: This Blackened Fish recipe is naturally nut free
• Egg free: This recipe is naturally egg free
• Macros: The approximate macro calculation for this recipe is- P: 1g C: 2g F: 1g

More Seasoning Mix Recipes

If you enjoyed this recipe, I really hope you will take a moment to grab a few more easy recipes for another busy night!

You can check out all of my Easy recipes here, or see a few of our readers favorite seasoning mixes recipes below.

• Ranch Seasoning Mix
• Italian Dressing Mix
• Best EVER Taco Seasoning
• Tex-Mex Fajita Seasoning
• Cajun Seasoning blend