This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure.
This Sous Vide Swordfish is incredibly delicious with a moist and tender texture and a flavorful grapefruit and shallot sauce! It takes just 45 minutes using the sous vide method and tastes better than any fine dining restaurant!
If you want to ensure your fish is evenly cooked without drying out, you need to try cooking it sous vide style!
This sous vide mahi mahi is one of our favorites, and this sous vide tuna is always perfect!
Cooking seafood in a sous vide water bath may take a little longer but it locks in moisture and flavor, so the risk of over cooking is minimized.
If you try this swordfish recipe, I highly recommend pairing it with this Instant Pot wild rice and honey roasted parsnips. It's also amazing with this mango peach salsa.
Read: 12+ Sous Vide Fish Recipes
Jump to:
What is Sous Vide?
Sous vide is basically a method of cooking using what is called an immersion circulator (i.e. the sous vide machine). This immersion circulator circulates water in a temperature controlled water bath at a certain temperature to perfectly cook your food every time.
Because the temperature doesn't change, and it keeps your meat (or dessert, veggies, etc.) at the same temperature, your risk of overcooking becomes very minimal.
To learn even more about sous vide cooking, head over and read "what is sous vide cooking and the benefits of sous vide cooking."
What is the Water Displacement Method?
The displacement method is where you slowly submerge a ziplock bag in water pushing the air out of the top of the bag (the bag should be slightly open at the top to allow air to escape).
Use a clip (I use sous vide magnets) to clip the bag to the side to keep it from floating and getting air and/or water inside.
Tools Used
You will also want to check out these posts on the best sous vide containers and the best sous vide bags for more information!
Want to Save This Recipe?
Enter your email & I'll send it to your inbox. Plus, get great new recipes from me every week!
By submitting this form, you consent to receive emails from Went Here 8 This.
More sous vide seafood recipes
Why this recipe works
- Swordfish can overcook and dry out easily, but the controlled temperature of the sous vide water bath ensures it stays moist and tender.
- There is minimal prep work required for this recipe. Just season and seal the swordfish steaks in a vacuum seal bag and the water bath does the rest!
- The grapefruit and shallot sauce requires just 5 ingredients and it’s super flavorful and easy to make!
What is swordfish?
Swordfish is a firm and meaty white fish with a mild tasting flavor. It has a long, thin bill with a swordlike shape. It’s normally sold as steaks, and has a sturdy texture that holds up well to cooking, especially grilling.
Ingredients
Please refer to the recipe card below for a full list of ingredients and quantities.
You’ll need 2 pieces of swordfish for this recipe. I use wild caught swordfish steaks that are sustainably sourced.
The swordfish pieces are seasoned with salt and pepper before being vacuum sealed and cooked.
For the grapefruit and shallot sauce, you just need 3 tablespoons of unsalted butter, ¼ cup of grapefruit juice, 3 sprigs of fresh thyme, 1 thinly sliced shallot and ½ teaspoon of salt.
If you only have salted butter, you should reduce the amount of salt you add to the sauce.
I like to use freshly squeezed grapefruit juice instead of bottled juice, but you can use bottled in a pinch.
Fresh thyme pairs nicely with the citrus in the sauce. If you can’t find fresh thyme, you can use dried thyme. Just reduce the amount to one-third as dried herbs are usually more potent than fresh.
Shallots bring a sweet flavor to the sauce. If you can’t find shallots, you can substitute yellow onion.
Step by step instructions
Heat a sous vide water bath to 120F degrees.
Coat the swordfish with salt and pepper and place in a vacuum seal bag.
Cook for 45 minutes.
Remove and pat dry.
Heat the butter in a skillet over medium heat and add the shallots and thyme.
Cook for 3-5 minutes, until shallots have softened.
Add the grapefruit juice and simmer for 2-3 minutes.
Serve the swordfish topped with the grapefruit and shallot sauce. Garnish with chunks of fresh grapefruit if desired.
Expert tips
- To ensure the swordfish pieces cook evenly, buy steaks that have the same thickness (around 1 - 1½ inches thick).
- If your steaks are really thick, you may need to increase the cooking time by about 15 minutes or so.
- When sealing the bag, make sure the steaks are in a single layer. This will help them cook evenly.
- Make sure the air is removed from the sealable bag to avoid bacteria getting into it.
- The bag of swordfish should be completely submerged in the water bath. You can always use something heavy like a sous vide sinker weight to ensure it doesn’t float.
- If you don’t weigh it down and it starts to float, just open the bag, remove the air and reseal it.
- The swordfish skin is tough. I usually keep it on while cooking but I don't eat it. You can remove it before cooking, but it’s easier to remove it once the fish is cooked.
- Swordfish steaks will have a red bloodline going through them. These red areas have a strong flavor but they indicate freshness. If these areas are brown instead of red, it means the swordfish is old.
Common questions
For lightly flaky and firm swordfish steaks, you’ll want to set your sous vide water bath to 120F degrees. If you prefer the texture really firm and flaky, you can increase the temperature to 132F degrees.
It only takes 45 minutes for swordfish steaks to cook in a sous vide water bath.
While it’s difficult to overcook fish in a sous vide water bath, swordfish is not as oily as some other fish like salmon, so it tends to dry out faster. To ensure it stays moist and tender, I don’t recommend leaving it in the water bath too much past the recommended cooking time.
Yes, you can cook the steaks from frozen by adding another 20-25 minutes to the cooking time. You can also let the steaks defrost in the fridge overnight before cooking them.
If you don’t have swordfish, you can try substituting tuna, mahi mahi or red snapper. You will just need to adjust the cooking time to reflect the thickness of your fish.
Serving options for swordfish
- Truffle Mashed Potatoes
- Duck Fat Crispy Smashed Potatoes
- Instant Pot Jasmine Rice
- Instant Pot Carrots
- Grilled Peach Salad
- Sous Vide Cheesecake (for dessert!)
If you love this recipe, please leave a star rating and a comment below and let us know your favorite thing about it. We'd also love to connect on Instagram! Follow us at @went_here_8_this for awesome recipes and all sorts of fun food stuff 🙂
Recipe
Sous Vide Swordfish
Ingredients
- 2 pieces swordfish
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon pepper
- 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
- ¼ cup grapefruit juice
- 3 sprigs fresh thyme
- 1 shallot thinly sliced
- ½ teaspoon salt for sauce
Instructions
- Heat a sous vide water bath to 120F degrees.
- Coat the swordfish with the salt and pepper and place in a vacuum seal bag.
- Cook for 45 minutes.
- Remove and pat dry.
- Heat the butter in a skillet over medium heat and add the shallots and thyme.
- Cook for 3-5 minutes, until shallots have softened.
- Add the grapefruit juice and simmer 2-3 minutes.
- Serve the swordfish topped with the grapefruit and shallot sauce. Garnish with chunks of fresh grapefruit if desired.
Expert Tips:
- To ensure the swordfish pieces cook evenly, buy steaks that have the same thickness (around 1 - 1½ inches thick).
- If your steaks are really thick, you may need to increase the cooking time by about 15 minutes or so.
- When sealing the bag, make sure the steaks are in a single layer. This will help them cook evenly.
- Make sure the air is removed from the sealable bag to avoid bacteria getting into it.
- The bag of swordfish should be completely submerged in the water bath. You can always use something heavy like a sous vide sinker weight to ensure it doesn’t float.
- If you don’t weigh it down and it starts to float, just open the bag, remove the air and reseal it.
- The swordfish skin is tough. I usually keep it on while cooking but I don't eat it. You can remove it before cooking, but it’s easier to remove it once the fish is cooked.
- Swordfish steaks will have a red bloodline going through them. These red areas have a strong flavor but they indicate freshness. If these areas are brown instead of red, it means the swordfish is old.
Nutrition
Kevin
Do you sear the swordfish after the sousvide cook? Or just serve it with the grapefruit/shallot sauce?
Danielle
I personally just serve it. You can sear it, but I find it dries it out more.
heidi
The grapefruit sauce was just sooooo good! I'm going to be using this on all sorts of things now!
Danielle
We love that grapefruit sauce too - use it on all sorts of seafood.
darla
I always have a problem with dry swordfish and never knew you could make it this way! It came out so good. PS - I am loving all the sous vide recipe!
Danielle
This is the only way we will cook swordfish!