43 Easy Pescatarian Recipes You’re Sure to Love

Cutting meat out of your diet can be a difficult step to take but opting for a pescatarian diet instead can make it an easier decision to make.

By still being able to eat fish you will still have a large number of recipes to choose from and you’ll be able to get a healthy dose of protein into your diet.

If you do decide to follow a pescatarian diet, however, you may be at a loss for what recipes to make. Thankfully, there are so many delicious dishes you can make and so many of them are quick and easy to make.

In this article, we have 43 easy pescatarian recipes that you’re sure to love. All of the recipes are suitable for pescatarians and we’ve included a few recipes that are also suitable for vegetarians.

1. Air Fryer Crab Rangoon

Our first pescatarian recipe is an especially easy one as it is cooked in an air fryer. Air fryers are a great way to cook your food as they can reduce the oil content.

This recipe for crab rangoons works perfectly as an appetizer and everyone is sure to love them. They’re fried wontons that are filled with crab meat and cream cheese.

When cooked, they’re especially delicious when dipped in sweet chili sauce.

2. Air Fryer Salmon Patties

Next, we have another air fryer recipe. These salmon patties work perfectly for either a light lunch or a dinner, depending on what you decide to serve them with.

They’re very versatile as they will suit salads, rice, roasted vegetables, or sweet potato fries. The patties are made from salmon, flour, parsley, chives, and a touch of salt.

The recipe also gives you instructions to make a delicious aioli dipping sauce.

3. Asparagus and Shrimp with Angel Hair

Pasta is a great ingredient for a wide variety of different dishes and it suits pescatarian diets just as easily as any other diet.

The recipe calls for capellini, or angel hair pasta, and this is an especially light and thin form of pasta. The pasta is served with shrimp, asparagus, mushrooms, and tomatoes.

The recipe calls for either chicken broth or white wine and as this is a pescatarian dish, you will want to opt for the white wine.

4. Baked Cod with Lemon, Garlic, and Herbs

Cold is an often overlooked fish due to its milder taste but it is one of our favorite fishes for a weekday dinner.

This entire recipe will only take around 30 minutes to cook as well, making it a quick and easy dish that everyone can enjoy.

The cod is cooked with lemon slices and seasoned with garlic and herbs such as rosemary or thyme.

5. Bang Bang Shrimp Pasta

This recipe is based on Bonefish Grill’s popular dish Bang Bang shrimp. The shrimp is served in a delicious sauce that is creamy and sweet while also being seasoned with a spicy chili sauce.

You will need to deep fry the shrimp in a panko breadcrumb coating so you may not want to serve this dish frequently due to the oil content. However, the combination of deep-fried shrimp, pasta, and creamy sauce is delicious.

6. Barramundi with Mango Slaw

Barramundi is a delicious Asian sea bass that is farmed sustainably, so if you’re following a pescatarian diet for sustainability reasons, barramundi is a fish that should feature heavily in your diet.

Cooking and seasoning the fish is very simple and only calls for butter, sea salt, and pepper. The recipe includes instructions for the mango slaw and this is just as easy.

7. Black Bean and Sweet Potato Tacos

We love tacos so we’re always looking for taco recipes to fit any diet. This recipe is completely vegetarian as it doesn’t feature any fish.

By substituting the cheese for a vegan alternative, you can easily make it vegan as well. The filling of the taco is made from sweet potatoes, black beans, and onion, and it’s seasoned with cumin and chili powder.

8. Blackened Tilapia

Tilapia is a delicious and mild white fish that is quick and easy to cook. The tilapia is seasoned with blackening seasoning, which is a slightly spicy flavoring similar to those found in Cajun or Creole cooking.

When cooked, you can serve the tilapia with an avocado and tomato topping. In total, this recipe should be finished in only 15 minutes!

9. Buttery Grilled Shrimp

We love shrimp because of how versatile it is and how it works so well with a variety of different flavors. In the case of this recipe, the shrimp is seasoned with butter, lemon juice, chili powder, salt, and ground ginger.

These flavors work together perfectly to season the shrimp. The shrimp are then threaded onto skewers and grilled over medium heat for only a few minutes.

10. Chinese Steamed Cod Fish with Ginger Scallion Sauce

This recipe is very simple as it only requires a few ingredients. Although the cod is steamed, you don’t need a steamer to steam the fish.

The recipe gives instructions on how to steam the cod en papillote, which means it is steamed inside a pouch of parchment paper. Once wrapped in the paper, the fish can be cooked in either an air fryer or an oven.

11. Classic Lobster Rolls

These classic lobster rolls make for a great lunch that everyone is sure to love. It’s especially delicious during the summer but will taste great at any time of the year.

The lobster meat needs to be cooked first and then mixed with Dijon mustard, mayonnaise, lemon juice, salt, and black pepper. The filling is then served in a toasted hot dog bun that has been lined with a lettuce leaf.

12. Coconut-Crusted Tilapia

Next, we have another recipe that uses tilapia. You can use any type of white fish filet for this recipe if you’re not able to source any tilapia but we do recommend sticking with tilapia if you can.

There is a little bit of preparation required for this dish as the fish will need to marinate in coconut milk before being cooked, and this should be done for at least 10 minutes and for up to 24 hours.

13. Crispy Baked Haddock

Haddock is another white fish that has a mild and tender taste and this makes it ideal for a variety of recipes. It doesn’t have a strong taste of fish but is very quick and easy to cook.

The haddock filets need to be coated in a mix of panko breadcrumbs, Parmesan, and Italian seasoning. The filets can then be cooked in the oven.

14. Cucumber-Salmon Panzanella

This is a delicious and easy salad that will make for a great lunch or light dinner.

The key to making this salad as delicious as possible is to choose a great and crusty country bread that you can tear and add to the salad.

The salad is then made from roasted salmon, Persian cucumbers, red onion, fennel bulb, and arugula. You can make a dressing from red wine vinegar, olive oil, and caraway seeds.

15. Everything Bagel Salmon with Broccoli and Capers

We love everything bagel seasoning as it makes it very easy to season and flavor a variety of ingredients. This recipe uses it to great effect to season the salmon.

The recipe also calls for broccoli, red onion, and capers so you can be sure to have a variety of delicious flavors in this dish. If you don’t like your food to be too salty, however, be careful with how much kosher salt you add to the recipe.

16. Fajita-Style Shrimp and Grits

Just the name of this recipe is enough to make us hungry! The combination of seafood, Mexican cuisine, and old-fashioned southern cooking makes this an interesting and delicious combination of flavors.

The shrimp is seasoned with fajita seasoning and served over grits with some salsa and cilantro. This is the ideal way to serve grits to someone for the first time as the creaminess of the grits balances out the other flavors. 

17. Furikake Salmon

Furikake is a Japanese seasoning that is bursting with umami flavor. It’s usually made from bonito flakes (fermented tuna), nori (dried seaweed), salt, and black and white sesame seeds.

When you buy furikake seasoning, make sure you choose the type that is made for topping and seasoning fish. The salmon should be dressed in a layer of kewpie mayo and then the furikake seasoning is added on top.

18. Garlicky Sautéed Shrimp with Creamy White Beans and Blistered Tomatoes

This is another quick and easy recipe that uses shrimp as its base. It’s similar to some dishes you’ll find at a Spanish tapas restaurant and is a must if you love your shrimp to taste of garlic.

As well as the shrimp and garlic, you’ll need to add in tomatoes, white beans, paprika, parsley, and oregano. Make sure you have some crusty bread on hand to soak up the flavors as well!

19. Grapefruit, Shrimp, and Radicchio Tartines

Although this is another shrimp recipe, it has a very different flavor to any other shrimp recipe in this list thanks to the addition of grapefruit.

Shrimp and grapefruit complement each other in a surprisingly good way, as you’ll find if you cook this recipe. The shrimp is also flavored with paprika and once cooked, the dish should be served over some sourdough bread.

20. Greek Salmon Salad Bowls

Salad bowls make a meal that is both delicious and healthy and they’re especially good to eat during the hot summer months.

Bowls are infinitely customizable as you can easily remove an ingredient or add something but we like this bowl to be made as instructed by the recipe. It’s full of healthy ingredients such as avocado, cucumber, arugula, and bell pepper.

21. Grilled Garlic Butter Shrimp

This is another shrimp recipe that adds some garlic to the mix but it’s very different from the other recipes because of the addition of some lemon to the ingredients.

Grilling the shrimp adds an extra depth of flavor to the dish as well. The shrimp should be basted with butter and grilled alongside some lemons before being served with parsley and more lemon.

22. Herbes de Provence Shrimp with Basil and Pea Couscous

We love couscous and will take the chance to include it in a recipe instead of pasta whenever we can. In this recipe, the couscous is cooked and then peas, basil, and lemon zest are added.

Your shrimp should be cooked with a variety of herbs such as thyme, marjoram, and rosemary, before being served together.

23. Instant Pot Ginger Scallion Fish

This is the first of a couple of Instant Pot recipes. Pressure cookers such as Instant Pots are a great addition to any kitchen as they can make your cooking quicker and easier.

Cooking fish in an Instant Pot can be a little tricky sometimes, so make sure you follow the recipe instructions to get the best results. You can use any white fish for this recipe such as tilapia and it is steamed at low pressure.

24. Instant Pot Salmon

Our second Instant Pot recipe in a way is a simple one for salmon. You can use either fresh or frozen salmon for this as the recipe gives instructions on how to cook both.

Once you’ve cooked your salmon in the Instant Pot, you can serve it with vegetables or rice.

25. Juniper Berries Salmon

Juniper berries are not a common ingredient in American cuisine but they are more commonly used in Scandinavian dishes.

They have a delicious fresh and sharp flavor of pine and are great for flavoring various different types of meat, including fish. As well as the berries, the salmon is also flavored with butter and lime zest and is cooked in a foil parcel.

26. Low Country Shrimp Boil

If you’re catering for an outdoor party and are looking for that perfect pescatarian dish that can be served to a group of friends, then this shrimp boil is a wonderful choice.

This is a Carolina-style boil that is made from potatoes, corn, and seafood that is eaten by hand and shared. The recipe does include some sausage but you can leave this out without losing any of the flavors.

27. Mediterranean Salmon Salad

This is another salad that has a Mediterranean twist. It’s ideal for lunch or a light summer dinner and is full of delicious and healthy flavors.

It takes salmon and serves it with lettuce, cucumbers, cherry tomatoes, artichoke, olives, and shallots. The dressing is made from lemon juice, garlic, and black pepper and finishes the dish perfectly.

28. Mississippi Catfish Gumbo

Gumbo is a great homemade dish that so many of us grew up with. This pescatarian gumbo includes a variety of interesting liquid ingredients such as white wine, Coca-Cola, and coffee to make a delicious dish.

You will need some catfish filets as well as bell peppers, tomatoes, and fresh okra, and the gumbo is served over some rice.

29. New Haven Clam Pie Pizza

Who doesn’t love pizza? It’s one of the most versatile dishes you can make as once you have your base sorted, you can use virtually anything as the topping.

In the case of this recipe, the pizza has been given a New Haven makeover to make a delicious pizza topped with clams. You can make your own dough or use store-bought, depending on your preference and time.

30. One-Pot Lemon Shrimp Pasta

We love one-pot recipes for how quick and easy they are. You can cook both the pasta and the sauce in the same pot and this saves you both cooking time and cleaning time.

By adding a can of cannellini beans to the pot, you will get a creamy pasta sauce without the need for any milk or cream. This pasta also has kale, lemon, and shrimp. 

31. Pan-Seared Scallops with Edamame & Peas

Many people consider scallops to be tricky to get right but this reputation is unearned, in our opinion.

The key to cooking scallops is not to overcook them so make sure you follow the instructions in the recipe to get the best results you can. The scallops are served with scallions, edamame, and peas.

When finished, serve with a squeeze of lime juice and some parsley.

32. Popcorn Shrimp

We love a good seafood appetizer and they don’t come any more delicious than popcorn shrimp.

These small breadcrumb-crusted shrimp make for perfect finger food at a party, a great snack, or as the appetizer to a larger meal. When cooked, they can be served with a variety of sauces and dips depending on your preference.

33. Pretzel-Crusted Catfish

Yes, these catfish filets really are coated with crushed pretzels! The recipe uses honey mustard pretzels to be precise and the flavor of the pretzels complements the catfish perfectly.

The crushed pretzels are also mixed with Dijon mustard and milk to give them even more flavor. The coated catfish takes less than 10 minutes to cook.

34. Roasted Eggplant and Shrimp with Harissa

Harissa is a chili paste that is very popular in both Middle Eastern and North African cuisine. It’s made from a variety of smoked chilis and spices and will add lots of flavor to any dish.

In the case of this recipe, it’s being added to a traybake full of eggplant and shrimp. The addition of mint and lemon add even more flavor and make the tray more colorful.

35. Sardines Pasta with Tomatoes and Olives

This is a light and easy pasta dish that you can make from scratch within 20 minutes. It’s good for families operating on a budget as well as it uses canned sardines, making it also quick and easy to prepare.

The main ingredients are sardines, pasta, garlic, lemon juice, and onions and you can add tomatoes and black olives if you wish. 

36. Sheet Pan Honey-Sesame Tofu and Green Beans

This is another recipe that isn’t just pescatarian but is also vegetarian. The recipe needs a little bit of prep time because you will need to ensure that the tofu has been pressed and dried before cooking.

Luckily, you can prepare the vegetables and the rest of the ingredients while you wait. The tofu is seasoned with a mixture of soy sauce, honey, ginger, and sesame oil and then cooked with green beans.

37. Sheet Pan Pistachio-Crusted Cod with Fall Vegetables

As the name suggests, this is the perfect recipe for fall. Cod is coated with Dijon mustard and roasted and salted pistachios and then cooked in a sheet pan with a mix of vegetables.

In this case, the vegetables are fall vegetables such as Brussels sprouts and sweet potatoes.

38. Shrimp Summer Rolls

These shrimp summer rolls are influenced by Vietnamese cuisine and are a perfect summer dish. The rolls should be served cold, so you will need to cook and chill your shrimp and rice noodles before assembling the rolls.

The recipe also includes instructions for the dipping sauce as well.

39. Shrimp Tacos

Tacos are a big favorite of ours and the filling of these shrimp tacos is one that we keep returning to. The tacos are filled with shrimp, cilantro lime slaw, taco seasoning, and avocados and can be served with a chipotle crema sauce.

40. Spicy Saffron Shrimp with Green Olives and Lemon

This is a delicious and saucy shrimp flavored with paprika, ginger, and cumin. When cooked, it can be served over couscous or rice to make a deliciously spicy dish.

41. Stir-Fried Shrimp and Mushrooms

Stir fry is one of the quickest and easiest dishes you can make and is always a favorite of ours when we want something fresh and healthy to eat but don’t want to spend hours in front of an oven.

This stir fry includes shrimp, mushrooms, onions, and rice cooked in a broth. Although the recipe calls for chicken broth, it can be substituted for vegetable broth to make it pescatarian.

42. Super Fast Scampi-Style Air Fryer Shrimp

For this recipe, we’re back to the air fryer. You can use either frozen or fresh shrimp and when the air fryer is loaded, your shrimp will only take 15 minutes to cook. 

43. Weeknight Salmon with Smoky Spinach and Chickpeas

Our final dish is a quick and easy salmon recipe that is ideal for busy weeknights. It’s simply salmon served over a bed of chickpeas, tomatoes, and spinach, but requires virtually no preparation and can be cooked in 20 minutes.

Are there any Korean vegetarian recipes that include fish or seafood as an option?

Korean vegetarian recipes traditionally exclude fish and seafood. However, there are fusion recipes that offer vegetarian versions of popular Korean dishes. While these recipes don’t contain fish or seafood, they provide interesting alternatives using plant-based ingredients to mimic the flavors and textures associated with Korean cuisine. Explore these innovative korean vegetarian recipes to enjoy a seafood-free Korean dining experience.

Frequently Asked Questions

Let’s now answer some of the most common questions about pescatarian recipes.

Final Thoughts

In this article, we listed 43 easy pescatarian recipes that you’re sure to love. Regardless of the type of fish or seafood you prefer, there is a recipe here for you. 

We hope that you enjoy all of these pescatarian recipes as much as we do.