Pescatarianism, which is basically a vegetarian diet that also includes fish and seafood, is less intimidating than kicking meat altogether, and it promotes numerous health benefits. But the eating regimen is just as much about eating veggies as it is about fish, so balance is key. These exciting dinner pescatarian recipes (including one cooked in your dishwasher!) will ensure you get a healthy dose of both fish and vegetables.
Healthy Dinner Ideas Pescatarian
There’s a reason folks are eating more pescatarian—or even vegetarian—meals. Along with regular exercise (even just walking every day), cutting back on meat is incredibly good for you. It’s also good for the planet. But the best reason? Fish and seafood are downright delicious. And finding fresh, sustainable seafood is easier than ever. In fact, you can order it shipped straight to your door. Eat a few of these pescatarian dinner recipes and you may just find that you not only like how good they taste, but how good they make you feel.
If you’re looking for pescetarian recipes and pescetarian meals, we have some awesome recipes for you! These delicious fish and seafood recipes are great for healthy, easy dinners.
If you’re nervous about cooking fish, then you’ll appreciate how easy and approachable these recipes are.
And, if you’re looking for a few new fish or seafood recipes, then this list of recipes is perfect for you! There are, of course, a bunch of salmon recipes, but I’m also featuring tuna, shrimp, sea bass, tilapia, and halibut recipes.
I hope you enjoy these healthy pescetarian recipes.
Halibut en Papillote
This dinner exemplifies how all parchment-paper-baked fish should be. Halibut is smothered in sweet coconut aminos, lemon, scallion, and mushrooms
Salmon Avocado Salad
Filled to the brim with juicy cucumber and grapefruit, crisp red onion, and rich avocado, this salmon salad is what pescatarian dreams are made of. Scoop it onto butter lettuce leaves or cabbage for a complete meal.
Salmon Burgers
Warm up with this comforting salmon burger. It shines with many vegetable toppings like sprouts, sliced radish, avocado, and roasted tomatoes. Go bunless by placing the patty in between butter lettuce.
Crispy Baked Haddock
This delicious crispy baked haddock recipe is a tasty meal that’s ready in minutes! The panko and parmesan crust on this fish is perfection.
Blackened Tilapia
This spicy blackened tilapia recipe is ready in minutes! The seasoning and sautéing of this dish combine to make a delicious, tender fish.
Furikake Salmon
This furikake salmon recipe is so easy to make and has a lovely earthy, briny topping.
Furikake is a Japanese rice seasoning that usually has some blend of bonito flakes, nori, black and white sesame seeds, and salt.
Pan-Seared Scallops with Edamame & Peas
This scallops with peas and edamame recipe is ready in about 25 minutes and tastes so fresh and delicious! Scallops have a reputation for being tricky to cook, but I’ll show you how to easily cook them.
Barramundi with Mango Slaw
This barramundi recipe with mango slaw is a wonderfully flavorful pescetarian meal. Barramundi is a sustainable, Asian sea bass that has a mild, buttery flavor that pairs extremely well with a crunchy, juicy slaw.
Roasted Eggplant and Shrimp with Harissa
This roasted eggplant and shrimp with harissa traybake recipe is flavorful and ready in only 40 minutes (much of which is hands-off time).
The eggplant becomes so soft and succulent – it almost melts in your mouth.
Coconut Crusted Tilapia
This coconut crusted tilapia recipe is richly flavorful and wonderfully spiced. You can make this recipe with any white fish fillet, but we chose tilapia because it’s abundant and reasonably priced!
Juniper Berries Salmon
This juniper berries salmon recipe is a delicious, healthy meal. It’s ready in less than 25 minutes. This is an easy recipe to throw together, but it’s full of flavor!
Spinach Feta Stuffed Salmon
This spinach stuffed salmon with feta recipe is a delicious, healthy meal for four – ready in less than 20 minutes. This is an easy recipe to throw together, but it’s full of flavor!
Easy Homemade Ahi Tuna Poke Bowl Recipe
Make your own delicious ahi tuna poke bowl at home. This recipe is loaded with healthy brown rice, salad, vegetables and topped with marinated tuna poke.
Make this rich cracker topping on a weekend, and then save it for a fast and simple weeknight snack dinner.
If you’re looking for an outside meal, and want to switch things up, try a classic Louisiana-style low-country shrimp boil. Skip the sausage (or use a plant-based version) to keep it pescatarian.
A charred slice of sourdough bread acts as the base for this colorful dish. The bright, beautiful colors almost make the dish too pretty to eat.
These simple garlic-and-oil scampi-style shrimp cook up in just 15 minutes. You can eat them as-is, dip them in your favorite cocktail sauce, pair with fettuccini, or put them on your favorite fresh salad.
This simple shrimp-and-couscous dish gets a huge burst of flavor from the floral combination of thyme, rosemary, tarragon, and lavender.
This elegant main is impressive enough for a Sunday feast, but simple enough to make you can easily make it on a weeknight. Serve it with a side of horseradish mashed potatoes for a real feast.
This recipe, inspired by Moroccan tagine, is impossibly fragrant and flavorful. Tender shrimp is marinated in a spicy, earthy mix of smoked paprika, cumin, ginger, and red pepper flakes, then simmered in a skillet of saffron-scented tomatoes, melted onions, and briny green olives. Both lemon zest and juice lend brightness, and parsley adds its signature pop of green. I love it served over couscous or rice, or piled into bowls with good bread on the side for swiping up ever last bit of saucy goodness.
Flavoring Shrimp with Big, Bold Flavors
Whether it’s served over salad, tossed with veggies, or used to bolster pasta, quick-cooking shrimp is the key to endless easy wholesome dinners. But I’m even more of a fan of shrimp because of how easily it latches onto flavor. Basic aromatics such as garlic and herbs are always a win, but this recipe proves you can go bigger and bolder. The combination of spices used here — spicy, smoky, and pungent — keeps you on your toes, while the just-barely-there earthy, sweet notes of saffron tie everything together harmoniously.
Baked Cod with Lemon, Garlic, and Herbs
Many of us turn to salmon for weeknight fish dinners, but cod is just as crowd-pleasing. It cooks just as quickly, and has a mild, delicate flavor and flaky texture. Here, we’ve taken a classic Mediterranean approach, with lots of lemon and garlic leading the show and a whole slew of fresh herbs tying it all together. Serve it with spears of asparagus or a pile of crisp green beans and put it on repeat.
Garlicky Sautéed Shrimp with Creamy White Beans and Blistered Tomatoes
This 20-minute dish of garlicky shrimp, blistered tomatoes, and creamy white beans makes for a flavor-packed weeknight dinner with very little effort. It’s inspired by the Spanish tapas dish gambas al ajillo, a delicious and highly snackable combination of tender shrimp swimming in oil that’s best soaked up with some crusty bread (which I highly recommend for this dish as well).
The original dish is simpler in that the shrimp are cooked in a generous amount of oil with chili pepper and lots of garlic, and finished with brandy or an acid such as lemon or vinegar. Here, I cook the shrimp in a similar fashion but marinate them first with oregano, paprika, garlic, red pepper flakes, and herbs to coat them with flavor. Blistered tomatoes add sauciness to the dish, while the white beans, which I like to mash a bit as I stir to create a creamy paste, make it heartier — perfect for a quick and warming dinner.
While I prefer to peel the shrimp for this dish (it’s less messy for a weeknight), cooking them with their shells on is common in gambas al ajillo and absolutely an option here, too. Because shell-on shrimp take a little longer to cook (about three to four minutes per side), add them to the pan first. Or, use the shrimp marinade and cook them on the grill. Just know that a lot of the delicious flavor will end up on the shell, so unless you want to eat those (which you can!), it can feel like a bit like a waste. Either way, enjoy leftovers atop a simple arugula salad with avocado, a drizzle of olive oil, and a generous squeeze of lime juice for an extremely satisfying lunch.
One-Pot Lemon Shrimp Pasta
The beauty of a one-pot pasta is, of course, that you cook both the pasta and the sauce in a single pot. But this specific rendition has another big benefit: It’s a complete meal, all in one. Here, protein-packed shrimp and white beans mingle with nutrient-dense kale in a bright, lemony pasta dish that’s ready in just 20 minutes.
In addition to adding protein, the beans break down a bit as they cook, lending a delightful creaminess to the pasta without any real cream. The shrimp go in midway through cooking, ensuring they’re perfectly plump and juicy when the noodles are al dente. And if you’re of the mind that no pasta dish is complete without garlic, sauté a few sliced cloves in the pot before adding in the rest of the ingredients.