Spanish Frozen Mackerel Recipe

We love Spanish recipes in all of their shapes and forms, but sometimes we need to make an easy one with basic steps that everyone can follow.

If you are looking for one of the most simple Spanish mackerel recipes, then you are in the right place: we are talking about the frozen mackerel recipe.

We know that you will fall in love with this recipe too, so we prepared this article with information on how to cook frozen mackerel, plus how to store and serve this fantastic dish.

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Pssst…!!?? You can’t get enough of Spanish fish recipes? Have a look at my other posts: 

• Spanish mackerel sashimi

• Peppered mackerel recipe

• Mackerel patty recipe

Background of the Dish

The frozen mackerel recipe was created just a couple of decades ago because frozen mackerel wasn’t super popular in the Southern Spanish region.

A question that arose multiple times was “can you cook mackerel from frozen?”, and thankfully the answer was yes, so that made the recipe reach a whole new level of popularity.

Since you use frozen and clean mackerel recipes, it is much easier to prepare and the other ingredients are the classic ones from Andalusia such as olive oil, parsley, and garlic.

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Things You’ll Need for Frozen Mackerel Recipe

To prepare this frozen mackerel recipe you need olive oil, garlic cloves, foil, and frozen mackerel filets (or you can make it a frozen Spanish mackerel steak recipe).

If you don’t have foil there are other ways on how to cook Spanish mackerel or simply grease the baking tray so that the filets won’t stick.

Ingredients

• 4 frozen mackerel filets
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 garlic cloves
• 1 lemon
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1 teaspoon paprika
• Salt and pepper, to taste
• Fresh chopped parsley (optional, for garnish)

How to Make Frozen Mackerel Recipe – Step by Step Guide

1. For the first time on this frozen mackerel recipe, preheat your oven to 400°F (200°C).

2. As you preheat the oven, tear off four pieces of aluminum foil, each large enough to wrap one mackerel filet. Place the foil on a baking sheet.

3. Before starting, thaw the frozen mackerel filets according to the package instructions. Pat the filets dry with paper towels. In the meantime, peel and mince the garlic cloves.

4. Now place each mackerel filet on a piece of foil. Drizzle olive oil over each filet and rub it so everything gets coated.

5. Then, sprinkle minced garlic, dried oregano, paprika, salt, and pepper evenly over the filets. Place a couple of lemon slices on top of each filet.

6. To continue with this frozen mackerel recipe, carefully seal each foil packet, ensuring that it’s tightly closed to trap the flavors. 

7. After that, place the foil packets on the baking sheet in the preheated oven. Bake for about 20 minutes or until the mackerel is cooked and easily flakes with a fork.

8. Carefully open the oven-baked mackerel in foil packets, being cautious of the hot steam. Transfer the Spanish mackerel fish to plates.

9. As an optional step in this mackerel fish recipe, garnish the mackerel oven-baked with chopped fresh parsley and additional lemon slices.

Substitution of Ingredients

This frozen mackerel recipe only calls for a few basic ingredients, and still, there is a lot of room for ingredient substitutions that you can follow.

For example, you can turn it into a frozen whole mackerel recipe or a frozen king mackerel recipe if you want to have larger portions. 

If you want this fish mackerel recipe to have an extra kick of flavor you can copy the seasonings and spices from other of our Spanish recipes like the mackerel curry recipe and the spicy mackerel recipe.

Other recipes using frozen mackerel filets that you can prepare are the mackerel sushi recipe and the smoked mackerel recipe.

Tips on Serving Frozen Mackerel Recipe

This is truly the best mackerel recipe because it is super quick to make and simple to serve.

Once you finish making the frozen mackerel recipe, serve the filets warm on a plate or platter and sprinkle some freshly chopped parsley on top (optional).

Do you want to take this Spanish mackerel recipe to the next level? Then add toasted and chopped nuts on top of each filet to add a new texture.

If you want to serve the dish from this frozen mackerel recipe as an appetizer or tapa you can, just cut some slices of your favorite bread, chop each filet into bite-sized cubes, and serve them together on a platter.

If you have small kids and don’t know how to serve them fish, we also have a great recipe that you can prepare for them and that is the baby Spanish mackerel recipe.

How to Store Frozen Mackerel Recipe

If you are planning on storing the fish from this frozen mackerel recipe, you have to let it cool to room temperature as this helps prevent condensation inside the foil packets, which can lead to freezer burn.

Once cooled, you can re-seal the foil packets or transfer the cooked mackerel to airtight containers suitable for freezing. 

Label each packet or portion from this dish and store them in the fridge for up to 2 days or the freezer for 45 days, then thaw overnight before reheating it in the oven.

Other mackerel recipes that you can prepare and store are the mackerel steaks recipe and the steamed mackerel recipe.

Recipe Card: Frozen Mackerel Recipe

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