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The 9 Best Fish and Seafood Cookbooks

Fish and seafood are an excellent source of lean protein and healthy fats with numerous health benefits. Since the earliest of times, millions of people around the world have relied on fish and seafood as their primary source of protein and sustenance. Incorporating fish and seafood into your diet can be much easier when you have a wealth of simple and tasty recipes to draw on.

From baking to frying, battering and breading, to soups and pies, fish and seafood are extremely versatile food sources that can be used in a wide variety of dishes. Recipes can guide your culinary pursuits in terms of what ingredients to put together, as well as presenting a variety of food prep and cooking methods.

If you are looking for some useful and tasty fish and seafood recipes, the following fish and seafood cookbooks can give you all the inspiration you need to create some succulent seafood meals.

Our Top 5 Fish Cookbooks

When you are looking for a good fish cookbook, there are a few factors to consider before committing your time, money, and efforts to one in particular.

Firstly, skim through the cookbook to ensure it contains recipes that seem within the realm of your cooking ability, as well as ones that are appealing for you to cook. Also, have a look at a few of the recipes and their required ingredients. If you don’t know what half the ingredients are, chances are they will be difficult to find.

There are all sorts of fish recipes and styles of cooking; some focus on taste while others on healthier low-calorie options.

If you are interested in fish recipes as a healthier eating option, bypass the recipe books that don’t seem to contain health-conscientious recipes.  Often a quick perusal of a cookbook’s intro will tell you what type of recipes are within.

Below are five fish cookbooks for you to consider as your guide to fish-worthy culinary pursuits.

The Freshwater Fish Cookbook: More than 200 Ways to Cook Your Catch

The Freshwater Fish Cookbook is a delightful gift for freshwater anglers around the globe. Livingston is praised for his humorous writing style, making it a pleasure to read and follow his recipes.

With more than 200 recipes for a wide range of fish including salmon, trout, perch, pike, walleye, stripes and black bass, the simple and straightforward instructions are ideal for anglers wanting to cook their catch in nature or the kitchen.

This collection is more than just a recipe book; it is a complete resource as it also contains a wealth of information such as cooking and freezing tips, cleaning and filleting your catch, and amusing trivia tidbits.

The full-color photos and illustrations complement the accompanying recipes, making this cookbook the ideal gift angle for that special angler in your life.

Freshwater Fish Recipes Made Simple: 99 Recipes for the Homecook

From top-selling author, George T. Gregory comes 99 delicious freshwater fish recipes to cook at home that will stop you from ever preparing a catch with store-bought batter again.

This cookbook is well suited for your everyday recreational fisherman and average cook. Recipes cover numerous freshwater fish such as Northern Pike, Salmon, Trout, Bass, Catfish, and Walleye. He also covers a variety of cooking methods from frying to baking, grilling to broiling, and soup prep.

These recipes are sure to entice even the most discerning of taste buds.

Trout Cookbook (A.D. Livingston Cookbook Series)

Trout Cookbook

by A.D. Livingston


As a leading authority on game cooking, A.D. Livingston creates a fabulously informative and comprehensive cookbook. The ultimate trout fan will love the 100 recipes for preparing this tasty and popular fish.

From grilling to poaching, smoking to sautéing and broiling, there are recipes to suit every cooking preference and ability.

Featured recipes of the book include:

  • Poached Trout with Mustard Sauce
  • Trout Parmigiana
  • Trout Baked in White Wine

Those wanting to hone their trout-cooking skills have much to gain from adding this recipe book onto their cookbook shelf.

Lake Fish: Modern Cooking with Freshwater Fish

Keane Amdahl is a cook known for his creative use of ingredients as well as his versatile preparation methods. Focusing on freshwater fish like Trout, Walleye, and Panfish.

Amdahl’s recipes offer unique ways to savor local and sustainable fish.

This cookbook contains sections arranged by fish type and includes numerous tantalizing appetizer recipes in addition to main courses. The book offers delicious fish recipes such as:

  • Midwestern Fisherman’s Stew
  • BBQ Northern with Cajun-Fried Rice
  • Walleye with Morels and Brown Butter

Amdhal encourages the use of local providers of fresh and smoked fish while further inspiring his readers to experiment with a variety of ingredients and culinary techniques.

The New Cleaning & Cooking Fish: The Complete Guide to Preparing Delicious Freshwater Fish (The Freshwater Angler)

Sylvia Gashline is an award-winning writer and photographer of outdoor subjects. When it comes to cooking, cleaning, dressing, and filleting a catch, Gashline knows and has done it all.

Her cookbook covers how to broil, poach, and smoke your catch. Her recipes include appetizers, salads, soups, and mains. With the extra nutritional information provided with substitution ideas, this is an excellent choice for those wanting to explore some healthy fish recipes.

With over 120 different recipes to choose from and equally beautiful accompanying photographs, this cookbook is one you’ll want to keep on the line.

Our Top 4 Seafood Cookbooks

When it comes to searching for that seafood cookbook with the perfect blend of simple instructions, informative content, and delicious recipes, you might not need to cast a wide net. There are as many seafood types as there are preparation methods, health benefits, and shopping tips.

A genuinely resourceful seafood cookbook will provide you with guidance on how to buy, catch and prepare a wide variety of seafood types from shrimp and scallops to eel and swordfish. That is why we have selected these top 5 seafood cookbooks to help get you started on the road to seafood success.

The Saltwater Cookbook: Fish and Seafood - From Ocean to Table

Hailed by many as the only seafood cookbook you will need on your bookshelf, Tim Lauer delivers a thorough collection of saltwater seafood recipes and step-by-step preparation instructions. Whether you are catching your own or purchasing from your local fish market, Lauer guides you on how to choose the freshest seafood and every step from there to the table.

There is a chapter dedicated to sports angling and how to handle and transport your catch. Another section is devoted solely to the best fin-fish cooking methods, as well as the individual characteristics of the various types of fin-fish. The shellfish chapter covers recipes, preparation, and safe handling and consumption tips.

Some tasty recipes offered up include:

  • Soups and Chowders
  • Appetizers and Light Meals
  • Sauces and Marinades
  • Sides and Salads
  • Main Courses
  • Preservation Tips

The cookbook also contains nutritional information as well as substitutions. Tim Lauer guides you from the initial catch to the table.

Pike Place Public Market Seafood Cookbook

Best-selling author, Braiden Rex-Johnson, brings the Pike Place Public Market to life within the pages of his lively and energetic seafood cookbook. Rex-Johnson shares tips for the market community from shopping to cooking, mail-ordering, and of course, delicious and tantalizing seafood recipes.

This full-color gift edition cookbook contains over 50 recipes and colorful photographs depicting the very best of what the Pike Place Public Market has to offer. It also includes an informative section on the history of the market.

This book will leave your mouthwatering with recipes such as:

  • Broiled Halibut with Sundried Tomato
  • Balsamic-Glazed Salmon
  • Shellfish Risotto
  • Numerous simple sauces, marinades, and glazes.

This seafood cookbook will make the perfect addition to the library of one who is enamored with the infamous fishing market community as with the tasty recipes themselves.

Fish & Shellfish: The Cook's Indispensable Companion

Author James Peterson has delivered a cookbook that is viewed as the ultimate source of information regarding fish and shellfish preparation and recipes.

Every possible cooking method is included and discussed at length from baking to braising, grilling to broiling, poaching to panfrying, marinating to curing, and steaming to microwaving.

Highlighted recipes such as the following are a sample of the succulent meals you can expect to find in this book.

  • Stuffed Striped Bass with Spinach, Shrimp, and Mushrooms
  • Halibut fillets with Curry
  • Braised Tuna with Vegetables
  • Thai-Style Swordfish Satay

There is also a huge section on shellfish which covers everything from preparation techniques to every known kind of shellfish, to elegant recipes like ‘Hot Oysters with Leeks and White Wine Sauce.’

Each section has been referred to as a book in and of itself with its thorough and comprehensive contents and instructions.

Like the great culinary tradition of Julia Child, James Peterson delivers a cookbook considered by many to be the ultimate guide to fish and shellfish.

Williams-Sonoma Collection: Seafood

The Williams-Sonoma Collection contains more than 40 seafood recipes that are oozing with taste and sophistication. From sea bass to lobster meat, to fish and shellfish, these quick-cooking recipes can fool even the most astute of diners into thinking you’ve been slaving away in the kitchen for hours.

Appetizers and mains like ‘Seafood Paella’ and ‘Cajun-Spiced Catfish’ are dishes that produce beautiful results with a minimum of time and effort in the kitchen.

Colorful images and asides containing helpful information abound as you work your way through the pages of this exquisite cookbook.

Wrap Up

As you are well aware by now, fish and seafood cookbooks are not just about cooking. In addition to numerous recipes for appetizers, salads, soups, and mains, they can provide you with anything and everything you have ever wanted to know about our sea-dwelling friends.

Whether you are preparing fish you have caught yourself outdoors or transporting your market selection home, these cookbooks can guide you from the catching/selection process to safe handling and transportation, all the way to the table.

Fresh, saltwater, fish and seafood come in numerous varieties,  mentioned at length in our selected cookbooks. So before you begin your fish and seafood cooking ventures, be sure to take one of these ten best fish and seafood cookbooks along for the ride.

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