This is hands down the only grilled swordfish recipe you’ll ever use! Meaty swordfish is grilled on skewers with fresh lemon slices until tender and flaky. We’re pairing this grilled swordfish recipe with a simple, robust Italian salsa verde. It’s a light, herbaceous sauce made from lots of fresh chopped parsley, anchovies, garlic, capers, red pepper flakes, lemon, and garlic. It gets mixed with extra virgin olive oil, then drizzled on top of the grilled swordfish.
We love this easy, healthy, weeknight dinner (it’s gluten-free, dairy-free, and Whole30 compliant!) — it feels fancy, but requires very little effort. We think you’re going to love it too!
Looking for more swordfish recipes? Be sure to try our Sicilian Swordfish and Baked Swordfish next!
Ingredient Notes
We are grilling high quality, fresh swordfish steaks with nothing more than fresh lemons, olive oil, Kosher salt, and black pepper. This would be delicious on its own — no really, grilled swordfish with a squeeze of lemon is the best! — but we’re taking it to the next level with a fragrant, herbaceous sauce that you won’t want to live without!
For The Italian Salsa Verde:
- Lots of freshly chopped parsley
- 2 anchovies
- Drained capers
- Garlic
- Kosher salt
- A pinch of crushed red pepper flakes
- Half a lemon zested and juiced
- High quality extra virgin olive oil
Since the Italian salsa verde is an uncooked sauce, you want to make sure to use high quality ingredients that taste fresh and delicious when eaten raw.
How To Make Italian Salsa Verde
But first, what is Italian salsa verde? How is it different from la salsa verde? Generally, Italian salsa verde features anchovies, capers, and red pepper flakes versus an Argentinian chimichurri, for instance, which still has lots of fresh herbs (parsley and/or cilantro), but adds vinegar. While there are other green sauces that fall under the category of salsa verde (different regions have different variations), the important thing to note is that they’re all green sauces that are uncooked and served at room temperature.
- Finely chop all ingredients. Using a sharp knife, finely chop all Italian salsa verde ingredients, then place in a medium mixing bowl.
- Whisk with olive oil. Next, stream in the olive oil and whisk until thoroughly combined. Taste and adjust seasoning as needed.
Alternatively, you can place all sauce ingredients in the bowl of a food processor fitted with blade attachment, process until finely chopped, then drizzle in the olive oil to combine. Both methods work great!
The Italian salsa verde can sit out at room temperature until needed. This will keep for up to 5 days when covered.
How To Cook Swordfish On The Grill
- Preheat the grill. Preheat a grill with the lid down until an temperature of 450-475F is reached.
- Prepare the swordfish. Carefully slice off swordfish skin, then discard. Cut remaining swordfish steaks into large, roughly equal sized pieces about 2″ wide. Season generously on all sides with Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper.
- Assemble the skewers. If using metal skewers, simply alternate pieces of seasoned swordfish cubes with folded over slices of lemon. We recommend 3-4 pieces of swordfish per skewer. If using wooden or bamboo skewers, soak in water for 1 hour first, then assemble the skewers.
- Grill swordfish. When the grill is hot, lightly grease the grates with olive oil or grill spray. Carefully place the skewers down, then cook 2-3 minutes on the first side, or until the swordfish easily pulls away from the grates. Flip the skewers over (wearing grill gloves helps tremendously!) and cook an additional 2-3 minutes, or until swordfish registers with an internal temperature of 130-135F is reached. Remove from the grill and serve immediately with salsa verde!
Expert Tips
The trick to cooking any type of seafood on the grill and not having it stick are simple:
- Make sure the grill is extremely clean. The easiest way to clean a grill is when it’s hot. That means when you finish grilling, always go back over the grates with a grill brush while it’s still warm — you’ll more easily remove any excess food that stuck to the grates.
- Make sure the grill is very hot. If you don’t want the swordfish steaks or skewers to stick to the grill, it has to be hot. Remember, the grill will go down in temperature when you open the top, so let it heat up a little warmer than the temperature you’d like to cook at.
- Don’t turn the seafood until it easily releases from the grill grates. If you try to lift and turn the grilled swordfish and it doesn’t pull away easily from the grill grates, let it continue to cook. When it’s ready, and assuming you followed the above rules, it will release easily so you can flip it over.
These swordfish skewers are for you if (1) you like simple, healthy meals that cook quickly, and (2) you want to feel like you’re eating a restaurant-worthy meal at home. Seriously, this is the best grilled swordfish recipe ever!
If you make this Grilled Swordfish recipe, please let us know by leaving a review and rating below! Be sure to check out our baked swordfish recipe, as well — totally different flavor profile, but light, fresh, and healthy all the same!
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More seafood recipes to try!
Tender, Slow Baked Salmon with Compound Butter Simple Thai Curry with Scallops and String Beans Butter Poached Cod Grilled Lobster Tails and Clams White Bean Salad with Tuna
Grilled Swordfish Skewers Recipe with Italian Salsa Verde
Equipment
Ingredients
For the swordfish
- 3 swordfish steaks about ~1 ¾-2 lb total
- 2 large lemons thinly sliced, plus more for serving
For the Italian salsa verde
- 2 cups finely chopped parsley
- 2 anchovies
- 1 large garlic clove
- 1 Tbsp capers drained
- ½ lemon zested and juiced
- pinch of red pepper flakes
- ½ tsp Kosher salt
- ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
Instructions
- Make the sauce. Using a sharp knife, finely chop all Italian salsa verde ingredients, then place in a medium mixing bowl.
- Whisk with olive oil. Next, stream in the olive oil and whisk until thoroughly combined. Taste and adjust seasoning as needed.
- Preheat the grill. Preheat a grill with the lid down until an temperature of 450-475F is reached.
- Prepare the swordfish. Carefully slice off swordfish skin, then discard. Cut remaining swordfish steaks into large, roughly equal sized pieces about 2" wide. Season generously on all sides with Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper.
- Assemble the skewers. If using metal skewers, simply alternate pieces of seasoned swordfish cubes with folded over slices of lemon. We recommend 3-4 pieces of swordfish per skewer. If using wooden or bamboo skewers, soak in water for 1 hour first, then assemble the skewers.
- Grill swordfish. When the grill is hot, lightly grease the grates with olive oil or grill spray. Carefully place the skewers down, then cook 2-3 minutes on the first side, or until the swordfish easily pulls away from the grates. Flip the skewers over (wearing grill gloves helps tremendously!) and cook an additional 2-3 minutes, or until swordfish registers with an internal temperature of 130-135F is reached. Remove from the grill and serve immediately with salsa verde!
Notes
- Make sure the grill is extremely clean. The easiest way to clean a grill is when it’s hot. That means when you finish grilling, always go back over the grates with a grill brush while it’s still warm — you’ll more easily remove any excess food that stuck to the grates.
- Make sure the grill is very hot. If you don’t want the swordfish steaks or skewers to stick to the grill, it has to be hot. Remember, the grill will go down in temperature when you open the top, so let it heat up a little warmer than the temperature you’d like to cook at.
- Don’t turn the seafood until it easily releases from the grill grates. If you try to lift and turn the grilled swordfish and it doesn’t pull away easily from the grill grates, let it continue to cook. When it’s ready, and assuming you followed the above rules, it will release easily so you can flip it over.
Nutrition
*This post was sponsored by Balducci’s. All opinions are my own. I only support and promote brands that I believe in and use in my own kitchen – I hope you’ll check them out! Thank you for supporting the brands that make Well Seasoned possible.
This was incredible! The flavors in the Italian salsa were so good with the lemony swordfish! Would be so easy to make for a dinner party since you can make the salsa ahead of time! We loved it!!
Thanks, Tracy! We love this too and have definitely entertained with it. Easy and delicious. xo, Ari