Grilled Halibut
on May 29, 2025, Updated Jun 17, 2025
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White, flaky, mild halibut is so easy to cook on the grill, and a light summer dinner that goes well with everything.
Halibut is a medium-firm white fish with a mild flavor — a perfect fish to grill when you want to have fish that isn’t too ”fishy”! Halibut grills up beautifully because of its dense, flaky texture. It takes well to all kinds of seasonings and marinades, and pairs nicely with various sauces or salsas, but it’s also lovely served with a simple squeeze of lemon, salt, and pepper.
Two of my favorite sauces for grilled halibut are persillade and roasted red pepper sauce. Serve grilled halibut with a summery side like Chili Crunch Cole Slaw, Cauliflower Potato Salad, or Kale Quinoa Salad.
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How to Grill Halibut
- Prepare the grill and fish: Trim any dark spots from the halibut steaks. Pat the steaks dry with clean paper towels. Brush the fish with the olive oil and season both sides with salt and pepper.
- Grill the halibut: Grill 1 1/2 inch filets for about 5 minutes, then flip the steak and cook for another 5 or so minutes, or until just cooked through.
- Serve: Place the halibut on a serving platter or individual plates. Squeeze a lemon quarter over each steak. Serve the persillade, roasted red pepper sauce, or a salsa on the side, or top each piece of fish with some of the sauce of your choice.
Halibut Grilling Tips
Grilling fish can be intimidating, but follow these simple guidelines and all will go well! And if the fish falls apart a bit as you flip it or remove it from the grill, do not be concerned. It’s all part of the art form we know as grilling (plus you can cover up anything with sauce!).
How to Keep Halibut From Sticking to the Grill
Scrape down the grill grates with a grill brush — it’s important for the grill to be completely clean. Then, oil the grill grates very well: Drizzle some vegetable oil on a clean paper towel or dip a paper towel into a little bowl of oil. Use your grilling tongs to rub the oiled paper towel over the grill grates until they are shiny. If you are using a grill basket or grill grate (see below), oil that as well.
Also, lightly oil the halibut itself before grilling it! If the halibut is in a marinade that contains oil, that will suffice. Otherwise, use a brush to give the fish a nice coating of oil. You can use olive oil or vegetable oil, whichever works best with the flavors of the fish recipe. Vegetable oil is more neutral, and olive oil works well with any Mediterranean-style fish dish.
Mayonnaise is another option, made with oil and eggs — it is neutral in flavor, and you won’t be able to detect it once the fish is cooked.
Steven Reichlen, the BBQ Guru, suggests the following for preventing halibut from sticking to the grill:
- When you place the oiled fish on the grill, gently slide it an inch or so forward to prevent it from sticking.
- When you flip the fish, turn it into a freshly oiled part of the grill that nothing has been cooked on — a totally clean new space.
Use a Fish Basket to Grill Fish
A fish grilling basket is a great investment if you like to grill fish often. These are hinged wire baskets that allow the exterior of the fish to make direct contact with the grill and the fire. Put the fish in the basket, close the latch, and turn the basket to turn the fish.
You can also find a grill accessory called a fish grate. This lies flat on the grill, and because it is flat, it allows a spatula to slide underneath the fish a lot more cleanly than the wider, rounder grill bars.
How Long to Cook Halibut on the Grill
For thinner fish steaks, 1 inch or so, you should flip them just once so the inside doesn’t overcook before the exterior browns. With thicker pieces of halibut, however, you can flip them a total of three times to get those nice cross-hatched grill marks. Just turn the steaks 90 degrees as you flip them each time. It’s more important to not allow the fish to dry out than to get nutty about perfect grill marks.
| Fillet Thickness | Doneness | Cooking Time |
|---|---|---|
| 1-inch thick | Medium (firm to the touch) | 4 to 5 minutes per side |
| 1-inch thick | Medium-well | 5 to 6 minutes per side |
| 1 1/4-inch thick | Medium | 5 to 6 minutes per side |
| 1 1/4-inch thick | Medium-well | 6 to 7 minutes per side |
| 1 1/2-inch thick | Medium | 6 to 7 minutes per side |
| 1 1/2-inch thick | Medium-well | 7 to 8 minutes per side |
| 2-inch thick | Medium | 7 to 8 minutes per side |
| 2-inch thick | Medium-well | 8 to 9 minutes per side |
What to Serve With Grilled Halibut
I like to serve the halibut with persillade or roasted red pepper sauce, though it’s also great with many different types of salsa. Other sauces that would be great with this fish are chimichurri sauce, dill sauce, or remoulade. Or serve the fish with a scoop of green or black olive tapenade.
The halibut is very simply prepared, so it goes with all kinds of sides! Try grilled asparagus with lemon butter sauce and a crisp green salad with Italian Dressing.
More Grilled Fish and Seafood Recipes
- Grilled Salmon
- Grilled Swordfish
- Grilled Tuna
- Grilled Cod – another mild white grilled fish.
- Grilled Lobster Tail
- Grilled Scallops
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Grilled Halibut
Equipment
Ingredients
- ¼ cup olive oil , plus more for drizzling
- 4 (6- to 8-ounce) halibut fillets (about 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 inches thick)
- Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper (to taste)
- Persillade (to serve; optional)
Instructions
- Heat the grill to medium-high. Use grilling tongs to dip a wad of paper towels in some vegetable oil, and use the oil-dipped paper towels to wipe down the grill rack.
- Brush the fish on both sides with oil and season with salt and pepper. Place the fish, flesh side down on the hot oiled grill and let cook for 4 to 5 minutes without moving. Use a large, flat, metal spatula, preferably a fish spatula, to gently lift the edge of the fish from the grill. If you see nice grill marks and the fish releases easily from the grill, it is ready to flip. Carefully flip the fish to another clean, oiled part of the grill (you can also give the skin of the fish another generous brush of oil to prevent sticking. Cook on the second side for another 4 to 5 minutes, until the skin is crispy and has nice grill marks and releases easily from the grill.
- Carefully use the spatula to transfer the fish to a serving platter. Give the finish a final drizzle of olive oil, and serve with the persillade, if desired.
Notes
Nutrition
FAQs
You want to make sure, as with any fish, that your halibut is perfectly fresh before grilling, so buy it from a reputable fishmonger who keeps their fish on ice. If you are buying packaged halibut, be sure it comes from a store with a lot of turnover for the freshest fish.
The fish should be moist, not at all dry, and firm and springy to the touch. Halibut should be white and glossy, not at all dull or yellowy. It should smell fresh and a bit salty, like the sea, not at all fishy or “off.” If you can buy it fresh and not frozen, even better!
The skin of the fish will crisp up nicely on the grill and is quite delicious. However, you can also grill halibut without skin. Or, grill the halibut with the skin to keep it moist and easier to remove from the grill in one piece, but then peel off the skin before serving if you prefer.
The internal temperature should be 140 degrees on an instant-read thermometer. The fish should be just cooked through and flake apart in large chunks when you press it with a finger.
It’s all a matter of cooking it just until it’s done! Halibut has a low oil content, so it’s important not to overcook it. Fish cooks very quickly on the grill and can go from perfectly cooked to dry in a couple of minutes. Don’t leave the grill unless you have a timer set that will prevent you from missing the moment of perfectly cooked fish.
