Whether you’re grilling up a freshly caught fish or a quality fillet from the grocery store, it’s important to know how to cook it and how to recognize when it’s fully cooked and ready for serving. Fish is delicate and can easily become stuck to the grill but, once you learn a few simple tricks, you’ll be able to grill up the perfect fillet every time.

Preheating the Grill
Before you get cooking, the first step is to preheat the grill. This serves two main functions when cooking a fish fillet. One is that it will minimize your total cooking time and help to ensure that the fillet doesn’t dry out. The other is that it will help prevent the fillet from sticking to the grill. Plus, it will create those desired grill marks and impart the fish with a delicious flavour.

Prepping the Fillet
While your grill is getting up to temperature, you can turn your attention to prepping the fillet. There really isn’t all that much to it. Simply coat both sides of the fillet with vegetable oil and season with salt, pepper, and any of your favourite seasonings. When you’re finished, place it skin-side down first and diagonally on the grill slats.

Cooking Time and Technique
Cooking time for fish fillets will vary depending on the type of fish and on the thickness of the fillet. However, a good rule of thumb is to cook a fillet for about four minutes a side per one inch of thickness, ideally only flipping it once to minimize the chances of it falling apart. Adjust accordingly depending on the size of the fish and on other signs that the fillet is fully cooked.

How to Tell If Your Fillet is Ready
The first sign that a fillet is ready to be flipped is if you can lift the corner of it with a metal spatula without it sticking to the grill. If it doesn’t lift cleanly and you feel some resistance, then let it sit a little longer. When the fillet can be easily flipped over, the skin should also ideally be browned and pulling away from the flesh. Once flipped, you’ll know that the fillet is ready when the flesh starts to turn more opaque rather than translucent.

As you become a pro at spotting the signs that a fillet is almost done, you can pull it off the grill a little early and allow it to finish cooking as it cools down. This will help keep the fillet from drying out. You can always toss it back on the grill for a moment if you were too early.

Fish is one of the healthiest foods you can eat, as well as one of the tastiest when cooked right. Start with some of the strategies above and you’ll quickly develop your own technique for grilling all of your favourite fillets.