Grilled Mahi Mahi Recipe in a Lemon Butter Sauce

Name: Grilled Mahi Mahi Recipe in a Lemon Butter Sauce
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 10 min
Total time: 30 min
Yield: 6
Cuisine: Paleo
Ingredients: 6 (5-6 ounce) Mahi Mahi fillets; Real Salt *; 2 Tbl Extra Virgin Olive Oil; 6 Tbl Butter (Ghee * for Whole30 and possibly Paleo, depending on your beliefs); 1/4 Onion (minced); 1/2 tsp Garlic (minced); 1/4 cup Chicken Stock; 2 Lemons

October 18, 2017 Rebecca Baron 31 Comments

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This quick and easy grilled Mahi Mahi recipe in a lemon butter sauce is a really good copycat recipe I made up after eating it in one of my favorite restaurants, Carraba's Italian Grill. It only takes about half an hour to make from start to finish and is very little hands-on work during that time.

For a long period of time, this was pretty much the only restaurant that I trusted eating out at with my very strict dietary needs. I knew the workers, and they were very accomodating to make an order custom for specific needs. This Mahi Mahi dish is my to-go dish when I go to Carraba's, it is so good I tend to always be drawn to it.

Generally, this dish is breaded and the breading is really good. I thought it would be fun to do a grilled fish with this lemon butter sauce since there are a lot of recipes out there for pan-fried or baked with this kind of sauce.

Mahi-Mahi holds up SO well to grilling because it's firm enough that it won't fall apart. It is also not a very "fishy" tasting fish, so it's a good fish to try if you aren't a big fish person.

As a bonus, this grilled fish recipe is Paleo, gluten-free and "clean" and only has a few ingredients. The grill flavor makes it have a smokey flavor that you wouldn't get if you breaded this dish.

This recipe would be really good to cook for someone you want to impress. It would also be good for a special dinner with your significant other since there would be a lot fewer people than a crowded restaurant and it would cost a lot less money too. Plus, when you eat at home, you know exactly what you are getting because there are no hidden ingredients.

I've also made this recipe in a frying pan by first heating it up then putting a little oil in the pan and cooking on both sides until it flakes easily with a fork. Then set the fish to the side and make the lemon butter sauce in the same pan.

Ingredients in grilled mahi-mahi

It couldn't get much simpler than this!

Fresh mahi-mahi fillets - If you don't have access to fresh ones, just buy the frozen ones. I know Costco has individually frozen ones and they are easy to unthaw overnight in the refrigerator in the individual vacuum-sealed packets. One of the reasons I love mahi-mahi for this recipe is it holds up really well on the grill. It doesn't fall apart like other fish. But you can totally use other fish - just use a grilled basket. Mahi also has a nice, mild flavor and they are kind of dense. I like to think of them as the steak version of fish.
Olive oil - or your favorite cooking oil, such as avocado oil to coat the fish so it won't stick to the grill and to help seal in the flavors to start. I use oil for this since you want something with a higher smoke point for the grill.
Butter - this is a recipe I save my good-quality butter, such as Kerrygold, for since it is one of the stars of the dish. However, if you are on a diet where you don't do butter, go ahead and try it with ghee *. It's just clarified butter, after all.
Chicken stock - Store-bought works fine - or I've gotten to where I often make chicken bone broth myself in either the slow cooker or Instant Pot * and freeze it in 8-ounce freezer containers * for recipes like this. I also make vegetable stock from my leftover onions, carrots, celery, garlic and a few other random vegetable scraps and freeze that. All this saves me a ton of money and tastes way better than anything from a store.
Lemons - I just love lemons - and I assume you do too since you are reading this post. If you "do" essential oils, through in a few drops of those for a little extra health benefit and a little extra lemon flavor.

Do you like to eat at Carrabba's too? I'm so spoiled since there is one only a few blocks from my house. What's your favorite Carrabba's dish? My husband's favorite is the Chicken Bryan since it has goat cheese and he can't do regular dairy but tolerates cow's milk butter, goat milk and cheese just fine.

This easy roasted vegetable recipe is my #1 way to cook vegetables. I'm obsessed and you will be too. Try it with any recipe.

Simple, Healthy Roasted Vegetables Recipe

I hope you enjoy it and let us know what you think of the dish in the comments below. 🙂