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Baked Mackerel with Potatoes and Onions

Baked mackerel cooked in the oven with salad potatoes, red onion and a little cider & dijon mustard, an easy foolproof way of cooking fish.

It is an easy recipe to cook, all you need to do is parboil some potatoes, then throw them in the oven with everything else for 25 minutes and dinner is served!

Overhead baked whole mackerel with salad potatoes, red onions on a baking tray.

Roasted Whole Mackerel with Cider and Mustard

Favourite foods are often associated with luxury or indulgence, but for me the finest eating fish is the gloriously frugal mackerel.

I love its flavour, texture and how easy it is to cook, everything about it is perfect!

I have recipes as diverse as Indian mackerel curry, Thai choo chee curry and devilled mackerel. I also have a wonderful homemade salt cured mackerel salad with samphire.

Even smoked mackerel gets a look in getting used in recipes like smoked mackerel risotto and smoked mackerel salad.

The baked mackerel recipe is essentially a tray bake with potatoes, red onions with hints of mustard and cider.

Nothing could be easier than cooking this dish, all you need to do is parboil some potatoes and slice them.

Then all you have to do is chuck it all on a baking tray and into the oven it goes, 25 minutes later you have perfectly roasted mackerel and all of your sides!

Baked whole mackerel with salad potatoes, red onions and chives.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I use mackerel fillets?

Not really, the mackerel fillets cook far too quickly to roast in the oven in my opinion.

Do I have to use head on mackerel?

No, you can just use the body of the mackerel and remove the head and tail.

If you go to a fish monger they will be more than happy to do this for you, this does not have an impact on the cooking time.

What cider should I use?

Use a dry cider that you enjoy drinking, avoid any of the sweet flavoured ciders that are incredibly popular at the moment. They are lovely to drink but terrible for cooking in my opinion.

A note for any US visitors, cider refers to “booze” across most of the world, so this recipe uses what you guys call hard cider.

Do I have to use cider?

No, you could replace it with something like white wine or even a light beer.

If alcohol is the issue then use apple juice or grape juice and a squeeze of lemon juice, but make sure that neither of them are sweetened!

Baked whole mackerel with salad potatoes, red onions on a baking tray.

Serving Suggestions

I consider this baked mackerel recipe a complete meal and tend not to add anything else other than a nice side salad.

A simple green salad with a nice dressing is more than adequate. Although some crusty bread to mop up any leftover juices is always welcome!

If you want some greens with this recipe I would throw them into the oven when cooking the fish.

Everything from green beans to tenderstem broccoli and asparagus work really well.

Just toss them in a little oil and add them to the tray between 7 and 15 minutes before the cooking time is complete.

Overhead baked whole mackerel with salad potatoes, red onions and chives.

Equipment Used

I only recommend specific brands of equipment if I believe that it makes a material difference to a recipe. If you have any questions feel free to ask them in the comments section below the recipe.

  • Stovetop.
  • Oven.
  • 20cm or 8″ saucepan.
  • 35cm or 14″ baking tray.
  • Chopping board.
  • Sharp kitchen knife.
  • Weighing scales and or measuring cups and spoons.
Baked whole mackerel with salad potatoes, red onions and chives on a baking tray.
Yield: 2 Servings

Baked Mackerel Recipe

Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook Time: 40 minutes
Total Time: 45 minutes

As far as I am concerned mackerel is the finest fish in the sea, this baked mackerel with new potatoes and red onions recipe is one of the easiest and cheapest fish dinners!

Ingredients

  • 2 Whole Mackerel
  • 350g (2 Cups) Salad Potatoes
  • 1 Tsp Salt
  • 1 Large (200g) Red Onion
  • 125ml (½ Cup) Dry Cider
  • 1 Tbsp Dijon Mustard
  • 1 Tbsp Rapeseed (Canola) Oil
  • 1 Tsp Thyme Leaves
  • ½ Tsp Coarse Sea Salt
  • ½ Tsp Freshly Ground Black Pepper
  • 20g (½ Cup) Fresh Chives to Serve

Instructions

  1. Bring a medium saucepan (20cm or 8") of water to a boil and season it with a teaspoon of salt, add the potatoes and parboil for 12-14 minutes.
  2. Whilst the potatoes are cooking top and tail the red onion, peel it and then cut it into 1cm thick slices.
  3. Mix the cider with the dijon mustard and set aside.
  4. When the potatoes have been parboiled, drain them then cut them in half.
  5. Place the potatoes and onions onto a baking sheet and sprinkle with the thyme leaves.
  6. Season the cavities of the mackerel with half of the coarse sea salt, then place them onto the baking sheet with the potatoes and onions.
  7. Pour the mustard and cider mix over the fish and veggies, followed by the rapeseed oil, then sprinkle over the remaining salt and the black pepper.
  8. Place the fish in the oven and bake for 23-27 minutes at 180°C or 350°F.
  9. Whilst the fish is baking, snip the chives and sprinkle them over when the fish comes out of the oven.

Nutrition Information:

Yield:

2

Serving Size:

1

Amount Per Serving: Calories: 639Total Fat: 32gSaturated Fat: 7gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 20gCholesterol: 132mgSodium: 1007mgCarbohydrates: 40gFiber: 7gSugar: 13gProtein: 48g

Calorific details are provided by a third-party application and are to be used as indicative figures only.

Did you make this recipe?

If you made this recipe, I'd love to see what you did and what I can do better, share a picture with me on Instagram and tag me @krumplibrian and tell me how it went!

Leah

Sunday 28th of July 2024

This sounds lovely, is there anything I could use instead of Cider - anything non alcoholic I mean? Thank you!

Brian Jones

Monday 29th of July 2024

Hi Leah... Probably the best substitute would be a non alcoholic white wine, they have improved so much in quality in recent years. If you wanted to avoid the cost, then a bit of good quality vegetable or fish stock (the same amount) with a splash of white wine vinegar or even lemon juice.

Enjoy

Brian

thomas rosser

Sunday 12th of March 2023

hi and thanks for another get me recipes. as i live in the west country [ uk ] i love cider so that is not a prob could i use frozen mackeral .cant catch them now regards tom

Brian Jones

Monday 13th of March 2023

I used to use frozen mackerel a lot when I lived in Hungary and always found it a little underwhelming but that may just be a quality issue rather than a problem with frozen mackerel in general. It will work but it is best made with fresh fish.

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