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This simple mahi mahi en papillote combines fresh fish, lemon, asparagus, red bell pepper, green onions, and smoked paprika. All perfectly cooked in a single serving parchment paper pouch.
Who doesn’t love opening gifts?
These sweet, flaky mahi mahi, with fresh lemon juice, tender-crisp veggies, and savory butter, are all in the little parchment packets that guests can open, just like a tasty present!
Mahi mahi en papillote is perfect for family weekday nights or for serving weekend dinner to guests.
The best part is that cleanup is a breeze!
Trust me, you’ll love these mahi mahi en papillote. Need another mahi mahi option? Try this baked mahi mahi!
Ingredients for mahi mahi en papillote
- Mahi mahi – This fish is relatively mild in flavor, slightly sweet, with a faint pink undertone.
- Lemon – Adds a burst of citrus flavor that compliments our fish and veggies.
- Vegetables – Asparagus, bell pepper, and green onions all provide savory flavors and will cook until tender-crisp.
- Butter – This is our fat of choice here. Nothing goes together with fish better than butter!
- Smoked paprika – Smoked paprika is smoky and sweet but not spicy!
- White wine or vegetable stock – We need a liquid to help steam the fish and the veggies. Feel free to use your favorite dry white wine or vegetable stock.
What is “en papillote?”
“En papillote” is French and means food cooked and served in a paper pouch.
Here, we are cooking mahi mahi, but you could also cook chicken breast en papillote or vegetable en papillote.
How to fold the parchment pouch
If you remember making hearts for Valentine’s Day at school, this will be a snap!
Take two 15×24 pieces of parchment paper and fold them in half.
With a pencil, draw a large half of a heart shape (try to use up as much space as possible to utilize as much parchment as possible).
Using scissors, cut along the half-heart shape and open it up. Look! You made a heart!
Place your parchment hearts on a baking sheet.
Lay one fish filet in the middle, on the right side of the parchment heart, near the crease.
Top each fish filet with three thin slices of lemon and equal parts asparagus, bell pepper slices, green onions, and parsley.
Top the vegetables with one tablespoon of butter, one teaspoon of smoked paprika, and kosher salt to taste per filet.
Fold the other half of the parchment heart over, and start crimping and cinching the two halves of parchment together starting from the round side, leaving the last 2 inches at the pointed end opened.
In this opening, pour in your dry white wine (or veggie stock).
Carefully fold the last 2 inches of the packet under itself and crimp it tightly so the liquid does not escape.
Alternatives to mahi mahi
If you’re unable to find mahi mahi at your grocery store or fishmonger, no worries!
Tilapia, haddock, cod, and salmon are all excellent choices. However, salmon has a stronger taste than the other white fish mentioned, so keep that in mind!
You could even use shrimp! Don’t be skimpy–use extra-large shrimp and put 4-5 per pouch.
More fish recipes
- Looking for something spicy? Try my Chipotle Shrimp Fajita Bowls.
- Want to keep it low-carb? Try my Garlic Shrimp Pesto Zoodles.
- Craving some tuna? Try my Tuna Poke Bowls.
- Love easy clean-up? Try my Sheet Pan Lemon Salmon.
Mahi Mahi En Papillote
Ingredients
- 2 mahi mahi fillets
- 1 lemon, thinly sliced
- 6 asparagus spears, 1/2 inch dice
- 1 small red bell pepper, sliced
- 4 green onions, sliced
- 2 tablespoons chopped parsley
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 2 teaspoons smoked paprika
- Kosher salt, to taste
- 1/4 cup dry white wine or vegetable stock
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
- Take 2 (15×24) pieces of parchment paper and fold them in half, short end to short end.
- Draw half a heart (with pencil) on the parchment paper, keeping close to the edge when possible so you do not waste too much parchment paper.
- Cut along the half heart and then open up. You should be looking at a heart. This process is very similar to many Valentine's Day or art projects you may have done in elementary school.
- Open your parchment hearts, place them on a baking sheet, and lay one fish fillet in the middle on the right side of the parchment near the crease.
- Top each fish fillet with 3 thin slices of lemon and equal parts asparagus, bell pepper slices, green onions, and parsley.
- Top the vegetables with 1 tablespoon butter, 1 teaspoon smoked paprika, and kosher salt to taste per fillet.
- Fold the other half of parchment over the fish and start cinching together the parchment paper. Starting at the rounded end crimp the edges together, folding them over themselves and leaving the last 2 inches at the pointed end unfolded.
- Tilt the package up and pour in the wine. Finish crimping the edges then twist the pointed end around once and fold the "tail" under. Remember you are trying to keep all that deliciousness inside the parchment package so it is important to crimp tightly.
- Add packets to a baking sheet to the oven and cook for 12 minutes and then let rest out of the oven for 2 minutes.
- Open packet and devour.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
My son loves fish and veggies. So he would love this.
Such a cute story! I am sooo on this fish train. Like I want to yell out “choo chooooo! I need to try this!
Ooh, I love making dinner in parchment packets.. I haven’t done it in a long time, thanks for reminding me. It’s funny we (used) to make our kids do the same thing, sit until they finished their meals. It worked though, as everyone happily eats whatever is served now that they are older. I love all the beautiful spring flavors and colors in this dish. Looks delicious!
I wish someone who’s actually made this dish had left a review!
I liked the story too, and thought the recipe looked good. Followed exactly and it was awful. The flavor of my beautiful Mahi was completely overwhelmed by the red pepper and asparagus.
If you decide to try this dish, please use a cheap fish like frozen tilapia from TJs. You won’t taste it anyway.
Or just make something else.