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    Home » Instant Pot

    How to cook FISH in the Instant Pot - Salmon, white fish, any fish

    Published: Apr 15, 2019 · Modified: Jan 27, 2025 by Maria Bravo · This post may contain affiliate links · 14 Comments

    Jump to Recipe

    Discover how to cook FISH in the Instant Pot - Salmon, white fish, any fish...

    This method is super easy and it even works for frozen fish.

    COOK FOR ONE OR FOR 5-6-7-8...

    Just scale the recipe it up adding more fillets, a salmon side etc.

    Photo of two salmon steaks on a wet surface with half a lemon in the background
    Jump to:
    • 📖 Recipe
    • How to pressure cook Fish
    • Flavour ideas for your fish parcels
    • What fish does it work with?
    • Steaming under pressure
    • More pressure cooker recipes with fish
    • Step-by-step photos

    📖 Recipe

    How to pressure cook fish in the Instant Pot - salmon, white fish, any fish

    How to pressure cook fish in the Instant Pot - salmon, white fish, any fish

    Maria Bravo
    Pressure cooking fish in your Instant Pot couldn't be easier. Just follow these simple instructions and play with the flavours. This even works for frozen fish. COOK FOR ONE OR FOR 5. Use the same parcel for all the fish or different parcels for different flavours.
    Parchment paper, baking parchment, baking paper, greaseproof paper... different names for the same thing.
    5 from 4 votes
    Print Recipe Pin Recipe Save Recipe Recipe Saved!
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    Prep Time 2 minutes mins
    Course Main Course

    Equipment

    • 1 Pressure Cooker stove-top or electric like an Instant Pot or Ninja Foodi

    Ingredients
      

    • 2 fillets fish (salmon, sea bass, haddock, cod, etc)
    • 250 ml water

    Instructions
     

    • Dampen the parchment paper under the tap. Scrunch it up to get rid of excess moisture. Stretch it out again.
    • Place the fish inside with any other ingredients you want to add. I love using at the very least a little bit of extra virgin olive oil, sea salt and a couple of twists of the black pepper mill. Lemon is good too. Play with the flavours. How about some harissa paste or aioli?
    • 250 ml water from the cold tap in the inner pot. Trivet in place. Parcels on the trivet.
    • Make sure the sealing ring is in place properly, press it down following the circumference to make sure. Lock lid in. Steam release handle Sealed.
    • steam release handle pointing to Sealing,
    • Pressure cook 3 minutes, high pressure. Do a quick pressure release at the end (it's okay to leave it 1-2 minutes. Got an electric cooker that can steam under pressure? Use the Steam button.

    Video

    Notes

    Note: Timings for fish are always going to depend a bit on the thickness of the fillet. If your fish is really thick, you could add a bit of time
    Keyword Fish, Instant Pot
    Tried this recipe?Mention @feistytapas or tag #feistytapas!
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    How to pressure cook Fish

    The best way I have found to pressure cook fish is "en papillote", i.e. in parcels.

    I wrap the fish in greaseproof / parchment paper, you can keep flavours in that way and the heat gets in faster than with foil.

    Parchment paper, baking parchment, baking paper, greaseproof paper... different names for the same thing. Chances are you already have some at home.

    I always wet the parchment paper to help the heat get through, then wring it out by scrunching it up and stretch it out again.

    Then place the fish fillets on it.

    Use the same parcel for all the fish or different parcels for different flavours.

    I often pressure cook some fish in the Instant Pot just to have in the fridge for salads, pasta dishes, etc.

    It's super easy and it's just as easy and convenient as eggs to have in the fridge for snacks, salads, etc. 

    Flavour ideas for your fish parcels

    I add the flavours I fancy that day.

    Usually lemon and sea salt.

    Sometimes I add olives, sometimes tomatoes, whatever I fancy.

    Lime juice and capers etc.

    Play with the flavours: my daughter loves when I do parcels of hake with soy sauce and lime juice for her.

    Someone suggested sweet chilli sauce recently too which I really want to try.

    What fish does it work with?

    You can do this for all kinds of fish.

    Steaming under pressure

    With this method, we're essentially steaming the haggis in the pressure cooker, faster and without releasing steam into the kitchen.

    Discover how to steam in an Instant Pot electric pressure cooker and open a whole world of possibilities, from Corn on the Cob to Fish. From Haggis to Ribs.

    More pressure cooker recipes with fish

    For a dish that uses fish a different way, check out my Instant Pot Prawn, Trout and Pea Risotto.

    Also Fish with Risotto and Fish and Potatoes in Tomato Sauce with Olives.

    Have you joined my Pressure Cooking UK with Feisty Tapas Facebook group?

    Step-by-step photos

    Step 1

    Dampen the parchment paper under the tap. Scrunch it up to get rid of excess moisture. Stretch it out again.

    How to cook fish in the Instant Pot - Salmon, white fish, any fish - a fantastic method that is super easy

    Step 2

    Place the fish inside with any other ingredients you want to add. I love using at the very least a little bit of extra virgin olive oil, sea salt and a couple of twists of the black pepper mill. Lemon is good too. Play with the flavours. How about some harissa paste or aioli?

    How to cook fish in the Instant Pot - Salmon, white fish, any fish - cook it in parcels, add flavours. A super easy method too cook fish any time

    Step 3

    250 ml water from the cold tap in the inner pot. Trivet in place. Parcels on the trivet.

    How to cook fish in the Instant Pot - Salmon, white fish, any fish. Super easy Instant Pot method to cook fish in no time, keeping all the flavours in

    Step 4

    Make sure the sealing ring is in place properly, press it down following the circumference to make sure. Lock lid in. Steam release handle pointing to Sealing.

    How to cook fish in the Instant Pot - Salmon, white fish, any fish. Easy method to cook fish any time of the week

    Step 5

    3 minutes on Steam, steam release handle pointing to Sealing, with quick release (the quick release I tend to do 1-2 minutes later because I forget, I'm busy doing other things...).

    How to cook fish in the Instant Pot - Salmon, white fish, any fish. Cooked salmon ready to go. Cook it in batches so that you have fish in the fridge any time for salads, perfect for work and al desko lunches

    Note: Timings for fish are always going to depend a bit on the thickness of the fillet. If your fish is really thick, you could add a bit of time

    [kofi]

    634

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    About Maria Bravo

    Kitchen Gadget Geek extraordinaire. Tester of all things kitchen appliance. Clumsy cook, if I can't break it and get the most of it, you know that's a good kitchen gadget! Architect of online communities for kitchen gadget lovers

    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. Yasmin says

      May 22, 2019 at 12:52 pm

      This is brilliant! Thank you!

      Reply
      • Barbara says

        February 28, 2020 at 2:47 pm

        I need to get some rose harissa to go with some salmon.

        Reply
        • Maria says

          March 11, 2020 at 5:08 pm

          Great idea Barbara! Let me know how you get on when you do

          Reply
      • Laura Ingram says

        April 04, 2021 at 12:38 am

        My favorite way to fix salmon (I’m trying it with cod tonight) is to slice it part way through, add soy sauce and tuck the cuts with pink ginger (sushi ginger) (though any ginger will do if you don’t care for the sweetness of sushi ginger) SO YUMMY! The important thing to know, is that I HATE fish. This fixes it! I usually cook it in the oven for 15 minutes at 350f. I’ll try the cod tonight in the IP and let you know how it goes.

        Reply
      • Richard Harman says

        February 01, 2024 at 11:28 am

        5 stars
        Followed your recipe exactly, two smoked haddock fillets in damp parchment paper wrappers. A perfect cook 😃

        Reply
        • Maria Bravo says

          February 10, 2024 at 12:05 pm

          Yay! Thank you so much for your feedback, Maria

          Reply
    2. Barry Hill says

      April 22, 2020 at 4:48 pm

      Are the timings longer for frozen fish? Or is it better to defrost?

      Reply
      • Maria says

        April 23, 2020 at 11:40 am

        Same, it will just take longer to reach pressure

        Reply
    3. David Keely says

      August 29, 2020 at 11:00 pm

      5 stars
      Tried today-used Himalayan salt,ground black pepper,lemon herb spice,so yummy, CAUTION if cooking from frozen when lifting parcel out there will be water in the parcel, from defrosting so take care( I split everywhere)
      Thank you Maria

      Reply
    4. Kay says

      October 08, 2020 at 2:10 am

      5 stars
      This worked perfectly. I only cooked it for 2 minutes because it was small fillets of Perch. Came out cooked to perfection with no oven. Super quick too. Thank you!

      Reply
    5. Cathy Mc says

      September 24, 2021 at 8:14 am

      5 stars
      You have just reminded me I have some frozen salmon in the freezer, will pop it in the instant pot now and have this for lunch.
      Great easy recipe.

      Reply
    6. Viv oconnor says

      October 23, 2021 at 8:40 am

      Thank you, loads of fish in the freezer I keep meaning to cook and then stumped for what to do with it.

      Reply
    7. Miranda says

      August 13, 2022 at 12:45 pm

      I just used this method as a baseline for two lightly smoked mackerel fillets from the chilled sections Sainsbury's. I followed your method but I gave it an Asian flavour, I spread a thin layer of Sainsbury’s garlic-ginger paste on the flesh side, a drizzle of soy sauce and I sprinkled over it a single, chopped spring onion. It worked PERFECTLY. Thank you! I’ve been wanting to make fish in my instant pot mini for ages and couldn’t find a good baseline method until now. Have you tried steaming fish fillets for two minutes? Would it work?

      Reply
      • Maria says

        August 16, 2022 at 5:24 pm

        I'm so glad it worked well. You could try steaming for less time but it will always depend on the thickness, at least you can add time, you can never take it away. Let us know how you get on, Maria

        Reply

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    Hi, I'm Maria! A food blogger passionate about kitchen gadgets and their power to make life easier and tastier.

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