If you’ve gone on a gluten-free diet and thought you’d have to give up Gefilte Fish, guess again. My Paleo Gefilte Fish are gluten-free. They’re also every bit as tasty as the dish that is typically made with matzo meal.
We make this homemade Gefilte Fish recipe once a year. Since they’re not easy to make, we save them for the special occasion of Passover. Growing up my Bubby was a powerhouse in the kitchen. She cooked up her homemade Gefilte Fish for us often.
We serve this healthy Passover recipe with Maror, which is made of ground horseradish.
- 1 pound halibut fillets, skinned and boned
- ½ pound salmon fillets, skinned and boned
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 large onion, diced
- 2 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon celtic sea salt
- 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice, freshly squeezed
- ¼ cup fresh dill, finely chopped
- 1 cup grated carrots
- ½ cup parsley, finely chopped
- Cut the fish into large chunks and place in a food processor
- Pulse until finely ground; do not puree
- Heat oil in a large frying pan
- Sauté onion over medium-low heat until soft and transparent, cool for 10 minutes
- Pulse onions, eggs, salt, pepper, and lemon juice into fish mixture
- Pulse in dill, carrots and parsley
- Refrigerate mixture for 3 hours
- Heat a large pot of water and bring to a boil
- Shape fish mixture into 1½-inch balls
- Drop balls into water and cook for 15-20 minutes until cooked through
- Place balls in a 9 x 13 inch baking dish and refrigerate to cool
- Serve with Horseradish Sauce and garnish with fresh sprigs of parsley
This Gefilte Fish recipe was inspired by one from Ellyn Goodrich called “Alaskan Halibut and Salmon Gefilte Fish Terrine.” While Goodrich’s recipe makes a “loaf,” mine is made into the more traditional balls. I’ve also added more vegetables to make the dish lighter. Finally, while hers contains gluten, I’ve created a gluten-free Gefilte Fish.
What are Gefilte Fish? They are simply fish balls made from a mixture of deboned fish that is then ground. This traditional dish is popular with Ashkenazi Jews and is served on Shabbat as well as Jewish holidays such as Passover.
Here are some of my other healthy Paleo Passover recipes:
Lynne says
Instead of putting it in boiling water can you just bake it, like regular gefilte fish?
Elana says
Lynne, I haven’t tried that so not sure :-)
Ricki says
This was much easier than expected. Except may need a little more seasoning. A little bland but overall good. The only real complaint my table had was they were a little watery. I’ve never made gefilte fish before so what did I do wrong?
Elana says
Ricki, so glad that you found this recipe easier than expected. Gefilte fish can be a bit moist :-)
Amy says
Thank you for this recipe! I hate gefilte fish but Whole Foods had fresh raw “gefilte fish” so I thought I’d try making it. After looking through lots of recipes I realized there’s way more to it than just ground fish, which is what whole foods packages and sells as “gefilte fish”. I settled on your recipe because it sounded the least disgusting. Well I made it tonight and it’s actually really good!! Although the fish was already ground it worked beautifully. I will finally eat gefilte fish! So glad to have found this recipe.
Elana says
Amy, so glad to hear these are really good! Chag Samaech :-)
Greg says
I have to tell you these tasted even better than they looked. Almost everyone at our Seder table of 34 loved them (always a few fish-adverse people in any crowd). The gefilte fish was light, delicious and most of all fresh. Both of you Marror recipes were excellent as well. Especially the beet Marror. I got about 24 – 26 balls out of each batch. Thanks for the great addition to our table.
Elana says
Thanks Greg! So glad to hear that you and yours enjoyed this recipe :-)
Amy says
Is the fish in the first two ingredients raw or do you start with cooked fish?
Elana says
Amy, raw.
scilla says
How interesting! I know very little about Kosher foods. You say the gefilte fish is not easy to make but this recipe sounds pretty straightforward. What do you think is the hardest part?
Elana says
Scilla, most of my recipes have only 1 or 2 steps and this has a bit more preparation time.
Samantha says
Your gluten free gefilte fish looks wonderful, but I am also allergic to eggs. Do you have any suggestions for a way to hold the fish together without eggs? I would love to make this and surprise my family.
Elana says
Samantha, I haven’t tried that so not sure.
myrna schwartz says
how many servings does this make?
Alta says
I have never had gefilte fish, but these look so tasty and light. I can imagine they would be SO good with horseradish.
Sarah says
I’d like to try this but it’s hard to find fresh halibut. Will frozen suffice?
Elana says
Sarah, I haven’t tried that so not sure.
Iris says
I’ve never had gefilte fish, but this looks amazing! I might have to try it…
Rebecca says
Oy vey! These actually look edible — and delicious!
I’ll be away from my family this Passover so will definitely try them out for a (better) taste of home in Paris.
Just discovered your blog when looking for a coconut frosting recipe and have made your cupcakes here in my tiny Parisian kitchen and they’re DELICIOUS. I think your frosting changed my life :) Thanks and keep up the fab recipes!
Bisous from Paris, Rebecca
sgryz says
i am unfamiliar with gefilte fish. i thought it was stuffed into fish skin?
Naama says
This is going to be my first Passover without my grandma’s Gefilte around (she is well, it’s me who went far away). I never liked G”F but this one looks GOOOD.
Since I have tons of salmon in me freezer I will probably use only salmon. If you think it’s a big mistake – please stop me :-)
Shoshy says
You wouldn’t believe my reaction when I read the title – Gefilte Fish – my favorite! I seriously munch on it and chrain all the time. Blame my boyfriend’s Bubbie for introducing it to me (I’m Sephardic – and my family doesn’t serve it)
I just bookmarked this recipe for Sunday – can’t wait to see how my attempt turns out!
Sprinzette @ Ginger and Almonds says
Your recipes are always so inspiring – such a pleasure to visit every time.
kathy says
i’ll be making these for Easter!
Leah says
Elana — what is holding them together? I also use vegetables and do not use matzah meal in the gefilte fish on Pesach, but use potato starch, and ground nuts to hold the fish together. Does frying the onions eliminate some of the liquid which occurs when using raw onions?
Zingara: Yes — usually matzah meal is an ingredient, or during the year except for Passover, some people use bread crumbs.
zingara says
i love gefilte fish! when i was a little kid, mrs. soloman lived next door to us. i loved her, too. she used to let me watch her cook & sometimes help, also. on friday nights, my mother, who was not jewish, went over to turn on mrs. soloman’s stove, b/c mrs. S. was very orthodox & could not perform tasks on sabbath. when mrs.S made the fish balls, i distinctly recall that she used some sort of bread or cracker crumbs in the ingredients. could i have been mistaken? is there a recipe for gefilte fish that uses crumbs?
Mia says
This recipe looks great. Thank you!
Katie @ Nourishing Flourishing says
I’ve never seen gefilte fish that looks so appetizing! Lovely.
dena berko says
I’d like to share a source for kosher for passover almond flour!
http://www.digestivewellness.com/subcategoryitems-digestive_wellness_scd_legal_food-kosher_for_passover_products-24-35.html
Erin says
I am not Jewish, but our church has a Passover meal that this would be wonderful for! This looks so much better than the gefilte I remember from growing up. thanks!
Jennifer and Jaclyn @ sketch-free vegan says
I never used to like gefilte fish, but I think I’m starting to warm up to it…your photos are beautiful by the way…
We just started a heath food photo sharing website and would love if you would submit some of your photos!
http://www.healthfreakfood.com
Yaelian says
I am not a big friend of gefilte-fish,but yours look both delicious and beautiful:)