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.
Gefilte Fish
Ingredients
- 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
Instructions
- 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:
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Sam says
Hi! I made my fish mixture and it’s chilling the frig. In a few hours I’ll boil the balls. I’m worried they won’t stick together in the boiling water. Should I add gf matza meal or gf flour or xantham gum or some other binding agent first? Thanks! Very excited!
Elana says
Sam, thanks for your comment! I haven’t ever added anything to this recipe and they’ve held together, let me know if you have any other questions and happy holiday!
Estelle says
Can I substitute canned tuna for the fresh fish?
Elana says
Estelle, I would not recommend that, I don’t think it will work. Happy Passover :-)
Rhona Levine says
I made the Gefilte Fish, they are so yummy, I had to use haddock instead of Halibut.
They are amazing so excited!!!.
Elana says
Rhona, thanks for letting me know that! I’m so happy you are enjoying them :-)
Rhona Levine says
I want to make these but I would like to know if you can freeze them after they are cooked.
Thank you
Elana says
Rhona, I haven’t tried that so not sure :-)
Fruma says
Thanks looking for glutten free and dairy free recipes will make the gefite fish this year.
Elana says
Fruma, you’re welcome!
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.