Sauteed Crappie with Butter Sauce

This tasty sauteed crappie recipe works just as well with any type of fish that won’t fall apart when you sauté it.

Tip: if your tomatoes are not home-grown, help them out by slicing them into thick slices and then seasoning with salt, pepper, sugar and a splash of balsamic vinegar.

Looking for more crappie recipes? Try these!

Oven “Fried” Crappie with Mustard Dill Sauce

Southwestern Crappie Cakes

Crappie Tostada

Print Recipe
5 from 5 votes

Sauteed Crappie with Butter Sauce

Course: Main Course
Cuisine: American
Keyword: crappie, fish, fish recipes
Servings: 4

Ingredients

  • 8 3 ounce crappie fillets skin removed
  • 1 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1 tablespoon salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon white pepper
  • 1 tablespoon garlic powder
  • 5 tablespoons butter chilled
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1/4 cup dry white wine
  • 1 lemon juice only
  • 1/3 cup fresh basil leaves
  • 8 slices tomato about 1/4-inch thick
  • 1 avocado sliced into 8 thin slices

Instructions

  • Combine flour, salt, white pepper and garlic powder in a small bowl. Dust fish with flour mixture.
  • Heat 2 tablespoons of the butter and the olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add fish and brown on one side, about 3 – 4 minutes. Flip fish over and cook for 2 more minutes. Remove fish and keep warm.
  • Add wine and lemon juice and stir to loosen bits stuck to pan. Reduce liquid to just a few tablespoons. Stir in basil and remaining chilled butter, stirring until butter is melted. Remove from heat.
  • For each serving, arrange 1 slice of tomato on a plate. Top with 1 piece of fish and then avocado slices. Place tomato over avocado, then fish and then 2 mores slices avocado. Drizzle butter sauce over and serve.

19 Comments

  1. Cynthia Hof on April 10, 2020 at 7:22 pm

    My husband and I really enjoyed this fish! It was light and favorful!! I usually only fix salmon so this was a nice change of pace! Thanks for the recipe!!

    • Scott Leysath on April 10, 2020 at 10:18 pm

      And thanks for the kind words. Glad y’all enjoyed it!

    • Louis G. Karam on August 21, 2021 at 12:31 pm

      I just butter fry them.

  2. Jim on May 22, 2020 at 1:49 am

    Pretty sure that’s swordfish something like mako shark in that photo…

    • Scott Leysath on May 22, 2020 at 9:24 am

      Not sure what’s in the photo, but we both know it’s not crappie. The photo is a placeholder while we update all the pics. The recipe is a solid one and works with just about any fish.

      • Jim on May 23, 2020 at 3:39 pm

        5 stars
        Was just confused by the photo. But yeah the recipe itself was really good. Only thing I changed was using vermouth instead of white wine due to personal preference. Next time I catch a bunch I’ll be making this again.

      • Aaron Timmons on October 25, 2021 at 9:01 pm

        Our family loved this recipe with a leery fish eating teen requesting the leftovers for lunch

  3. Mary Russell on May 25, 2020 at 1:06 pm

    5 stars
    Just fixed this with crappie. Loved it. I also have paddlefish. Would this work? Have never fixed paddlefish before.

    • Scott Leysath on May 26, 2020 at 10:50 am

      I’ve only cooked paddlefish a couple times, but I’m sure it would be great with it.

  4. Val Davis on July 7, 2020 at 7:00 pm

    HOLY CRAPie!

    This is a great recipe. I was worried that it would be too salty, but I used unsalted butter and it was perfect. I had no idea when I started that it would be so fancy! I really ended up impressing my husband.

    I didn’t have white wine so I used diluted white wine vinegar and it was still very yummy. I think the only thing I would change would be to spice up the flour mixture more. Maybe some cayenne? Paprika? but it is great as is!

    • Scott Leysath on July 7, 2020 at 7:25 pm

      Good idea! Season the fish and the flour.

  5. Bill Shepard on February 23, 2021 at 11:38 am

    I fixed this recipe with rock fish from just offshore San Francisco. It worked well. I think any firm white fish would work. I’ll try it next with striped bass.

    • Scott Leysath on February 23, 2021 at 12:17 pm

      I agree that it’ll work with any firm, or even semi-firm fish.

  6. Linda on November 14, 2021 at 9:09 pm

    My sister made this for a group tonight and used whitefish fillets. Even one person who rarely likes fish loved this. Really a nice departure from same old same old!

  7. Nathan on January 30, 2022 at 10:09 pm

    5 stars
    Easy recipe but I cut the salt down to a teaspoon. I’ll make this again. Thanks

  8. Linda A. Robbins, DVM on August 25, 2022 at 6:47 pm

    5 stars
    awesome. and looks pretty on a plate even for an amateur.

  9. Our Fall Fish Recipes | Smooth Moves Seats on November 7, 2022 at 1:55 pm

    […] is prime comfort food time, and this Sauteed Crappie recipe from The Sporting Chef has all the makings of a comfort meal. If you have fresh crappie on hand, this straightforward […]

  10. Curt on May 7, 2023 at 6:36 pm

    5 stars
    Used cornmeal instead of flour to make it gluten free– delicious

    • Scott Leysath on May 8, 2023 at 4:03 am

      Great idea!

Leave a Comment

Recipe Rating