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20 Quick and Easy Fish Foil Packet Dinners for Healthy Weight Loss
December 7, 2020
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Fish foil packet dinners are a great option for quick and easy weeknight meals that won’t wreck your diet. Put dinner on the table in minutes with minimal fuss and almost no mess!
In today’s fast paced world, it can be extremely difficult to eat healthy foods and get dinner on the table quickly and with little effort.
Most quick, convenient meals are unhealthy and cause weight gain. What can we do when we want to eat well, but also don’t want to spend our evenings in the kitchen?
Fish foil packets are a great option for quick and easy weeknight meals. Just add your ingredients, fold the foil packet, and pop it in the oven or on the grill.
In no time, dinner will be on the table with minimal fuss and almost no mess – to clean up, just toss the foil packet in the trash!
Fish is one of the healthiest foods you can eat and one of the best dietary sources of Vitamin D and Omega-3 fatty acids, which many people are severely lacking in their diet.
Fish supports weight loss because it’s high in protein, low in fat and calories, and provides many health benefits, including lowering your risk for heart attack and stroke, helping depression, and promoting brain health.
One study found that eating fish twice per week is equivalent to taking a daily fish oil supplement!
If you’re tired of spending too much time in the kitchen and eating convenience foods with too much sodium and calories, check out these 20 Quick + Easy Fish Foil Packet Dinner Recipes that promote healthy weight loss.
Don’t forget to comment below to share your favorites!
For more foil packet meals, check out the following:
10 Easy + Delicious Campfire Breakfast Foil Packet Recipes
10 Delicious Foil Packet Dinners for Busy Weeknights
For more healthy dinner ideas, check out the following:
15 Easy and Affordable Chicken Rotisserie Shortcut Meals
20 Cozy Stew Recipes That Will Warm You Up
25 Healthy Vegetarian Chickpea Recipes You Will Love – Even Desserts!
50 Easy Instant Pot Meals Perfect for Busy Weeknights
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Foil or Parchment – Which is Best?
This post is titled “foil packets” for simplicity, but as the cook, you have a choice between foil or parchment to make these cooking packets.
So which is best? Foil is certainly easiest to work with, since it’s super easy to fold into a packet tightly. Plus, you need to use foil if you’re going to cook your fish on the grill.
However, cooking your food in aluminum may be hazardous to your health, which, of course, is important especially if you use foil often when cooking.
Foil also reacts with acidic foods like tomatoes, white wine, and lemon juice, which are ingredients commonly used in packet recipes, as you can see below. This reaction further increases health risks.
Parchment paper is great for presentation when serving meals directly “en papillote,” or in the paper, and a neatly folded parchment envelope tends to retain steam better, which can help retain moisture in recipes.
Also, unless you use nonstick foil, foods often stick to foil, but don’t stick to paper unless you burn your food.
If you are interested in using parchment, check out this short video demonstration of how to fold a parchment packet. You can also use parchment cooking bags to make folding parchment even easier than foil.
Quick Fish Foil Packet Dinner Recipes for Easy Weeknight Meals
salmon and potatoes
Salmon is a fatty fish that contains loads of Omega-3 fatty acids, or the “good” fats.
This recipe doesn’t specify which type of salmon to use, but I really like Wild Alaskan Sockeye Salmon, also called red salmon, which has a brilliant red-orange color and tastes even better than regular salmon.
Potatoes are often vilified for their carb content, but they are actually really healthy for you and a great source of Vitamin B6, Vitamin C, iron, and potassium. Plus, we need carbs for energy.
tilapia with pesto veggies
Tilapia gets a bad rap, health wise, but is its bad reputation myth or fact?
According to this article, allegations that tilapia is “as unhealthy as bacon” are completely unfounded, and, though tilapia isn’t an Omega 3 superstar like salmon, it should still be consumed as a healthy lean protein.
Now, on to this dish. Fire up the grill for this simple, flavorful white fish with summer vegetables you can get in the grocery store all year long for a taste of summer any time.
sweet and spicy sriracha red snapper
Super hot and spicy (but still flavorful) Sriracha Hot Sauce and tart citrus are balanced with sweet honey and orange juice in this tasty dish.
halibut with coconut creamed kale and quinoa
This fish packet has a healthy take on creamed spinach with coconut creamed kale. Quinoa is super healthy as the only plant based complete protein.
butter garlic herb salmon
Rich, fatty (remember, it’s good fat!) salmon is delicious with grassfed butter (another healthy fat!), herbs, garlic, and fresh vegetables.
Seasonal asparagus, yellow squash, and zucchini soak up the flavorful juices of the fish, butter, and flavorings. Red peppers add a mild sweetness to make this a super healthy and tasty dish.
baked fish, spinach, and tomatoes
This recipe is simple and fresh. I love fresh thyme and red onion, two ingredients I think are underutilized by most home cooks.
Spinach is a nice choice because it will wilt and soak up all the flavorful juices. I also like the suggestion to substitute or add bok choy, which is one of my favorite vegetables.
grilled coconut lime whitefish
The coconut-lime pairing in this dish will take you to warm locales any time of year. Light coconut milk is a unique ingredient in American cuisine, but pairs really well with a mild white fish.
The recipe calls for grilling this foil packet, but, of course, you can bake this dish in the oven and use different vegetables in the off season.
tilapia and peaches
Marinate tilapia in sweet peaches mixed with garlic, olive oil, fresh parsley, and red onion for this simple, sweet and savory dish.
lemon garlic butter whitefish
White fish is baked en papillote with fresh vegetables, garlic, lemon, and red pepper flakes for a little heat. Yum!
parmesan garlic herb salmon
This simple, flavorful salmon recipe features a tasty Parmesan Garlic Herb Marinade that infuses the salmon with the amazing, pungent flavors of garlic, herbs, and parmesan cheese.
Only 15 minutes in the foil packet cooks the salmon to tender and flaky perfection!
barramundi
Barramundi is just starting to gain popularity in the U.S. Most farmed fish has a poor reputation as being unhealthy, but, in the U.S., Barramundi is sustainably and healthfully farmed by Massachusetts-based company Australis Aquaculture.
Barrimundi, also called Asian sea bass, giant perch, bekti, and, cockup, is a sweet, buttery fish that is heartier and meatier than most white fish, so it fills you up without weighing you down.
High in Omega 3’s, it’s lower in fat than Salmon, which is great for people watching their fat intake.
This fresh and healthy recipe is a great way to try Barramundi. Seasoned with Meyer lemons, ginger, and jalapeño, the mild buttery taste of this fish shines through.
halibut and veggies
The mild tastes of Halibut and veggies are lightly complemented with delicate herbs like dill, tarragon, basil, and parsley and the fresh, tart, traditional taste of lemon for a clean, light flavor.
easy 20-minute oven baked trout
Rainbow trout is one of the healthiest fish you can eat. My grandfather used to fish for trout and gave some to us from time to time.
If you or someone you know can supply you with fresh trout, this is the perfect quick and easy recipe to enjoy this mild, tasty freshwater fish.
snapper puttanesca
If you have never tried capers, I recommend the vinegary buds, which can be found near the pickles in the grocery store.
This dish is a wonderful vehicle for capers, with fresh tomatoes, Kalamata olives, garlic, fresh thyme, and olive oil, which all go really well with mild red snapper.
salmon and asparagus
I love making a meal out of salmon with asparagus. Both ingredients are hearty and filling but low enough in calories that they promote weight loss and maintenance, in addition to being heart healthy.
Baking salmon and asparagus together in a foil packet is even better, since any seasonings you add will infuse throughout the dish.
This easy meal is lightly seasoned with garlic, olive oil, and fresh dill to complement fresh salmon and asparagus flavors.
southwestern tilapia
Homemade creole seasoning gives a unique and welcome flavor change to the traditional southwestern ingredients in the black bean and corn salsa that tops fresh, mild tilapia.
A little fresh cheese sprinkled on top gives this recipe some creamy decadence without adding too many calories to this already lean dish.
chilean sea bass with vegetables
Chilean sea bass is cooked with shiitake mushrooms, broccolini, onions, and white wine in this super healthy dish.
If you’ve never had broccolini, I recommend it. It’s a hybrid of broccoli and broccoli rabe and is more delicate and tender than broccoli. I just love it!
lemon garlic butter salmon with pineapple
Fresh, hearty salmon is infused with the flavors of sweet honey and pineapple and tasty lemon, garlic, and butter to make a delicious and lightly tropical fish dish.
tilapia in foil [4 ways]
In this post, you’re bound to found a dish you’ll love!
This recipe includes suggestions to help you personalize your Tilapia dish in various ways, including instructions to season with basil pesto, sun-dried tomato pesto, or lemon pepper and a detailed recipe for Garlic Lemon Butter Tilapia with fresh asparagus and tomatoes.
Basil pesto, sun-dried tomato pesto, and lemon pepper:
Garlic Lemon Butter Tilapia with fresh asparagus and tomatoes:
With these Easy Fish Foil Packet Recipes, you can eat great, lose weight, and not have to spend all your time in the kitchen prepping meals and cleaning up the kitchen.
These meals are super healthy and sure to please any night of the week, but especially those busy weeknights after work!
What you think of these Healthy Fish Foil Packet Recipes? Please share your thoughts in the comments below!
more foil packet recipes:
10 Easy + Delicious Campfire Breakfast Foil Packet Recipes
10 Delicious Foil Packet Dinners for Busy Weeknights
more healthy recipes:
15 Easy and Affordable Chicken Rotisserie Shortcut Meals
20 Cozy Stew Recipes That Will Warm You Up
25 Healthy Vegetarian Chickpea Recipes You Will Love – Even Desserts!
50 Easy Instant Pot Meals Perfect for Busy Weeknights
pin for later:
These fish foil recipes look delicious.
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and finally got the courage to go ahead and give you a shout out from Atascocita, Texas! Just wanted to tell you keep up the fantastic work!