Side dish for fish cutlets: options and recipes

October 12, 2018
Second courses
Irina Voloshina

Fish cutlets are a favorite dish for many; in some families they are even loved more than meat cutlets. In order for the dish to be complete, you need to prepare a delicious side dish for fish cutlets. The right combination of products will help reveal and highlight the taste of each ingredient.

How to choose the right side dish

The taste of the dish as a whole will depend on what the fish cutlets are served with. When choosing, you need to consider the following factors:

If the dish should be light and not very high in calories, then vegetables are used as a side dish. They can be stewed, sauteed or served fresh.
Read also: How to salt tuna. Salting tuna at home
For a more satisfying meal, potatoes, rice porridge, couscous, pearl barley, and various legumes are more suitable.
If the cutlet recipe includes any additional ingredient (for example, zucchini for juiciness), then it should no longer be present in the side dish. Otherwise, it will have a bad effect on the taste of the dish.
The method of preparing the cutlets also affects the choice of side dish. Diet cutlets or steamed ones suggest that in addition to them various vegetables and salads are suitable. But you can serve fried ones with a spicy or fried side dish.
The type of fish should also be taken into account. For example, if you need to decide which side dish is best for fish cutlets made from pollock, opt for something quite filling, since the fish itself is not fatty.

These tips are not a requirement or rule. These are recommendations that will help make the dish better. And to follow them or not, everyone decides for themselves.

How to make beats

The main component of classic meatballs is minced meat, the choice of which must be taken seriously. It’s easier to buy it in a store, but there is a chance of falling into unscrupulous manufacturers who may use stale meat and lard. When buying minced meat yourself, you can see the condition of the product and its fat content. Preference should be given to the soft parts - the neck.

It is also recommended to prepare minced chicken and fish pieces yourself from fresh ingredients. To prepare balls from potatoes or cereals, it is quite acceptable to use leftovers from lunch or dinner - semolina, rice porridge, vegetable puree. For a thick sauce for culinary products, you can use sour cream, cream, tomato paste or juice, vegetables, and mushrooms. For sweet dishes - berries, fruits, chocolate, vanillin, milk.

It is best to fry the balls in a frying pan or in a saucepan with a non-stick coating in vegetable oil. To prepare not only tasty, but also healthy meatballs, you can use a double boiler, and to get a golden brown crust without frying in a pan, bake in the oven on a greased baking sheet. A multicooker can help in the cooking process, where products can be fried, baked, stewed and steamed.

From minced meat

To prepare minced meatballs, you can choose any type of meat or fish as the main ingredient. It is impossible to name a single correct recipe for preparing a dish; there are a huge number of them. The minced meat for the meatballs must be beaten so that it holds its shape better. To do this, you need to mold a small ball (like a ball) from the minced meat and hit it on the table or the bottom of the bowl 10-15 times.

Minced meat can be purchased at the store, but it is better to prepare it yourself from fresh, proven raw materials. To prepare meatballs, minced meat (beef, pork, chicken) or fish must be mixed with spices, chopped onions and wheat bread. Form neat round balls, which need to be rolled in breadcrumbs and fried in vegetable oil until golden brown. Then pour in the sauce, to which you can add cream, sour cream, tomato, mushrooms, flour or cheese.

From cereals and potatoes

Cereal balls are a very healthy, dietary, sometimes even vegetarian food. As a base, you can use any cereals, legumes: buckwheat, rice, pearl barley, millet, oatmeal, barley, wheat, corn porridge, peas, lentils. Each of these ingredients is healthy and contains a large amount of vitamins and minerals. As binding ingredients you can use eggs, flour, baking soda, baking powder, starch, potatoes, cheese, yeast bread soaked in water.

Sometimes cereal balls are called “fake cutlets” because of their resemblance to meat ones. To prepare such a dish, the cereal must first be cooked until tender. Mix with the rest of the ingredients, knead into thick minced meat, and form into round balls. Such blanks must be rolled in breadcrumbs or semolina, this way they will hold together better and will not fall apart. You can prepare any sauce for such a dish, for example, creamy or mushroom.

Potatoes can be boiled or leftover mashed potatoes can be used. In addition to the main ingredient, you will need eggs, spices and breadcrumbs. Thick minced meat is used to form balls, which are fried on both sides in vegetable oil until golden brown.

Rice as a side dish for fish cutlets

Very often, rice is served with both fish and fish cutlets. They go together perfectly and the dish turns out satisfying.

Rice porridge is not the only side dish option. Rice with vegetables is very popular. Clarification: the vegetables indicated in the recipe can be replaced with any others, depending on preference.

You will need half a bell pepper, 1 carrot, 1 onion (onion or shallot). Peel all vegetables and chop into small cubes. In a frying pan with a thick bottom, you need to heat a little vegetable oil and lightly sauté the vegetables. Add salt and spices to taste. You can add some hot pepper. Then add 1 cup of rice to the vegetables and pour in 2.5 cups of hot water. You can use broth to enhance the flavor, but this is not necessary. Reduce heat, cover and cook until the liquid has completely evaporated.

You can boil rice in the same proportion. When ready, add 1 tablespoon each of canned corn and peas.

Cold appetizer for cutlets

The process is very simple. 2-3 onions (preferably red or sweet varieties) cut into half rings and pre-marinate. You need to take 2-3 tbsp. vinegar, 2-3 tbsp. vegetable oil. Pour boiling water over the onion in a colander or sieve, add salt, mash a little with your hands and pour in the marinade. Marinating time is 2-3 hours.

Boil potatoes in their skins, cool, peel, cut into rings or slices, mix with onion, add salt to taste and serve. It turns out very tasty.

Potatoes on the side

Everyone's favorite side dish that goes with almost all foods. Fish cutlets will be especially tasty with mashed potatoes.

Peel one kilogram of potatoes. Cut the tubers in half, place in a saucepan and add water until it covers the contents. Add salt and cook until done. Then drain the liquid and mash the potatoes into a puree. In this case, you need to gradually add milk. One glass will be enough for this amount of potatoes.

Then add a little butter and beat the mass with a blender or mixer to obtain a smooth, smooth consistency. Place fish cutlets with mashed potatoes on a plate. Before serving, sprinkle with chopped herbs.

Another way to cook potatoes. Boil the tubers in their skins until fully cooked. Without peeling, cut into small slices. One potato should yield about 6 pieces. Salt and season the chopped potatoes, lightly sprinkle with vegetable oil and stir. Line a baking tray with baking paper and arrange the potatoes. It is advisable that the slices be located separately. Bake in a preheated oven for about 15-20 minutes until golden brown. You can season it with garlic.

Original potato side dish

Professional chefs have given the world many amazing ideas on how to prepare side dishes for cutlets. Recipes are full of variety, but you need to be able to correctly combine a side dish with a meat or fish dish. If you added rice cereal to the cutlets, then it is better not to cook cereal side dishes or pasta. Potatoes in any form would be ideal.

But boiled rice and buckwheat porridge will go well with liver cutlets. If you cook steamed cutlets, also make a side dish to make the dish low-calorie, low-fat and healthy.

Let's prepare an unusual and at the same time simple side dish for cutlets. A recipe with a photo will help us with this.

Compound:

1 kg of potatoes;
salt and pepper mixture to taste;
5 tbsp. l. soy sauce;
5-6 pcs. garlic cloves.

Preparation:

Peel the potato tubers and rinse thoroughly.
Cut into equal pieces and place in a saucepan.
Pour water over the potatoes and cook for 10 minutes after the liquid boils.
Drain the water and place the potatoes in a heat-resistant form, greased with refined sunflower oil.
Grind the garlic through a press and add to the potatoes.
Salt and season the potatoes to taste.
Add soy sauce and mix everything well.
Read also: How to properly fry capelin in a frying pan in flour, breading, batter
Place the potatoes in the oven for half an hour and bake at a temperature of 200°.
You can turn on the grill function for another 10 minutes and brown the potatoes.

Vegetable side dish

If the question arises of what to cook as a side dish for fish cutlets, then vegetables have always been and remain a universal product. You can combine different types of them that are in the refrigerator.

For example, onions, carrots, sweet peppers, tomatoes, zucchini, asparagus. Depending on the method of preparing cutlets, vegetables can be sautéed, stewed, baked or steamed.

If desired, you can use ready-made frozen vegetable mixtures. A Mexican blend or broccoli florets with cauliflower work well. They can be cooked immediately without defrosting. Place in a frying pan with vegetable oil, season and simmer until done.

It is recommended to serve hot or warm.

Unusual potatoes

If ordinary boiled potatoes are already “boring”, then you can prepare an interesting dish called “boiled-fried potatoes”. To do this, boil the peeled potato tubers until tender in salted water, and then simply fry them in a frying pan.

What other side dish can you make from potatoes? Small potato balls, which, in addition to everything else, can also come with a surprise. So, boil the tubers in salted water, drain it, add milk, butter and remember the potatoes.

Add two raw eggs to it, mix. Heat a frying pan, pour oil into it and use a spoon to form small balls from the pound. Fry them on both sides until golden brown and serve.

By the way, you can “hide” cheese inside these balls, in which case they will become even more delicious.

Well, another option for preparing potatoes is stewing them together with vegetables. In this case, the list of ingredients can be easily adjusted to the needs of a particular person.

Vegetables in a sleeve for a side dish

Cooking in a sleeve allows you to make vegetables juicy and retain more nutrients. In addition, you can skip the oil and get a dietary side dish.

It is necessary to peel and cut the eggplant into rings. Salt it to remove the bitterness and leave for a couple of minutes. At this time, peel and coarsely chop potatoes, onions, carrots, and sweet peppers. Also divide the cauliflower into florets. Combine all the vegetables in a bowl, add salt and pepper and add 2-3 tablespoons of vegetable oil (you can do without oil). Mix everything well. Place vegetables in a roasting bag. Tie the edges of the sleeve and make several punctures with a toothpick in the upper part. Place in the oven for 35-40 minutes and bake at 200 degrees.

The proportions of the components can be adjusted at your own discretion. You can use other vegetables and add more seasonings.

Dish “Two in one”

To save precious time, you can cook the cutlets with a side dish in the oven. Firstly, such a dish will turn out to be tasty and healthy, and secondly, very beautiful and original.

Compound:

1 zucchini;
500 g mixed minced meat;
150 g hard cheese;
mayonnaise, salt, seasonings to taste;
20 ml refined sunflower oil;
1 onion;
1-2 pcs. fresh tomatoes.

Preparation:

If you prepare minced meat yourself, then the meat needs to be washed, dried and minced in a meat grinder.
Peel the onion, rinse the fresh tomatoes and zucchini thoroughly.
Now we need to cut the zucchini into large circles, about 5-6 cm wide.
Carefully clean out the core to form barrels.
Grease a baking sheet or mold with refined sunflower oil.
Place the zucchini molds.
Add onion chopped in a meat grinder or blender to the minced meat.
Salt and pepper to taste, mix thoroughly.
Fill the zucchini with the prepared minced meat.
Place tomato slices on top.
Place the cutlets with the side dish in the oven for 35-45 minutes.
Bake at a temperature of 200°.
10 minutes before the end of cooking, remove the cutlets with garnish from the oven.
Sprinkle with grated cheese and put back in the oven.

Fresh vegetable salad

This is a good side dish for fish cutlets, especially in warm weather when there are a lot of seasonal vegetables. The result is a light, fresh dish.

Here are some salad recipes:

Wash the cherry tomatoes and cut them into halves (about 250 g). Cut the mozzarella into small pieces, chop the greens, cut the olives into rings. Mix all ingredients, add salt and season with vegetable oil. If you don't have cherry tomatoes, you can use regular ones.

Place a mixture of arugula, frisée or other leafy greens on a platter. Place halves of cherry tomatoes and olives on top. Mix olive oil with lemon juice and pour over salad. Season with salt and white pepper. You can make a mix of any chopped vegetables without sauces or dressings. This option is suitable for those who watch their figure.

Buckwheat casserole

It’s worth noting right away that the recipe below uses mushrooms. If someone is allergic to them, then this product can be easily discarded.

So take:

1 glass or 250 grams of buckwheat;
200 grams of champignons (fresh or canned);
1 carrot;
1 onion;
150 ml cream;
3 tbsp. spoons of olive or vegetable oil;
2 tbsp. spoons of tomato paste;
100 grams of cheese;
2.5 cups or 650 ml of cold water;
spices.

Step by step recipe:

Sort out the buckwheat, rinse well several times under cold water;
put it in a saucepan, fill it with water;
place the dishes over high heat, add tomato paste and salt to the pan;
bring the water to a boil, turn the heat down;
Keep an eye on the contents of the pan; as soon as the water has almost boiled away, turn off the stove;
cover the pan with a lid and let the porridge calmly absorb the remaining water;
wash the onion, cut into medium cubes;
rinse the carrots, cut in the same way;
Place the prepared vegetables in a heated frying pan, sprinkle them with oil;
fry vegetables until fully cooked;
rinse the mushrooms well, cut off the wormholes, cut into cubes;
take a baking dish (glass, ceramic);
grease its bottom with oil;
add buckwheat porridge;
place fried vegetables on top of it;
the very last layer is mushrooms (they can be used either fresh or fried);
fill the future casserole with cream, add spices;
grate the cheese, sprinkle the mold on top;
put it in the oven for 40-45 minutes at 180°.

Take the finished casserole out of the oven and surprise your loved ones with a delicious, healthy dish.

Buckwheat casserole can be eaten as an independent dish or as an unusual side dish.

Green bean side dish

Wash the green beans, remove the stems and cut into small pieces. Boil water and cook the beans in it until almost done. Remove from water and leave to drain.

At this time, heat a frying pan and mix a little vegetable oil and butter in it. Place 2-3 cloves of garlic in hot oil. You can first press the garlic with the flat side of a knife, so it will impart more flavor and aroma to the oil.

Once the oil is saturated with garlic flavor, remove the cloves and place the beans in the pan. Simmer until done, seasoning with salt and pepper.

The side dish is simple but very tasty. If desired, beans can be mixed with potatoes, which also need to be boiled until half cooked.

Instead of fresh, frozen green beans will do. There is no need to defrost it; you can cook it right away.

Vegetable side dish for chicken

You can make juicy cutlets with a delicate taste from chicken fillet. Particularly popular are Kiev cutlets stuffed with butter and chopped dill. Everyone knows that chicken fillet is a dietary product, so the side dish should be appropriate. Zucchini is the perfect side dish for chicken cutlets.

Compound:

3 pcs. zucchini;
3 pcs. chicken eggs;
1 lemon;
a bunch of greenery;
refined sunflower oil;
3-4 pcs. cloves of garlic.

Preparation:

Wash the lemon thoroughly with a brush and dry.
Using a fine grater or vegetable peeler, separate the citrus zest and place it in a bowl.
We wash the greens, dry them and finely chop them with a knife.
Peel the garlic cloves and put them under pressure.
Mix these three ingredients and set aside.
Wash the zucchini thoroughly. We cut off the rounded edges.
Shred the zucchini into equal circles approximately 5 mm thick.
Break the chicken eggs and add salt.
Using a whisk or blender, beat the eggs until a fluffy mass of homogeneous consistency is formed.
Heat refined sunflower oil in a frying pan.
Dip the zucchini pieces in the egg mixture and fry until golden brown.
Spread the previously prepared marinade onto the hot zucchini.

Buckwheat

Boil 1 cup of buckwheat porridge in 2.5 cups of water. When the liquid has completely evaporated, turn off the porridge and let it brew a little.

Next, you need to peel and finely chop the onions, carrots and celery. Place the vegetables in the pan and saute them a little.

While the vegetables are cooking, you need to prepare the mushrooms: peel and chop them. Any will do, but forest ones will be more fragrant. Mushrooms can be sautéed separately or left raw.

Grease a baking dish with butter, layer buckwheat porridge, vegetables, then mushrooms. Season everything with spices. Pour cream (half a glass) and sprinkle with grated hard cheese.

Bake for 40 minutes at 180 degrees. This side dish for fish cutlets should be served hot.

Potato porridge with mushrooms

Ideal if you take fresh porcini mushrooms (or dry ones, but soak them in milk for 3-4 hours). But you can use any others - honey mushrooms, russula, oyster mushrooms, champignons. All mushrooms, except white ones, must first be boiled.

Ingredients:

0.5 kg of potatoes.
0.5 kg of fresh or 250 g of dried mushrooms.
100 g pork lard.
2 onions.
0.5 cups broth or water.
3 tbsp. sour cream.

Preparation:

Boil potatoes in their skins.
Finely chop the mushrooms or mince them.
Finely chop the bacon and render off the fat. Do not remove the cracklings.
Chop the onion as finely as possible and fry in fat until transparent.
Add chopped mushrooms (boil whole and then chop), fry for 10-15 minutes. Add sour cream.
Peel the potatoes, grate them on a coarse grater or mash them with a fork. Mix with mushrooms and an excellent side dish for dinner or lunch is ready.

Delicious additions to fish cutlets

Regardless of the chosen side dish, any dish can be made even more beautiful and appetizing. Once it has been decided which side dish is suitable for fish cutlets, you can immediately select additional ingredients:

Any greens. You can chop it or decorate the dish with twigs. It tastes great with fish and gives it an appetizing look.

Seasonings and spices. These are various types of peppers, mustard, thyme, parsnips, parsley root, cumin, rosemary, sage, garlic, bay leaf, mint, etc.
Chopped nuts. For example, almonds, pine nuts or walnuts. They can be added to some salads or sprinkled on side dishes (such as green beans).
Various seeds: flax, sesame, pumpkin, etc.
Sauces: sour cream, lemon, mustard, etc. You can simply garnish with a slice of lemon and use its juice.

But remember that the best side dish for fish cutlets is the one you like!