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    You are here: Home / Fish & Seafood / Veracruz Style White Fish

    Veracruz Style White Fish

    Douglas Cullen, This blog generates income via ads and affiliate links which earn us a small commission.

    Pescado a la Veracruzana

    Delicious, beautiful, healthy, and easy to prepare, this white fish  “a la Veracruzana” covers all the bases.

    Any dish that is served ” a la Veracruzana,”  which means Veracruz style, is served with a mild tomato sauce prepared with olives and capers.

    This is one of the few sauces served in Mexico that doesn’t have any chile in it.

    White Fish Veracruz Style

    Ready to Cook?

    Start by gathering all of your ingredients. For this dish, you will need white fish fillets, tomato, onion, olives, capers, garlic, thyme, bay leaf, and chicken broth.

    The full ingredient list is below in the recipe. The traditional fish for this dish is red snapper. When prepared with red snapper the dish is called, “huachinango a la Veracruzana.” We used tilapia but any firm mild white fish works well.

    Ingredients Veracruz Style White Fish

    Prepare the Sauce First

    Over medium heat, fry the onion and garlic in 3 tablespoons of cooking oil for 4 minutes. You are starting to build flavor in the sauce.

    Sauteeing Onions and Garlic for Veracruz Sauce

    Add the tomato, black pepper, and salt.

    Cooking Tomatoes for Veracruz Sauce

    Reduce the heat to low and cook for 15 minutes until the tomatoes have given off much of their liquid.

    Cooking Tomatoes for Veracruz Sauce

    Crush the tomatoes, onion, and garlic with a bean or potato masher.

    Crushing Tomatoes for Veracruz Sauce

    Next, add the spices and stir.

    Spices Added to Vercruz Sauce

    Add the chicken broth.

    Chicken Broth Added to Vercruz Sauce

    Add the chopped olives and capers and stir. Simmer for 15 more minutes. It’s starting to look good, isn’t it?

    Olives Added to Vercruz Sauce

    Cooking the Fish

    After the sauce has simmered for 15 minutes, start cooking the fish. In a separate pan over medium heat, lightly brown each side of the fish in 3 tablespoons of oil.

    Pan Frying Tilapia

    Don´t let the fish get too brown.

    Pan Frying Tilapia

    Once you have browned the fish on both sides, place each fish fillet in the simmering sauce.

    Simmering Fish in Veracruz Sauce

    Cook for 10 minutes until the sauce has thickened slightly and the fish is fully cooked and has taken on the flavor of the sauce. Check the flavor of the sauce and adjust the salt if necessary.

    Now it’s looking really good!

    Simmering Fish in Veracruz Sauce

    Serve and Enjoy

    Serve the fish with white rice. First, put the rice on the plate then place the fish next to the rice. Gently spoon about 1 cup of the sauce over the fish and serve immediately.

    White Fish Veracruz Style Recipe
    White Fish Veracruz Style Recipe
    Print Pin
    3.55 from 44 votes

    Veracruz Style White Fish

    Veracruz style white fish prepared with a tomato sauce with olives and capers. One of the few sauces served in Mexico that doesn't have any chile in it.
    Course Fish
    Cuisine Mexican
    Keyword how to make Veracruz fish, pescado a la veracruzana, Veracruz fish recipe
    Prep Time 10 minutes minutes
    Cook Time 1 hour hour
    Total Time 1 hour hour 10 minutes minutes
    Servings 4 servings
    Calories 213kcal
    Author Douglas Cullen

    Ingredients

    • 4 white fish fillets 4 to 6 ozs. each
    • 5 medium tomatoes
    • 4 cloves garlic
    • 1 tbsp. dried thyme
    • 1 tsp. black pepper
    • 1 tsp. epazote
    • 1 tsp. salt + as necessary
    • 6 bay leaves
    • 28 green olives
    • 12 capers
    • 1 cup low-sodium chicken broth

    Instructions

    • PREPARING THE SAUCE
    • Over medium heat, fry the onion and garlic in 3 tablespoons of cooking oil for 4 minutes.
    • Add the tomato, black pepper, and salt.
    • Reduce the heat to low and cook the sauce for 15 minutes until the tomatoes have given off much of their liquid.
    • Then, crush the tomatoes, onion, and garlic with a bean or potato masher.
    • Next, add the spices and stir.
    • Add the chicken broth.
    • Add the chopped olives and capers and stir. Simmer for 15 more minutes.
    • COOKING THE FISH
    • After the sauce has simmered for 15 minutes, start cooking the fish. In a separate pan over medium heat, lightly brown each side of the fish in 3 tablespoons of oil.
    • Once you have browned the fish on both sides, place each fish fillet in the simmering sauce.
    • Cook for 10 minutes until the sauce has thickened slightly and the fish is fully cooked and has taken on the flavor of the sauce.
    • Check the flavor of the sauce and adjust the salt if necessary.
    • SERVING
    • Serve the fish with white rice. First, put the rice on the plate then place the fish next to the rice. Gently spoon about 1 cup of the sauce over the fish and serve immediately.

    Nutrition

    Calories: 213kcal | Carbohydrates: 8g | Protein: 23g | Fat: 11g | Sodium: 913mg | Sugar: 3g

    More Mexican Fish and Seafood Dishes

    You might enjoy preparing one of our other recipes.

    • Curried Rice with Shrimp
    • Fried Fish Sandwich with Spicy Chipotle Mayo
    • Garlic Shrimp Tacos
    • Fish Tacos
    • Shrimp Ceviche Acapulco

    Did you enjoy this recipe for Veracruz Style White Fish? Any questions about the preparation?

    Please let us know in the comments below if you have prepared this dish and how it turned out for you. Also, if you have any questions on preparation you can let us know in the comments too. We think you will love this recipe!

    More Fish & Seafood

    • Mexican Shrimp Skewers with Rice
      Mexican Shrimp Skewers
    • Tuna Patties
    • Shrimp Ceviche Acapulco Served with Avocado and Crackers
      Shrimp Ceviche Acapulco
    • Garlic Shrimp Tacos Recipe
      Garlic Shrimp Tacos

    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. Mark says

      October 23, 2016 at 10:20 am

      Hola Doug,

      If this is half as good I think it will be we will make it this week. Question: where to buy good fish? Please drop a note when you have a minute.

      Reply
    2. Kanisha says

      April 15, 2017 at 9:21 pm

      5 stars
      This recipe just looks and sounds amazing! Its like a Mexican version of chicken picata but with fish and tomatoes. This is most definitely a drool worthy recipe that must make it onto my weeknight cooking list and soon! By the way, the pictures and details are just amazing. The best part of any new recipe is a picture worth a million bucks that can instantly instill some serious hunger!

      Reply
    3. Rhonda says

      October 11, 2017 at 12:16 pm

      Can you use oregano in place of epazote?

      Reply
      • Douglas Cullen says

        October 11, 2017 at 12:46 pm

        Rhonda,

        Oregano will work really well in the recipe. I would use 1/2 teaspoon. Cheers!

        Reply
    4. Merlinda Guerra says

      March 19, 2019 at 2:19 pm

      Epazote: are you using fresh or dried? And how many servings approximately is this for? Thank you!

      Reply
    5. beejay says

      March 29, 2019 at 10:03 am

      5 stars
      We used to always do this with snapper, but that’s getting hard to find in my area. I switched to tilapia which is usually available, but this week I am trying rockfish. Wish me luck.

      Reply
    6. Lee says

      April 04, 2019 at 1:59 pm

      It would be helpful to know how much onion to put in the dish.

      Reply
    7. Wendy says

      May 05, 2019 at 5:53 pm

      What kind and how much onion is used?
      I did not see it in list of ingredients.
      I made this recipe last month and family loved it. Just don’t remember about the onion.

      Reply
    8. Jeff says

      May 31, 2019 at 2:08 pm

      Request #3. How much onion?
      This is actually a Mediteranean dish thst made it’s way to Mexico. I doubt epazote was in the original recipes. Bay leaves are Mediteranean, too.
      I have dried oregano, Mexican and Mediteranean along with some dried epazote.’ll have to see what works best.

      Reply
    9. Rich says

      August 01, 2019 at 10:52 pm

      5 stars
      I added a red pepper with the onion (I guessed 1 medium onion😁 ) and did not use epazote. I only used 6 olives but that’s because my wife is not a big olive fan, and I was too lazy to chop 28 of those suckers. But it came out great!

      Reply
    10. Ash says

      January 21, 2020 at 9:40 pm

      I absolutely love this recipe. This is my go to when I want to cook for family and guests. Everybody always loves it. I switch the recipe up and bread the fish and put the sauce on top. Thank you for this world class recipe!

      Reply
      • Douglas Cullen says

        February 02, 2020 at 10:40 am

        5 stars
        That’s fantastic! We love the recipe too. Thanks for sharing with us. Cheers!

        Reply
    11. Jamie says

      March 08, 2020 at 12:39 pm

      where is amount for onions?

      Reply
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    Hola, I am Douglas. Let me share my love of Mexican Cuisine with you that developed over 20+ years of living in Mexico.

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