Seafood

Baked Swai Fish (Greek Style with Rice & Tomatoes)

A baked dish with roasted red and yellow vine tomatoes, a halved grilled lemon, herbs, and seasoned white fish or chicken in a white enamel baking tray. - 1

Prep

10 minutes

Cook

40 minutes

Yield

This easy and flavorful Swai Fish recipe is just what you need for an easy, nutritious summer dish. It’s baked on one pan in the oven with rice and veggies for a wholesome, delicious meal.

Swai Fish is a freshwater river catfish that is typically found in Southeast Asia and Vietnam. It’s also known as pangasius, basa, or tra, and it’s a popular and inexpensive white-fleshed fish because it’s mild and delicate in flavor, with the perfect flaky texture when you cook it. For this recipe, I made it Greek style with tomatoes on a vine, and a flavorful rice that you’re going to love for an easy summer dish.

❤️ Why You’ll Love This Baked Swai Fish

Flavorful: Since Swai Fish is mild tasting, it takes on all the flavors of whatever you cook it with. So for this recipe, you get all the flavors of the tomatoes, lemon sauce, and veggies.
Versatile: Swai Fish is really versatile due to its light flavor, so you can bake it, grill it, use it in tacos, or whatever your heart desires. Make this recipe your own and throw in some of your fav veggies or seasonings.
Fresh: I love all the fresh summer flavors you get in this recipe, and I think you’re going to as well!

🍲 Ingredients

Swai Fish – Swai Fish ( Vinh Hoan brand) is an inexpensive, mild-tasting fish that is versatile. You can use it in place of any protein in a recipe because the flavor melds well with the flavors of whatever you’re cooking it with. Swai Fish is also a lean source of protein and a good source of essential micronutrients. I always make sure to buy BAP-certified fish and seafood, as it is a certification program that exists to ensure your seafood is being sourced responsibly. This makes me feel good about the fish I’m consuming and where it came from.

Zucchini – For this dish, I added zucchini in but you can play around with different veggies. Zucchini is a nutrient-dense vegetable, offering a good source of vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants while being low in calories.

A white baking dish filled with roasted red and yellow tomatoes on the vine, charred lemon halves, fresh mint leaves, and herbs, arranged in colorful rows. - 3

👩‍🍳 How to Make Baked Swai Fish

Preheat the oven to 375F.
Make the lemon sauce by whisking together all of the lemon sauce ingredients and set aside.
Prepare the rice: In a nonstick 9×13 baking dish add olive oil, rice, chopped zucchini,, smashed garlic cloves, salt, ground pepper, chicken stock paste and water. Give everything a good stir to combine and then nestle in the cherry tomatoes on the vine.
Bake the rice for 30 minutes.
While the rice is baking, prepare the swai. Pat each swai filet dry with paper towels. Spread 1 tsp mustard onto each filet and then season each generously with kosher salt and ground pepper.
After the rice has been in the oven for 30 minutes, remove and fluff the rice mixture a bit with a fork. Nestle the swai filets on top of the rice. Bake for 10-12 more minutes until the fish is cooked through (flakes easily with a fork) and rice is tender and cooked through too.
To serve, drizzle the swai with the lemon dressing and garnish with fresh mint leaves and fresh dill. Squeeze more fresh lemon juice over top of everything if desired.

🪄 Tips and Tricks

Thaw Properly: If your swai fillets are frozen, thaw them completely in the refrigerator overnight. While some recipes suggest baking from frozen, proper thawing usually leads to more even cooking and better texture.
Season Well: As mentioned, swai fish is mild tasting, so it requires generous seasoning, herbs, spices, etc., to become flavorful. Don’t be shy!
Cooking Time: Fish cooks quickly, so don’t overcook it! Keep your eye on it when it’s in the oven.

A plate with seasoned, cooked fish fillets garnished with fresh herbs and grilled lemon, served alongside yellow tomatoes. Nearby is a BAP-certified seafood packaging on a white surface. - 4

🗒 Variations

If you like this Greek-Style Swai Fish Recipe, try one of my other easy baked fish recipes:

Sheet Pan Herb Crusted Salmon
Oven Baked Fish
Easy Recipe for Baked Cod

🗒 Best served with

Fava Bean Hummus
Greek Salad
Fluffy Greek Pita

👝 How to Store Leftovers

Store leftovers of this recipe in an airtight container in the fridge and consume within 2-3 days.

🤔 Common Questions

Make sure you’re adding a fat to it, such as olive oil or butter, and not overcooking your fish.

The fish is done when its flesh turns opaque (no longer translucent) and it flakes easily with a fork at its thickest point.

Generally, no. Your fish should be fine and cooked through without having to flip it.