Gulfside Blackened Grouper Recipe | Badass Blackened Seasoning (2024)

Gulfside Blackened Grouper fired in a cast-iron skillet to crispy blackened flaky perfection. Living in South Florida has advantages. Balmy breezes in the middle of winter, a bevy of fruit trees heavy with fruit throughout the year and fishing boats with fresh fish in your backyard daily.

With plenty of locally caught Grouper, it’s easy to satisfy a craving for a blackened grouper sandwich in a snap. We season ours with Badass Blackened Seasoning a staple in our kitchen, you can use it on damn near anything you want to add a deep smokey flavor too.

Not spicy but smokey in flavor it adds some crazy good character to fish, chicken, shrimp, veg, and even tofu! And it’s all done in a flash too so no slaving in the kitchen when you’d rather be outside enjoying those balmy breezes or chilling out on the couch!

Chef’s Tip: The majority of Blackened Seasoning will have a step where you dip or brush the protien with melted butter. I omit this step altogether and liberally sprinkle Blackened Seasoning onto what I’m cooking. The butter is heated in the pan in lesser amounts, this reduces the amount of fat overall. Not that I am a calorie counter but I do cut excess when possible.

• Cast Iron: Definitely our preferred method of making blackened grouper, due to the fact you can get a fire hot sear on the blackening.
• Grill: Cooking over high heat on a grill is also a great way to prepare blackened grouper. Plus you get the smokey grill flavor on top of the blackening, total flavor score.
• Cast Iron on the Grill: The best of both worlds! Heat the cast-iron skillet over an open flame and once hot proceed with cooking.
• Oven: An oven is a terrific option to finish cooking grouper or anything blackened for that matter. You’ll sear both sides first and then complete then finish cooking in the oven.
• Preheat the oven to 425°F/218°C after searing the Grouper add to the preheated oven for 4-5 minutes or until fish is opaque and flakes easily. Remove skillet from oven, and place fish, on a platter and allow it to rest for 5 minutes. A great option if you worry about burning dishes.

Blackening is a cooking technique used in the preparation of fish, chicken, seafood, beef, and even tofu. The food is dipped or brushed with melted butter and then sprinkled with Blackened Seasoning.

As noted above I skip brushing my proteins with butter and just rub the blackened seasoning on and cook in a firey hot pan with butter added to it after coming to temperature. This may not be purest cooking when it comes to blackening but it works beautifully. As you can see with our Blackened Chicken.

Blackening seasoning is a mixture of chili powders, spices and herbs, very similar to Cajun and Creole seasonings. Common ingredients include a mixture of chili pepper, garlic and onion powder, black pepper, oregano, and thyme, along with salt, though many variations exist from cook to cook.

Our Badass Blackened Seasoning is made from the following ingredients.

• Smoked Paprika: One of my favorite spices we do a half and half blend of regular paprika and smoked. The deep smoke flavor is imparted by sun-drying peppers and then slowly smoking them over a fire, a complex flavor profile that will change the way you think about paprika!
• Parsley + Oregano: Impart a wonderful herby essence and are an absolute must.
• Cayenne Pepper: We like it on the spicy side, but you can sprinkle in a little or a lot depending on your palate.
• Garlic Powder + Onion Powder: Both are must-haves neither are interchangeable and each adds it’s own character that delivers on taste.
• Kosher Sea Salt (coarse ground): This is up to you, we prefer using it and sea salt is my number one go-to seasoning, but if you’re watching your sodium intake then leave it out.
• Freshly Cracked Black Pepper: Don’t be shy add plenty it rounds out this perfect blackened seasoning.

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