Crappie Ceviche Recipe With Fresh Lime and Jalapeño
Make fresh crappie ceviche with lime‑cured fish, jalapeño, red onion, tomato, and avocado. A simple, bright recipe perfect for a day’s catch.
Crappie Ceviche Recipe With Fresh Lime and Jalapeño
This recipe comes from Matt Pittman, CEO of Meat Church BBQ, YouTube personality, and friend of Montana Knife Company.
6
20 minutes
6 hours
180
Mexican
Appetizer
A fishing buddy of mine named Bryan talked me into making crappie ceviche after a solid day on the water. I make fish ceviche often with shrimp, but I’d never tried it with freshwater crappie. Crappie is my favorite freshwater fish to eat, so I figured, why not?
That first batch disappeared in minutes, and it’s been in the rotation ever since.
This crappie ceviche recipe lets the fish do the talking. Fresh lime juice cooks the crappie fillets over a few hours in the fridge, and a mix of jalapeño, red onion, tomato, and avocado rounds it out. It’s one of the simplest freshwater fish ceviche recipes you’ll find, and one of the best ways to use a cooler full of crappie.
Ingredients
blank
- 1 lb. fresh crappie fillets, cut into 1/2- to 1-inch chunks with a sharp, clean kitchen knife
10–12 limes, juiced
4 jalapeños, chopped
2 garlic cloves, pressed
Your favorite Cajun or all-purpose seasoning and kosher salt to taste
1/2 red onion, diced
1 Roma tomato, diced
1 avocado, diced
5 sprigs fresh cilantro, finely chopped
blank
Your favorite sea salt tortilla chips
Directions
blank
- Use a sharp, clean knife to cut your crappie fillets into even chunks. Consistent size matters here. Pieces that are too large won’t cure all the way through, and pieces that are too small will turn mushy.
Place the crappie chunks into a glass bowl and cover them completely with fresh lime juice. The fish needs to be fully submerged so the acid can work evenly.
Press the garlic cloves directly into the bowl and stir. Add kosher salt, seasoning, and half the chopped jalapeños. Give it another stir.
Cover the bowl and place it in the fridge for six hours. The lime juice will turn the crappie from translucent to opaque white as it cures. That color change tells you the acid has done its job.
Strain the lime juice from the bowl.
Add the diced red onion, Roma tomato, remaining jalapeños, cilantro, and avocado. Stir gently so the avocado doesn’t break apart.
Serve your crappie ceviche cold with tortilla chips on the side.
blank
Freshwater fish like crappie carry a higher parasite risk than saltwater species. The lime juice in ceviche doesn’t kill parasites the way cooking with heat does.
To be safe, freeze your crappie fillets at 0°F or below for at least seven days before making this recipe. This kills any parasites without affecting the texture or flavor of the finished ceviche. Thaw the fillets in the fridge overnight before cutting and curing.
