Swordfish BLT

By Florence Fabricant

Updated September 9, 2025

  • Meredith Heuer for The New York Times
Media 1 of 1
Total Time
40 minutes
Rating
4(305)
Comments
Read comments

Here’s a summery take on grilled swordfish, dressed with the fixings for that ever-popular, all-American sandwich, the BLT. No, it's not a slice of grilled swordfish in a sandwich, though that might not be a bad idea in some other context. This dish is dinner-party fare, fresh off the grill. Bacon, arugula and tomatoes in a lemony dressing, bolstered with bacon fat, top and sauce the fish. As an added bonus, I’ve brushed some of the bacon fat on the fish before grilling. The BLT mixture can be assembled a couple of hours in advance, so the grilling is the only last-minute task. The finished dish has a bright, beautiful presentation that suits the season.

  • or to save this recipe.

  • Subscriber benefit: Give recipes to anyone

    As a subscriber, you have 10 gift recipes to give each month. Anyone can view them - even nonsubscribers. Learn more.

    Subscribe

  • Share this recipe

  • Print this recipe

    or to print this recipe.

Advertisement

Ingredients

Yield:6 servings

  • ½ pound thick-sliced bacon, about 9 strips

  • 1 cup halved grape tomatoes, about 30

  • 3 tablespoons lemon juice

  • ¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil

  • Salt and ground black pepper

  • 2 ½ pounds swordfish steaks, in 6 portions

  • 1 cup packed, finely chopped arugula

Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (6 servings)

2 grams carbs; 150 milligrams cholesterol; 509 calories; 18 grams monosaturated fat; 5 grams polyunsaturated fat; 9 grams saturated fat; 36 grams fat; 1 gram fiber; 633 milligrams sodium; 43 grams protein; 1 gram sugar

Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.

Powered by

Preparation

  1. Step 1

    Fry bacon to medium doneness, remove to drain on paper towels and reserve fat. Place tomatoes in a medium-size bowl. Add lemon juice and olive oil, and season with salt and pepper. Stir in 2 tablespoons of the bacon fat. Break up bacon into small pieces and mix in. Set aside until ready to grill swordfish.

  2. Step 2

    Heat a grill or broiler. Brush swordfish on both sides with remaining bacon fat and season with salt and pepper. Grill or broil fish until just cooked through, about 4 minutes per side, more or less, depending on the thickness of the fish. Remove fish to a serving platter.

  3. Step 3

    Fold arugula into tomato mixture, then spoon mixture, including its sauce, on top of the fish. Serve.

Private Notes

Leave a Private Comment on this recipe and see it here.

Ratings

4 out of 5
305 user ratings
Your rating

or to rate this recipe.

Have you cooked this?

or to mark this recipe as cooked.

Comments

Hilarie

This was delicious! I recommend not adding the bacon to the tomatoes until the last minute, to retain crunchiness, and I used baby arugula, and kept it whole, so it was more like a salad .

Bicka

I have made this a number times, each time I tried some new variation. Last night instead of treating the tomatoes and arugula as a type of relish, I made an entire arugula salad, with a simple lemon olive oil dressing. I also threw in some oil cured black olives. Fabulous salad that disappeared along side the very fresh swordfish. As others have noted, if your steak is thick a bit longer under the broiler is necessary. Mine took about 8 minutes per side with a bit of char on the skin.

Martha

This is also great with boneless skinless chicken thighs

Portland

This is delicious as written and you should try it. There were 2 of us so I used 1 lb of swordfish but made a full recipe for topping. Used raw baby spinach instead of arugula but would be great with either. Lots of fresh pepper. Add bacon just before serving as others suggested. Definitely for rotation.

Meh

The best part about this is the BLT salad. It is otherwise pretty bland.

Andrea

Delicious. Added fresh basil to the arugula, plus shallot and garlic.

Private comments are only visible to you.

Recipe Tags

or to save this recipe.