Strawberries are a bright, sweet way to mark a Michigan summer. Just ask the folks in Chassell on the Keweenaw Peninsula, who celebrate this seasonal fruit with the Copper Country Strawberry Festival every July.
This year, strawberries also featured at the 2025 Houghton Mi Fresh Fish Fry on July 18. Special guests from Wisconsin Sea Grant demonstrated fish cooking tips with a dish that pairs delicious strawberries with farm-raised walleye. They used this recipe from Annissa Slusher of Simply So Healthy. Try whipping up a batch at home, and join us for future Mi Fresh Fish events to sample other tasty dishes!
Strawberry salsa makes a tasty topping for fresh Great Lakes fish. Photo: Lauren Stigers
Pan-fried fish fillets with strawberry salsa from Simply So Healthy
Serves 3
Ingredients
- 1 cup fresh strawberries, hulled and diced
- 2 tablespoons shallot or red onion, minced
- 2 tablespoons cilantro, finely chopped
- 1 small jalapeño pepper, seeded, white ribs removed, and minced
- Sea salt to taste
- 1 tablespoon avocado oil
- 3 4-ounce fish fillets (defrosted, if previously frozen)
Instructions
- Add the strawberries, shallot or onion, cilantro, and jalapeno pepper to a medium mixing bowl. Gently stir to combine. Season with salt to taste, if desired. Set salsa aside.
- Pat the fish fillets dry. Heat a heavy skillet over medium high heat. Add avocado oil. When avocado oil is hot, lightly sprinkle the fish with sea salt (if desired), and place in the skillet. Do not overcrowd the skillet.
- Allow the fish to cook without moving until it releases from the pan. Test by gently pushing on the edge of the fish with a spatula. When the fish has released, turn the fillets over to brown the other side.
- Fish is done when the second side has released and the meat is opaque and flaky. Remove fish from the pan, and serve with the salsa spooned over.
Freshwater Feasts 