Instant pot cod fish cooked from frozen in an electric pressure cooker in 2 minutes. No more waiting around to thaw your fish for dinner, with this recipe, you can have this quick and healthy dinner from the kitchen to your table under 10 minutes.
With pressure cooker fish, it doesn’t matter if it is frozen or fresh fillets, you are guaranteed delicious, tender and flaky result always. Serve with boiled baby potatoes, parsley sauce, and steamed veggies.
Why this instant pot frozen fish is good
- You only need a few ingredients to make this Instant pot pressure cooker fish.
- This recipe is easy and quick, you can add any spices and herbs of choice, although I have kept this simple as I served it some homemade parsley sauce.
- This recipe is healthy as fish is a good source of protein, it is low carb and gluten-free
- Fish like cod is great for meal prep and depending on what you are planning to pair it with, you can prep a week’s meal under 30 minutes
- instant pot cod can be served with any other side dish like this instant pot coconut rice, brown rice or Mexican rice. It is perfect with roasted potatoes, boiled baby potatoes, sauteed peas, sauteed broccolini or this creamy garlic mashed potato
Ingredients
Frozen fish fillet: I used cod, but you can other types of frozen fish of choice, haddock, halibut, mackerel, tilapia, or salmon
Salt
Freshly ground black pepper
How to cook frozen (cod) fish in an instant pot pressure cooker
Rinse the fish under cold water briefly to deglaze, this step is optional
Place the trivet in the instant pot and add 1 cup of water.
Add the frozen codfish and season with salt and freshly ground black pepper
Cover the lid of your instant pot securely then turn the valve to the sealing position. Select manual or pressure cook and cook on high pressure for 2 minutes then carefully do a quick release.
NOTE: If the thickness of your frozen cod fillet is more than ½ an inch, you can increase the cooking time to 3 or 4 minutes. 2 minutes has always worked for me, Alternatively, let the instant pot come to natural pressure for another 5 minutes after 2 minutes on high pressure
Serve with a lemon wedge, melted butter, and chopped dill or parsley sauce
Related posts: Baked cod with tomatoes and air fryer cod.
Tips for cooking fresh fish in an instant pot
- If in doubt, cook on low pressure instead of high pressure. Depending on the thickness of the fish, 2 minutes on low pressure is great for fish like mackerel and tilapia fillets provided they are not stacked on each other. This 100g frozen codfish cooked perfectly in 2 minutes in high pressure.
- You can also double this recipe at the same cooking time.
- Fish or seafood generally doesn’t take long to cook. Let that be your little reminder when steaming/cooking fish in a pressure cooker or on the stovetop.
- Worried if your fish is not cooked through, use a thermometer, the internal temperature of well-cooked fish should read 140F/70C
How long to pressure cook fish
Depending on the type of fish or seafood you are cooking. Use the below as a guideline
- Whole fresh fish like seabass, trout pressure cook between 4 to 6 minutes
- Mackerel steaks or whole mackerel 5 to 6 minutes
- Frozen fish fillet like tilapia, cod, halibut, haddock 2 minutes
- Fresh or frozen salmon 3 to 4 minutes because of its thickness
- Fresh or frozen mackerel fillet 1 minute on high pressure or 2 minutes on low pressure
You can apply the cooking guidelines above to any other electric pressure cooker like pressure king pro or ninja foodi.
How to thaw frozen fish fillets
To the best way of doing it is leaving it to thaw overnight in the refrigerator. Fish fillets don’t take long to thaw but a whole fish would take longer.
If I am in a hurry then I put the fillets in the freezer bag and run it under cold water. Do not run it under hot or warm water as it might cook the fish and toughen it and affect the texture before cooking.
The best, fast and effective way is to use a pressure cooker. I thaw frozen fish instant pot for zero minutes and then use it in soup, stew, sauces, tacos or curry. I don’t use this method if I intend to fry the fish.
Can I cook it with vegetables?
Most instant pot steamed vegetable cooks under 2 minutes. Like this broccoli only need zero minutes and if cooked longer than that can go mushy. Vegetables like carrots if chopped into larger chunks can be cooked on a trivet along with the fish for 2 minutes.
How to store
This recipe would store for up to 5 days in the fridge in an airtight container.
More instant pot recipes on the blog
Pressure cooker shredded chicken
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Instant Pot Fish (Frozen Cod)
Equipment
- Electric pressure cooker
Ingredients
- 200 g Frozen fish fillet cod (2 pieces) haddock, mackerel, tilapia or salmon
- ½ teaspoon coarse sea salt
- Freshly ground black pepper
Instructions
- Rinse the fish under cold water to deglaze, this step is optional. If using more than 1 frozen fish, make sure the fish are separated and not clumped together.
- Place the trivet in the instant pot and add 1 cup of water. I used 6qt IP DUO, If you are using 8qt instant pot, use the minimum water required which is 2 cups.
- Add the frozen cod fish and season with salt and freshly ground black pepper.
- Cover the lid of your instant pot securely then turn the valve to the sealing position. Select manual or pressure cook and cook on high pressure for 2 minutes then carefully do a quick release.NOTE: If the thickness of your frozen cod fillet is more than ½ an inch, you can increase the cooking time to 3 or 4 minutes. 2 minutes has always worked for me, Alternatively, let the instant pot come to natural pressure for another 5 minutes after 2 minutes on high pressure
- Serve with lemon wedge, melted butter and chopped dill or parsley sauce
Notes
- You can also double this recipe at the same cooking time.
- Fish or seafood generally doesn’t take long to cook. Let that be your little reminder when steaming/cooking fish in a pressure cooker or on the stovetop.
- Worried if your fish is not cooked through, use a thermometer, the internal temperature of well-cooked fish should read 140F/70C
Nutrition
Nutritional data: Please note that the nutrition label provided is an estimate based on an online nutrition calculator. It will vary based on the specific ingredients and brands you use. Under no circumstances will thedinnerbite.com be responsible for any loss or damage resulting for your reliance on nutritional information.
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Amber says
I have an 8 qt Instapot and cooked 6 pieces of frozen cod in 4 minutes of high pressure and quick release. I used my trivet and then my steamer basket on top of it to layer the pieces of fish so they weren't touching each other. The timing was perfect and deglazing the fish first made a huge difference so the salt and pepper stuck to it and really gave it good flavor without the sauce. I also made the sauce but didn't use parsley - I used garlic powder; garlic & parsley salt; black pepper; Italian seasoning; a tiny splash of lemon because my husband isn't a fan of it; and a bit of parmesan/romano cheese and it was fantastic. I used Bob's Red Mill all purpose gluten free flour and it worked out great. Everyone loved the meal - even my 11-year-old twins who put the fish on a roll and said it was the best fish they've ever had. Thanks for another great post!
Ajoke says
Oh, Amber, your fish sauce recipe is giving!!! Thanks for the feedback, I am glad you and your family enjoyed it.
Betsy Hall says
So helpful. I defrosted two pieces of cod, different thicknesses using the 2 minutes cook time. Meanwhile sauteed half an onion in olive oil with salt, pepper and smoked paprika, then added 3 garlic cloves from a garlic press. Added leftover spaghetti with olive oil and the fish, crumbled some dry sage and stirred it all together. Let set for less than 10 minutes. YUM.
Ajoke says
I am glad you found the post helpful, thank you for sharing how you served it too.
Amber P says
This is a go to quick meal in our house.
We use an 8qt IP with 1.5c water, and depending on the size of the filet (weight and thickness), this method cooks them perfectly in 2-4 minutes. We rub the filets with a taco seasoning before cooking anytime we want to change it up with fish tacos. Tried the parsley sauce, too, it's fabulous!
Rob says
I have a larger family, can the fish be stacked? Need 8-10 pieces. I am using a 8qt instant pot….thanks
Ajoke says
Hi Rob, I recommend you cook them in batches as stacking the frozen fish might result in uneven cooking. Thanks
Sheila says
Came out perfect from a frozen state
Loved it!!
Ajoke says
Yay! thank you so much, Sheila for your feedback
Amanda says
First time cooking fish in the instant pot. It was great, 2 minutes was perfect (fillets were only 85-100g each). Paired with the parsley sauce was so delicious.
Ajoke says
Thank you, Amanda, I am glad you love it, and thanks for making the parsley sauce too.
Nicola Van Hoff says
This turned out great! Cooked 4 fillets for 3 min and came out perfect. Thanks!
Rose says
Needed a healthy dinner for one, and remembered I had cod in the freezer. Found this super easy recipe, worked fantastic! Thank you
Jan says
Cooked my frozen thick halibut filets tonight on high pressure for 4 min and they came out perfect and flaky. Will be cooking all my fish like this from now on. Thank you for sharing!
Ajoke says
My pleasure, Jan. Thank you for the feedback.
Julie says
Frustrated. 2 minutes and cod was still frozen in center. 2 additional minutes and temp was only 120. Added another 2 minutes- hope it’s edible.
W says
I put one cup of water, seasonings, potatoes veggies and frozen haddock in the pot and cook for ten mins high pressure. Quick release. No faff with trivets!
DOUGLAS WALTER HASERT says
2 fillets , 5 oz each tried 2 minutes and were still frozen, added 3 more and were over cooked.
Boris says
Under tips, you say "cook on low pressure instead of high pressure", but then go on to say that 100g of cod cooked in 2 mins under high pressure... So, what time would you suggest for low pressure?
Ajoke says
Hello Boris, thank you for calling my attention to this, I meant to write "if in doubt cook on low pressure". Depending on the thickness of the fish, 2 minutes on low pressure is great for fish like mackerel and tilapia fillets provided they are not stacked on each other.
Dawn says
Thank you for this recipe! So easy & quick. No need to worry about overlooking it either. Delish!
Dawn says
Oops-overcooking
Ajoke says
Glad you liked the recipe Dawn, thank you for your feedback.
Carolyn says
I cooked one partial cod fillet, an inch thick, and it came out perfect! Tasted great with tartar sauce. I’ll throw some frozen veggies in next time to create a full meal. Thank you so much!
Alyssa Poole says
Bought frozen cod from Costco and need a quick dinner tonight, can’t wait to try this out!
Tessa Zeng says
Thanks so much for this post! Made dinner last night so much easier to just put a big frozen block of cod fillets right in the instant pot. 2 mins at high pressure was perfect. <3
Ajoke says
Thank you for your feedback Tessa, happy you found the recipe helpful.
Kayla Butler says
Two minutes was not long enough for two filets of fish, it didn’t cook all the way threw from frozen.
Ajoke says
Hello Tessa, I am sorry 2 minutes on high pressure didn't cook the cod through for you. My fillet is about 100g each, also my instant pot is 6 quarts. If you do give the recipe a try next time, could you maybe try 3 minutes. Thank you and I do hope you try this recipe again.