This one-pan wonder is a quick and delicious way to serve Catfish Cheeks, ready in only 20 minutes. Get ready to have your taste buds do a happy dance with this zesty and delicious lemon caper sauce!
Catfish Cheeks for Date Night
There’s a secret treasure hiding on your freshly caught catfish, and it’s not the fillets. Catfish cheeks are a culinary gem - small, tender, and packed with flavor. These little morsels are perfect for turning your next trip down to the river to catch catfish into a date night masterpiece. Catfish cheeks are so good it’ll have your spouse begging you to hit the water more often.
If you’ve never cooked fish cheeks before, don’t worry. They’re easy to prepare and cook quickly, making them ideal for a stress-free special evening.
Why Catfish Cheeks?
Fish cheeks, especially from larger catfish, are one of the most underrated cuts in the fishing world. Most fishermen don't even think about them. But they have a delicate, buttery texture and a clean flavor that pairs wonderfully with bright and tangy ingredients like the lemon caper sauce.
I fell in love with walleye Cheeks and halibut Cheeks while working restaurants years ago. But with a current price of about $30/pound, I can't EVER afford to indulge myself anymore with a wife, daughter, and a mortgage. Until I discovered I could harvest the catfish cheeks from the many fish I catch in the Red River just 5 minutes from my house here in Fargo, North Dakota. This catfish recipe is perfect for a small plate appetizer for a stay-at-home date night with that special someone..
How To Catch Catfish
Catfishing often gets a bad rap, but catching catfish is incredibly fun. Learning the basics makes the experience even better. On the Red River in Fargo, North Dakota, catching channel catfish is surprisingly easy. It’s common to hook a channel catfish weighing more than 15 pounds here. Although most fish average 1 to 5 pounds, you only need a few for some excellent recipes.
The Red River might look muddy, but its channel catfish are consistently delicious. Any spinning or baitcasting reel works well for catching them. For the line, I recommend 20-pound braided fishing line. It provides the strength you need and ensures solid hook sets due to its lack of stretch.
My favorite setup is a slip sinker rig. First, slide a sinker slide down the braided line, then add a plastic bead to prevent chafing. Next, tie a barrel swivel to the end of the braid. On the other side of the swivel, attach a 1- to 2-foot length of 20-pound fluorocarbon leader material. Finish the rig with a size 1 circle hook, and clip a 1-ounce bank sinker to the sinker slide.
When it comes to bait, channel catfish are not picky. We often use nightcrawlers from the garden compost pile. Duck and goose livers from hunting also work great. Sometimes, my daughter catches frogs along the riverbank, and those make excellent bait too.
Ingredients You'll Need
Ingredients
- Catfish Cheeks from 2-3 large catfish
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- 2 Tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1 Tablespoon olive oil
Lemon Caper Sauce
- 4 Tablespoons unsalted butter
- 2 Tablespoons jarred capers, drained
- 1 Tablespoon minced garlic
- 1 ½ Tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
- 2 Tablespoons fresh parsley, minced
How To Make Catfish Cheeks with Lemon Caper Sauce
- Pat the catfish cheeks dry with a paper towel. Sprinkle with kosher salt and let them rest at room temperature for 5 minutes.
- Pat them dry again and season with black pepper.
- Heat a nonstick frying pan over medium heat. Add 2 Tablespoons butter and 1 Tablespoon olive oil. When the butter starts to bubble, add the minced garlic and cook for 30 seconds.
- Place the catfish cheeks in a single layer in the pan. Cook for 2 minutes, tilting the pan to baste the fish with the hot butter.
- Flip the cheeks with a fish spatula and cook for another 2 minutes, continuing to baste. The cheeks are done when their internal temperature reaches 140°F and they’re golden brown.
- Transfer the cheeks to a plate and let them rest while you prepare the sauce.
- In the same pan, melt 4 Tablespoons butter over low heat. Add capers and garlic, simmering for about a minute until fragrant.
- Remove the pan from heat and stir in the lemon juice and parsley.
- Plate the catfish cheeks and generously spoon the lemon caper sauce over them. Serve immediately.
Cooking Tips
- Basting is your best friend – Spoon that bubbling butter over the cheeks while cooking to keep them moist and flavorful.
- Watch the heat – Catfish cheeks cook quickly, so don’t walk away from the stove. Overcooking them will make them tough.
- Get the freshest ingredients – Freshly squeezed lemon juice and bright green parsley make all the difference.
The Secret To More Fishing Time
Let’s face it: convincing your loved ones to let you spend more time fishing isn’t always easy. But serving up a dish like this? That’s how you turn a fishing trip into a win-win. Once they taste these buttery catfish cheeks with that tangy lemon caper sauce, they’ll be sending you out to catch more.
So next time you’re out on the water, don’t just think about the fish fillets. Keep those cheeks and turn them into something magical.
More Fish Recipes
If you are looking for more great ways to use some of that fish in your freezer, be sure and check out some of our favorite fish recipes:
- Walleye with Lemon Caper Sauce
- Blackened Walleye with Corn Succotash
- Butter Poached Puffer Fish
- How to Smoke Fish
- Fish Soup
- Potato Crusted Fish
- Catfish "Scallops"
Come to North Dakota to Catch Fish
If you would like to visit North Dakota and catch some fish, check out details at the North Dakota Game & Fish Department website.
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Catfish Cheeks with Easy Lemon Caper Sauce
Ingredients
Catfish Cheeks
- Catfish Cheeks from 2 - 3 large catfish
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- 2 Tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1 Tablespoon olive oil
Lemon Caper Sauce
- 4 Tablespoons unsalted butter
- 2 Tablespoons jarred capers, drained
- 1 Tablespoon minced garlic
- 1 ½ Tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
- 2 Tablespoons fresh parsley, minced
Instructions
- Pat the catfish cheeks dry with a paper towel and sprinkle with kosher salt 5 minutes before cooking and let rest at room temperature.
- Pat the fish dry again with a paper towel.
- Season with black pepper.
- Heat a nonstick frying pan over medium heat. Melt 2 Tablespoons butter and 1 Tablespoon olive oil, then add minced garlic and let the garlic flavor the butter for 30 seconds.
- Place catfish cheeks in a single layer in the hot pan with bubbly butter and cook for about 2 minutes. Tilt the pan slightly so you can scoop up the butter with a spoon and baste the fish while it's cooking.
- Using a fish spatula, flip the catfish cheeks and cook for an additional 2 minutes, constantly basting with the hot butter until the internal temperature reaches 140 degrees F and the outsides are golden brown.
- Transfer catfish cheeks to a plate and let rest for a few minutes while you make the sauce.
- In the same nonstick frying pan, melt another 4 Tablespoons of butter over low heat.
- Once melted, add the capers and garlic. Bring to a simmer, and continue cooking until fragrant, about 1 minute.
- Remove from the heat and add the lemon juice and parsley.
- Plate the catfish cheeks, spoon the lemon caper sauce over them, and serve immediately.
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