A Fish Pie fit for a king! Flakes of fish smothered in a creamy white sauce, topped with mashed potato then baked until golden brown, a wonderful centrepiece for Easter you can make with fresh, smoked and even canned fish.
Use a combination of smoked fish and unsmoked fish for optimum flavour and texture, plus it’s more economical. Also see recipe notes for using canned tuna or salmon to make this!
Fish Pie
Let’s talk Fish Pie. Fish Pie for Easter! (Or any other time of the year 🙂 )
This recipe has a few more steps in it than my usual quick ‘n easy dinner recipes. But no more steps than usual pies – Cottage Pie, Beef and Mushroom Pie, Shepherds Pie.
A golden crusted, creamy mashed potato topping. A filling loaded with flakes of fish smothered in a beautiful creamy white sauce.
The extra pots and pans are totally worth it!
The key element of Fish Pie is the broth used to make the creamy sauce. And the path to a great broth is using the right fish.
Best Fish for Fish Pie
I like to use a combination of both smoked and normal unsmoked fish. The smoked fish (the bright orange one) provides most of the flavour. But I find it a bit overwhelming to use only smoked fish which is why I use both smoked and unsmoked (normal raw) fish.
Here in Australia, our range of smoked fish is sadly lacking. The only one sold at my local fish shop and supermarkets (Woolies) is smoked cod. It’s great value – $10/kg ($5/lb), it’s well seasoned infused with good smokey flavour, so it’s fantastic for Fish Pie.
And yes, it’s dyed. But I can’t deny that I love the colour it adds to the pie filling!
Poaching the fish with onions studded with cloves is a traditional method that I enjoy using. It adds a subtle hint of flavour into the broth to make this Fish Pie extra special.
I think you’ll be amazed at the flavour that’s infused into the milk with just 7 minutes of poaching time. It’s flavour that can’t be bought!!!
The flavour infused milk is then used to make the creamy sauce for the Fish Pie. I don’t think it’s strictly traditional to include sautéd carrots and celery in the sauce, but I like adding them because it adds even more flavour and it adds more texture to the filling.
This is a point of disagreement between myself and my brother who believes the filling should be just fish, whereas I find the texture too one dimensional for my taste. So I’ve included the carrots and celery as optional in the recipe – otherwise I’ll never hear the end of it! (Much like the fact that I tinkered with his famous Sausage Rolls recipe. He keeps going on and on and on about it 😂).
Key tip for the sauce – make sure it’s pretty thick. Like honey thick – that’s the best way I can describe it. It won’t thicken any more in the oven and also it’s likely that the fish will seep some liquid while baking. So basically, make the sauce as thick as you want it to be when you cut into the pie.
I’ve added egg into my Fish Pie, keeping with what I believe to be old school tradition 😇. I have a memory of cutting into a Fish Pie in a pub in London, and was “fishing” around trying to find the egg. I wanted my egg! Give me my egg!
But it is optional. 😂
Top with mash, rough it up (more ridges = more crunch!), drizzle with butter, sprinkle with parmesan and bake…..
……and look what comes out.
I know I should be focussing on the filling, but let me have a moment. Look at that golden crunchy crust! It’s so good!!!!
OK, now it’s the fillings’ turn.
LOOK AT THAT CREAMY FILLING loaded with the tender flakes of fish!!!!
This Fish Pie might be fit for a king, but it’s totally economical to make. If you purchase your fish from the supermarket (Woolworths), it should cost less than $20 and it serves 6 to 8 people. I’m sharing this with Good Friday in mind. Traditionally, meat isn’t consumed on Good Friday and while a side of salmon recipe is usually first to mind, I thought I’d share something a little different for this year! – Nagi x
PS Though if salmon is what you’re after, there’s plenty to browse. For gatherings, try this Baked Parmesan Crusted Salmon with Lemon Cream Sauce (firm personal favourite) or Salmon Gravlax. See all my Salmon recipes here!
More cosy pies
Cottage Pie (beef)
Shepherd’s Pie (lamb – because Shepherd’s herd sheep!)
Browse all cosy Winter Warmers
And more fish recipes:
Honey Garlic Salmon and Lemon Honey Glazed Salmon – super quick!
See all Fish recipes
WATCH HOW TO MAKE IT
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Fish Pie
Ingredients
Fish:
- 400 g / 14 oz smoked fish of choice (Note 1)
- 400 g / 14 oz raw unsmoked fish of choice , I used Perch (Note 2)
- 3 cups / 750 ml milk , low fat or full fat
- 1 brown onion , quartered (Note 3)
- 4 cloves , optional (Note 4)
White Sauce:
- 50 g / 3 tbsp unsalted butter
- 2 garlic cloves , minced
- 1/2 small onion , finely chopped
- 1 small carrot , finely chopped
- 1 small celery stick , finely chopped
- 1/3 cup / 50g plain flour (all purpose flour, Note 11 for GF)
- 1 tbsp fresh tarragon , finely chopped (optional)
- 2 tbsp parsley , finely chopped
- Salt and pepper
Potato Topping:
- 750 g / 1.5 lb floury potatoes , peeled and cut into 2.5cm / 1″ pieces (Note 5)
- 30 g / 2 tbsp+ unsalted butter
- 1/2 cup / 125 ml milk, any fat %
Pie:
- 1 cup frozen peas
- 4 hard boiled eggs , quartered (optional) (Note 6)
- 30 g / 2 tbsp butter , melted
- 1/4 cup / 15g grated parmesan cheese , optional
- Finely chopped parsley , for garnish (optional)
Instructions
Fish:
- Push a clove into the skin of each onion. Place in a pot or large skillet, add milk, turn stove onto medium high heat.
- When milk is barely simmering, add fish – don’t worry if it’s not entirely covered, it can be turned / moved around.
- Poach fish for 7 minutes, then use a slotted spoon to transfer fish straight into a medium baking dish (Note 8).
- Flake into chunks using forks. Remove bones if you see any.
- Use slotted spoon to remove onion and cloves from milk, discard. RESERVE milk.
- Preheat oven to 180C/350F. Boil water for potatoes.
Sauce:
- Melt butter in a large, deep skillet or pot over medium high heat. Add onion and garlic, cook for 1 minute. Then add celery and carrot, cook for 5 minutes until carrot is soft.
- Turn heat down to medium low. Add flour, mix in – it will look gluey.
- Add half the milk and quickly start mixing. Once incorporated, the mixture will thicken quickly. Add remaining milk and stir. (Video helpful here)
- Turn heat up to medium and keep stirring until the mixture thickens to the consistency of honey – about 3 minutes. (Note 7)
- Take it off the heat, stir through tarragon and parsley. Adjust salt and pepper to taste.
Pie:
- Scatter top of flaked fish with peas, then pour over the Sauce. GENTLY stir through (don’t want fish to turn into mush!).*
- Smooth top, then nestle egg in all over the pie.
Mashed Potato:
- Bring a large pot of water to the boil. Add potatoes and cook for 15 minutes or until soft. (Do this while making the Sauce).
- Drain potato, add butter, milk, salt and pepper. Mash until creamy – add more milk if required.
- Immediately dollop then spread onto pie (cold mash = hard to spread).
- Use fork to draw squiggles on surface (rough surface = better golden bits).
Bake Pie:
- Drizzle surface with melted butter, sprinkle with parmesan.
- Bake for 35 minutes or until top is deep golden.
- Stand for 5 minutes before serving, garnished with parsley if desired. See notes for reheating and make ahead.
Recipe Notes:
Nutrition Information:
LIFE OF DOZER
When I first got him, he was so shy he used to sleep with his head stuffed between cushions. Soooo cute…..! (Didn’t last long, he was ruling the house in no time).
Hi Nagi
Was wondering if this recipe is suitable to freeze if you make the sauce slightly less thicker as you mentioned that it does thicken once refrigerated
Yes 100%, just add a little extra liquid to the mix. It will be perfect! N x
Omg another amazing recipe 😍 used just the smoked fish and skipped the tarragon cause couldn’t find it anywhere and turned out sooooo tasty!thanks Nagi🤗
Omg another amazing recipe 😍 use just the smoked fish and skipped the tarragon cause couldn’t find it anywhere and turned out sooooo tasty!thanks Nagi🤗
This was sooo good. Worth using multiple pots. The only smoked fish in the nearby grocery was salmon. I was too cheap to invest in 14 oz. So it was only 4 oz but it was tasty still.
Thank you for the recipe!
This recipe is genius! The step with the milk and fish is inspired. A huge hit with my husband and daughter. I don’t love fish pie but the recipe is easy to follow and a keeper.
This is the absolute best fish pie I have ever made. I make two batches each time – one for dinner and one for the freezer! My husband loves it. Thank you.
Love this recipe. Tried for the first time last night. Used cod and smoked salmon. Didn’t have tarragon but used fresh dill instead. Awesome. Next time I’m adding prawns also.
Loving all your recipes, always come out perfect! Attempting your pecan pie next!
Loving your recipes thank you! Can I use frozen fish and poach a little longer?
Hi Cherieve, you can use frozen fish, just thaw before cooking. N x
Nagi thank you for your excellent recipes and this one in particular. I am a retired old dog now and have time to cook. I rarely look anywhere else for recipes. Thank you
Love the recipe, definitely making it this week since we are going to smoke some salmon. My only question is-why don’t you smoke your own fish, which ever kind you like, it’s so easy! We recently bought an electric smoker and it’s great, couldn’t have spent a hundred bucks better!
Wow! Great pie! Easy and delicious. I made one for a friend who is recovering from Covid. She was delighted. Thanks.
Such a tasty and wholesome dish.. I replaced the celery with a courgette and turned out lovely..
Thank you
Yum! Sounds great Ash! N x
When roasting or poaching fish e.g. salmon I usually leave the skin on. Have never made a fish pie however and would love to try this. Would leaving the skin on be a problem? Is it better to remove the skin? Thanks in advance.
Really like the recipes on your website.
MJ
Hi MJ, I personally prefer to remove the skin there – N x
Easy to make, absolutely wonderful. Now making for the second time. I add a bay leaf to milk mixture. Wonderful.
Made this for the second time and added prawns which was absolutely delicious. I didn’t add the tarragon but was wondering if I could use dill instead. I used the smoked cod, red emperor and prawns – would dill go with these?
Hi Nagi, I’m super keen to make this, you mentioned at the start of the page to check out the recipe notes on how to sub with canned tuna/salmon but I can’t find it. Can I sub the 400g of fresh and smoked fish each to the same amount of canned fish? Thanks!
This came out fabulous! Thank you, Nagi. I’ve been living in Scotland for the past 2 years and have loved getting a fish pie at the pub or as a prepared item from the supermarket, but I will seriously just make your recipe from now on.
Oh and I love your recipe notes, and found the workflow description very helpful! 🙂
I’m so happy you enjoyed it Jen, that’s great to hear!! N x
Delicious, even to my skeptical husband! I made a few adjustments because of what I had available, but it worked well! I used frozen hash browns instead of mashed potatoes. Due to a gluten allergy, I used gluten free flour, which worked well. I also used the onions from the milk poaching. It didn’t feel right to toss them with all that flavor.
Sounds perfect Kim!! N x
Tried this today and it is seriously seriously delicious, just like the pies from London’s gastro pubs. Couldn’t believe how easy it was to make as well. Your recipes are always a hit Nagi, I’ve never been disappointed!
That’s great to hear Linda! N x
I made this yesterday with a marinara mix from the supermarket and smoked cod. It was delicious, another successful recipe, thank you Nagi
WOOT!!! That’s great to hear Lou! N x