Butterfish
Butterfish: Nutrition, History and Cooking Guide
Butterfish (Peprilus triacanthus), found along the Atlantic coast of North America from Newfoundland to Florida, is a small, round, highly compressed fish with smooth, scaleless skin and flesh of exceptionally rich, buttery character — the quality that gives it its evocative name. It is a schooling species that moves inshore during spring and summer to feed on jellyfish, crustaceans, and small fish, before migrating offshore into deeper water for winter. Butterfish has been caught commercially and eaten along the northeastern American coast for generations, though it has historically been undervalued in domestic markets due to its small size and the practical challenge of filleting a fish rarely exceeding 25 cm. Its excellent eating quality has attracted much stronger appreciation in Asian markets, particularly in Japan and China, where it is exported in significant quantities. In Japan, small, oily, rich-flavoured fish are more broadly appreciated than in traditional Western markets, and butterfish is valued both fresh and smoked. The sustainable seafood movement has promoted butterfish in recent years as an abundant, well-managed, and delicious alternative to more heavily pressured species — the Atlantic butterfish fishery is generally considered one of the healthier managed fisheries in the US northeast.
Nutritional Value of Butterfish
Butterfish provides 146 kcal and 17.3 g of protein per 100 g, with 8 g of fat — moderately fatty, consistent with its rich, buttery flavour. It provides omega-3 fatty acids EPA and DHA alongside complete protein, B12, niacin, and selenium. As a small, oily fish similar in character to Atlantic mackerel and sardines, butterfish provides meaningful amounts of these important fatty acids per serving.
Health Benefits of Butterfish
Butterfish provides good omega-3 content alongside high-quality protein and important B vitamins. Its fat is predominantly unsaturated with meaningful EPA and DHA — the long-chain fatty acids most strongly associated with cardiovascular and brain health. As a small, short-lived schooling fish very low in the food chain, butterfish accumulates minimal mercury and is considered extremely safe for frequent consumption, including by pregnant women (in moderate quantities) and young children. This combination of good omega-3 content with very low mercury makes it a nutritionally appealing small oily fish.
How to Select and Store Butterfish
Butterfish are small — typically 100–200 g whole — with smooth, blue-grey skin and a round, compressed body. Fresh butterfish should have bright, clear eyes, firm flesh, and a clean sea smell. They are rarely found in British supermarkets but available through specialist online seafood suppliers. Refrigerate for up to two days; freeze for up to three months.
How to Cook Butterfish
The small size and rich fat content of butterfish mean it cooks very quickly and is almost impossible to dry out. Pan-fry whole butterfish in a little oil for three to four minutes per side — the skin crisps despite being scaleless, and the rich flesh cooks through quickly. Grilling works well over high heat. For a Japanese-inspired preparation, marinate in miso, mirin, and sake for an hour then grill or broil until caramelised. Butterfish are also excellent smoked — the fat content takes smoke flavour beautifully. Their rich flesh suits assertive preparations with ginger, soy, and sesame, or with lemon, capers, and herbs in a more Western style.
Butterfish in more detail
“Butterfish” is one of the least reliable names in the fish trade. In the US it usually means Peprilus triacanthus, a small Atlantic pomfret — which is the fish these figures describe. In the UK it can mean the small rock-pool gunnel. In Hawaii and much of the Pacific export trade it means escolar, and that substitution matters for a specific and unpleasant reason.
Escolar (Lepidocybium flavobrunneum) contains large amounts of wax esters that the human gut cannot digest. Eating a normal portion causes keriorrhoea — an oily orange discharge — in a substantial proportion of people, sometimes hours later. It is not dangerous, but it is memorable. Escolar is banned from sale in Japan and Italy, and the FSA advises that where it is sold it should be clearly labelled and portions kept small. It is frequently sold as “butterfish”, “white tuna” or “super white tuna”. If a fish sold as butterfish is unusually oily and firm, it is worth asking the Latin name.
The genuine Atlantic butterfish these figures describe is a small, delicate, oily-fleshed fish at 146 kcal and 8.02 g of fat per 100 g. It is thin enough to cook whole in minutes, and its high fat content makes it forgiving under a grill and well suited to smoking.
Nutrients worth knowing about
At 17.28 g of protein and 8.02 g of fat per 100 g, butterfish sits with the oily fish. Oily fish are the main dietary source of the long-chain omega-3 fatty acids EPA and DHA, and UK guidance recommends at least one portion of oily fish a week (with limits of two portions for girls, women who are pregnant, breastfeeding or may become pregnant).
Fish of this type supply Vitamin D, Vitamin B12 (Cobalamin), Selenium, Iodine and Phosphorus. Oily fish is one of very few substantial natural food sources of vitamin D, which matters in the UK between October and March when sunlight is too weak to make any.
Data note: this page does not currently display a micronutrient panel. See Herring for an oily fish entry where the panel is live.