How to fillet a fish

Use our easy step-by-step tips for filleting a round and a flat fish.

By The GH Kitchen TeamUpdated: 30 October 2013

Finger, Food, Orange, Nail, Seafood, Ingredient, Salmon, Fish, Fish slice, Lox,

Filleting a round fish

Round fish include all those fish with a round body such as cod, herring, mackerel and trout.

1) Using a very sharp knife, cut through the flesh down to the backbone just behind the head.

2) Working from the head end, insert the knife between the flesh and the ribs on the back of the fish

3) Holding the knife flat on the ribs, cut all the way down to the tail until the flesh is completely detached along the full length of the fish.

4) Lift the detached portion of flesh and, with the knife again placed flat on the ribs, cut until the flesh is detached from the bones and remove the fillet.

5) Turn the fish over and repeat on the other side, again working from head to tail, to remove the second fillet from the fish.

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Filleting a flat fish

These techniques are suitable for flat-shaped fish such as turbot, plaice and sole.

1) Insert a sharp knife between the flesh and ribs on one side of the backbone. Holding the knife nearly parallel to the backbone, cut between the backbone and the flesh until detached. Turn the fish round and repeat on the other side.

2) Turn the fish over and repeat on the other side. Smaller fish may only provide two fillets.

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The GH Kitchen Team

The GH Kitchen Team are Good Housekeeping’s resident recipe developers and all-round food obsessives. GH Kitchen Director Sarah Akhurst is our resident hosting pro and loves nothing more than putting on a foodie feast for friends. Our GH Kitchen Manager Linzi Pucino is our very own Italian food expert (originally hailing from the North East of Scotland!) and can be found working her way through midweek recipes that cover all bases, from haggis to ragu! Our Kitchen Editor ⁠Nadine Brown loves digging into the stories behind her favourite foods and enjoys applying her eclectic tastes to more modern, flavour-forward recipes - just don't give her too much chilli! Our Junior Food Content Produce ⁠Frankie Prichard combines a love of beautiful presentation and flavour-led, seasonal cooking in her recipe development, along with a passion for bringing people together through food. With a wealth of professional kitchen experience between them, they’re dedicated to ensuring every Good Housekeeping recipe is the best it can be, so you can trust they’ll work every single time