Common or eastern zander are the most common species of freshwater fish in our Czech waters.
We will not discuss how healthy they are, but among other things we must mention their deliciousness.
Their delicate flesh literally falls apart on the tongue.
Pike have other valuable abilities that anyone who doesn’t like looking for bones will appreciate.
Let’s see what recipes you can make from zander.
Pike perch in butter
The most popular form of pike. The recipe is simple! You can serve it with roasted potatoes.
INGREDIENTS:
- 35 g butter (ghee)
- salt
- 450 g pike fillet
- 1 lime
- fresh rosemary
METHOD:
- Heat the butter in a pan.
- Portion the pike, clean, dry, salt and sprinkle with lime.
- Fry skin side down for 3-4 minutes.
- Then we turn and finish baking slowly.
- Serve drizzled with the remaining butter and sprinkled with fresh thyme.

Pike perch fillet with sweet potato puree
Do you want to treat yourself to a luxurious pike? The recipe is really extravagant.
INGREDIENTS:
- 2 pike perch fillets
- salt
- ground black pepper
- oil
- basil oil
Vegetable Pack:
- 5 green asparagus shoots
- 5 pods of green beans
- 5 pods of green sweet peas
- 2 baby carrots
- 1 thin slice of zucchini cut lengthwise
For the puree:
- 2 sweet potatoes
- 1 shallot
- about 1 cm of fresh ginger
- a sprig of coriander
- 1 tablespoon of coconut cream
- nutmeg
- salt
- ½ teaspoon lime juice
METHOD:
- Salt and pepper the fish and let it rest for a while.
- Heat the oil and fry the fish skin side down for 5 minutes, do not turn!
- Boil green beans, asparagus, carrot slices (cut lengthwise) and peas and zucchini in boiling salted water for 3-4 minutes, then shock-cool with ice (the vegetables will retain their fresh appearance).
- We can also boil sweet potatoes in a pot of boiling salted water, add halved shallots, ginger and coriander.
- Cook until soft, then mix everything, soften with coconut cream, season with lemon juice and nutmeg.
- Place the fish skin side down on a tray lined with baking paper and bake for 5-7 minutes in an oven preheated to 160°C.
- We also add cooked vegetables wrapped in a zucchini package and connected with a skewer to the baking sheet.
- We serve the finished fish with sweet potato puree, a bundle of vegetables, garnish with cherry tomatoes and drizzle with basil oil.

How to fillet and prepare zander? Here’s a video for inspiration:
Discover similar tips
Baked pike perch in the oven with carrot-orange puree
Swedish-style baked potatoes called hasselback go wonderfully with this zander recipe.
INGREDIENTS:
- 400 g pike fillet
- butter
- salt
- pepper
- 2 pieces of orange
- 2 pieces of carrots
METHOD:
- Boil the carrots in boiling salted water until soft.
- Wash, dry, salt and pepper the pike perch and put them on a baking sheet with a little melted butter.
- Bake at 180 °C for about 16 minutes.
- Blend the soft carrots and season with squeezed oranges.

A simple marinade not only for pike perch
If you want to have your pike loaded in advance, no problem. Here is one tip.
INGREDIENTS:
- 4 tablespoons of olive oil
- 4 tablespoons of chopped parsley
- 4 tablespoons of finely chopped coriander
- 6 tablespoons of lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon lime juice
- 3 cloves of pressed garlic
- 4 teaspoons of paprika
- 2 teaspoons cumin
- 1 teaspoon of black pepper
METHOD:
- Mix everything and marinate the fish meat in the marinade for 30 minutes.
- Then we can grill, bake or fry.

Pike perch is a very delicate fish that boasts very few bones. If you’re one of those individuals who are fascinated by their painstaking search, then you’ll be thrilled with the pike.
In addition, you don’t have to worry about any laborious cleaning. It’s best if you leave it in the skin, otherwise the tender meat will fall apart. So just scrape off the scales, preferably fresh.
No matter how you make pike perch, it pairs beautifully with mushrooms. Mushroom sauce goes well with it, but you can’t go wrong with hollandaise sauce either. The tastiest is the potato side dish in various ways , but it goes well with a light summer salad or white bread. We have also listed other tasty side dishes from vegetables and fruits above.
It also stands out beautifully with cold sauces for summer barbecues. You don’t have to worry about salting, but so that it doesn’t lose its exceptional taste, don’t overdo it with spices. Less is more in this case.
And if you are wondering whether it is possible to enjoy zander at Christmas, then we can say that it is. You certainly won’t make a mistake even if you wrap it in our favorite three-pack.