Summer Boating Recipe: Ceviche Verde

Today, we hope you enjoy a guest post by The Galley Pirates. While being safe on the water is crucial, having the right snacks on board can make a day on the water even better. 

Therefore, you cannot go cruising without a good ceviche recipe. Nothing says summer like it. Even if it's not quite summer here yet, it's close! So let's make something quintessentially summer: ceviche. 

This ceviche verde recipe contains lots of vegetables and other proteins. Eat it with corn chips to make it a meal!

Start With Fresh Ingredients (Including the Fish)

Let's learn to make ceviche verde with The Galley Pirates:

The thing that makes a ceviche recipe essential for summer boating is the driving ingredient: very fresh fish. 

The best ceviche I ever had was on a deep-sea fishing trip in Mexico. We landed a 300-pound tuna and ate it every way we could think of for a week. The best recipe of all was the ceviche we made on board within minutes of starting to cut the fish up, with nothing but fish, lime juice, and a few seasoning vegetables.

If you don't have the luxury of landing your own marine bounty today, start at the fish market. Our local is Annapolis Seafood, which is near our marina. You want a pound of firm, very fresh fish for 4-6 people, depending on whether you are making it a main course or an appetizer. 

Because ceviche features fish that never touches a pan (the marinade "cooks" the fish), freshness is particularly important. Ask your fishmonger what is freshest; even mention you plan to make ceviche, as I did at Annapolis Seafood, and they'll put you onto the right thing (for us, tonight, flounder).

Gather These Ingredients

Along with the fish, you'll need a few additional ingredients for this ceviche verde recipe.

Here's your ingredient list:

• one pound fish
• two or three limes
• salt
• two or three avocados
• three to four tomatillos
• ¾ cup green olives
• 1 red or white onion
• a jalapeño
• a handful of cilantro
• olive oil

Dice the fish to about ½-inch bites and toss with about a teaspoon of salt. Juice three tablespoons of lime juice over fish and toss. Marinate for about 30 minutes until the fish becomes more opaque.

Use the Right Tools

This recipe highlights a couple of my favorite galley tools, one of which is this hand-wielded quick citrus juicer that I found in the bartending section of a kitchen store. 

The downside is you get seeds, but you're boating! Spit them over the transom. On the upside, it's quick to use and quick to clean up, and you get all the innards of the fruit that you do want.

While the fish is marinating (you can dump things on top, as long as you can see the fish to watch it become opaque), finely chop ¼ cup onion and the jalapeño. I use a fabulous hand-cranked food processor my mom picked up for me at one of those Pampered Chef kitchen parties.

Add leaves from a handful of cilantro, ¾ cup green olives sliced, diced tomatillos, and avocado. Then, add two tablespoons of olive oil and salt to taste (though the salt on the fish at the start is enough for me, along with the salt on the corn chips I serve it with).

Serve with corn chips and a beautiful sunset! Remember to also stay alert and wear your life jacket while enjoying your delicious treat on the boat. 

Enjoy Ceviche Verde and Safe Boating This Summer

What goes great with ceviche on the boat? Safety boating practices! 

We can't wait to try this recipe from The Galley Pirates, and we hope you'll try it too. We also hope you've taken a boater education course before hitting the water this season!

Ceviche is delicious but can't keep you safe when operating a boat. The Boat-Ed course knowledge helps you properly stock your boat with safety equipment, navigate the waters safely, choose the right life jacket for yourself and your crew, and know what to do if something goes wrong. 

Before summer gets here, stock up on the ingredients for ceviche and find the Boat-Ed course for your state to get safety certified!

Originally published June 1, 2015. Content updated May 11, 2023.