Saltfish and Ackee

Name: Saltfish and Ackee
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 27 min
Total time: 42 min
Yield: 4 servings
Cuisine: Jamaican
Ingredients: 450g Salt Cod; 400g Ackee; 1 chopped Onion; 1 tsp Paprika; 2 tsp Curry Powder; 2 tsp Jerusalem Artichokes; 1 tsp Hotsauce; 1 sliced Red Pepper; 1 sliced Yellow Pepper; 200g Tomatoes; to taste Salt; to taste Pepper; 250g Self-raising Flour; 30g Suet; pinch Salt; for frying Olive Oil

By The Spice & Simmer Kitchen · Published May 3, 2026

A one-pot Seafood recipe with Jamaican flavors, built for busy weeknights when you want real food without a sink full of dishes. Comes together in roughly 78 minutes, serves about 4, and uses ingredients you can find at any normal grocery store. The technique is simple: build a base in your pot, layer in the main ingredients, simmer until everything has had time to talk to each other, and serve straight from the pan. If you're cooking for picky eaters, this one tends to land — the flavors are recognizable, the texture is comforting, and there's nothing weird hiding in the ingredient list. Perfect for the kind of evening where you want dinner on the table by 7pm and the kitchen empty by 7:30.

Ingredients

Makes 4 servings · 42 min total

450g Salt Cod
400g Ackee
1 chopped Onion
1 tsp Paprika
2 tsp Curry Powder
2 tsp Jerusalem Artichokes
1 tsp Hotsauce
1 sliced Red Pepper
1 sliced Yellow Pepper
200g Tomatoes
to taste Salt
to taste Pepper
250g Self-raising Flour
30g Suet
pinch Salt
for frying Olive Oil

Step-by-step instructions

For the saltfish, soak the salt cod overnight, changing the water a couple of times.
Drain, then put the cod in a large pan of fresh water and bring to the boil. Drain again, add fresh water and bring to the boil again.
Simmer for about five minutes, or until cooked through, then drain and flake the fish into large pieces. Discard any skin or bones.
For the dumplings, mix the flour and suet with a pinch of salt and 250ml/9fl oz water to make a dough.
Wrap the mixture in clingfilm and leave in the fridge to rest.
Open the can of ackee, drain and rinse, then set aside.
Heat a tablespoon of olive oil in a pan and fry the onion until softened but not brown.
Add the spices, seasoning, pepper sauce and sliced peppers and continue to fry until the peppers are tender.
Add the chopped tomatoes, then the salt cod and mix together. Lastly stir in the ackee very gently and leave to simmer until ready to serve.
When you’re almost ready to eat, heat about 1cm/½in vegetable oil in a frying pan and heat until just smoking.
Shape the dumpling mix into plum-size balls and shallow-fry until golden-brown. (CAUTION: hot oil can be dangerous. Do not leave the pan unattended.) Drain the dumplings on kitchen paper and serve with the saltfish and ackee.

Why this works on a weeknight

Saltfish and Ackee lands at about 42 minutes total — a little longer than our 30-minute target, but most of that time is hands-off simmering, which is why it earned a spot in our Skillet & One-Pan collection. The technique is forgiving, the ingredient list is grocery-store standard, and the active cooking time is short enough that you can answer a text message in the middle without ruining dinner.

Cleanup notes

This is a single-pan recipe, so the cleanup is exactly one pan, one cutting board, and one knife. While the dish rests, fill the pan with hot soapy water — by the time you are done eating, the residue lifts off with a single pass of a sponge. Skip the steel wool on cast iron; a stiff brush and warm water are all you need to keep the seasoning intact.

Make-ahead and leftovers

Leftovers keep covered in the fridge for up to three days. Reheat in a dry pan over medium-low with a splash of water or stock to loosen the sauce. Saltfish and Ackee actually improves overnight as the flavors keep talking to each other, so doubling the recipe and packing tomorrow's lunch is a high-leverage weeknight move.

Filed under 🥘 Skillet & One-Pan Seafood Jamaican Speciality