Sole substitute

Best substitute

Flounder

Use the same amount by weight as the sole you are replacing

Best for sole meuniere

Close match

Flounder is the answer, swaps in one for one, and in the United States it is very often what you were already buying, since fish labeled Dover sole, gray sole or fillet of sole in American shops is usually a flounder species. In Europe, plaice, dab, megrim or witch are the equivalent swaps. If neither is available, tilapia or basa are thin, cheap and workable in a meuniere where the browned butter and lemon carry the dish, though they are softer and blander and will tear if you try to roll or stuff them. Thin-cut haddock or cod tail fillets are good baked but give you a chunkier, larger flake than sole's fine one. The single most important adjustment with any substitute is time: these fillets cook in ninety seconds a side, and treating them like a cod fillet is how they get ruined.

Other sole substitutes

Ranked, with the exact amount to use

2Plaice, dab, witch or megrim
Close match
Use the same amount by weight
The European flatfish that sit alongside sole on the same slab.
What changes
Best for
meuniere, goujons and breaded fillets, grilling whole, en papillote, pan-frying in butter
Interchangeable with sole in any recipe, cheaper, and often fresher because they are landed locally. Plaice is the sweetest and softest, dab is small and best cooked whole on the bone, and megrim and witch are longer and thinner with a slightly firmer bite. All of them are more fragile than a Dover sole, so flour them and turn them once. If your fishmonger has any of these, take them over an expensive fillet of dubious provenance labeled sole.
3Tilapia or basa
Taste and texture differ
Use the same amount by weight
Thin farmed white fillets, the cheapest widely stocked option.
What changes
Best for
sole meuniere, breaded fillets and goujons, baked fish with lemon, fish tacos, weeknight pan-fried fish
The realistic weeknight swap and a better one than its reputation suggests, because in a meuniere the browned butter, lemon and parsley are doing most of the work. The compromises are clear: both are blander than sole, without that delicate sweetness, and both are softer and hold more water, so blot them very dry and expect a slightly mushier flake. They are also thicker than a sole fillet, so add a minute a side, and they will not tolerate being rolled around a stuffing because they tear.
4Thin-cut haddock, cod or whiting fillets
Taste and texture differ
Use the same amount by weight
Cod-family fish cut from the tail end, where the fillet is naturally thin.
What changes
Best for
baked fish, breaded fillets, en papillote, poaching, fish pie
Better fish than tilapia and a poorer imitation of sole. Cod and haddock are cleaner and sweeter, but their flake is large and chunky where sole is fine and almost silky, so the eating experience is noticeably different: you get a piece of flaky white fish rather than the delicate melting texture the dish was designed around. They also cook longer, four to five minutes a side even when thin. Use them for baked and crumbed dishes, and reach for flounder if the recipe is a quick pan meuniere.
5Trout fillets or small sea bass
Taste and texture differ
Use the same amount by weight
Thin quick-cooking fillets with considerably more flavor of their own.
What changes
Best for
meuniere, pan-frying in butter, almondine-style dishes, grilling, baked whole
A genuinely good dinner and not a close copy. Trout is thin and cooks in the same two or three minutes and takes browned butter, lemon and almonds so well that trout meuniere and trout amandine are classics in their own right. But trout is oilier, pinker and much more assertive than sole, so the plate tastes rich and nutty rather than delicate. Sea bass is closer in mildness and firmer in bite. Choose these when you want a good version of the technique rather than a near-copy of the fish.
6Turbot or halibut, for baked and braised dishes only
Taste and texture differ
Use the same amount by weight
The prized thick flatfish, firm enough to cook like a steak.
What changes
Best for
baked fish, braising and poaching, roasting on the bone, special-occasion dishes
Included partly as a warning, since these are the flatfish people assume are close relatives of sole and they behave nothing like it in a pan. Turbot and halibut are thick, dense and firm, and they take eight to twelve minutes rather than three, so they are wrong for a quick meuniere and cannot be rolled or folded. Where they excel is baked, braised or roasted on the bone, and turbot in particular is superb. If your recipe is a classic Dover sole roasted whole on the bone, turbot is a fine and grander alternative.

What is Sole?

Sole is Sole is a group of flatfish, Dover, lemon and petrale among them, sold as very thin, delicate, sweet white fillets that cook through in two or three minutes and are the point of dishes such as sole meuniere and sole en papillote; most fish sold as sole in American markets is in fact flounder.

Cooking tips

Cook time is everything. A thin sole or flounder fillet needs sixty to ninety seconds a side in a hot pan and is done when it turns opaque and the edges just curl. The single most common way these fish are ruined is being cooked like a cod fillet for four or five minutes a side, which leaves them dry, shrunken and shredded. If your substitute is thicker, add time deliberately rather than by feel.
Flour the fillet and press it gently. A light coat of seasoned flour, patted off well, protects the delicate flesh, gives you a thin savory crust, and thickens the pan juices into the sauce that makes meuniere what it is. Flour it just before it goes in the pan, because if it sits it turns to paste.
Cook in oil plus butter rather than butter alone. Butter on its own burns before the fillet has browned, and this is why so many home meunieres taste bitter. Start the fish in a neutral oil with a knob of butter, then pour off the fat once the fish is cooked, add fresh butter and let it brown, then finish with lemon juice and parsley off the heat.
Buy the thickest fillets you can and fold thin ones in half. The tail ends of sole and flounder fillets can be paper thin and will overcook and shred while the shoulder is still translucent. Folding a fillet in half, skinned side in, evens out the thickness, keeps it moist, and gives a neater portion. This is also how rolled and stuffed sole dishes work.
Handle them once. Use a wide fish spatula or a slotted turner, slide it under the whole length of the fillet, and turn a single time. Poking, nudging and repeated turning is what tears these fish apart, and the softer substitutes such as tilapia and plaice are even less tolerant of it than sole is.

Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between sole and flounder?

They are different flatfish families, but in an American market the distinction largely collapses, because much of what is labeled sole, including Dover sole, gray sole and fillet of sole, is actually a flounder species. True European Dover sole is firmer, sweeter and more resilient than flounder and costs several times as much. For cooking purposes, treat flounder as sole: same thickness, same two or three minute cook, same suitability for rolling and stuffing.

Is real Dover sole worth the money, and what can I use instead?

It is a genuinely superior fish, with a firmer bite and a cleaner sweetness that survives cooking better than any of the substitutes, which is why classic restaurant cooking prizes it. Whether that justifies the price is a personal call. Flounder is the substitute to use and it will get you most of the way there, and plaice or petrale sole are excellent if you can find them. What you should not do is buy a cheap fillet vaguely labeled sole and expect Dover sole quality.

Can I use tilapia for sole meuniere?

Yes, and it works better than you might expect, because the dish is really about browned butter, lemon and parsley. Blot the fillets very dry, flour them, and give them about two minutes a side since they are thicker than sole, and season a little more assertively because tilapia is blander. What you will notice is a softer, less delicate texture and no sweetness of its own. Do not use tilapia for rolled or stuffed sole dishes, since the fillets tear.

Can I use frozen fillets for these dishes?

Yes, and much of the sole and flounder sold is frozen anyway. Thaw it overnight in the fridge on a rack so the melt water drains off, then blot both sides thoroughly and flour just before cooking. Thin flatfish fillets suffer more than most from being cooked wet, since they will steam and fall apart rather than browning. Never thaw them in warm water and do not refreeze.

Can I just leave the fish out?

There is nothing to leave out, since the fish is the dish, but the technique transfers freely. Browned butter with lemon, capers and parsley is excellent over chicken cutlets pounded thin, over veal, over gnocchi or over roasted cauliflower, and any of those makes a perfectly good dinner using a recipe written for sole. Cook a chicken cutlet through to 165F rather than to fish doneness, and it will take about three minutes a side.

Related substitutes

More seafood substitutes

Sole substitute

Other sole substitutes

2Plaice, dab, witch or megrim

3Tilapia or basa

4Thin-cut haddock, cod or whiting fillets

5Trout fillets or small sea bass

6Turbot or halibut, for baked and braised dishes only