Whole Roasted Fish with Lemon and Fresh Herbs
A whole roasted fish seasoned with fresh herbs, spices, lemon, and olive oil. Serve it with a simple side dish like our recipe for Polenta with Flaxseed to complete a delicious meal for your family and friends.
This is a simple and easy way to prepare whole fish. It’s a great meal for the family or a quick meal to prepare for friends. You don’t need many ingredients to complete this dish, and it’s easily customized depending on the fish you purchase and the herbs and spices you have in your pantry.
One of the most famous methods of cooking fish is to roast it whole. Roasting means that you bake the fish under a heat source in an uncovered pan. Because fish has such a delicate texture and mild flavor, you can cook it with virtually any ingredient you’d like, though some go better than others. For example, if you’re looking for a classic Caribbean-inspired dish, consider this roasted whole fish recipe seasoned with Noubess Jerk Seasoning, Salt-Free.
How to make Whole Roasted Fish
You can’t really go wrong with a whole roasted fish. In general, fish is a good source of omega-3, protein, and calcium. There are so many great recipes with different types of spices and herbs. Whole fish is a healthy, delicious, and relatively easy entree to prepare for your next dinner party. Plus, with the concise steps below, there’s really no reason not to try it.
Here are a few different ways to season your fish.
- Salt and pepper are the common spices, but in this case, it is best to add garlic and lemon when you don’t want fresh herbs.
- Seafood in general needs lemon, so don’t disregard this ingredient.
- Noubess.com has several seasoning blends for meat, poultry, and seafood.
- Other spices and seasoning blends will work well also as long as you know the ingredients.
- Fresh herbs such as parsley, thyme, tarragon, and dill are with seafood.
- Onion, garlic, and tomatoes add tons of flavors to fish also.
The ingredients in the whole roasted fish recipe
- Bronzino, Red Snapper, Sea bass, or other sustainable white fish are best for this recipe
- Russet potatoes:
- Lemons: a great cooking tip to remember is that fish and seafood in general always need an acidic agent. And one of the best ingredients is lemon. It adds a wonderful aromatic flavor that no other seasoning or spice can provide.
- Scallions: instead of adding onion or shallots, add scallions. This herb is milder in flavor if you don’t tolerate the pungent taste of white or red onion.
- Fresh parsley: fresh fish needs fresh herbs; it is that simple.
- Thyme Sprigs: not too many add this herb, but it delivers a nice flavor and is full of antioxidants.
- Garlic cloves: this is a must. No substitution here as the taste will not be the same.
- Extra-virgin olive oil: always choose a good brand as I usually recommend.
Instructions
- Clean the fish to remove any leftover scales or entrails. Rinse under running water and pat dry with towel paper. Slash the fish 4-6 times on each side. Place the fish on a flat pan and cover with aluminum foil or plastic wrap. Place in the refrigerator until ready to roast.
- Heat the oven to 400 degrees F.
- Prepare your dish pan by either spraying it with cooking oil or cooking spray, or line the pan with parchment paper for easy cleaning.
- Wash and peel the potatoes. Slice into ⅓-inch rounds. In the tray or dish, scatter the potatoes, lemon slices, scallions, half the parsley, half the parsley, and the garlic cloves over the vegetables. Drizzle with the olive oil and season well with salt and pepper.
- Cover loosely with aluminum foil (to prevent the potatoes and herbs from browning too quickly). Roast for 30 minutes or until the potatoes are tender. (with a tong or spatula, turn everything once or twice). Remove from the oven.
- Remove the fish from the refrigerator.
- Turn the oven up to 425 F. Slash the fish 4-6 times on each side, season with salt and pepper, and insert a couple of parsley and thyme sprigs into the cavity of each fish. Then lay them on top of the potatoes, herbs, and lemons. Drizzle a little olive oil over the fish.
- Return the dish/tray to the oven
Notes and Tips for the whole roasted fish recipe
- Bronzino, Red Snapper, Sea bass, or other sustainable white fish are best for this recipe.
- It is best to use whole fish. Less mess, preparation, and cooking are much faster.
- The whole roasted fish bedded in the vegetable is a one-meal pan.
- This recipe is perfect for a casual or formal dinner.
- Serve the whole roasted fish with a tossed salad.
Whole Roasted Fish with Lemon and Fresh Herb
Ingredients
- 2 medium to large Bronzino Red Snapper or Sea bass, or other sustainable white fish, scaled and gutted
- 2 – 3 Russet potatoes peeled and sliced into ½ cm rounds
- 2 lemons sliced into ⅓-inch thick rounds (ends discarded)
- 4 scallions roughly chopped
- Bunch fresh parsley
- 5 – 6 Thyme Sprigs
- 4 garlic cloves bashed but not peeled
- 2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil plus more if needed
Instructions
- Clean the fish to remove any leftover scales or entrails. Rinse under running water and pat dry with towel paper. Slash the fish 4-6 times on each side. Place the fish on a flat pan and cover with aluminum foil or plastic wrap. Place in the refrigerator until ready to roast.
- Heat the oven to 400 degrees F.
- Prepare your dish pan by either spraying it with cooking oil or cooking spray, or line the pan with parchment paper for easy cleaning.
- Wash and peel the potatoes. Slice into ⅓-inch rounds. In the tray or dish, scatter the potatoes, lemon slices, scallions, half the parsley, half the parsley, and the garlic cloves over the vegetables. Drizzle with the olive oil and season well with salt and pepper.
- Cover loosely with aluminum foil (to prevent the potatoes and herbs from browning too quickly). Roast for 30 minutes or until the potatoes are tender. (with a tong or spatula, turn everything once or twice). Remove from the oven.
- Remove the fish from the refrigerator.
- Turn the oven up to 425 F. Slash the fish 4-6 times on each side, season with salt and pepper, and insert a couple of parsley and thyme sprigs into the cavity of each fish. Then lay them on top of the potatoes, herbs, and lemons. Drizzle a little olive oil over the fish.
- Return the dish/tray to the oven and roast for 18-20 minutes until the fish is just cooked through.
Nutrition
Please keep in mind that nutritional information is a rough estimate and can vary greatly based on the products used.
Nutrition info is automatically generated and provided as a courtesy and as an estimate only.
Enjoy a classic, mouth-watering oven-roasted fish. Tender, flavorful, and easy to prepare.
