The Best Sea Bass - Old Fashioned Recipe (Easy to make!) (2024)

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This simple and delicious sea bass recipe is a great meal for dinner tonight, for busy weeknights, and a wonderful way to celebrate special occasions!

The Best Sea Bass Recipe

With a few Simple ingredients you already have in the kitchen, and only about 10 minutes, this recipe produces perfect sea bass fillets... Lightly crisp on the outside and mild flavored flaky meat inside!

The Best Sea Bass - Old Fashioned Recipe (Easy to make!) (1)

Simple PAN FRIED Sea Bass Recipe

The best way to cook sea bass is to just pan fry fillets with butter, salt and pepper till browned and a little crispy on the outside and flaky opaque inside!

I wholeheartedly love sea bass fillets cooked this way. It really lets you enjoy the flavor and texture of the fish without anything that would take away or overpower the mild flavor fish! Pan fried sea bass have a bit of a crispy crust and will be light and flaky inside... Perfect!

Directions

In a large non stick skillet melt 2 tablespoons butter over medium-high heat.
When better is melted, add room temperature sea bass fillets.
Lightly salt and pepper the top of fillets.
After 2 minutes, check under side of fish for browned color.
After browned on bottom, FLIP sea bass fillets.
Lightly salt and black pepper the other side of fillets.
Pan fry on medium heat for 2 more minutes, till fillets are browned on both sides, and flaky opaque inside.
Remove sea bass fillets from pan and top with a squeeze of fresh lemon or lime juice, lemon zest, or fresh pesto.

To make fresh pesto to top sea bass: use a food processor and combine 2cupsfresh basil leaves, packed ½cupfreshly grated Romano or Parmesan cheese ½cupextra virgin olive oil ⅓cuppine nuts (or walnuts) 3clovesgarlic, minced, ¼teaspoonsalt (or more to taste) ⅛teaspoonfreshly ground black pepper (more to taste!)
OPTIONAL: For an extra kick of flavor... Lightly sprinkle garlic powder and lemon pepper for extra flavor that compliments sea bass fillets!

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HOW TO FILLET Sea Bass

The first step in cooking sea bass the best way, is to FILLET them! I prefer filleting sea bass for several reasons. First of all there are no (very little) BONES in the final dish you're serving! No one likes getting fish bones in their mouth with a bite of sea bass. But if you fillet sea bass right, you will keep the bones on the fish's body and remove 2 beautiful fillets!

Using a fillet knife (sharp knife!) cut into the meat just below the gills about ¼ of an inch. Stop cutting down as soon as you start feeling a harder surface… bones.
Turn the position of your fillet knife to run down the body of the fish toward the tail.
Feeling as you go to stay above the ribs, cut a wide fillet along the spine along the body of the fish to the tail.
Flip the fillet over when you get to the tail., so it's laying on the skin side.
Start at the tail side of the fillet, and cut along the skin to remove fillet.
Flip the fish over and do it again on the other side of the fish to remove the second fillet.
Rince fillets and set on paper towels to dry off.

TOOLS

You will need for Pan Fried Sea Bass:

A sharp fillet knife (and fillet knife sharpener.)

A large cutting board to fillet sea bass.

More Ways to Enjoy

If you pan fry sea bass fillets this way, you can enjoy them by the fillet with lemon or lime juice on top, with pesto drizzled over top, in a salad, or in fish tacos! (These are my favorite healthy recipes for fish!)

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Sea Bass FISH TACOS!

My kids favorite way to eat fish fillets is in fish tacos! Pan fry sea bass as mentioned above, in butter with salt and pepper in a non stick skillet, (do not use pesto) then make tacos with these ingredients:

Tortillas – You can use your favorite kind. I love the authentic corn tortillas with fish tacos, but my kids like the white flour ones much better. If you’re out of them, try making your own fresh tortillas.. It’s pretty easy!
Cooked Sea Bass Fillets
Shredded cabbage
Pico De Gallo
Lime Juice or fresh Lemon juice squeezed on top. (I prefer limes for tacos.)
Shredded cheese
Sour Cream or Ranch Dressing

SOUTH WEST Sea Bass SALAD

This easy recipe is wonderful when you are eating healthy! Pan Fry sea bass as mentioned above, with butter salt and pepper in a non-sticking skillet, then add lemon juice and serve on top of salad ingredients:

4 cups Chopped Lettuce or mixed greens
¼ cup Thinly sliced red onions
1 AVOCADO!
1 cup Black Beans
1 cup Pico De Gallo! (If you don’t want to whip up fresh Pico, just use cherry tomatoes or chopped tomatoes)
½ cup Corn Kernels
Fresh Squeezed Lime Juice
⅓ cup Cilantro!
Ranch Dressing or Sour Cream

The Best Sea Bass Recipe with Simple Ingredients

Yield: 2-6 Fillets

Ingredients

2-6 Sea Bass Fillets
2 tablespoons butter.
¼-1/2 teaspoon salt
¼ - ½ teaspoon ground black pepper
Fresh lemon or limes for juice

Instructions

In a large non stick skillet melt 2 tablespoons butter over medium-high heat.
When better is melted, add room temperature sea bass fillets.
Lightly salt and pepper the top of fillets.
After 2 minutes, check under side of fish for browned color.
After browned on bottom, FLIP sea bass fillets.
Lightly salt and black pepper the other side of fillets.
Pan fry on medium heat for 2 more minutes, till fillets are browned on both sides, and flaky opaque inside.
Remove sea bass fillets from pan and top with a squeeze of fresh lemon or lime juice, lemon zest, or fresh pesto.

To make fresh pesto to top sea bass: use a food processor and combine 2cupsfresh basil leaves, packed ½cupfreshly grated Romano or Parmesan cheese ½cupextra virgin olive oil ⅓cuppine nuts (or walnuts) 3clovesgarlic, minced, ¼teaspoonsalt (or more to taste) ⅛teaspoonfreshly ground black pepper (more to taste!)

OPTIONAL: For an extra kick of flavor... Lightly sprinkle garlic powder and lemon pepper for extra flavor that compliments sea bass fillets!

Nutrition Information

Serving Size 1 large fillet
Amount Per ServingCalories 180Total Fat 5gProtein 27g

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Serve With

I love to serve all three of these easy sea bass recipes with simple side dishes including:

Homemade Rice
Loaded Potato Salad
Rolls or freshhomemade bread!
Berry Fruit Salad
Pasta Salad
A bowl of sliced melon!
And don’t forget thechocolate Texas Sheet Cakefor dessert!

THANKS FOR STOPPING BY FARMHOUSE HARVEST… PLEASE SHARE YOUR QUESTIONS AND THOUGHTS IN THE COMMENTS BELOW!

What Are Sea Bass

Sea bass are a smaller fish and they live in the west side of the Atlantic Ocean between Florida and Cape Cod. As their name says, Sea Bass only live in the sea.

Several kinds of fish, including Chilean Sea Bass aren't really sea bass! These imposters include several types of fish like: white fish, Patagonian toothfish, white sea bass and other fish varieties that are ONLY called sea bass by marketers to enhance their selling ability.

Sea Bass are also called black sea bass and blackfish because of their dark greyish-black color. They are a large-bodied fish that bottom feed, and have a dark grayish, almost black, skin of scales with a white under belly. Sea Bass flesh is like other freshwater bass with a white firm fillet, and it has a beautifully light and delicate flavor!

At the fish market, or grocery stores, Sea Bass are usually found for sale as 1 ½- to 2-pound fish. Look for sea bass with a dark greyish-blackish color and PINK, NOT BROWN, gills.

Sea Bass whole and sea bass fillets are best pan fried, but they can also be sautéed with white wine, broiled, baked in and parchment paper or in tin foil packets!

Leftovers

Sea Bass is delicious the next day! Darin and I love to through leftover fillets in the air fryer with sweet potato fries for lunch! Place leftover sea bass fillets into an airtight container and keep in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. You can freeze cooked sea bass in a air tight zip lock bag for up to 6 months!