Whole baked snapper
Mediterranean
Whole baked snapper
One fish, lemon, onion, and cherry tomatoes, in the oven for half an hour.
A whole snapper for a weeknight or a weekend. I serve it with rice, mashed potato, or a green salad, and a crisp white wine or calamansi soda.
Before you cook
A whole fish in a hot oven, with lemon and onion, is how Mediterranean and Australian kitchens cook snapper when they do not want a sauce. The slashes let the heat into the thick part. The tomatoes and onion make the juice you spoon over the rice.
- Serves
- 4
- Time
- 40 min
- Level
- Easy
- Energy
- 300kcal
- Seafood
- One-pan
Contains fish.
Equipment
- Oven
- Baking dish
- Knife
Each serving
An estimate from average ingredient values, not a lab test.
- Energy
- 1255 kJ
- 300 kcal
- Protein
- 42 g
- Fat
- 14 g
- Carbohydrate
- 4 g
- Sugars
- 2 g
- Fibre
- 1 g
- Salt
- 1.2 g
- Sodium
- 480 mg
This batch, 4 servings, is about 5021 kJ (1200 kcal), with 8 g sugars and 4.8 g salt.
Ingredients
Tick them off as you go. They reset when you leave.
Shops near you
Use where you are, including when you travel. Nothing is sent until you tap. Or type a suburb. Prices are not listed, because they change every week.
Bagoong, Mang Tomas, Mama Sita’s, and fresh curry leaves are often missing from the big shops. A Filipino or Asian grocer is the backup. Do not swap bagoong for plain salt and expect the same dish.
Method
- 01
Heat the oven to 200°C fan.
- 02
Rinse the snapper and pat it dry. Cut two or three shallow slashes on each side.
- 03
Rub it, including the cavity, with oil, salt, pepper, paprika, and garlic. Stuff the cavity with the lemon slices and the herbs. Pour the lemon juice over the top.
- 04
Put it in a baking dish. Scatter the onion and tomatoes around it and drizzle a little more oil.
- 05
Roast for 25 to 30 minutes, until the flesh flakes and the skin is lightly golden.
- 06
Spoon the pan juices over the fish.
Times are a guide. If it needs another minute, give it another minute.
To serve
The whole fish on a platter, the onion and tomato juices spooned over rice.
Keeping it
Eat the fish the day you cook it. If any is left, refrigerate it and eat it the next day, cold or gently warmed. I would not keep it longer.
Leftovers
- Snapper mayo rolls
For a parent, a student, or anyone who cooked yesterday.
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Hungry Alan
Whole baked snapper
Serves 4 · 40 min
Ingredients
- 1 whole snapper, about 1.2 to 1.5 kg, cleaned and scaled
- 3 tbsp olive oil
- 3 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 lemon, half sliced and half juiced
- 1 tsp paprika
- 1 tsp dried oregano or mixed herbs
- salt and pepper
- a few sprigs of parsley, thyme, or rosemary
- 1 small onion, sliced into rings
- ½ cup cherry tomatoes, halved
Method
- Heat the oven to 200°C fan.
- Rinse the snapper and pat it dry. Cut two or three shallow slashes on each side.
- Rub it, including the cavity, with oil, salt, pepper, paprika, and garlic. Stuff the cavity with the lemon slices and the herbs. Pour the lemon juice over the top.
- Put it in a baking dish. Scatter the onion and tomatoes around it and drizzle a little more oil.
- Roast for 25 to 30 minutes, until the flesh flakes and the skin is lightly golden.
- Spoon the pan juices over the fish.
To serve
The whole fish on a platter, the onion and tomato juices spooned over rice.
Keeping it
Eat the fish the day you cook it. If any is left, refrigerate it and eat it the next day, cold or gently warmed. I would not keep it longer.