This Pan Fried Sea Bass with Lemon Garlic Herb Sauce is a 20 minute, one-pan, budget-friendly Mediterranean recipe that’s perfect on busy weeknights.
This Pan Fried Sea Bass recipe is a wonderful way to eat a mild, affordable fish, and it’s packed with flavor from fresh oregano, thyme, and parsley. It’s especially great if you have an abundance of fresh herbs in your garden you need to use up! (raises hand)
Originally, I was planning on doing a lemon caper sauce, similar to chicken piccata. But lo and behold, when I arrived at my refrigerator, I realized I was out of capers.
After some quick thinking and wandering around outside, I decided on a lemony, garlicky, fresh herb sauce instead.
SO happy I was out of capers. This turned out wonderfully!
How to Pan-Fry Sea Bass
If you’ve ever made chicken piccata before, the process for this is very similar. First, pat the fish dry. It’s important that most of the moisture is removed from the fish, so it gets a nice brown color on the outside.
Next dredge the fish in a mixture of all-purpose flour, kosher salt, and black pepper. Dredging simply means coating it in the flour mixture, and shaking off any excess. You should have a nice, thin coat of flour, salt, and pepper that covers every square inch of the surface of the fish.
Then, cook the fish in a mixture of olive oil and butter.
Why both, you ask?
The butter gives it a rich, golden color, while the olive oil makes it crispy. Mixing the two is my favorite way to pan-fry almost anything.
The fish will only take about 3-4 minutes to cook on each side, if you are using thin pieces of sea bass (I used frozen Barramundi). Once they’re finished, set them aside on a plate.
How to make the lemon garlic herb sauce
The sauce is made in the same pan in which you cooked the fish.
First, add some white wine to deglaze the skillet. I recommend a dry white wine, such as pinot grigio or sauvignon blanc. Immediately after you add it, use a wooden spoon to help stir up any browned bits from the bottom of the pan. Then, continue heating over medium-high heat until almost all the liquid has evaporated.
Then, add a little more butter to the skillet and heat until it’s melted.
Add some finely minced garlic and a mixture of fresh chopped herbs to the pan– I used oregano, thyme, and parsley. Sauté until fragrant, only about 30 seconds. You don’t want the garlic to burn.
Finally, add some chicken stock (or vegetable stock, or water, if you don’t have any), heat until it’s bubbling, then turn off the heat and add some lemon juice and a little more butter.
This lemon garlic herb sauce is SO GOOD. It would be great on chicken, steak, salmon, plain on a spoon, mixed into pasta… the possibilities are endless.
Tips and Tricks
- I used a heavy stainless steel skillet (specifically, this Calphalon one– my favorite!) for this- it works well for pan sauces and deglazing. You can use a well seasoned cast iron skillet or a nonstick skillet as well.
- Can’t find sea bass at your grocery store? Try the frozen fish section- I used Barramundi. If you can’t find it there, any other kind of mild white fish will do.
- Play around with the sauce! Add capers or olives at the end, or use a different mix of herbs such as dill, cilantro, and/or chives.
Try these other easy fish recipes:
- Flounder with Fresh Lemon Pepper
- Southern-Style Oven-Fried Catfish
- 15-Minute Perfect Poached Salmon with Chive Butter
- One-Pan Garlic Butter Salmon and Swiss Chard
- Instant Pot Fish Stew
- Six-Minute Seared Ahi Tuna Steaks
Did you make this Pan Fried Sea Bass with Lemon Garlic Herb Sauce? Please comment below and Rate this Recipe
Pan Fried Sea Bass with Lemon Garlic Herb Sauce
Ingredients
- 3 tablespoons butter divided
- 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
- 1.5 lbs. sea bass such as barramundi
- 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt plus more if needed
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper plus more if needed
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 1/4 cup dry white wine such as savignon blanc
- 1/2 cup chicken stock/broth or water, in a pinch
- juice of one lemon about 2 tablespoons
- 1 tablespoon fresh oregano roughly chopped
- 1 tablespoon fresh thyme roughly chopped
- 1 tablespoon fresh parsley roughly chopped
- lemon wedges for serving optional
Instructions
- Pat the fish dry with a paper towel.
- In a shallow dish, mix together the flour (1/4 cup), salt (1 teaspoon), and black pepper (1/2 teaspoon).
- Dredge each piece of fish in the flour mixture, coating the entire surface, and shake off any excess.
- In a large skillet, preferably stainless steel or nonstick, melt 1 tablespoon of the butter over medium high heat and add the olive oil (1 tablespoon).
- Cook the fish in the skillet for 3-4 minutes on each side, until golden brown and fully cooked. Try not to move the fish too much, especially if you are using a pan that isn't nonstick, otherwise the fish may be more likely to stick to the bottom and not get browned as nicely.
- Remove fish from the skillet to a plate.
- Turn down the heat to low. Add the white wine (1/4 cup) to the skillet to deglaze, stirring up any browned bits. Continue heating until almost all the wine has evaporated.
- Add one more tablespoon of butter to the skillet. Once it's melted, add the minced garlic (2 cloves) and fresh herbs (1 tablespoon each of oregano, thyme, and parsley) to the skillet and sauté until fragrant, about 30 seconds.
- Add the chicken broth (1/2 cup) and bring to a simmer.
- Turn off heat and stir in remaining 1 tablespoon butter and lemon juice (about 2 tablespoons). Taste and adjust seasoning if necessary.
- Serve sauce on top of fish.
Notes
- For a paleo option, you can use almond flour or coconut flour instead of all purpose flour, and or more olive oil instead of butter.
- For a dairy-free option, substitute the butter with more olive oil or ghee.
- I used oregano, parsley, and thyme because it's what was growing in my garden. You can feel free to use other fresh herbs- dill, basil, or cilantro would be delicious as well!
- Sea bass comes in all kinds of different thicknesses. You may have to adjust the cooking time if yours are especially thick- mine were thin.
- To help reduce food waste, you may be able to reduce the amount of flour in the dredge, but it's easier to coat if you have more flour available.
- The provided nutrition information does not include any added sodium from seasoning to taste, any optional ingredients, and it does not take brands into account. Feel free to calculate it yourself using this calculator or by adding the recipe to Yummly.
Nutrition
This Pan Fried Sea Bass with Lemon Garlic Herb Sauce recipe first appeared on Bowl of Delicious in August, 2017. It’s been updated to include clearer instructions, tips and tricks, and ingredient substitutions.
Julie
This is so quick and delicious that it has become a firm favourite in our almost weekly menu!!
Elizabeth Lindemann
So glad you liked it!
Steve Dad
Simple and had all the ingredients. Lovely an brownie point with the family.
Elizabeth Lindemann
So glad you liked it!
Laura
So delicious! I cooked the sea bass fillets from frozen and cooked for a little longer on each side but they came out perfect and the sauce is absolutely gorgeous!! A definite hit in our house this evening, thank you! :)
Elizabeth Lindemann
So glad you liked it!
Natalie
Super delicious! I mixed up the herbs — and even forgot the last stock + butter + lemon steps! But I was so impressed with how flaky and flavorful this was.
Elizabeth Lindemann
So glad you liked it!
Kelley
Delicious! My husband can’t stop raving! Even the baby loved it. But one question, any advice on how to keep the fish warm while I make the sauce? It was a bit too cool by the time the sauce was ready. Thank you! Will be making this again.
Elizabeth Lindemann
So glad you liked it! You can try tenting the fish with foil (or cover with a pot lid on a plate for a more earth-friendly method) to keep it warm. In this case, the fish will continue to rise in internal temperature while it’s tented, so you can take it off the heat just before it’s actually fully cooked! Hope that helps :-)
Tina Coyle
Whenever I make pan sauces like this I do two things: I have all ingredients prepared and measured out before I start cooking the fish, and I warm the broth or liquid I will be adding while the fish cooks. (I have it measured in a glass measuring cup and I microwave it). That way when you set the fish to the side it literally takes less than a minute to whip up the sauce and the fish is still warm when you are ready to serve. Works for other proteins you are pan frying as well.
Elizabeth Lindemann
This is great advice! Thanks for sharing!
Jenny
Amazing. I served with a potato leek purée.
Elizabeth Lindemann
So glad you liked it!
Crystal
I cook out of defense: meaning I cook at home not because I love to cook, but because it is usually a healthier alternative to dining out. So, I want quick, simple and tasty recipes. This recipe fits! It was simple enough that I followed along with lots of distraction around me (that can make a recipe a deal breaker for me)! It was not as many steps as I thought it would be. Now, if someone could invent a usable “hood” to stop the splattering I’d really be happy!! No matter how slowly I cook things pan searing is always messy in my house! Recipe is tasty and easy to substitute different herbs for flavor changes!! Love it!! Thank you for sharing!!
Elizabeth Lindemann
So glad you liked it!! Agreed about splatter – such a nuisance. A splatter screen helps me a little bit, do you have one?
Mike
you had me at “mixture of olive oil and butter”
Elizabeth Lindemann
The BEST combo!
Sherrie Butler
It was absolutely perfect…..loved it. Crisp on outside, flaky on inside and sauce was delicious.
Elizabeth Lindemann
So glad you liked it!
Graciela Watson
I made this today for my family of 4. It was so simple to make but came together like a top restaurant recipe. The flavours in the sauce really are delicious. I served my seabass with steamed carrots and asparagus and I also diced a mixture of sweet and normal potatoes which I roasted in the oven. Even my teenagers ate the fish which, unless fish comes from the chippy or looks like a fish finger I find quite hard to pull off. Thanks so much for publishing this.
Elizabeth Lindemann
So glad you (and your kiddos!) liked it – sounds like a delicious meal!
Laura
This was amazing. We did not have the fresh herbs either. Thank you so much! Making again, it’s only been two weeks!
Elizabeth Lindemann
So glad you liked it!
Pauline Lythgoe
Never cooked this before, very yummy!!
Elizabeth Lindemann
So glad you liked it!
Vicky Agius
Delicious and easy to prepare.
Elizabeth Lindemann
So glad you liked it!