Pan Fried Sea Bass with Lemon Garlic Herb Sauce
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)
* Sea bass can vary greatly in price depending on variety, location, and if it’s in season. Barramundi is a reliably affordable option and is what I used.
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
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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. If sauce seems very thin, continue simmering until reduced and thicker to your liking.
- 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
- To use dried herbs: Dried herbs have a bit of a different taste than fresh, but can certainly be used if fresh are not available. The general rule for substituting dried herbs for fresh is using about 1/3 of the measurement – so 1 teaspoon dried for every 1 tablespoon of fresh herbs. Since they are dried, they can cook a bit longer to absorb some liquid and soften up, so you might want to give the sauce a little more time on lower heat to cook.
- Paleo / dairy free / grain free / gluten-free substitutions: You can use almond flour or coconut flour instead of all purpose flour, cornstarch or a GF flour mix, and or olive oil instead of butter, depending on your needs.
- 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 (I used Barramundi, which is also pretty inexpensive as well, and available in the frozen seafood section).
Nutrition
Nutrition Information Disclaimer
The provided nutrition information is my best estimate and reflects one serving of the recipe (total servings indicated at top of recipe card). It does not include any added sodium from seasoning to taste, any optional ingredients, and it does not take brands into account. I use an automatic API to calculate this information. Feel free to calculate it yourself using one of these tools:
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.
My mum is growing weak in her advancing years and as her carer I am struggling to find food she will eat, let alone enjoy.
Today I bought sea bass as one of the few things she eats is fish. I didn’t want to merely fry it in butter but wanted something to excite.
She LOVED it! From first to last mouthful and she ate the whole piece!
I thoroughly enjoyed mine too.
Thank you for a beautiful yet simple dish.
Aw, this comment made my day! So glad you and your mom liked it.
Sounds a really good recipe which I cook do tomorrow night but it does not mention whether the fish should be filleted, I ‘m assuming that it should be ? Please advise. thanks .
I used a thin sea bass (barramundi) when I made this and took the photos you see. Other readers have used thicker portions of sea bass. You’ll just need to cook it a little longer if it’s not thin/filleted, so it’s not required to fillet it, but it will make it faster to cook if you do! Hope that helps.
First time for sea bass and this was an absolute triumph. Highly recommend.
So glad you liked it!
Would love to try this recipe this weekend when we have friends over. Is it possible to prep the sauce in advance? (the pan won’t then have the browned bits from the fish)
I suppose you could prep the sauce in advance, but this dish is definitely best served right away. Whatever makes your life easier, go for it! :-)
Loved the sauce yummy
So glad you liked it!
Outstanding Recipie. Delicious Sea bass.
Highly recommend this recipe.
So glad you liked it!
Just made this as first time with sea bass and it was super scrummy – the sauce made it. Thank you
So glad you liked it!
This recipe reminds me of Gordon Ramsey’s chicken supreme. It was so yummy, and a real crowd pleaser. Paired it with broccoli and steamed rice. I subbed the white wine for sake, flambéd it, and switched the oregano and parsley for dill and rosemary. Try it it’s going to be a staple for me now!
So glad you liked it!
We all really enjoyed this and great as a base recipe to play with. Thank you Elizabeth.
So glad you liked it!
Outstanding! So flavorful and fresh and bright tasting! The herbs and lemon garlic sauce perfectly compliments the fish!
So glad you liked it!
Wonderful flavor for fish. No extra lemon needed. East recipe for a quick dinner.
So glad you liked it!
I’ve always thought restaurant quality meals can be simple and easy to prepare. This recipe can even be extraordinarily environmental if you can source your sea bass carefully.
Reducing the wine softens its flavour before the medley of herbs compliment the light flavoured fish.
A world class dinner prepared in less time than my steamer cooked my rice.
What a wonderful review – thank you! So glad you liked it.
Sounds awesome, making it this week
Hope you like it!
I didn’t have fresh herbs so I used 1 tsp each of parsley, oregano, and thyme and also added 1/2 tsp salt. Delicious!!
So glad you liked it!
Not tried it yet, however, I will be using anchovy, olive and capers, maybe, with a touch of dijon mustard, but, no butter… But, thanks for the incentive!
Paul
That sounds like a delicious combo! Hope you like it!
Just Super !!! It’s a fantastic recipe and the way it’s been explained makes it more tempting. We enjoyed the dish cooked in a non-stick pan today.
So glad you liked it!
We’ve had it a few times now and it just gets better. Really love the sauce even though we had to use dried oregano as we don’t have any in the garden. Still delicious
So glad you liked it, and good to know it worked well with dried oregano!
My family and I LOVED this recipe! Served it with garlic roasted cubes of potatoes and chargrilled hispi cabbage! The garlic and lemon sauce is divine and I used ghee instead of butter and it was yummed up even by my 9 year old!
That sounds like a delicious meal! So glad you and your family liked it!
Made it, it was definitely in the top 3 fish dishes I’ve ever made. Delicious!! Thank you for sharing.
So glad you liked it!
Did you leave the skin on or remove it?
I bought fish with the skin off when I made this, but you can do either one! Crispy fish skin is delicious.
I cooked sea bass fillets with the skin on and very nice it was too. Made the sauce with coriander parsley and oregano. Empty plates at the end.
So glad you liked it!
Really enjoyed it, sea bass is wonderful to pan fry,and the sauce topped it off.
So glad you liked it!
Recipe was so good. Made it with fresh White Sea Bass I caught off the coast of Southern California, fresh dill, rosemary, and thyme. My college age son said it tasted like fish from a nice seafood restaurant in Hawaii.
So glad you and your son liked it!
I’m the world’s worst cook but I really wanted a sea bass recipe. Made this tonight and honestly felt like I was in a restaurant by the sea, it was absolutely gorgeous and so easy. Thanks a million!
Well then, clearly you aren’t the world’s worst cook haha! So glad you liked it and cheers to many more recipe successes :-)
Amazing! Made it with parsley, chives and dill since that’s all I had growing in my garden – it was divine!
So glad you liked it!
What am I substitute for the white wine?
Chicken broth works well as a substitute, or water in a pinch :-)