This easy Baked Sea Bream recipe yields a very tender and juicy fish, cooked and served with olive oil, garlic, lemon, and oregano. It's lightly cooked, wrapped in parchment paper and aluminum foil to preserve its delicate, soft white flesh.
Sea Bream is one of the tastiest fish. Its flesh is lean, light, and soft. While the skin is not too fatty, it is fatty enough to add a very delicious flavor, especially when lightly charred or roasted (you should also try a Grilled Sea Bream).
It's a fish much consumed in Greece. Especially in Greek Tavernas (places where you eat traditional Greek food). We call it Tsipoura, and surely the best way to eat it is by grilling it like most seafood. However, when you want something quick and easy, baking is the second-best option.
The fish keeps so nice and juicy, you get a bonus flavor of sweet baked garlic bits, and if you give it a nice final roast it will resemble a lot its grilled version!
Table Of Contents
Ingredients
For this fish to truly shine, all it needs is light cooking with a few basic ingredients. Extra virgin olive oil adds flavor and keeps the fish moist. Moreover, lemon adds freshness and tang, dried oregano adds a herby note, and garlic adds depth to those light flavors. If you don't like garlic, you can skip it, of course!
To achieve a true Mediterranean/Greek flavor, it is best to use high-quality extra-virgin olive oil. Also, avoid using a sweet lemon variety like Meyers, but go for Lisbon instead. Also, use wild mountain oregano, not the sweet dried one. If you can't find it, then you can use fresh oregano instead. We want a strong aroma here.
How To Make
It's very easy to make this Baked Sea Bream after preparing the fish (scaling and gutting), make a lengthwise incision to the center where the main bone is. This is the thickest part, and we want it to cook evenly, and also help the seasoning penetrate into the flesh.
Therefore, season inside the incision and inside the belly with either kosher salt or the coarse sea salt I use (unrefined adds more flavor, especially to a seafood dish).
Next, place a piece of parchment wrap over a piece of aluminum foil. Add the fish, drizzle with olive oil and fresh lemon juice. Then sprinkle with dried oregano. Wrap the fish in the parchment paper and secure the edges of the parchment paper. Then wrap in the aluminum foil.
Add the fish to a baking dish or pan that fits it, and add a splash of water to the pan. Bake in a well-preheated oven. You can open the parcel and give the fish a final roast for a couple of minutes to crisp its skin if you like.
Cook Time
The average cooking time is 45 to 50 minutes. It's okay if you stretch it up to 60 minutes. The fish won't dry when you bake it wrapped like this. Also, if you plan to cook more than one fish, cook it for 50-60 minutes. If cooking smaller-sized fish, cook for 45 minutes.
Serve With
The best side dishes to serve with Baked Sea Bream are: a Classic Greek Salad, Greek Horta (mixed Greens), Greek Potato Salad, Beetroot Salad with Garlic, Vlita- Amaranth Greens, and String Beans Salad. The last two are usually what's served with sea bream in a Greek Taverna.
Recipe
Greek Oven Baked Sea Bream Recipe
Equipment
- parchment paper
- aluminum foil
Ingredients
- 1 large sea bream about 400-500 grams (14-17 ounces)
- 4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
- 1½ teaspoons dried Greek oregano or fresh
- 1 large garlic clove
- ground pepper
- kosher salt or unrefined coarse sea salt
- fresh lemon cut into quarters, to serve with
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 220°C/430°F.
- Prepare the fish. Scale and gut the sea bream. Rinse well under running water. Make a lengthwise incision with a knife right in the center where the main bone is located, on both sides.
- Place the fish on a piece of parchment paper.
- Season with salt (kosher or coarse sea salt) inside the belly and in the incisions.
- Drizzle with 2 tablespoons of olive oil and 1 tablespoon of lemon juice.
- Sprinkle 1 teaspoon of dried oregano. Then season the skin with some more salt and some pepper.
- Close the parchment paper envelope-like and secure the top and bottom ends by folding and wrapping the edges tightly.
- Take a big piece of aluminum foil, place the wrapped fish on top, and then wrap it with the foil. Again, closing the ends well.
- Place the fish in a baking dish or pan that fits it. Pour some water into the pan to coat the bottom. This helps keep the fish moist and the skin from sticking to the bottom. Make sure there's a splash of water in the pan throughout baking.
- Bake for 50 minutes. Unwrap partly to reveal the fish and give it a final roast for 5 to 7 minutes in the mid-top rack of the oven. Don't place it too close to the heat element, or the parchment paper may burn.
- Carefully remove the fish with a spatula and transfer to a serving plate. Drain the fish and olive oil juices into a jug.
- Mix 2 tablespoons of olive oil and one tablespoon of lemon juice into the fish juices. Then pour over the fish.
- Serve with the remaining ½ teaspoon of dried oregano and fresh lemon on the side.
Then what? I'm assuming you use the other 1/2 olive oil over fish while serving. How's the best way to de-bone and serve? I think 1/2 of the recipe is missing.
Hello Ken, 1/2 of olive oil is used on one fish and the other 1/2 on the other fish. De-boning is not something that can easily be explained though text I think you should watch a video on Youtube for that.
Hi Fotini.
Tried your recipe this evening, followed it to the letter, and it was perfect! Served with Greek lemony potatoes and garlic bread, accompanied with a dry, crisp Verdicchio. Thank you so much for the recipe.
Happy to hear that Alan, sounds like a lovely meal!
Is the water in the pan supposed to boil? Mine didn't change much and I'm concerned my fish isn't getting enough heat.
Hi Ann, it doesn't have to boil for the fish to cook.
Spot on! Thank you.
Hi Fotini, the Bbq turned out superb. Tonight, I am having this again with roasted vegetables. The house is full of lovely Aromas.
Nice to hear that Stephen 🙂
Delicious recipe! Thank you for sharing.
I don’t think the nutritional info is correct. How can any fish be 52g of fat to 1g of protein. USDA says 100g of seabream grilled is 19.7g protein and 8.4g fat. Just something to take a look at!
BBQ is great for this dish Fotini. All the juices were kept inside the package. Even my neighbours said that they could smell the lovely aromas. I will be making this again for my Greek friend Stelios, who I am sure will love it as I do. Thank you again. Yamas.
Made this last time Fotini and it came out perfect to your recipe. Today I am going to cook it on the BBQ and I will let you know how it turns out.
Looking forward to hearing how it goes Stephen!
Love your blog.....just found it. Hoping to receive your posts.
Thank you so much!