Simply grilled branzino fish, also known as sea bass, is stuffed with lemon slices, lots of fresh herbs and served along side a bright and lemony citrus oil.
I thought about that a few years ago when I made Julia Child's lobster thermidor. It was per requested for Joe's birthday and to this day, is probably one of the best meals we have ever made. It was a huge labor of love, taking hours to prepare, so the photos were taken at night without the "daylight" that food photographers swear by. Branzino is a delicate white fish, I also use white fish in my Mediterranean Fish Cake recipe.
I want you to fall in love with this recipe, because, honestly everything I put on here is something we absolutely loved and most likely devoured.
The beautiful thing about whole grilled branzino is that there is little prep. Have the fishmonger scale and gut the fish and once you're ready, stuff the fish with lemon slices, fresh herbs, s&p and olive oil. You could also add a sweet note and serve the grilled branzino with grilled pineapple pico de gallo on top!
A tip I do have (as we learned the hard way), grease your grill VERY very well so that when you're ready to flip your fish, the skin won't stick.
Because it's summer after all, since you are already grilling make my grilled pineapple salsa!
More great fish recipes
This Branzino goes great with my
Grilled Branzino with Lemon and Fresh Herbs
LittleFerraroKitchen.com
Ingredients
- 2 whole branzino also called sea bass, about 1 lb. each
- 2 lemon thinly sliced
- Few sprigs of fresh herbs parsley, cilantro, thyme and/or basil
- Salt and pepper to taste
- Olive oil for drizzling
- Herb Olive Oil
- ¼ cup olive oil
- ½ lemon zested and juiced
- Few leaves of fresh herbs basil, parsley, cilantro
- Salt and pepper
Instructions
- Ask your fish monger to clean the branzino well, to de-scale it and de-gut.
- Into the cavity of the fish, season well with salt and pepper and stuff with lemon slices and herbs and a bit of olive oi.
- Season the outsides of the fish with salt, pepper and drizzle with olive oil as well..
- Heat your grill to medium-high heat and cook fish on each side for about 5-7 minutes until the skin is charred and fish looks opaque.
- Once done, reserve to a platter and serve with more lemon and herb olive oil.
- To make herb olive oil, chop fresh herbs finely and mix with olive oil. Add lemon zest and juice and season with salt and pepper.
- Drizzle citrus oil over fish when ready to serve.
Nadine says
1st time making Bronzino! Easy awesome recipe. I will definitely make this again
Samantha says
Thank you so much Nadine!! So glad it came out well!
Peachy Monson says
Excellent and super easy. I used fresh herbs from the garden such as parsley, dill & oregano and broiled in the oven instead of grilling. Thank you for sharing and will definitely make it again.
Samantha says
Thank you for commenting! So glad you enjoyed!
Virginia says
My spouse is our grill chef and has created numerous delicious meals, but this is definitely one of the best! Never had a whole grilled fish and can't wait to do this again. Followed the recipe to the letter, except did remove the head before grilling. Fresh herbs from our own garden were perfect in this. Thanks for leading us to a truly wonderful meal!
Samantha says
Hi Virginia..so glad you ventured into whole fish! I love it so much. A bit more work to eat through but well worth it I think! I am thinking of trying a while fish on a soaked cedar plank this summer as well. 🙂