Restaurant-Style Chilean Sea Bass
Make my restaurant-quality pan-seared Chilean sea bass recipe in 15 minutes. It's crisp outside, tender, juicy, and flaky in the middle, and served with rich lemon butter sauce!
Servings: 4
Equipment
- Food Thermometer optional
Ingredients
- 20-24 oz Chilean sea bass 4 fillets (5-6 oz each), skin-on works best
- 1.5 Tbsp butter or ghee
- 1.5 Tbsp olive oil or avocado oil
- 1/2 tsp salt or to taste
- 1/4 tsp black pepper or to taste
Lemon Sauce
- 2 oz butter 1/4 cup, unsalted
- 2 Tbsp lemon juice from 1/2 large lemon
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp black pepper
Instructions
- Pat the sea bass fillets dry with paper towels. Generously season both sides with salt and pepper.
- Use a large skillet and heat 1.5 Tbsp of butter and 1.5 Tbsp of oil over medium-high heat.
- Add the fillets skin-side-down and pan-sear for 3-4 minutes per side. The cooking time depends on the thickness of the fillets.When ready to flip, if the fillets stick, let them cook for 10-15 seconds more, and then try again.The fish is ready when it flakes easily with a fork and has reached an internal temperature of 140-145ºF/60-63ºC.
- To make the lemon sauce, melt 1/4 cup butter in a small saucepan over medium-low heat until lightly browned. Add the lemon juice, salt, and pepper and mix well.
- When everything is ready, spoon the lemon butter sauce over the pan seared Chilean sea bass, serve, and enjoy!
Video
Notes
To make ahead: You can prepare the sauce several days in advance and store it in an airtight container in the fridge, ready to reheat as needed.
To store: Allow the fish to cool and store any leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.
To freeze: Freeze the cooked fish without the sauce. Allow it to cool, transfer it to a freezer bag, squeeze out any excess air, and store for up to 2 months. Then leave to thaw in the refrigerator overnight before using.
To reheat: To avoid dry fish, reheat the leftovers on the stovetop over medium-low heat with a splash of water and the lid on.
Substitutes for Chilean sea bass: Black cod (also called sablefish) works particularly well as a substitute for both taste and texture. However, you can substitute it with other delicate white fish, such as regular sea bass, haddock, tilapia, etc.
Check the blog post for more tips and serving suggestions!
Nutrition
Calories: 415kcal | Carbohydrates: 1g | Protein: 17g | Fat: 39g | Saturated Fat: 15g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 8g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 104mg | Sodium: 785mg | Potassium: 16mg | Fiber: 0.1g | Sugar: 0.2g | Vitamin A: 773IU | Vitamin C: 3mg | Calcium: 7mg | Iron: 0.1mg