Recipes Dinner Seafood Main Course Fish Main Course 15 Ways to Prepare Whole Fish, From Salt Baking to Steaming Often less expensive than fillets, whole fish are sustainable and impressive centerpieces for entertaining. By Ashley Day Ashley Day Ashley Day is Food & Wine's associate editorial director. She's edited and directed food and travel content at USA TODAY, the Institute of Culinary Education, and Chef & Restaurant magazine, and contributed to The Food Institute, The Daily Meal, and the recipe app meez. Food & Wine's Editorial Guidelines Published on September 23, 2024 Close Photo: Photo by Victor Protasio / Food Styling by Chelsea Zimmer / Prop Styling by Christine Keely Whether you're fishing or fishing for a deal at your seafood counter, we have plenty of flavorful ways to prepare whole fish for National Seafood Month, or anytime. Start with salmon, sea bass, snapper, or trout. Clean, rub, and stuff as directed, with lemon, herbs, and olive oil. And serve on beds of salad or vegetables with these platters that promise a celebration-worthy presentation. Whatever the occasion, these are the whole fish recipes to rely on for a stunning spread that showcases the best our oceans, rivers, and lakes can offer. 01 of 15 Roasted Branzino with Caper Butter Diana Chistruga Italian sea bass is a great candidate for stuffing and cooking whole because of its sweet, mild flavor; firm flesh; and relatively few bones that are easy to remove. This one's roasted with lemon and rosemary and served with a caper compound butter. Get the Recipe 02 of 15 Whole Fish Drizzled with Hot Ginger-Scallion Oil Photo by Greg DuPree / Food Styling by Torie Cox / Prop Styling by Claire Spollen Clean and steam whole snapper, carp, or sea bass to serve with scallions, ginger, a wine and soy sauce drizzle, and cilantro for this main that's ready in just 45 minutes. Get the Recipe 03 of 15 Salvadoran-Style Pescado Frito (Fried Fish) Photo by Victor Protasio / Food Styling by Chelsea Zimmer / Prop Styling by Claire Spollen Rub tender whole trout (a substitute for the typical fresh water fish mojarra) with a mix of mustard, Worcestershire sauce, and garlic powder then stuff it with onion slices before cooking in a skillet. Serve the crisp browned trout with lime wedges, rice, and salad for a complete meal. Get the Recipe 04 of 15 Ouzo Snapper with Fennel and Tomatoes Greg Dupree / Food Styling by Margaret Monroe Dickey / Prop Styling by Thom Driver Rub whole snapper with ouzo, a Greek licorice-scented liqueur, to roast over a bed of tomatoes, fennel, and sweet onions for a sweet and slightly acidic, flaky fish dish. Get the Recipe 05 of 15 Herb-Roasted Trout with Buttery Almonds Photo by Victor Protasio / Food Styling by Chelsea Zimmer / Prop Styling by Christine Keely Flavor tender whole trout with lemon slices, sprigs of rosemary, thyme, oregano, and sage while roasting the fish. Serve it over a salad of arugula, fennel, and radish, and top with toasted almonds for crunch. Get the Recipe 06 of 15 Grilled Whole Snapper Cara Cormack Stuff snapper with salt and a rosemary sprig; rub the fish with oil, garlic, and dried rosemary; and sprinkle both sides with breadcrumbs plus more oil. Grill until golden and serve with lemon wedges. Get the Recipe 07 of 15 Kwame's Escovitch Snapper Photo by Caitlin Bensel / Food Styling by Emily Nabors Hall / Prop styling by Christine Keely Escovitch fish — fish that's fried and then topped with pickled, thinly sliced vegetables — is everywhere in Jamaica. 2019 F&W Best New Chef Kwame Onwuachi uses a garlicky marinade to form a crust as this snapper cooks. The crispy fried fish is served with pickled chiles, carrot, and onion. Get the Recipe 08 of 15 Whole Fried Snapper with Cashew Nuoc Cham Victor Protasio / Food Styling by Margaret Monroe Dickey / Prop Styling by Jillian Knox Diners can wrap fried snapper in rice paper rolls with this whole fish served on tender lettuce leaves, sliced cucumber, fresh assorted herbs like Thai basil, cilantro, rau ram, perilla, and mint, from chef Diep Tran. Get the Recipe 09 of 15 Grilled or Roasted Whole Red Snapper Morgan Hunt Glaze / Food Styling by Emily Nabors Hall / Prop Styling by Julia Bayless, Grace Parisi demonstrates how to grill and roast whole snapper, starting with seasoning the fish inside and out by slashing the flesh and smearing a paste of ground parsley, capers, salt, garlic, and crushed red pepper flakes into each cut. Get the Recipe 10 of 15 Salt-Baked Fish Javier Salas Chef José Andrés bakes whole fish in a salt crust with rosemary, thyme sprigs, and bay leaves until it's perfectly moist and seasoned in an hour. Get the Recipe 11 of 15 Whole Fish Roasted with Potatoes and Thyme © Johnny Valiant Simply rub cleaned whole black bass, striped bass, or other sea bass with olive oil and salt, stuff with lemon slices and thyme, and roast with potatoes and onions, for a platter finished with lemon juice and parsley in an hour. Get the Recipe 12 of 15 Stuffed Whole Wild Salmon © Tina Rupp Stuff salmon with tossed aromatics — garlic, chiles, onion, orange, lemon, fennel, chile powder and olive oil — rub it with oil and season it before roasting and broiling the fish. Serve with pan juices, crispy skin, and olive oil in an hour and a half. Get the Recipe 13 of 15 Grilled Whole Fish © John Kernick This recipe from James Beard Award-winning chef and seafood expert Dave Pasternack works with branzino, red snapper, or sea bass. And he has the trick to keeping fish from sticking to the grill. Get the Recipe 14 of 15 Whole Baked Trout with Fennel and Orange © John Kernick Stuff steelhead trout or arctic char with fennel, herbs, and orange and bake on buttered foil so the skin gets nicely golden. Get the Recipe 15 of 15 Whole Roasted Sea Bass with Potatoes and Olives © Simon Watson Stuff whole black sea bass with parsley and thyme sprigs and roast over olives, tomatoes, and potatoes that have been tossed with olive oil, parsley, and rosemary. Pour the pan juices over all of it on a platter for a wonderfully flavorful centerpiece. Get the Recipe Was this page helpful? Thanks for your feedback! Tell us why! Other Submit