We are a family that love barbecues, any sign of the sun shining is an excuse for us to get the barbie on! Whilst my husband always goes for the typical meat options of steaks, sausages or burgers, I tend to prefer fish. My favourite being barbecue Sea Bass or Sea Bream, although you can’t beat sardines on the barbecue either.
Barbecue Sea Bass is so easy to do and makes for an impressive barbecue supper, well in my eyes anyway. It’s easy doubled or tripled too, as long as you have the space on the barbecue. Most of our recipes are done with the kids helping, but I’m afraid I don’t quite trust them with my barbecue Sea Bass just yet!
If you like barbecues, you may also like to read our tops tips on a beach campfire.
Preparation time – 5 minutes
Cooking time – 15 – 20 minutes minutes
Serves – 1 (or could be shared as part of a barbecue feast)
Ingredients for Barbecue Sea Bass
Sea Bass (or Sea Bream)
1 Lemon
1 clove of garlic (optional)
Fresh Herbs (Recommend Basil, Rosemary or Dill)
Olive oil
Sea Salt
Black pepper
Method for Barbecue Sea Bass
When buying your fish, make sure you ask your fishmonger to prepare it by gutting, scaling and cleaning the sea bass. Ask them to remove the head if you prefer.
So first you need to light the barbecue. We tend to use coals and some wood chips to add to the flavour. Of course a gas barbecue is fine too, but it doesn’t have that gorgeous bbq smell.
Slash the flesh of the fish about three times down both sides with a sharp knife. Use your hands to rub in a glug of olive oil onto both sides (this makes sure it doesn’t stick to your bbq or fish basket). Then sprinkle with some sea salt and black pepper.
Fill the cavity with some slices of lemon, slices of peeled garlic (optional) and your fresh herbs. Pushing them well into the cavity.
Place the Sea Bass into your fish basket, making sure that you have oiled the inside of the basket. If you don’t have a fish basket, you can put directly on the barbecue, but the bonus of the basket is that it keeps your fish safely together. Alternative loosely wrap the fish in foil, but this won’t produce a crispy skin or have any smokiness from the barbecue.
When the barbecue is ready, which means that the flames will have died down and the coals are now grey and glowing, place the fish onto the barbecue.
Cook the Sea Bream for about 5 – 8 minutes on each side.
The fish is cooked when the flesh comes away easily from the bone.
Serve with a side salad or barbecued jacket potatoes and some green beans. I also find a nice glass of rose goes down well with it too.
Note: Sea caught Sea bass is rated red in terms of sustainability, farmed is the more sustainable option. You can make more environmentally responsible choices when buying seafood by visiting the marine conservation society – https://www.mcsuk.org/goodfishguide/search
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