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Baker’s style sea bream with potatoes

Baker's style sea bream is a whole fish roasted in the oven over a bed of potatoes and onions with thyme, serving 4 people. It takes 65 minutes, the difficulty is easy, and it costs about €4.60 per person. The trick to success is pouring hot broth over the potatoes before baking, so they cook at the same time as the fish.

Tonight it's Sunday in the middle of the week, with a whole sea bream roasted over melting potatoes and onions with thyme.

Baker’s style sea bream with potatoes
Total time
1 h 05
Difficulty
Easy
Cost per person
€4.60
Calories per person
640 kcalcalculated by Kiloach, your weight coach
Season
Fall, Winter, Spring
The kids
They generally like it

Baker's style sea bream is the kind of dish that does the work for you while you handle something else. The whole fish roasts directly on top of the potatoes, which soak up the cooking juices and the scent of thyme and garlic. The flesh stays moist, the bottom layer of potatoes turns soft, and the top layer browns lightly where it touches the skin.

This is a dish to set right in the middle of the table, perfect for a Sunday when you have a bit of time, but also doable on a weeknight if you prep the potatoes ahead. Kids tend to like the mild, tender flesh of sea bream, especially if you pick out the bones before serving. It's a good match for the cooler months, from fall through spring.

The ingredients

4 people

Fish counter

  • whole sea bream, gutted and scaled 2

Fruits and vegetables

  • potatoes 1 kg
  • onions 3
  • garlic 3 cloves
  • fresh thyme 6 sprigs
  • lemon 1

Pantry

  • vegetable broth (cube)often in the pantry 1
  • olive oiloften in the pantry 4 tbsp
  • saltoften in the pantry 1 pinch
  • pepperoften in the pantry 1 pinch

Allergens Fish

The step by step recipe

  1. Peel the potatoes and slice them thinly, then thinly slice the onions and garlic.

    Use a mandoline if you have one, even slices cook at the same rate.

  2. Mix the potatoes, onions, garlic, and thyme with half the oil, salt, and pepper, then spread in a large baking dish.

    Rub the slices well with oil so none of them stay dry.

  3. Pour the hot broth into the bottom of the dish and bake at 200°C for a first round of cooking. 25 min

    The broth should reach the level of the potatoes, not more, or they'll boil instead of roast.

  4. Tuck thyme and a lemon slice inside each sea bream, place them on top of the potatoes, and drizzle with the remaining oil.

    Score the skin crosswise for even cooking.

  5. Return to the oven until the flesh pulls away easily from the bone. 25 min

    Poke the flesh near the head, if it flakes off easily, it's done.

Our tips to get it right

  • Pick a dish just big enough for the fish to nearly touch the potatoes along their whole length, this helps everything cook evenly.
  • If your sea bream are different sizes, keep an eye on the smaller one toward the end, it will cook faster.
  • Let the dish rest for 5 minutes out of the oven before serving, the flesh comes off the bone more easily.

The variations

  • Swap the sea bream for whole sea bass, the cooking time and amounts stay the same.
  • For a fish free version, keep just the potatoes, onions, and thyme, and serve with a poached egg, for example.
  • To save time, ask your fishmonger to fillet the fish, then cut the second baking time down to about 12 minutes.

What to serve it with

  • A green salad with lemon
  • A glass of dry white wine
  • Steamed green beans

Storage

Leftovers keep for 2 days in the refrigerator in a closed container, fish and potatoes together. Avoid freezing this dish, the texture of the cooked fish would suffer. Reheat gently in the oven rather than the microwave, so the flesh doesn't dry out.

Questions about this dish

Can you prepare baker's style sea bream ahead of time?

You can peel and slice the potatoes and onions a few hours ahead and keep them covered in the fridge. Bake the dish with the fish right before serving though, so the flesh stays moist.

How do you know when the sea bream is cooked?

Poke the flesh near the head with the tip of a knife. If it pulls away easily from the bone, the fish is done.

Can you use something other than vegetable broth?

Homemade or store bought fish broth works really well too, it even deepens the dish's briny flavor. Just make sure it's hot when you pour it over the potatoes.

How do you adapt this recipe for kids?

Serve the flesh already flaked and deboned on their plate, with the soft potatoes on the side. The thyme flavor is mild, but you can use a little less if your kids prefer simple flavors.

How long does it take to make a baker's style sea bream with potatoes?

Count 1 h 05 in total, prep and cooking included. The recipe is rated “easy”.

How many calories are in a baker's style sea bream with potatoes?

About 640 kcal per serving, for a recipe meant for 4 people. Calories are calculated by Kiloach, your weight coach, the app that partners with Mon Chou.

How much does a baker's style sea bream with potatoes cost?

About €4.60 per serving, or €18.40 for 4 people, based on average supermarket prices.

What allergens does this recipe contain?

This recipe contains fish. Always check the labels of the products you buy.

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