One of the things I love about summer cooking is its simplicity: Dead ripe summer produce and simply cooked, freshly caught fish. This pan seared red snapper recipe combines the two.

And while pan seared red snapper ain’t rocket science, there are a couple things that set it apart from your typical fish-with-seasonal-veggies recipe: The way I cook the fish and what I do with the tomatoes.

Before we start, know that you don’t need red snapper to make this dish. Any firm, white fish works. Other snappers, black seabass, striped bass, Pacific rockfish or lingcod, smallmouth bass, walleye, grouper… you get the point.

Pan Seared Red Snapper Made Easy

As you can see, the red snapper a) has the skin on (although it contracted a lot when I cooked it), and b) is really only cooked on one side. That’s on purpose.

First, the skin. The skin on a scaled bass-like fish is usually tasty. Red snapper is one of those fish. I like to scale these fish, then fillet and leave the skin on because, when properly cooked, the skin gets crispy like a potato chip. These are usually lean fish, so the small amount of fat under the skin adds a touch of richness, too. 

To address the second point, pan seared red snapper, or whatever fish you use, is a great way to cook any fish so you get that crispy side —  and yes, you can do this with a skinless piece of fish — and you don’t overcook the inside of the fish because you are just basting the other side with the hot oil or butter.

I prefer to use clarified butter when cooking fish, as it has a reasonably high smoke point and adds a ton of flavor. You can buy is as Indian ghee in the store, or you can make it yourself. Or just use oil.

The one piece of equipment I fell is borderline critical for pan searing fish is a fish spatula, which is thinner, flexible and has something of a cutting edge on the end. 

Here’s a full tutorial on pan seared fish. And here are some fish-specific recipes with other species: grouper with a Lowcountry salad, and mahi mahi with a Cuban flair.

Putting It All Together

Now, the tomatoes. Of course you can just halve your cherry tomatoes and toss them in the pan for a few seconds, and yes, I do this myself sometimes. But I find that most cherry tomatoes are pretty watery, so I like to concentrate their flavor by slightly dehydrating them.

I put the tomatoes in my dehydrator for a few hours to get them halfway there: Not hard, not even leathery, but definitely concentrated. You can do the same thing in a 275°F oven, especially if you have a convection oven. It gives the dish a lot more punch to do this, if you have the time.

Finally, the herb element is also up to you. I like the combination of mint, corn and tomatoes, but parsley, cilantro, oregano, marjoram and chives will all work, and give you different results.

Try pan seared red snapper the next time you come home with one, or any similar fish. And feel free to play with the recipe. After all, it’s summertime!

If you liked this recipe, please leave a ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ rating and a comment below; I’d love to hear how everything went. If you’re on Instagram, share a picture and tag me at huntgathercook.