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Easy Salt Crusted Fish is perfect for guests or date night at home! Baking the whole fish in salt keeps the flesh juicy and the added herbs make it a flavor explosion. This recipe is super easy to make at home and will impress your guests!
Trout, bream, and sea bass work really well for this salt crusted fish recipe but you can use any whole fish you like or have at hand. It’s a really foolproof recipe which is great for new cooks!
This recipe is perfect for when you’re having guests over and you want to give them a bit of a show to go with the food! There’s no better entrance for your main course than breaking free from a salt crust.
The baked fish is full of flavor and super juicy because the herbs infuse it under the salt crust and it cooks in its own juice.
And don’t be scared, your salt crusted fish won’t taste like the cook was heavily in love or in other words: No, it won’t taste salty (only if you eat the salt-crust, which I really don’t recommend!!). You need a bit of skill to fillet the fish and I have to admit I’m not the best at it. I get frustrated very easily and so my husband is in charge of this task.
Making this salt crusted fish is really easy! Chop the herbs, spread them out on a baking sheet, and place the fish on top. Then cover the whole fish about 0.6 inches high with salt. Just pour the salt over the fish until it is covered completely. Put the baking sheet into the hot oven, bake for about 35 minutes and take it out.
The salt should now be hard as a brick, so whack it around the edges with the back of a spoon and the whole top will luckily peel off at once. Brush the excess salt off your fish but try not to let the salt touch the flesh. Serve the fish with potatoes and Tzatziki Sauce, or some rustic bread.
And if you also need an impressive dessert, I recommend trying my Kaiserschmarrn Recipe (Torn Pancakes). It’s super delicious!
Easy Salt Crusted Fish
Ingredients
- 2 whole seabass, or trout or other fish
- 1 bunch Herbs de Provence
- 3 pounds sea salt, unrefined, coarse
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 390F (200C)
- Roughly chop up the herbs and spread them out on a baking sheet.
- Wash the fish and wipe it dry with paper towels. Place the fish on top of the herbs.
- Cover each fish generously with the sea salt about 0.6 inches (1.5 cm) thick.
- Put the baking sheet in the oven and bake for 25-35 minutes depending on the size of your fish.
- When you remove the fish from the oven the salt should have formed a nice, hard crust around them. Crack the crust with a small hammer or a heavy spoon and remove most of the salt.
- Serve and enjoy!
