Whenever we have this pan fried bream with lemon caper butter at home, I really feel like I am having a lovely restaurant meal. Yet it is so simple to make! Cooking fish can seem intimidating at first, but follow my easy recipe and you’ll be a confident fish cook in no time at all.
This recipe also works for similar fish such as sea bass or sole fillets, so feel free to be a bit flexible with the fish that you use. You’ll need boneless, skin-on fillets. Sea bass is available in most supermarkets, but we have found our local fishmonger to be really competitive on price and that the fish is much nicer quality. Sea bream is a lovely fish to try, so I would definitely recommend giving it a go if you have not had it before.
As for what to serve with this yummy fish, I’ve listed a few serving suggestions below in the recipe section. It’s a surprisingly easy meal to make and really has been a game changer for our meal rotation (with us eating a lot more fish now), so I hope you all enjoy this sea bream dish as much as we do.
Pan-Fried Bream with Lemon Caper Butter Sauce Recipe
This pan fried bream can be served with all sorts of sides. I prefer a potato side such as oven roasted new potatoes or hasselback potatoes, but rice or bread would also work nicely. Be sure to add a big portion of green veg too, any of broccoli, tenderstem broccoli, samphire, kale, spinach, leeks and green beans are my typical choices.
For a real treat meal, try bunging some shell-on prawns or scallops into the mix, they taste lovely with this lemon caper butter sauce too!
You’ll find a full method below along with some pictures to help you as you work through the recipe. Feel free to email me any questions or comments you might have – laura@mygfguide.com – or DM me on social media @myglutenfreeguide. Ooh, also send photos of your creations please!
If you enjoy making and eating this fish dish, I would be very grateful if you could leave a review on the recipe card below.
Enjoy! Laura xxx
Pan-Fried Bream with Lemon Caper Butter Sauce (GF)
Ingredients
- 2-4 sea bream or sea bass fillets (depending on size and whether you want 1 or 2 per person) - boneless and skin on
- 2 tbsp gluten free flour
- Salt and pepper
- 1 tsp olive oil
- 25g salted butter
- 1 lemon
- 1 tbsp capers (in brine from a jar, drained)
Instructions
- Mix the gluten free flour with a pinch of salt and a grinding of black pepper on a plate. Place the fillets in the flour and turn each so that both sides are fully coated with flour.
- Heat a frying pan to medium-high, add the olive oil and then the fish fillets SKIN SIDE DOWN. Allow to cook for 5 minutes to crisp the skin, then for a further 1 minute on the other side. Remove from the pan and set aside on a clean plate to rest. The fish will be almost cooked at this point, don't worry about checking the centre as we will finish cooking in a minute.
- Cool the pan then add the butter, juice of half a lemon and capers to the pan. Cook over a medium heat for a minute then add the fish FLESH SIDE DOWN to allow it flour to soak up some buttery lemony sauce and to finish cooking the fish. Cook for 1-2 minutes.
- Serve the fish with the remaining caper butter sauce drizzled on top, with your sides of choice. My favourite choices are roast new potatoes and tenderstem broccoli, yum!
For more delicious dinner ideas, why not check out some of my other naturally gluten free recipes while you are here:
Enjoy! Laura xxx
