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Mediterranean Whole Roasted Red Snapper Recipe with Garlic and Vegetables

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This Mediterranean whole red snapper recipe is an easy, healthy and tasty weeknight meal! You can put it together in minutes! 

Whole Roasted Red Snapper on a serving plate with Garlic and Bell Peppers

After the big Thanksgiving feast, and the following days of glorious leftovers, many of us crave something on the lighter side. Some will even resort to eating plain leafy greens (hold the dressing), while others take drastic measures following a famine-like liquid diet or some all-too-quick detoxification method.

Whatever the case, all we are really trying to do is gain some balance as we prepare ourselves for more holiday feasting later. Also attempt to spend less time in the kitchen for now. Am I right?

Enter today’s  red snapper recipe with garlic and vegetables. It is filling, light, and easy to make.

Red Snapper with vegetables in a baking pan

Red snapper is a celebrated fish in the Mediterranean region. My mom prepared it all sorts of ways; never the same recipe twice.  The beauty of red snapper is that it is a lean, moist fish with firm texture. And because of its mild, slightly sweet taste, red snapper accepts all sorts of seasonings. I–no surprise to you– chose to use fresh garlic as the main flavoring agent here. And with it, fresh dill, ground cumin, and coriander. But you can certainly try different herbs and spices as you like.

Because this recipe already includes roasted vegetables, I serve it on busy weeknights with a side of rice and fattoush salad.

Close-up of Roasted Red Snapper with vegetables on a serving dish

Note:  to make things easy, you’ll want to get your fishmonger to clean and gut the whole snapper; and you can choose to have the head removed, if you prefer.

Here is the step-by-step for this roasted red snapper recipe:

Preheat the oven to 425 degree F. Pat the snapper fish dry. With a large knife, make two slits on each side of the fish.

Slits are cut into snapper

Fill the slits and coat the gut cavity of each fish with the minced garlic.

Snapper is filled with minced garlic

To make the spice mix, combine the cumin, coriander, salt, pepper and sumac in a small bowl. Use 3/4 of the spice mix to season the snapper on both sides, pat the spices into the fish pushing it into the slits you made earlier. Keep the remainder 1/4 of the spice mix aside for now.

Snapper is seasoned on both sides and on inside with spice mix

Now stuff each gut cavity with the chopped dill, and as much of the sliced peppers, tomatoes and onions as possible.

Snapper is stuffed with onion and pepper

Place the stuffed fish on a lightly oiled baking sheet. Add the remaining sliced vegetables to form a frame around the fish. Sprinkle the vegetables with a pinch of salt and the remaining 1/4 spice mixture from earlier. Drizzle everything generously with olive oil.

Red pepper, onion and tomato lined in a baking dish along with seasoned red snapper

Place the baking sheet on the lower rack of your 425 degrees F heated oven. Roast for 25 minutes until the fish flakes.Transfer the fish to a serving platter and squeeze juice of one lemon all over it. Use the slits you made earlier to help you portion the fish. Serve with wedges of the remaining lemon.

Enjoy with a side of rice and fattoush salad, if you like.

Completed roasted snapper on serving dish with roasted vegetables

 

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Mediterranean Whole Roasted Red Snapper with Garlic and Bell Peppers | The Mediterranean Dish. An easy recipe your family will love! Whole snapper stuffed with fresh garlic, dill, bell peppers, tomatoes and onions and roasted to perfection. Add a salad or a quick rice and you're good to go! Ready in 30 minutes!

Mediterranean Roasted Red Snapper with Garlic and Bell Peppers

★★★★★

5 from 9 reviews
  • Author: The Mediterranean Dish
  • Prep Time: 10 mins
  • Cook Time: 25 mins
  • Total Time: 35 minutes
  • Yield: serves 4-6
  • Category: Entree
  • Method: Baked
  • Cuisine: Mediterranean
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Description

This Mediterranean whole red snapper recipe is an easy, healthy and tasty weeknight meal! You can put it together in minutes! 

Ingredients

  • 2 large whole snapper fish, cleaned and gutted
  • 15 large garlic cloves, minced and combined with a pinch of salt
  • 2 tsp ground cumin
  • 2 tsp ground coriander
  • salt
  • 1 tsp black pepper
  • 1 tsp ground sumac
  • 1/2 cup chopped fresh dill
  • 3 bell peppers, different colors, sliced in rounds
  • 1 large tomato, sliced into rounds
  • 1 medium red onion, sliced into rounds
  • Private Reserve Greek extra virgin olive oil
  • 2 lemons

Instructions

  1. Preheat the oven to 425 degree F.
  2. Pat the snapper fish dry. With a large knife, make two slits on each side of the fish. Fill the slits and coat the gut cavity of each fish with the minced garlic.
  3. To make the spice mix, combine the cumin, coriander, salt, pepper and sumac in a small bowl. Use 3/4 of the spice mix to season the snapper on both sides; pat the spices into the fish pushing into the slits you made earlier. Keep the remainder 1/4 of the spice mix aside for now.
  4. Stuff each gut cavity with the chopped dill, and as much of the sliced peppers, tomatoes and onions as possible.
  5. Place the stuffed fish in a lightly oiled baking sheet. Add the remaining sliced vegetables to form a frame around the fish. Sprinkle the vegetables with a pinch of salt and the remaining 1/4 of the spice mix.
  6. Drizzle everything generously with olive oil.
  7. Place the baking sheet on the lower rack of your 425 degrees F heated oven. Roast for 25 minutes until the fish flakes.Transfer the fish to a serving platter and squeeze juice of one lemon all over it. Use the slits you made earlier to cut through and portion the fish. Serve it with wedges of the remaining lemon.
  8. Enjoy with a side of rice and fattoush salad, if you like.

Notes

  • To make things easy, you’ll want to get your fishmonger to clean and gut the whole snapper; and you can choose to have the head removed, if you prefer.
  • Recommended for this Recipe: Our Private Reserve Greek extra virgin olive oil (from organically grown and processed Koroneiki olives!)
  • Visit the Mediterranean Dish store to purchase our all-natural or organic spices. Create your own 6-pack or 3-pack of your favorites!

Keywords: Mediterranean Red Snapper, Red Snapper, Roasted snapper, snapper with peppers and garlic

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Mediterranean Whole Roasted Red Snapper with Garlic and Bell Peppers | The Mediterranean Dish. An easy recipe your family will love! Whole snapper stuffed with fresh garlic, dill, bell peppers, tomatoes and onions and roasted to perfection. Add a salad or a quick rice and you're good to go! Ready in 30 minutes!

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  1. I made this tonight. The flavors were wonderful, however as a first time snapper cook, I would recommend using fillets rather than the whole fish. It was difficult to eat without getting scales in a bite.

    Reply

  2. So delicious! So much flavor! I was planning on a different recipe, but tried this one instead. So glad I did! I only had a red pepper and some eggplant on hand, so I used those and it was absolutely divine! Will make this again & again!

    ★★★★★

    Reply

  3. I’m going to make this dish tomorrow — it looks absolutely amazing! I’ll be using snapper fillets though. Should I put everything between two fillets, or just put some of the “stuffing” on top of each fillet?

    Reply

    • Hi Beth, I would use the garlic and spices and fresh herb right on the fillets for flavor…and you can either put the veggies on top or around the fish on a baking sheet. Makes sense?

      Reply

      • Thank you! Made it as you suggested and it was fantastic! The whole family was really impressed. Your recipe made me look like a star!

        ★★★★★

        Reply

  5. Brilliant recipe! Thank you very much! Cooking today for the first time, my family ask me to repeat :)))

    ★★★★★

    Reply

  6. Suzy, this is a fantastic dish. I made it with a red snapper we caught yesterday off Port Canaveral FL. I followed your recipe closely adding quartered red potatoes. It looked fabulous and the Mediterranean flavors exploded. This dish will be made many times.

    ★★★★★

    Reply

  7. Hi Suzy,
    I have all the ingredients for this and will be cooking it for tonight, it looks delish!

    Is it okay to prepare this 2 or 3 hours before putting it in the oven?

    Thanks,
    Bayan

    ★★★★★

    Reply