Name: Baked Snapper with Vegetables
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 30 min
Total time: 45 min
Ingredients: 1 Whole Snapper (2 – 3 lbs.), scaled and gutted; 6 Ginger Slices; 1 Lemon, cut into slices; Stems and Fronds from 1 Fennel; 1 Leek, cut into 1-inch pieces; 4 sprigs of Thyme; 2 Potatoes, thinly sliced; 1 lb. Truss Tomatoes on the Vine; ½ cup Parmesan Cheese; 2 tbsp. Olive Oil; Salt

This is one of the healthiest and most delicious one pot dinners you can make. Our Baked Snapper with Vegetables Recipe is packed full of wonderful flavor, aromatics, and deliciously healthy food. It’s also such an easy recipe to make. Fill your beautiful piece of Snapper or Red Snapper with herbs, then seal it up with Foil and let it Steam while it’s baking in the oven! Surround that beautiful piece of fish with your favorite roasting vegetables and in 30 minutes, you’ve got a show-stopping dinner for the family

Beautiful Vegetables compliment a great piece of Fish in this dish

The vegetables we’re using for our Baked Snapper with Vegetables recipe are Potatoes, Leeks, and Truss Tomatoes. These vegetables love being roasted, and you’ll get the best flavor out of them using this cooking technique. The Leeks will turn a beautiful caramelized golden-brown color. Their natural sweetness will come through, which is a great pairing with white fish

We’re a little naughty with the Potatoes and give them a mix through with a generous amount of grated Parmesan Cheese for added flavor and texture. This is an optional step, however it’s Parmesan Cheese, so we highly recommend it!

Finally, those lovely Truss Tomatoes on the Vine will burst open in your mouth and all that amazing, rich, sweet Tomato Flavor will be your reward. Tomatoes and Fish are a great pairing, and complete this wonderful dish

Baked Snapper with Vegetables side view — A tasty range of yummy Vegetables make the Baked Snapper with Vegetables a hearty one pot dinner

How to choose good quality fish for this Baked Snapper with Vegetables Dish

The best advice when looking for good quality fish is to look for clear eyes, and bright colorful gills. There are two clear distinctions that the fish has been freshly caught and will be of good quality. Another tell-tale sign is the smell. This may sound a little strange, but you don’t want to be buying fish that smells too fishy. The fish should smell clean, and of the sea with a slight fishy smell. If the overwhelming smell is fishy, to the point of it being pungent then steer away from it

If you’ve got a good fishmonger in your local area it is always a good idea to build a relationship with them. It doesn’t take much, just strike up a casual conversation whenever you’re shopping and over time they’ll get to know you. They can steer you in the right direction for the best quality fish they have in the shop on that particular day. It’s always best to buy fresh, so ask them for their freshest fishes

Another tip is to use the great Anthony Bourdain trip from his book ‘Kitchen Confidential’. He talks about the best and worst days to buy fish in restaurants. Sundays and Mondays being the worst days because generally speaking, the fish haven’t been delivered that morning, so would likely be 1 or 2 days older. Tuesdays – Thursdays are apparently the best times to buy fish

Baked Snapper with Vegetables Snapper ready to be cooked — Secure a great piece of Fish and stuff it with amazing ingredients and aromatics before wrapping in Foil to bake

Stuff the Snapper with aromatic spices and vegetables to create a flavor bomb inside the fish then bake in foil for amazing flavor

To get the most flavor from your Baked Snapper with Vegetables, stuff the fish with as many flavors as possible before it is wrapped in Foil. While the Fish is cooking, those flavors and aromas will slowly absorb into it. Once it’s cooked you’re left with a Fish that has been beautifully flavored

For this recipe we’re stuffing the Fish with sliced Fresh Ginger, Thyme, Fennel Stems, and finally, Lemon Slices. You simply can’t have Seafood without Lemon, and this Baked Snapper recipe is no exception. The inclusion of Ginger and Fennel into the stuffing creates such a wonderful aroma and flavor. Your whole house will begin to be filled with the most beautiful smells while the Fish is cooking

Wrapping the Snapper in Foil so it steams as it roasts, leaving it beautifully moist and succulent

Another benefit of wrapping the Snapper while it is roasting in the oven is that the steam created inside the Foil will help to cook the Fish. You’re essentially cooking the fish two ways with this process: Oven Roasting, and Steaming. What this method leaves you with is the most moist and succulent Whole Snapper imaginable

There is a risk of the Snapper drying out if you do not wrap it in foil. You also may have a slightly uneven cook, especially if the Fish is quite large. Wrapping the fish will ensure an even cook throughout and a beautiful, tender result

Baked Snapper with Vegetables close up — The techniques in this Recipe will ensure that all of the vegetables cook at the same time as the Fish, so everything is ready at once

Slicing the Potatoes will reduce their cooking time, so they’ll be ready when the fish is done

The trick to this recipe is getting your vegetables to all cook at the same time. This is so there’s minimal need to keep opening the Oven. Which is always a good thing, especially if you’re cooking this meal on a hot summers day

We’ve found that if you slice the Potatoes into ¼ inch thick slices, they’ll cook at the same time as the fish; about 30 minutes. If you cut them into chunks, they’ll likely take another 20 minutes. By that time, your Fish will have gone cold. Not ideal. If you cut them super thin using a Mandoline they will likely overcook. So manually slicing them is our recommend method

The Leeks will cook at the same time as the sliced Potatoes, so good news if you can throw them into the sheet pan and cook them alongside the Potatoes. The Tomatoes however will take a little less time to cook, about 20 minutes in total

So, for an evenly cooked Baked Snapper with Vegetables dish we recommend setting a timer for 10 minutes into the cook. At that 10-minute mark, add the Tomatoes then roast everything together for the remaining 20 minutes

The result – Dinner that is ready to be served!