This Seared Chilean Sea Bass recipe with Potatoes & Herb Sauce is a beautiful, healthy restaurant-quality dish that can be made at home in 17 minutes.

Shallow gray bowl filled with pan seared chilean sea bass, yogurt, a green sauce, and small boiled potatoes.

This is the BEST way to cook Chilean Sea Bass

If there’s a recipe on this website that clearly demonstrates my cooking philosophy the best, it might just be this one.

We’re taking something kind of fancy but still easy to find at the store (sea bass, but you can also use cod, snapper, or grouper) and preparing it confidently, with classic, simple techniques, so that you end up with a restaurant-quality final product.

No panic attacks. No almost burning down your kitchen. No crazy ingredients you’ll have to go to a special grocery store for.

This best Chilean sea bass recipe comes together with perfectly cooked fish, tender fingerling potatoes, creamy Greek yogurt, and a bright, herby green sauce that will make you want to lick your plate.

Why You Will Love this Pan Seared Sea Bass Recipe

  • No need to turn on the oven! That makes it perfect for a hot day or small apartment.
  • When I say you can make this in under 20 minutes, I really mean it. You can!
  • Between the fish and the yogurt, it has lots of protein to keep you full, while still being light and healthy.
Closeup on chilean sea bass with yogurt, green sauce and potatoes, topped with leeks and cilantro.

Chilean Sea Bass Recipe ingredients

  • Chilean sea bass – the star of the dish and the main protein source. It has a rich, buttery flavor and flaky, tender texture.
  • fingerling potatoes – the starchy side dish that complements the delicate flavors of the sea bass. You can also use small red or yellow potatoes.
  • Greek yogurt – adds a creamy and tangy element to the dish, and kind of serves as a second sauce for the fish and potatoes.
  • celery – adds a refreshing and savory flavor the the green sauce.
  • cilantro – the herby backbone of the green sauce, providing it with a vibrant flavor and rich green color.
  • leek – we’ll be using the dark green top part in the green sauce, and the bottom light green/white part as a sauteed garnish for the fish.
  • lemon juice – to add acidity to the sauce.
  • kosher salt – for seasoning the fish and sauce.
  • olive oil – for sauteeing the fish.

Variations of Pan Seared Chilean Sea Bass

  • BASIL – Use basil instead of cilantro in the herb sauce for a pesto-like twist.
  • SESAME – Use sesame oil instead of olive oil to sear the fish to add a nutty Asian flavor.
  • LIME – Use lime instead of lemon for a different type of citrus infusion in this dish.

Can I make this with another type of fish?

Absolutely! Just about any type of fish you prefer would be wonderful with this preparation.

Some other great choices for this recipe are cod, snapper, or grouper.

How to make this Chilean Sea Bass Recipe (17 minutes!)

Here’s how you can make this pan seared Chilean sea bass recipe like the home chef that you are, with some shortcuts and tricks to make it even easier.

Read through the directions once before you begin, and make sure you have all of your ingredients out before you start cooking. Then, take it step by step, and relax – you’ve got this!

1. Make the juice and cook the potatoes.

Minutes 1-4: Realize you don’t have a juicer to make the green juice. Pull out your blender, and puree all of the juice ingredients.

Dump the resulting herb smoothie into a fine-mesh strainer and set it over a bowl – the green juice drips into the bowl. Success. Home Chef Trick: Work with the equipment you have to make what you need.

Minute 5: Get super lazy about boiling potatoes and decide to microwave them instead . Scrub them, poke them, put them in a bowl and zap them. Home Chef Trick: Take shortcuts. Sometimes.

2. How to prepare Chilean Sea Bass

Minute 6: Get out a skillet and pre-heat it on the stove. Pat the fish dry and season it with salt. Home Chef Tricks: Always start with a screaming hot pan when cooking fish. Always start with dry fish. Always season with salt.

Minutes 7 – 13: Place the fish skin-side down in the screaming hot pan. Crispy skin is the best! Turn it and cook it a few minutes longer.

3. Prep the garnishes

While the pan seared sea bass is happening, get the yogurt out of the fridge and thinly slice the whites of your leek. Home Chef Trick: Don’t just stand around and watch your food cook. Multitask and work on the next step of the recipe, while keeping an eye on the fish in the skillet.

4. Plate it up!

Minutes 14 – 17: Transfer the pan seared Chilean sea bass to a plate to rest, put the leek whites in the skillet for a quick saute.

Gather all of the elements and assemble the plates: green juice, potatoes, yogurt, fish and leek whites. Go all Picasso on that plate and make it pretty. Home Chef Trick: A beautiful presentation never goes out of style, even at home.

Golden brown seared piece of white fish, surrounded by yogurt, green sauce, potatoes and leeks.

How long to cook Chilean Sea Bass

For the best Chilean sea bass recipe below, I cooked the fish in a skillet for 6 minutes: 4 minutes skin-side down, flip, then an additional 2 minutes.

You can also bake the fish in a 400 degree F oven for 10 minutes per inch of thickness of the fish.

Sea Bass internal temp

No matter how you cook it, you want to make sure that the internal temperature of all fish and seafood reaches 145 degrees F for food safety reasons.

If you like to cook at home, I highly recommend investing in an instant read thermometer [affiliate link] so that you can easily check the internal temperature of meat and seafood without having to cut into it (which will ruin the final presentation).

However, if you do not have a thermometer, and you don’t mind messing up the presentation a little bit, an easy way to tell that your fish has reached this safe temperature is by cutting into the fish at it’s thickest part and peeking inside.

How do you know when Chilean sea bass is done?

The fish should be opaque (no longer translucent) and it should easily flake with a fork.

A Chilean sea bass recipe topped with leeks and cilantro, with yogurt, green sauce and potatoes.

Home Chef Tips for How to Cook Chilean Sea Bass

  • Buy the freshest Chilean sea bass you can find. You’re looking for translucent, moist, odorless fillets.
  • Make sure your pan is screaming hot before you add the fish. This helps create a beautiful, caramelized crust while keeping the interior tender.
  • Allow the fish to rest for a few minutes after cooking to let the juices redistribute.

What to serve with Chilean Sea Bass

Sauce for Chilean Sea Bass

I really like the Green Sauce for the Chilean Sea Bass recipe below, made with celery, cilantro, leeks, lemon and salt.

You can also finish the fish with a bit of browned butter and a squeeze of lemon juice.

What to serve with Sea Bass

If you decide not to make the yogurt / potatoes / herb sauce situation from the recipe card below, and are simply serving a nicely seared piece of fish, you’ll still need a side dish.

I recommend Instant Pot mashed sweet potatoes or Parmesan roasted broccoli.

A great green side salad with miso vinaigrette or feta dressing would also work well here.

Pan seared Chilean sea bass, topped with leeks and cilantro, with yogurt, green sauce and potatoes.

Chilean Sea Bass FAQs

What is the difference between sea bass and Chilean sea bass?

While “sea bass” refers to several different species, Chilean sea bass is scientifically known as Patagonian toothfish and it is a specific type.

What’s so special about Chilean sea bass?

Chilean sea bass is prized for its high fat content, which gives it a luscious flavor and flaky texture.

What fish was renamed to Chilean sea bass?

Chilean sea bass used to be known as Patagonian toothfish. The name change was an effort to make it more appealing to consumers.

Pan Seared Sea Bass Recipe

Pan Seared Sea Bass Recipe

Yield: 4 servings
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 7 minutes
Total Time: 17 minutes

This Seared Chilean Sea Bass recipe with Potatoes & Herb Sauce is a beautiful, healthy restaurant-quality dish that can be made at home in 17 minutes.

Ingredients

For the Green Sauce:

  • 2 celery stalks, roughly chopped
  • 2 cups packed fresh cilantro
  • 1 leek (dark green top only), roughly chopped
  • Juice of 1/2 lemon
  • 1/3 cup water
  • Pinch of kosher salt

For the Potatoes, Fish & Assembly:

  • 1 pound small fingerling potatoes
  • 4 pieces (4 ounces each) Chilean sea bass
  • Kosher salt
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1 leek (white part only), thinly sliced
  • 1/2 cup Greek yogurt
  • Cilantro sprigs for garnish

Instructions

  1. Make the Green Sauce: Puree all ingredients in blender until smooth. Pour into a fine-mesh strainer set over a medium bowl. Let sit, stirring mixture in strainer occasionally so all juice drains into bowl; discard solids.
  2. Scrub potatoes clean and use fork to pierce each potato lightly in several places. Place potatoes in medium microwave-safe bowl. Cover bowl with paper towel and microwave on high 4 minutes or until tender (or boil potatoes on stovetop, if desired).
  3. Heat large skillet over medium-high heat until skillet is very hot. Pat fish dry with paper towel and season with salt. Pour oil in pan; place fish skin side-down in pan. Cook 4 minutes or until skin is very crisp. Turn and cook 2 minutes longer. Transfer fish to plate.
  4. Place leek whites in same skillet; cook 1 minute or until slightly softened.
  5. Divide yogurt, potatoes, fish and leek whites between 4 plates. Spoon green juice around fish and garnish with cilantro.

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Nutrition Information:
Yield: 4 Serving Size: 1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 360Total Fat: 10gSaturated Fat: 2gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 7gCholesterol: 55mgSodium: 345mgCarbohydrates: 38gFiber: 4gSugar: 11gProtein: 30g

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