This Oven Baked Red Snapper recipe makes an easy weeknight meal that is ready in 20 minutes. This healthy recipe is full of flavor, made with baked whole snapper fillets and a buttery garlic crumb topping.
I love this baked red snapper. It is one of the most delicious fish recipes and is one of my favorite seafood recipes to make for my family. It's the perfect main dish and is simple to make yet elegant enough to impress guests.
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❤️ Why I Love This Recipe
✔️ Oven Baked Red Snapper is an easy recipe to make for dinner that is ready in just 20 minutes!
✔️ Red snapper is a lean meat low in calories and fat and high in protein with essential omega-3 fatty acids.
✔️ It is a fresh fish recipe that the entire family loves!
Reader Reviews
"Fabulous recipe. I’ve used this for red snapper and cod. It is my new favorite recipe for baked fish fillets."
Excellent!! I am sooo happy with the flavor of this dish. It turned out better than I expected. I recently told my friend about it and she raved about it also. I am making it again tomorrow for my parents. The only substitute I made was using panko instead of bread crumbs.
I finally feel confident making fish for guests. Thank you ❤️
🥘 Ingredients
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Red Snapper Fillets, it is best to choose skin on fillets. The flesh should be moist and reflective.
Butter, I like to use salted butter for this recipe.
Minced Garlic
Worcestershire sauce
Cajun Seasoning, I use this brand.
Fresh Parsley & Chives, herbs used to enhance the flavor of the dish.
Breadcrumbs, I use these seasoned breadcrumbs.
Parmesan Cheese, fresh cheese to grate yourself is best.
Lemon
🔪 Instructions
Make the sauce
- Preheat the oven to 400° F. In a small saucepan over medium-high heat, melt the butter until bubbly. Combine garlic, Worcestershire sauce, Creole seasoning, pepper, parsley, and chives, with the butter sauce.
- Cook the sauce low heat for 2 minutes to blend flavors.
Prep the fish
- Place the red snapper fillets in a baking dish that has been sprayed with cooking spray.
- Brush both sides of fish fillets with the butter and herb mixture.
- Add the breadcrumbs and parmesan cheese to the remaining butter mixture; sprinkle over the fillets.
Bake the fish
- Bake for 12 minutes, or until internal temperature reaches 137, the fish flakes easily and is no longer translucent. Garnish with lemon slices.
🙋 Recipe FAQ's
Red snapper is a mild flavored fish with a meaty firm texture. It is delicious grilled, baked, broiled, blackened or fried. It is one of the most popular of white fish and is found in the Gulf of Mexico and Indonesia. It is often sold whole or in fillets.
Red snapper is ready when its internal temperature registers 137 degrees.
Fish cooks quickly and because there is a topping on this fish recipe, it will not dry out and does not require it to be covered.
🍽 Equipment
⏲️ Baking Time
This delicious fish recipe can be ready and on the table in 20 minutes. Bake time is 400 degrees for 12 minutes, or until the fish flakes easily and is no longer translucent. Depending on the thickness of the fish, baking time could be more or less.
💭 Tips
- Reduce the cooking time for thinner fillets. Begin checking the internal temperature after 7 minutes.
- Make your own bread crumbs by processing bread into fine crumbs using a food processor. The bread can be dried out in the oven on a baking sheet at 350 degrees for 15 - 20 minutes, or until golden brown.
- For an easier clean up, the baked red snapper fillets can be placed on top of foil or parchment paper in a baking dish or baking sheet.
📖 Variations
- Substitute the cajun seasoning for smoked paprika and garlic powder for the fresh garlic.
- Substitute fresh rosemary or thyme for the parsley.
- Use seasoned or plain panko crumbs in place of breadcrumbs.
- Use lime juice instead of lemon for garnish.
Serving Suggestions
This oven baked red snapper recipe with garlic topping goes great with a glass of dry white wine or a buttery chardonnay!
Serve with a side dish of cauliflower fried rice or garlic roasted artichokes.
Related Recipes
Skillet Cod with Cilantro Lime Butter
Cod Fish Tacos with Spicy Mango Salsa
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When you make this recipe, please comment below and let me know what you think. I'd love it if you tag me on Instagram @grumpyshoneybunch or #grumpyshoneybunch so I can see your photos!
If you love this recipe, please leave a ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ rating
📖 Recipe
Baked Red Snapper Recipe with Garlic Topping
As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
Ingredients
- 8 ounces red snapper fillets about 2-3 fillets
- 4 tablespoon unsalted butter
- 1 clove garlic , minced
- 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
- ½ teaspoon Cajun Seasoning
- ⅛ teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
- 4 teaspoon dried breadcrumbs
- 2 teaspoon fresh parsley , minced
- 1 teaspoon fresh chives optional , snipped (optional)
- 2 teaspoon Parmesan Cheese , freshly grated (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400° F.
- In a small saucepan over medium-high heat, melt the butter until bubbly. Combine garlic, Worcestershire sauce, Creole seasoning, pepper, and parsley with the butter sauce. Cook the sauce low heat for 2 minutes to blend flavors.
- Place the red snapper fillets in a baking dish that has been sprayed with cooking spray.
- Brush both sides of fish fillets with the butter and herb mixture.
- Add the breadcrumbs and parmesan cheese (if using) to the remaining butter mixture; sprinkle over the fillets.
- Bake for 12 minutes, or until internal temperature reaches 137°, the fish should flake easily and is no longer translucent. Garnish with chives (if using) and lemon slices (if using).
Peggy
Your picture and ingredients look perfect. I had planned to fry my Redfish tomorrow but will try your Baked Red Snapper with Garlic instead.
I hope it works for me. You won't approve but I will serve with Fried Green Tomato as I just picked them from my garden today. I live on the Gulf Coast in South Texas and love Cajun spices.
Shelby Law Ruttan
Oh, I totally approve of the fried green tomato! We absolutely love them 🙂 I even have a Fried Green Tomato Eggs Benedict recipe here! Enjoy!
Britt
Commenting about how a recipe looks is zero help with how it tastes!!! Thanks to the few people that have commented after actually cooking it.
Shelby Law Ruttan
Hi Britt, thanks for stopping by. I hope if you make the recipe that you will come back to review it!
Irene
Made this tonight for dinner, everyone loved it! So easy to make too! Definitely a keeper! Thanks for the recipe!
Shelby
Hi Irene, thanks for stopping back to let me know! Glad you enjoyed the recipe 🙂
Sharice
This was DELICIOUS! Thanks so much!
Shelby
Hi Sharice! Glad you liked the recipe! Thank you for stopping by to let me know. 🙂
Sue
This was delicious! Added some big prawns as well. Yum! Will definitely make this again.
Shelby
Hi Sue! Great idea to add the prawns! Thank you for letting me know you enjoyed the recipe!
Gloria
This was soooo good, I'm telling anyone that will listen. I used the Panko crumbs and grated parmesan. I also put a crabmeat stuffing in it. It was a huge hit. Looking for a reason to do it again real soon. Guess what, I never write reviews. Thank you for sharing!
Shelby
Wow, thanks Gloria! So glad you left a review here and so happy you enjoyed the recipe! I hope you enjoy it over and over 🙂
Karen
Just had this red snapper dish this evening. Turned out great. The thing is, though, that at 400°, I had to cook the 8oz. filets much longer. I put them back in the oven for an additional 12 minutes. The combination of ingredients was delightful!
Shelby
Hi Karen, thanks for posting! I'm glad you enjoyed the recipe!
Andrea P.
Found this today and made it for my boyfriend and I. It turned out delicious and he kept telling me how tasty it was. This was easy and as the seasonings were melding with the butter in the pan, I could smell it was going to be delicious, and it did not disappoint! Thank you!
Shelby
Yay! So glad you and your boyfriend enjoyed this! Thank you for letting me know!
Andrea
Yummy! The snapper was moist and flavourful. This is now one of my go to' easy recipes. Thanks so much for sharing this.
Shelby
So happy it turned out well for you!
Kat
This was beyond delicious. Thank you!
Beth
Hi Shelby! Just discovered this recipe. Q: Do you think we could leave off the bread coating without ruining the recipe?
Thanks - looks delicious!
Shelby
Absolutely, but I recommend the cheese if you can do that lol. The cheese does add flavor and is so yummy. I doubt you can ruin the recipe just by not using the bread. I hope you enjoy and let me know how it turned out!
W. Pollock
Absolutely Delicious. Simple directions.
Shelby
Thank you!
Tee
I usually leave snapper to the pros to cook. Ie restaurants. But I found this recipe after purchasing fresh red snapper and boy was it delish!
Shelby
Thank you so much for letting me know it turned out delicious for you!
Mare S
Excellent recipe: after eating it , it gave such a feeling of contentment with the delicious flavoring of the ingredients. It has become my top recipe for red snapper.
Shelby
So happy to hear this Mare! Thank you for stopping by and letting me know!
Dan B
Use your recipe on snapper delicious it was awesome!
And much to my surprise it looked just like the picture. Lol very very good!!
Erin Albright
My husband and daughter absolutely LOVED the fish I made using your recipe. Unfortunately, I had to use dried parsley and chives, but they perked up in the saucepan w/the butter. I also only had regular old powdered parmesan and panco breadcrumbs, so I used those as well. I can imagine how much more they will love it when I use all fresh ingredients. 😉
Thank you for this recipe! I had never baked fish successfully before, so I was grateful to find your recipe.
Shelby
Hi Erin! So happy this was a success for you! Thank you for letting me know!
Tina
I found this to be pretty perfect. I started with a 1.3lb red fish filet. Mixed your ingredients exactly. Because of the size of the fish, turned the temp up to 425 and cooking time 20 minutes. It cooked beautifully! Maybe more salt next time, but that's just a personal preference. Perfect as is for company!
Shelby
So glad you enjoyed this recipe! Thank you for letting us know!
Dria
Trying your recipe for the first time tonight so far it's looking great! Thanks
Shelby
Yay! Hope it turns out awesome for you! Be sure to let me know!
Lisa McCormack
Thank you for this delicious recipe. It is truly mouth watering and so easy to make.
Dawn
This looks delicious. I was wondering if you could use swordfish or any other white meat fish in place if the red snapper?
Shelby
Yes, I believe any firm fish would work in this recipe. Thanks Dawn, I hope you enjoy if you try it!