Lemon Caper Butter Chilean Seabass

This fish is one of my favorite fancy dinners that actually doesn’t take much time (or effort!) to prepare – it is easy enough for beginner cooks, and because seabass has a higher fat content, it is a forgiving fish that is great to learn proper fish techniques on!

At Ajpal, I add lots of tips in all of my recipes – because I am a home cook without any formal training, and I find I am more confident making dishes when I understand why it works, and what each ingredient means to the flavor of a recipe. My goal is for even the most beginner home cook to feel empowered in the kitchen.

Check out my web story on this easy Chilean Sea Bass!

Ingredients for Caper Butter Chilean Sea Bass

To make this recipe, you’ll need:

• Chilean Seabass filets – Chilean seabass is a light, flaky fish that has a similar flavor to cod, but a rich and fatty texture. Chilean seabass often tastes buttery, crisps beautifully when pan fried, and is not prone to drying out. It has a mild flavor, and doesn’t taste “fishy” at all.
• Shallot – shallot is earthy, pungent, with a flavor of onion and garlic, but less intense.
• Garlic – garlic adds an earthy, addictive kick to seafood that seriously ups the rich, addictive flavor.
• Lemon juice – lemon juice adds a bright, acidic, lightly sweet kick to butter sauce, helps to kick through the fat in the butter and fish, and neutralizes any fishy smells and flavors some people associate with seafood.
• Capers – capers are unripe flower buds of Capparis spinosa with a tangy, lemon and olive-like flavor.
• Italian Herbs seasoning – a blend of basil, thyme, oregano and marjoram is lightly earthy, sweet, and peppery.
• Butter – butter is used both to fry our fish and as the base for our lemon caper sauce – the rich milkfats bring a delicious addictive flavor to both the fish and sauce, creating an unforgettable dinner!
• Salt – I recommend using a high quality celtic sea salt when cooking.
• Pepper – using freshly cracked black pepper brings a spicy heat that has a bit acidic and bright. For best flavor, use fresh cracked pepper, as the flavor can fade quickly.

Chilean Sea Bass and Lemon Caper Butter Sauce Step-by-Step

Once you’ve gathered your ingredients, we will use the following process:

Cook Fish

Melt butter in a nonstick pan and place fish in the hot pan over medium-high heat. Cook face-down for 4-6 minutes, until golden brown and very crispy.

Let Rest

Remove fish from pan and set aside to rest. Fish should rest 5-10 minutes before serving, use this time to make the sauce.

Make Sauce

Melt additional butter in pan and cook shallots and garlic until soft and fragrant. Stir in lemon and capers, then reduce heat and let thicken, about 3-4 minutes total.

Top Fish with Sauce & Serve

Drizzle sauce over fish and garnish with microgreens, parsley, cilantro, or green onions as desired. Serve immediately and enjoy!

How to Get Tender, Flaky Sea Bass

Don’t flip often. Seabass gets a lovely, crispy crunch when cooking in butter – let it develop. Resist the urge to over-flip fish, instead flipping just when browned.

Let fish brown. One of my favorite parts of seabass is the lovely texture it takes on when browned in butter – it gets a crispy buttery crust that is savory and unctuous – you can’t beat it. Let the fish brown before flipping so you don’t miss all that flavor!

Crisp the skin. Chilean Seabass skin is delicious when crispy – really let is brown and crisp up for the most intense, salty, buttery flavor.

Pat the fish dry first. This helps achieve a beautiful golden sear.

Don’t overcook. Sea bass is done when it flakes easily and is opaque throughout.

My Pro Tip

Why This Lemon Butter Sea Bass Always Impresses

Since Chilean Seabass is a thicker and a fattier fish, it is very forgiving, making it less prone to overcooking and drying out. This is a great beginner dish to try – it comes out restaurant quality, even if you’re still learning how to not overcook fish!

Use fresh lemon juice. It brightens the rich butter sauce.

Add capers at the end. This keeps their briny flavor bold and balanced.

Spoon the sauce generously. The lemon caper butter is a big part of the dish.

What to Serve With Seabass

Be sure to visit and bookmark our side dish recipes index!

Pan Fried Asparagus

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Warm Goat Cheese Salad (Salade de Chèvre Chaud)

Easy Burrata Farro Salad Recipe

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Everything You Need to Know About Lemon Caper Chilean Sea Bass

Chilean seabass is done cooking when it flakes easily and has reached a temperature of 140 degrees internally.

This recipe can be stored in an airtight container for up to three days in the refrigerator.

Chilean seabass is actually the rebranded name for Patagonian toothfish – a species of notothen found in cold waters in the southern Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian Oceans and the Southern Ocean. It’s flavor is light, similar to cod.

Chilean seabass is a protein-rich seafood and our lemon caper sauce is keto and low carb diet compatible.

To be sure your fish doesn’t stick, be sure to use enough butter; get your pan nice and hot before adding the fish (letting it sear right away in hot, melted butter will create a barrier to keep fish from sticking to pan); cook skin side up first; and

To keep fish from sticking to pans, even very well seasoned cast iron pans, we recommend cooking this recipe in a nonstick skillet. We personally use a ceramic skillet instead of skillets treated with chemicals that can break down in food.

Since Chilean Seabass is a thicker, fattier fish, it is much sturdier, and will hold up to cooking in a pan and being flipped without breaking apart. However, we recommend only flipping once and using a fish spatula that is wide and slightly curved to make flipping fish without breaking even easier.

You can use sablefish, also known as black cod, as a great swap for Chilean seabass. Sablefish also flakes when cooked, and has a similar flavor and fat composition and texture to Chilean seabass.