Sea bass is a delicious yet delicately-flavored fish. When cooked right, its mild, buttery taste is impressive, but that incredible quality could easily get lost when this dish is served with overpowering side dishes. Thus, choosing the right foods to pair sea bass with is essential to keep the meal elegant.
Have you ever wondered what to serve with sea bass? Some classic, safe side dishes like lemon butter sauce, asparagus, or other vegetables would be great. But if you want to explore new yet classy flavors, check out this article! It compiles 13 simple recipes that perfectly complement your fish.
1. Kani Salad
Kani salad, or crab stick salad, is a Japanese-inspired cuisine that brings fresh, creamy, and crunchy flavors to your sea bass meal. It’s an excellent choice for those who want to stick to seafood flavors, as this dish mainly consists of imitation crab sticks with julienned vegetables. You can also use fresh crab meat for a more intense taste! Everything is then tossed in Japanese kewpie mayo dressing.
2. Quinoa Asparagus Salad (Spring Tabouli)
Asparagus is a classic with sea bass, but if you want to elevate the usual roasted or steamed stalks, try this simple salad. It combines quinoa, asparagus, English peas, dill, parsley, avocado, cheese, and lemon dressing in one bowl. It’s healthy, fresh, and full of novel flavors and textures. Also, you can easily tweak the recipe, so it’s gluten-free and vegan-friendly, great for almost any diet.
3. Greek Salad
Another tasty salad with sea bass is the Greek salad, which brings together summer vegetables and cool flavors for a refreshing experience. Specifically, this recipe calls for cucumbers, tomatoes, green bell peppers, red onions, olives, feta cheese, and mint. The dressing is tangy and made from olive oil, red wine vinegar, mustard, garlic, and oregano. Overall, it’s a fun and impressive medley of colors, flavors, and textures.
4. Shirazi Salad
Another fresh, Mediterranean salad that’s spectacular with sea bass is Shirazi. It’s a Persian treat that combines juicy cucumbers and tomatoes with flavorful herbs, onions, mint, seasoning, and olive oil dressing. It’s simple yet light and bright, with a subtle complexity that elevates the fish without drowning the latter’s mild flavors. Also, this recipe takes only 15 minutes to make!
5. Greek Farro Salad
Mediterranean cuisine’s bright yet simple flavors make it extraordinary with sea bass. Thus, this article hardly runs out of them, with this Greek farro salad also fitting the bill. Unlike traditional Greek salad, it does not just have chunks. You also get leafy arugula, chickpeas, and farro grains, which all have unique flavors and textures. They are combined with other veggies, olives, feta cheese, and a simple dressing.
6. Greek Lemon Ric
If you must get carbs from your meal, a unique way to do so is by pairing your sea bass with this bright and tangy Greek lemon rice, whose intense yellow color is a fresh pop to the eyes. The recipe takes only 30 minutes to make and calls for long-grain rice, butter, chicken broth, lemon juice, salt, turmeric, and fresh herbs. The rice comes out perfectly flavored and fluffy.
7. Risotto with French Green Beans and Dill
Risotto is a unique way to enjoy rice by making it more flavorful and creamy. This recipe combines the usual risotto with green beans and dill for new and exciting flavors. Besides those, there’s chicken stock, olive oil, butter, leek, shallot, garlic, white wine, lemon, and Parmigiano Reggiano. You can turn the risotto into a serving bed for your fish for a classy look.
8. Sauteed Eggplant
Sea bass is also great with savory, caramelized flavors like the ones in this sauteed eggplant recipe. While most similar recipes slice the eggplants into chunks, this one does so in circles, making them look elegant. Also, that perfectly brown color is achieved without sugar; you just need heat, a pan, and simple flavorings like garlic powder, sea salt, black pepper, and olive oil.
9. Green Beans Almondine
Sauteed, tender green beans are often recommended with sea bass. However, what makes green beans almondine stand out is the buttery flavors and the crunchy almond toppings. It’s a simple yet classy side dish, a way to elevate both your protein and veggies. Moreover, beans are nutritious – this recipe contains essential vitamins and nutrients.
10. Wilted Sesame Spinach
For those cooking their sea bass Asian-style, like with miso glaze, a great side dish choice is wilted sesame spinach. It compliments savory, oriental flavors and makes a great, tender bed for the fish. The flavor profile is complex: nuttiness from the tahini, sweetness from maple syrup, sesame flavors, and freshness from the spinach. Also, the recipe takes only 10 minutes to complete!
11. Easy Grilled Veggie Skewers
Roasted vegetables are recommended with sea bass, but if you’re looking for a cute and new way to serve your veggies, take out your grill and skewers! This recipe for easy grilled veggie skewers strings zucchini, bell peppers, and onions; however, you can add more, like corn, mushrooms, and tomatoes. The veggies are flavored with a garlic herb sauce and balsamic vinaigrette.
12. Parsnip Puree
Mashed potatoes are a classic side dish to almost any main entree, including sea bass. But if you want a similar alternative – one with creamy, nutty flavors – then make this parsnip puree instead! This particular recipe stands out for using cauliflower instead of cream or butter, making it a healthier, low-fat alternative. It is also flavored with roasted garlic, lemon, rosemary, and olive oil.
13. Pea Puree
Another unique and more colorful alternative to mashed potatoes is pea puree. This bright green side dish has a different flavor and consistency, but they’re similar to mashed potatoes cause they have a smooth texture. Pea puree can be processed further so that you can use it as a sauce instead of a serving bed. But if you want to make it more like mashed potatoes, minimize liquids.
