Baked Veracruz-Style White Fish: Whole30, Gluten-Free and Keto
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When I see Veracruz-style fish on a restaurant menu, it’s time to put down the menu. It’s always a winner. Full of tangy and tart flavor from olives, capers and tomatoes, it’s one of my favorite fish entrees. Since it comes together in about 30 minutes flat, it’s also a perfect fish to make at home.
Snapper, halibut, sea bass, cod or almost any flakey white fish works well in this recipe, but the traditional choice is red snapper. There are endless variations of the sauce. Most do not contain pickled jalapeños, but I’m a sucker for their briny and slightly pickled flavor.
Cooking for a crowd? Scale the fish up to 3 pounds without changing the sauce quantities. And if you’re entertaining, make the sauce a day or two ahead and store in the refrigerator until you’re ready to cook the fish.
A simple side salad is really all you need to complete the meal, but you can also serve the fish with warm corn tortillas, Instant Pot black beans or a traditional Mexican rice.
Veracruz-Style Fish
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon extra virgin oliveo oil
- ½ white or yellow onion diced
- 1 14.5-ounce can fire-roasted tomatoes or 1 ½ pounds fresh vine ripe tomatoes diced
- 3 garlic cloves grated on a microplaner
- 10 green olives such as manzanilla
- 2 tablespoons capers in vinegar or brine
- 1 tablespoon chopped pickled jalapenos
- 1 tablespoon pickled jalapeno juice
- 1 bay leaf
- 2 lbs white fish snapper, sea bass, halibut or even redfish or trout
- tablespoon flat-leaf Italian parlsey minced
- Salt
Instructions
- Heat olive oil and sauté the onion, salting it with about ¼ teaspoon of salt. Let it sweat and cook down until softened, about 7-10 minutes.
- Pour the diced tomatoes and juice into a bowl. Mash the tomatoes slightly with a potato masher or a pastry blender. Drain the tomatoes through a fine mesh sieve over a bowl to save the juice.
- Add the drained tomatoes, grated garlic, olives, capers, jalapeños and jalapeño juice and bay leaf.
- Preheat oven to 425 degrees. In a glass or ceramic baking dish, place ¼ cup of the reserved tomato juice from the drained tomatoes in the base of the dish. Top with the fish and a sprinkling of salt and pepper. Spoon the Veracruz sauce over the top of the fish.
- Bake in the top third of the oven for 15 minutes, until fish flakes slightly around the edges and is opaque.
The linens, silverware and tabletop in this post are available through Only On The Avenue.
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