Our Delicious Red Snapper Amandine (or almondine) is a fish dish with a fabulous sauce made with butter and almonds. You may be familiar with the classic French dish Trout Amandine. But Red Snapper is one of our favorite fish due to its moist and firm texture. It is definitely different from trout, but works at least as well in this dish. The slightly sweet and nutty flavors make it the perfect fish for a variety of seasonings and sauces, but especially with the butter and almond sauce with a kiss of lemon in this Red Snapper Amandine recipe.
Please Note: This post has been sponsored by Plugrá, all opinions are our own.
Even better, Red Snapper is found primarily in the Gulf of Mexico, so living in Houston we can find fresh Red Snapper, often caught that morning. But don't worry if you live somewhere else, as Red Snapper is fairly easy to find in stores. Because of its overall mild taste, this popular white fish is a common menu item.
Tips for Making Red Snapper Amandine
Although this dish has a fancy name (also see 'almondine'), it is actually very easy to make. This fish recipe takes less than 20 minutes and you have a beautifully presented dish on the table. Additionally, you do not need any special ingredients. Here's what you need: Red Snapper, butter, lemon, sliced almonds, salt and pepper. Here are some tips for making this dish incredible.
Searing the Fish
The Red Snapper in this dish is pan seared with skin on. Cooking it this way results in a nice crispy skin for added texture and flavor.
The trick to crispy skin isn’t really a trick at all. It’s just basic science.
The pan should be hot, the fish skin should be dry (and I mean as dry as you can get it), and the fat you put in your pan should have a decently high smoke point. So, that means, cast iron or carbon steel (stainless and nonstick pans work, but not quite as well).
To achieve this, you want to dry the fish with paper towels first. Then you want to scrape the skin with a knife to squeegee as much moisture out of the skin as you can. If you have an extra 15 to 45 minutes or so to let the fish sit and dry out in the refrigerator, please do this!
And finally, you shouldn’t use whole butter for the searing portion to get that crispy skin. But have no fear, we use clarified butter here instead! And it’s perfect for searing because it can take high heat without the milk solids burning. Plus, whole butter makes a triumphant return in the final sauce that turns this into an absolute bomb of an entrée.
We've included instructions HERE if you want to make clarified butter at home for this dish. But you can use whole butter to pan fry the fish if you really want to. Although your resulting sauce will have more browned milk solids than the one pictured here.
The key to this Red Snapper Amandine is the Butter Sauce
The butter sauce is definitely a major factor in Red Snapper Amandine, and the star of the sauce is the butter here. This most magical of ingredients can create and transform sauces like no other component. We love a two-step method in making our amandine dish, by first searing in clarified butter, then adding the whole butter back in at the end to complete the sauce.
Since we do this entire dish in one cast iron skillet, we have a little residual seasoning from the fish, a little leftover clarified butter and now whole butter. We melt it, add almonds and lemon juice and season with just a bit of kosher salt if needed.
The goal here is to end up with a nutty lightly browned butter sauce with a tinge of lemon and some crunchy, buttery almonds. Just drizzle the sauce over your seared fish and enjoy!
It's all about the Butter
If you have been a reader for a while, or if you follow our cooking stories on Instagram, then you are well aware that we are big proponents of all things made with butter. From Beurre Blancs to Rum Butter Sauces for cakes, the options are endless! And the quality of the butter you use can truly make a dish special.
Our go-to butter is Plugrá, which is a European-style butter created with the perfect amount of moisture and fat for the creamiest consistency! The quality and flavor does not compare to anything else on the market, and truly makes every dish better!
What to Serve with Red Snapper Amandine
We typically like to serve Red Snapper Amandine with fresh blanched green beans and a combination of red and yellow bell peppers that have been lightly blistered. The sauce goes perfectly with this combination of vegetables and makes for a bright and vibrant presentation. We also like to sprinkle in some potato gnocchi. Gnocchi are always a winner with just a brown butter sauce, so they are delightful when added as a side here too.
Feel free to experiment, but a variety of fresh summer vegetables are lovely with this Red Snapper Amandine and you really can't go wrong!
Enjoy!
We hope you enjoy this recipe for Red Snapper Amandine! If you give it a try, leave us a comment below or tag us on Instagram @cooking_with_wine.
If you like this recipe, check out some of our other popular recipes below:
- The Best Homemade Shrimp Scampi Recipe
- Crunchy Chicken with White Wine Lemon Butter Sauce
- Brown Butter and Pecan Rum Cake
- Hasselback Red Potatoes with Chive Butter
📖 Recipe
Red Snapper Amandine
Ingredients
- 2 Red snapper fillets - skin on - about 6-8 oz each
- 2 teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- 2 tablespoon clarified Plugrá butter (see note)
- 4 tablespoon Plugrá salted butter
- ⅔ cup sliced almonds
- 1-2 tablespoon lemon juice (to taste)
- 1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves
Instructions
PREPARE AND SEAR THE FISH
- Dry the skin of the red snapper. Ideally, Pat dry, scrape with a knife to squeegee as much moisture as possible. Continue to pat dry and squeegee until a paper towel remains dry on the skin. Let rest uncovered on a plate in the refrigerator for at least 15 minutes and up to 90 minutes.
- Start heating a well-seasoned cast iron skillet or carbon steel pan on medium high heat. Remove fish from the refrigerator and season on both sides with salt and pepper - being careful to keep the skin dry.
- Add clarified butter to the pan and once you see it rippling and very hot, add the fish carefully skin side down. Have a spatula handy and press the fish firmly down as soon as it hits the pan so it doesn't curl up.
- Cook for about a minute and turn the heat down to medium or just below for another two minutes or less, depending on the thickness of your fish. Flip the fish over for about 30-45 seconds to just finish cooking.
- Remove to a warmed plate - skin side UP and let rest (or plate on a heated serving dish or individual plates) while you make the sauce.
MAKE THE SAUCE
- Have the heat on medium and add the whole butter to the same pan in which you cooked the fish.
- Once melted, add the almonds, a pinch of salt and cook, stirring for about 10 seconds.
- Add the lemon juice and continue to cook, stirring, until the almonds start to brown lightly.
- Add the thyme for about 10 more seconds and remove the pan from the heat.
- Plate your fish and pour the sauce over the top of the fish.
Stephanie Feld says
I made this last night and it was delicious! I could not get snapper so I tried it with Tilapia filets. Being skinless, they stuck to the pan a little bit, but it was still a great dish.