Baked Fresh Sardines with lemon and herbs, and a good helping of olive oil, a light and delicious meal that is incredibly nutritious. The sardines are baked whole and they need very little prep, and are on the table in under 30 minutes. Quick, easy, a family-friendly recipe with a Mediterranean touch.
Whether you are looking for a clean-eating dish that delivers when it comes to taste and quick cooking, these baked fresh sardines are an excellent quick meal idea that you will no doubt add to your dinner rotation.
Being an oily fish, apart from being budget-friendly and plentiful, sardines are a great source of nutrients, so it's a good choice whether you consume them canned or fresh / from frozen.
If you can't find fresh sardines, you can use frozen, just make sure they are thawed before cooking. There is also a debate whether you should gut sardines, given their small size.
Now, I would say, if you don't like the idea of eating a fish that had not been gutted, I see no reason why you shouldn't do it. I prefer cleaning it myself, it doesn't take long to do it and it's really easy too.
I absolutely love sardines, and apart from enjoying the canned ones on toast, whether they are in oil or tomato sauce, you can also make a fantastic sardine pate. In my recipe I used canned sardines, but you can use these baked sardines too.
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Note!
Go to the recipe card at the bottom of the post for exact quantities and detailed instructions!
Ingredients used
- fresh sardines - as mentioned, you can also use frozen sardines, just deforst them before cooking, so you can gut them and prepare them easily
- olive oil - for oiling the baking dish and also for drizzling over the fish
- salt & pepper - to taste, I prefer using coarse sea salt, but you can use whichever you have. Also, freshly-ground black pepper is way better than ready-ground pepper you get from shops
- herbs - I used fresh parsley and dried Italian herbs, but you can use any other herbs of your choice
Step-by-step photos and instructions
- rinse the sardines under cold water
- use the blunt side of a knife to gently scrape the scales off the sardines
- hold the sardine with the belly facing you and with the sharp side of the knife, make a small cut just under the head
- use your thumb to remove all the intenstines
- drizzle half of the oil over an ovenproof dish, and arrange the sardines
- season them with salt and pepper, sprinkle the dried herbs over, drizzle the remaining oil and bake at 200 degrees Celsius (390 Fahrenheit, 180 fan oven) for 20 minutes
- remove from the oven and squeeze lemon juice over the sardines
- garnish with fresh parsley and serve
Expert tips
If you don't like the idea of cooking the sardines whole, you can remove the heads and tails and cook them the exact same way, I know some people don't like seeing the heads especially on a plate.
The sardines can also be cooked in the air fryer, I would use the same temperature, but the cooking time will be a lot less, 15 minutes maximum. Another great way of cooking them is grilling, either on an electric grill, grill pan or bbq.
You can also give the sardines a cormeal crust, like I did with my Cornmeal Fried Cod, it adds a really good crunch and it's so tasty!
What to serve with baked sardines
We served ours Romanian style with polenta, which is incredibly delicious, and goes wonderfully well with fish of any kind.
As for sauces, I love a good garlic sauce for fish, you can either use the garlic butter sauce I used for my Baked Sea Bass, a chilli butter sauce that I used for Baked Skate Wings or a piccata sauce that I made for the Baked Trout.
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Baked Sardines
Ingredients
- 7 fresh whole sardines
- ¼ cup olive oil
- ½ teaspoon coarse sea salt
- â…› teaspoon ground black pepper
- juice from half a lemon
- 1 teaspoon dried Italian herbs
- 1 tablespoon fresh chopped parsley
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 200 degrees Celsius (390 Fahrenheit, 180 fan oven).
- Rinse the sardines under cold water and use kitchen paper to pat them dry.
- Use the blunt side of a knife to gently remove any scales.
- Holding the sardine belly up, make a small cut just under its head, and use your thumb to remove the intestines.
- Drizzle half of the oil over an ovenproof dish and arrange the sardines in.
- Drizzle the remaining oil over the sardines, season with salt and pepper and sprinkle with dried herbs.
- Bake for 20 minutes.
- Remove the sardines from the oven, and squeeze the lemon juice over, then garnish with parsley.
- Serve hot!
Video
Notes
- If you don't like the idea of cooking the sardines whole, you can remove the heads and tails and cook them the exact same way, I know some people don't like seeing the heads especially on a plate.
- The sardines can also be cooked in the air fryer, I would use the same temperature, but the cooking time will be a lot less, 15 minutes maximum. Another great way of cooking them is grilling, either on an electric grill, grill pan or bbq.
Nutrition
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