Pan fried sea bass with lentils is a meal full of good things – crispy skinned fish, veggie packed lentils and delicious flavours.
I used a lovely fillet of sea bass (one of my favourite fish), simply pan fried and on a bed of tasty, nourishing lentils. Easy, quick and guaranteed to boost those white blood cells (I promise – it’s a scientific fact).
You’ll need a decent non-stick pan like this one to get that crispy, golden skin on the fish.

The Ingredients
- Olive oil – for both the lentils and the fish. If you have a good non stick pan, you don’t need much.
- Carrot and onion – to start off the lentils with bags of flavour. You could also add in some celery.
- Puy lentils – if you don’t want to buy tins, you can precook dried puy lentils and use those.
- Rosemary – fresh is best.
- Sherry vinegar– or substitute white wine vinegar.
- Spinach – adds some green to the dish. If you like, you could use frozen spinach. Just cook for a little bit longer to let it defrost.
- Sea bass fillets – fresh, with the skin on.
- Yoghurt – to serve, optional but adds a nice texture.
Pan Fried Sea Bass with Lentils

Crispy skinned pan fried sea bass with veg packed lentils
Ingredients
- 2 tbsps olive oil
- 1 carrot
- 1 onion
- 2 x 400g tins puy lentils
- 2 sprigs fresh rosemary
- 1 tsp sherry vinegar
- 200 g spinach
- 2 sea bass fillets
- Natural yoghurt to serve
Instructions
- Dice the onion and carrot, then add to a large pan with half of the olive oil. Cook over a medium heat for 3 minutes, then add the lentils (including the liquid), chopped rosemary and vinegar. Put a lid on and simmer for 20 minutes.
- Add the spinach to the lentils and allow to wilt. Turn the heat down to low and season.
- Season the sea bass with salt and pepper. Pour the remaining oil into a frying pan and put on a medium-high heat. When the oil is sizzling, add the sea bass skin side down and cook for 4 minutes (depending on size). Flip over and cook for another 30 seconds.
- To serve, ladle a portion of lentils into each bowl, then add the fish. Top with a small dollop of natural yoghurt.
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!
More recipes with lentils:
- Green Lentil Broth
- Black Lentil Dal
- Curried Lentil Soup
- Quinoa and Lentil Salad
- Chicken and Lentil Soup
- Warm Beef and Lentil Salad
- One Pot Bacon and Lentil Pasta

Certainly a dish to have for dinner tonight. Stumbling and day dreaming.