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You are here: Home / Sea Food / What Does Snapper Taste Like and How to Cook It!

What Does Snapper Taste Like and How to Cook It!

March 14, 2024 by Kristin Ryals

If you are anything like me, you like to know what things might taste like before you put them anywhere near your mouth. I’m better about it now, but when I was a child up until teenage years, my eating habits revolved around asking: What does that taste like?

Chicken.That’s all I ever heard. With meat, vegetables, and even when I asked my dad about fruit, my parents and siblings would always tell me it tasted like chicken.At the time, it worked, but as I got older, I began to realize that things didn’t taste like chicken unless it was chicken.

So, when I wanted to know what snapper tasted like, I ate it. I ate it, and I loved it.  I’m going to tell you what taste of this.

Table of Contents

Toggle
  • What Does Snapper Tastes Like
  • How To Tell If Snapper Is Fresh
  • How to Prepare and Cook Snapper
  • Recipes for Snapper
    • #1: Whole Snapper with Garlic and Ginger
    • #2: Pecan-Crusted Red Snapper
    • #3: Salt-Crusted Snapper with Eggplant-Raisin Puree
    • #4: BBQ Snapper
    • #5: Lightly-Fried Snapper
  • At Least It’s Tasty

What Does Snapper Tastes Like

Snapper is a unique fish, and it looks a bit weird. It’s a bulgy looking fish with a big mouth and teeth, which is where it gets its name from.

There are many varieties of snappers, and they do taste and look a bit different. You can find Red Snapper, White Snapper, Brown Snapper, Blue Snapper, Yellow Snapper, Pink Snapper, and Black Snapper. There are a lot of them out there!

<img alt=”” src=”https://tasteinsight.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/red-skin-snapper.jpg” style=”width: 730px”>

Most Snapper has white meat that is tinted pink from its red skin. The meat is mildly sweet, a lean cut, and is moist. The meat is flaky and tastes fresh.

How To Tell If Snapper Is Fresh

If you are buying your fish fresh from a fish market, there are a few markers to look for to make sure you are getting the best, fresh seafood for your money.

The fishes’ eyes should be big, plump and bright. Do not buy fish that has sunken in, dried up eyes. If you do buy a fish that is gutted, check the backbone. The bloodline along the backbone should be bright in color.

<img alt=”” src=”https://tasteinsight.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/Snapper-Is-Fresh.jpg” style=”width: 730px”>

Oddly enough, fish should not smell ‘fishy.’ It should have a fresh ocean smell, something along the salt water, but should be pleasant to smell.

If you are buying filleted fish, the fillets should be firm, elastic flesh that when poked bounces back up. The meat should be moist with no browning and should appear to look translucent. There should be minimal bruising or red blotches on the fishes’ meat.

How to Prepare and Cook Snapper

There are a lot of ways to cook snapper. You can bread them and fry them up in some oil. You can season them and pan-sear them and even bake them. You can even grill fillets!

Prepare you fish, make sure to gut your fish properly and remove the parts you don’t need, such as the head, backbone, small pin bones, and the fins and tail.

After that, you just need to pick flavors, decide how to cook it and go from there!

Recipes for Snapper

There are a lot of ideas on how to cook snapper. Maybe you’re having a hard time choosing, well lucky for you, I’ve picked out five of my favorite recipes for snapper!

#1: Whole Snapper with Garlic and Ginger

This recipe is amazing. If you are like me and you don’t mind a head on your fish, then this recipe is right up your alleyway! With the flavors of garlic, soy sauce, ginger, rice wine, and sesame oil on a beautiful baked fish; you just can’t go wrong!

<img alt=”” src=”https://tasteinsight.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/Snapper-with-Garlic-and-Ginger.jpg” style=”width: 730px”>

Image: Taste.com.au

#2: Pecan-Crusted Red Snapper

I love pecans and fish, and this is no exception. With this recipe, the pecans add a beautiful nutty crunch to the mild, sweet flavor of the snapper. When you get the flavors of the pecans, snapper, the herbs and seasonings and the bit of garlic that gives that spicy edge.

<img alt=”” src=”https://tasteinsight.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/Pecan-Crusted-Red-Snapper.jpg” style=”width: 800px”>

Via heb.com

This just works. Pair it with my favorite honey-mustard, and you’ll knock this dish right out of the park!

#3: Salt-Crusted Snapper with Eggplant-Raisin Puree

This one sounds intimidating, but it is easy to make, and the outcome looks like you’ve been cooking away for days. Trust me on this one; it’s a winner!

<img alt=”” src=”https://tasteinsight.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/salt-crusted-snapper-with-eggplant-raisin-puree.jpg” style=”width: 551px”>

Via foodandwine.com

The salt-crust provides a delicious salty exterior that balances out the bitter spiciness of the eggplant puree. This recipe does take some time, but 2 hours is well worth the taste of this dish.

#4: BBQ Snapper

Barbecue is delicious and popular. It’s something that you can find in most Americans’ kitchens. It’s sold everywhere, and some restaurants will even have several varieties of sauces. What makes barbecue so unique is that it doesn’t just come in a sauce form, but it can also be in a dry rub form and a marinade.

This BBQ Snapper with an Easy Tomato Sauce won’t let down your dinner crowd! 

#5: Lightly-Fried Snapper

Of course, you need a fried fish in this list. Otherwise, it wouldn’t be complete! I love frying foods, in fact, I feel like you can almost fry anything and it makes it taste better! Oreos are delicious, but have you tried them battered and fried? Heavenly|

Zucchini is amazing fried. It’s so light and delicious, while still holding onto the fresh flavor of the vegetable, but the batter providing a delicious crunch!

<img alt=”” src=”https://tasteinsight.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/what-does-snapper-taste-like-1.jpg” style=”width: 730px”>

Butter fried is…well, maybe you can go too far when frying things, let’s get back to what matters:Fried Fish!Frying fish makes the fish juicier, flakier, and adds a dimension to the texture. When frying fish, you want to make sure you do it correctly and safely because you don’t want to burn yourself! 

At Least It’s Tasty

Snapper is a sweet, mild fish with a flaky meat. It’s juicy, slightly pink in color, and cooks well no matter how you try to cook it. Deep frying, pan frying, searing, baking, and even steaming are just some of the ways you can cook it.

Let me know what you think of snapper and any of the recipes I’ve posted about it. Maybe you have a favorite way to cook snapper, and I’d love to know.

If you want me to eat anything else and tell you what it tastes like, let me know. I love eating, and for you, I’d gladly do it again!

related resources

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Filed Under: Sea Food

About Kristin Ryals

My name is Kristin, and I'm a housewife with big love for cooking. When I'm not bringing on the Food Network and attempting to become America's Next Top Chef, I'm browsing online for unique recipes to awe my friends with. Outside of the world of cooking (as if there is one!), I enjoy reading, skydiving, live music, and of course, shopping!

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