How to cook Mediterranean-style fish en papillote, in the oven or air fryer
For this recipe, you can use any type of fish.
In this case, I used parrotfish, but you can also use a simple sea bream, cod, or any other fish, fresh or frozen.
With the times I’m indicating, the fish portion should be around 10.5 oz, to achieve perfect cooking.
Prepared this way, it represents a complete dish as it is enriched by Mediterranean aromas from the olives, Tropea red onions, cherry tomatoes, and also potatoes.
If you wish, you can replace them with sweet potatoes in case of glycemia issues.
Additionally, I cooked the potatoes separately because you can replace them with any vegetable of your choice.
In the video, you’ll see some gilthead breams cooked in an air fryer
These recipes are designed for you:
- Cost: Very Cheap
- Rest time: 2 Minutes
- Preparation time: 5 Minutes
- Portions: 4
- Cooking methods: Oven, Air Frying
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: All Seasons
- Energy 519.55 (Kcal)
- Carbohydrates 36.82 (g) of which sugars 11.08 (g)
- Proteins 41.79 (g)
- Fat 22.36 (g) of which saturated 7.64 (g)of which unsaturated 9.60 (g)
- Fibers 5.09 (g)
- Sodium 330.72 (mg)
Indicative values for a portion of 14 g processed in an automated way starting from the nutritional information available on the CREA* and FoodData Central** databases. It is not food and / or nutritional advice.
* CREATES Food and Nutrition Research Center: https://www.crea.gov.it/alimenti-e-nutrizione https://www.alimentinutrizione.it ** U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service. FoodData Central, 2019. https://fdc.nal.usda.gov
Ingredients
Let’s go shopping
- 4 parrotfish (or sea bream, cod, snapper, amberjack, tuna, etc.)
- 1.25 lbs potatoes (or sweet potatoes or celeriac)
- to taste roast herbs (for the fish)
- 14 oz cherry tomatoes (ripe)
- 2.12 oz Tropea red onion
- 1 tbsp salted capers
- 3.5 oz black olives
- to taste dried oregano
- to taste pepper
- 4 leaves bay leaves
How to Cook Mediterranean-Style Fish En Papillote
Tools
What We Need
- 1 Knife
- 1 Parchment paper
- 1 Oven
Steps
Here
Clean the fish, descale it, and remove the innards, rinse it under running water, and let it drain.
Meanwhile, spread out for each fish first a sheet of aluminum foil, then a sheet of parchment paper to place on top. Never put the fish in contact with aluminum.
Place the fish on the sheets, seasoning the inside of the belly with roast herbs and bay leaves.
I make the herbs at home, here’s the link so you can view it.
Add pieces of Tropea red onion, previously desalted capers, some black olives, you can also add green olives according to your taste, cherry tomatoes. No salt is needed because there are already capers, and a sprinkle of oregano.
The potatoes should be seasoned with roast herbs and salt and cooked separately in another packet.
Now you can close the packets, sealing the edges well.
Place the packets on a baking tray and bake in the oven at 356°F for 20 minutes
In the air fryer at 392°F for 20 minutes
When they are cooked, take them out and open the packets only when serving, adding the potatoes.
How to cook Mediterranean-style fish en papillote, once cooked, the fish can be stored for up to 2 days in the fridge.
FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions)
How to Cook Mediterranean-Style Fish En Papillote
Can I add other vegetables? Which ones?
Yes, thin slices of zucchini.

