Lebanese Sayadieh-Style Barramundi
with Spiced Rice & Cumin Carrot Jumble
- Fish
- Milk
- Tree Nuts
This Middle Eastern–style dish with roots in Lebanon and Syria starts with a bed of fluffy golden turmeric rice. It's topped with seared spiced barramundi fillets and a colorful jumble of cumin-spiked carrots and onion. Finish this homestyle plate with a shower of crunchy almonds and a drizzle of creamy lemon sauce with a hint of cinnamon.
Ingredients
1 teaspoon
Turmeric
2 teaspoon
Cumin
1 teaspoon
Cinnamon
6 ounce
Carrots
1 unit
Onion
¼ ounce
Cilantro
1 unit
Lemon
10 ounce
Barramundi
(Contains: Fish)
1.5 tablespoon
Sour Cream
(Contains: Milk)
½ ounce
Sliced Almonds
(Contains: Tree Nuts)
¾ cup
Jasmine Rice
Not included in your delivery
Salt
Pepper
Olive Oil
Nutrition Values
Utensils
Cooking Steps
• Heat a drizzle of olive oil in a small pot over medium-high heat. Add half the turmeric, 1⁄2 tsp cumin, and 1⁄4 tsp cinnamon (1 tsp cumin and 1⁄2 tsp cinnamon for 4 servings). (You’ll use more of all the spices later.) Cook, stirring constantly, until spices are fragrant, 10-20 seconds. • Add rice, 1 1⁄4 cups water (2 1⁄4 cups for 4), and a pinch of salt. Bring to a boil, then cover and reduce heat to low. Cook until tender, 15-18 minutes. • Keep covered off heat until ready to serve.
• While rice cooks, wash and dry produce. • Trim, peel, and cut carrots on a diagonal into 1⁄4-inch-thick pieces. Place in a medium microwave-safe bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Microwave until slightly tender, 2-3 minutes (the carrots will finish cooking in the next step). (Careful when uncovering—steam will be released!) • Halve, peel, and cut onion into 1⁄4-inch-thick strips. Quarter lemon. Roughly chop cilantro.
• Heat a drizzle of olive oil in a large, preferably nonstick, pan over medium-high heat. Add carrots and onion; season with 1 tsp cumin (2 tsp for 4 servings), salt, and pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, 4-5 minutes. • Turn off heat; transfer to a plate. Wipe out pan.
• While veggies cook, pat barramundi dry with paper towels. Season all over with remaining turmeric, remaining cumin, salt, and pepper. • Once veggies are done, heat a drizzle of olive oil in same pan over medium-high heat. Add barramundi, skin sides down, and cook until skin is crispy, 4-5 minutes. Flip and cook until fish is opaque and cooked through, 1-2 minutes more.
• While barramundi cooks, in a small bowl, combine sour cream, juice from half the lemon (whole lemon for 4 servings), a pinch of remaining cinnamon, salt, and pepper.
• Fluff rice with a fork. Taste and season with salt and pepper. • Divide rice between shallow bowls. Top with barramundi and carrot jumble in separate sections. Sprinkle with almonds and cilantro; drizzle everything with lemon sauce. Serve.
Fish is fully cooked when internal temperature reaches 145°.
Customer reviews
Review summary
Updated on Dec 2025- Flavor: Many loved the spice blend, especially in the rice, though some found it bland and wanted more herbs or garlic.
- Ease of prep: While some found it quick, others noted it took longer than expected, especially to soften the vegetables.
- Suggestions: Consider toasting the almonds, adding golden raisins to the rice, and cooking carrots longer than onions for even tenderness.
- Portions: Several mentioned wanting more sauce, vegetables, or a larger fish portion to balance the dish.
- Texture: The barramundi was praised for its taste, but a few found it tough; ensure not to overcook for best results.
Reviews from our home cooks
This dish was excellent! All the different spices came together perfectly, the barramundi was cooked nicely, the rice and vegetable medley were all delicious. The recipe card estimated this to be a 20 minute meal, but for me that was unrealistic. It took closer to 40 minutes, start to finish. That said, it was absolutely worth it.
We were pleasantly surprised that this was so good because we had no idea how it would taste. FYI, the onions cooked so much faster than the carrots that I had to add a little water and steam them. In the future, I will slice them even thinner and start cooking them a little before I add the onions. Also, I was wary about adding the cinnamon, but it made the flavor more interesting.
These recipes are really expanding my grandchildren's palates. I really liked the seasoning in the rice and the fish. And my 9 yr old granddaughter and myself really liked the onion and carrots that were prepared in the skillet. I was surprised that my five-year-old and seven-year-old grandchildren turned 'just a bite' of my leftover fish the following day into consuming almost the entire portion. Apparently the combination of the mild tasting fish, and the spices were just right for them. I liked the easy prep and I always like introducing the grandkids to new flavors that involve healthy ingredients.
Made a great "fancy" dinner to feed my parents, took a lot longer than expected to cook veggies until they were actually soft/tender and started to brown. Had a side of air-fryer zucchini fries to add more texture and another veg in the meal. Fish was excellent but under salted. PLEASE ADD MEASUREMENTS FOR SALT!
Despite promising ingredients, it was surprisingly bland. I added golden raisins to the rice and juiced the sauce with some fresh garlic and lemon zest. Barramundi was thick and kind of tough; maybe tilapia or tuna next time?
The rice in this meal was the tastiest of all my HF meals. Suggest adding it to other middle eastern meals. Fish was tasty but seemed a bit smaller serving than usual.
I thought the sour cream/lemon/cinnamon sauce would be weird but it worked! (really well, in fact!)
Wonderful Flavor Profile! I enjoyed and appreciated the wonderful flavors and taste of this dish!
Very very good, loved all the seasonings, very good portion, everything was delicious
Love the flavors of this recipe & the fact that it's easy to. Barramundi is very tasty.
