Cheesy Baked Bangus Recipe (Cheesy Baked Milkfish)

Cheesy baked bangus is milkfish under a cheese topping, baked until the top turns golden. This version sears the fish in a pan first and finishes it under the cheese in the oven, which is about 40 minutes from start to finish.

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Last updated 22 August 2026

Recipe

Cheesy Baked Bangus

Prep

15 mins

Cook

25 mins

Total

40 mins

Serves

6

Ingredients

• 500 g boneless bangus belly
• juice from 1 lemon
• salt
• freshly ground black pepper
• oil
• 1 cup quick melt cheese ((grated))
• 1/2 cup mozzarella cheese ((grated))
• 2 tbsp parmesan cheese ((grated))
• 1 small Tomato ((peeled, seeded, and chopped))
• 2 tbsp red capsicum ((chopped))
• 2 tbsp green capsicum ((chopped))
• 4 tbsp mayonnaise
• 2 cloves garlic (minced)

Method

1. Season bangus belly with lemon, salt and freshly ground black pepper.
2. Heat a non-stick pan over stove top in medium-high heat, add a small amount of oil and once it’s how add fish then fry skin side down. Once skin side turns golden brown, flip fish over then pan fry until slightly brown. Remove from pan then set it aside.
3. In a bowl combine quick melt cheese, parmesan cheese, chopped tomato, chopped red capsicum, chopped green capsicum, and minced garlic. Set it aside.
4. Place bangus on a lightly greased baking tray, spread mayonnaise on top of bangus then sprinkle cheese mixture on top.
5. Bake in a 180C pre heated oven for 15 minutes or until cheese melts and slightly golden in colour.
6. Remove from oven then serve fresh

Step by step, in pictures

The same six steps that are in the card, drawn.

1. Season the fish with lemon, salt and pepper.
2. Pan-fry skin side down until golden, then flip.
3. Mix the cheeses with tomato, capsicum and garlic.
4. Spread mayonnaise, then the cheese mixture.
5. Bake at 180 °C for 15 minutes.
6. Serve fresh from the oven.

How long does bangus take in the oven?

Fifteen minutes at 180 °C — but only after the fish has been pan-fried. The oven stage here is short: it is there to melt the cheese and colour the top, not to cook the fish through from raw. The card puts the cooking time at 25 minutes across both the pan and the oven, and 40 minutes in total.

Why the fish is fried before it is baked

The bangus goes into a hot pan skin side down until the skin turns golden brown, then is flipped and browned on the other side before it ever sees the oven. By the time the topping goes on, the fish has already been cooked and the skin has already coloured, so the fifteen minutes in the oven are there for the cheese.

The cheeses that make the top go golden

Three are in the card: quick melt cheese, mozzarella and parmesan. Step three combines the quick melt and the parmesan with the chopped tomato, both capsicums and the garlic. That mixture goes on over a layer of mayonnaise, which is spread across the fish first. The recipe’s own note is that the golden top depends on using the right cheeses, and enough of them.

What to serve with cheesy baked bangus

It is a main course for six, so it wants rice and something sharp beside it. Garlic fried rice goes with it well. If you would rather cook the same fish a different way, there is fried bangus, and fish escabeche if you want the sweet-and-sour version instead. For a second dish on the table, Bicol express works well against the richness.

Questions about cheesy baked bangus

What goes into baked bangus?

This version uses bangus belly, three cheeses, mayonnaise, tomato, red and green capsicum, garlic, lemon, salt and pepper. The quantities are all in the recipe card above.

Do I have to fry the fish first?

This recipe does, and the timings assume it. The 15 minutes in the oven are counted from a fish that has already been cooked in the pan. The card gives no timing for baking one from raw.