This Baked Fish recipe comes with a Lemon Cream Sauce and is made in ONE baking dish! Yup, just throw it all in one pan, bake it, and you end up with a tender juicy fish in a creamy lemon sauce. The the juices of the fish mingles in with the sauce while it’s baking, as if made from the best fish stock!
This is a reader-favourite recipe included by popular demand in my debut cookbook “Dinner”!
Baked Fish
If the idea of baked fish conjures up the words pale, colourless and bland, then this one’s going to be a game changer for you!!
It’s an effortless 15 minute recipe one pan recipe where fish is baked with a creamy lemon sauce. It’s the sort of recipe you can make no matter how hectic your household is, or on a lazy Sunday night because it’s this easy:
Mix butter, cream, garlic, mustard and lemon;
Pour over fish; and
Bake – no flipping required.
And out comes this – tender baked fish fillets with a beautiful lemon cream sauce that’s perfect with fish!
This recipe will work for most fish, but is especially great for white fish fillets
When you bake fish, you just can’t get colour on it like you can with pan frying, and this means loss of flavour. So I like to either have a flavoured crumb, like I do for my other Emergency Fish recipe, Parmesan Crusted Fish (10 minutes, no messy dredging!) or a Sauce.
The Lemon Cream Sauce for Fish
This recipe really is all about that Lemon Cream Sauce for fish which is made in the same pan while the fish is baking. It’s a simple sauce which actually tastes pretty unimpressive when you first mix it up.
But once it’s baked and the fish juices mix in with it, it transforms into an incredible sauce. It’s basically like making a sauce with real homemade fish stock – just like fine dining restaurants do!
What this tastes like
The recipe name implies that the sauce is rich but actually, it is not! I describe it as kind of light and fresh, yet a bit creamy. You will be thankful there is a decent amount of sauce because it’s perfect for mopping up with bread or spooning over mashed potato!
What you need
Not very much!
White Fish fillet – any fairly flat white fish fillet is fine here, about 2 cm/ 4/5 ” thick or less. Any thicker, and the fish will take longer to bake which will thicken the sauce too much so you’ll need to thin it with a splash of water.
Escallot/French onion – those small onions, they’re more delicate than normal onions so they work well in a quick fish recipe like this. Use the white part of green onions as a sub, or really finely minced normal onion.
Dijon Mustard – sauce thickener. Can sub with other non seedy mustards.
Garlic – goes in almost everything in my world!
Cream – use heavy / thickened cream if you can, to help with sauce consistency. Low cal sub – evaporated milk. It’s not quite the same, but I’ve been known to use it when I’m trying to be “healthier” 😂
Butter – there is no substitute! 😂
Lemon – lime would work in an emergency situation. Sub: 1/3 cup white wine simmered to reduce to 2 tbsp, use in place of lemon in recipe.
Really QUICK Baked Fish Fillets
I say this is a quick recipe – and I mean it. It takes longer to heat up the oven than it does to prepare this recipe! Watch the video and see!
Dinner on the table in just 15 minutes. Tender, juicy fish with a creamy lemon sauce. A really fantastic way to make baked fish – it’s so, so good! – Nagi x
Try these on the side:
Everyday Cabbage Salad, big juicy Greek Salad
Fresh Garden Salad with Balsamic Dressing, French Dressing or Italian Dressing
Potatoes au Gratin, Easy Creamy Potato Casserole or Mini Potato Gratin Stacks
And more fish recipes:
Watch how to make it
This recipe features in my debut cookbook Dinner. The book is mostly new recipes, but this is a reader favourite included by popular demand!
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Baked Fish with Lemon Cream Sauce (One Baking Dish!)
Ingredients
- 4 x 150- 180g / 5 – 6 oz fish fillets , about 1.5cm / 1/2″ thick, skinless and boneless (Note 1)
- 50g / 4 tbsp unsalted butter
- 1/4 cup cream, heavy / thickened (See Note 2 for sub options)
- 1 – 2 garlic cloves , minced
- 1 tbsp Dijon mustard
- 1 1/2 tbsp lemon juice
- Salt & pepper
- 1 1/2 tbsp eschallots (French onion) , finely chopped (Note 3)
- Fresh parsley and lemon slices , to serve
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 200°C / 390°F (all oven types).
- Place fish in a baking dish – ensure the fish isn’t crammed in too snugly. See video or photos in post. Sprinkle both sides of fish with salt and pepper.
- Place butter, cream, garlic, mustard, lemon juice, salt and pepper in a microwave proof jug or bowl. Microwave in 2 x 30 sec bursts, stirring in between, until melted and smooth.
- Sprinkle fish with shallots, then pour over sauce.
- Bake for 10 – 12 minutes, or until fish is just cooked. Remove from oven and transfer fish to serving plates. Spoon over sauce, and garnish with parsley and lemon wedges if using.
Recipe Notes:
- salmon (too fatty, sauce splits)
- very thin delicate fish like flounder, Dover Sole
- small whole fish like sardines or mackerel
Nutrition Information:
Originally published October 2016, updated with much needed new photos, brand new video and updated writing. No change to recipe, it’s a firm reader fave that I wouldn’t dare change!
Life of Dozer
Yesterday was a day of experimenting with slow cooked curries. So there was plenty of downtime spent doing THIS!
And from when I originally published this recipe in October 2016:
From a little camping trip last weekend – getting smashed in the waves at beautiful Jimmy’s Beach, NSW Australia. He’s a sucker for punishment, that one. I really have to keep an eye on him to make sure he doesn’t get swept away by a rip!!
Has anyone made this with nuts cream? Almon or macadamia cream? Trying to minimize the dairy products
Hi Pao, I’m sure it would be fine – it would simply change the flavour a little. N x
made this dish MANY times with diffferent types of fish and have always been complimented on the light yet filling results!
Hello Nagi Can I use long life whipping cream ?
Can this recipe be made with Giant-river Catfish?
Hi Anwesha! You can make this with any type of fish suitable for eating, as long as the pieces aren’t too giant! Make them individual portion size so it cooks through in the time specified in the recipe 🙂 N x
Thanks a lot. I’m going to try making it this week.
I made this today. Lovely easy recipe but very tasty. I had it with mashed potatoes and wilted spinch. It will be a regular with me from now on. Thanks so much Nagi.
I’ve made and shared this recipe many times and it turns non-fish eaters into lovers. Tonight NYE I’m doing it with fish lobster and shrimp. I added some Old Bay. Cilantro lime rice and Brussels sprouts.
Big winner. Kids inhaled their fish and my fussy fish eater husband loved it. Thanks Nagi!
Has anyone tried this using pork loin chop.
I have not yet tried pork, but I have used boneless skinless chicken thighs and it was perfect!
Had to give 5 stars, it was my first time making a fish dish. Loved this recipe (still do) my family still speaks about it from the time I made it. I didn’t have cream so I used the butter-milk cream substitute and it came out beautifully as well…. It was honestly just perfect…
This was fabulous! My mom has dysphagia & everything she eats has to have a sauce or gravy because she can’t swallow on her own. This was a great dish & it went down easily for her. Definitely will be a regular meal from now on!
Oh I love hearing this Michelle, thanks so much for the feedback!! N x
Thank you for a delightful recipe. I made it exactly as written and it was perfect. My family loved it. We stood around the pan with spoons and scraped up every last bit of sauce and fish. It hit all the marks for ease of preparation, time-saving and most importantly deliciousness.
I make this recipe all the time now, I love it! I use a new york style deli mustard and add a little extra garlic. I wanted to try something a bit different today so I added tarragon when I salted and peppered the cod, amazing!
Hi Nagi, can I use sour cream instead? Thanks! x
I often use sour cream. Delicious.
Great recipe. Made this last night using ling fillets. So easy and just delicious. My husband loved it and so did I.
This is so delicious and easy it’s unbelievable. I used 2 pieces of cod that were about 6 ounces and about 1/2″ thick and baked them uncovered exactly 15 minutes and they were perfectly flaky. Served them with broccoli risotto. The sauce was absolutely perfect. Like another reviewer said, Nagi is making me a better cook…and a chubbier one 😄
I am going to try this recipe with Tilapia and add in zucchini and spinach.
I am SO looking forward to this!
Wow. Made this for dinner this evening, just for us, 2 fish fillets, but kept the sauce for 4 portions. Good idea, it was delicious with extra yummy sauce that my boiled potatoes soaked up. Definitely on repeat.
Thanks for this super easy extra delicious recipe 😊
I don’t love fish…I LOVE this dish!!
Just made this …… how simple and how tasty 😋 …… but I added a drop of white wine 😉
Perfect Jonathan!! N x