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!!
Just made this …… how simple and how tasty 😋 …… but I added a drop of white wine 😉
Perfect Jonathan!! N x
instructions call for salt and pepper to be added to the sauce but there are no measurements.
Hi Susan, it’s just for seasoning here – all down to personal taste preference!
I made with tilapia and the potatoe stacks with cheese. Delicious and so easy!
Thank you so much Nagi! I used mahi mahi and pan fried first. The cream sauce was delicious! I’ll be making more tomorrow!
Thank you so much Nagi! The cream sauce was delicious! I’ll be making more tomorrow!
Made this dish tonight with Thread fin salmon ..turned out sooo good , actually better than good. Quick and very easy given the 5 star result . Will be a keeper
Garlic goes with very little in my world, and only in amounts small enough to blend in with other flavors. I like most other alliums, though. OK to substitute shallots?
Hi Miriam, yes shallots would be fine here – N x
A nice simple and tasty sauce. Goes well with the cod fillets.
Hoping to make this tonight for dinner. Has anyone tried making it dairy free and using coconut cream?
Same question. Wondering if this would taste good?
Made this dish today with halibut and it came out delicious! Next time I will add a little lemon zest to make it even more lemony. Yummy, thanks Nagi!
I made this last night because I was looking for a quick meal. It was super easy and so tasty. My husband loved it so much he told me I needed to leave a comment. “Nagi has done it again!” is the main comment in our household since I have found your site and cooked your recipes. Thanks!
This was an instant hit and has become a family favourite, so delicious. We have decided to sub the fish for prawns this evening, expecting it will be equally as delicious
I have done this before but I didn’t member how to do do it again because it have so many years a go. I would love to get more recipes if that is possible
In CA rockfish is plentiful, I never liked it because it was just too plain. This recipe takes it over the top and slaps you right in the mouth! Those poor fish I used to throw back…sorry boys, you’re coming home with me!!! Thank Tin☺️
We are not big fish eaters so when I found this recipe I thought it could be the one to make a change. So easy and the flavour is delicious. I will definitely be using this recipe again, thanks Nagi!
Made this for dinner tonight and it was so easy and delicious! My boyfriend loved it as well. I will definitely be making this again.
I LOVE this recipe. I make it weekly. It is delicious and so easy. I pair it with oven roasted green beans and salad with lemon, olive oil, and thinly sliced apple. SO GOOD
Made this, but added thinly sliced potato on top & parsley in sauce. Cooked foil on 15 mins & removed last 5 mins, sprinkled fresh grated parmesan over top to melt.
Have made this recipe twice now and would highly recommend it, so easy and delicious. I think children would love it as well
Nagi, you’ve done it again! I love this recipe, it’s so easy and delicious! thank you <3