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!
Hungry for more? Subscribe to my newsletter and follow along on Facebook, Pinterest and Instagram for all of the latest updates.
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!!
Hi Nagi, the recipe sounds amazing. However, I don’t have an oven so I’m wondering if this would work on the stovetop too?
Made this today with salmon and it was absolutely delicious. Added a tad white wine to the sauce and added aspargus…Thank you for the recipe
Lovely and easy to make. Made it with Alaskan Pollack (frozen)
Next time I.might add a little more lemon. I would prefer less runny sauce but for my first effort it was good
Made this dish with sole fillets, using the optional shallots, and a pinch of dried dill. The brief high temp baking period was not enough to soften the sharp taste of raw garlic and shallots, so next time I will melt the butter with the garlic and shallots first to cook them a wee bit (or heat them with the cream) , before adding the remaining sauce ingredients. But overall a lovely recipe! Thank you!
That’s so great to hear Beth! Thanks for letting me know – N x ❤️
Hi Nagi, thank you for the recipe. Tried this last night and it was delicious with a bed of brown rice. I did not have Dijon Mustard on hand, so I have substituted it with some Japanese yellow wasabi and turmeric powder for colour!
Your sub! YOU ROCK!
Another fabulous recipe. Nagi, you are one talented lady. We bought expensive pieces of fish, however, I don’t think it’s necessary because of the sauce; will by cheaper fish next time. Accompanied by asparagus (cooked with a little bacon grease and a splash of lemon) and mashed potatoes. Drizzled the fish sauce over the potatoes. Super delish!
How easy peasy was this! 2 pieces of Basa cost $5 from Coles and everything else was in the pantry. The sauce is really, really lovely and didn’t overpower the fish.
I whacked a lemon into the rice cooker so the lemony rice complimented the fish.
Thanks Nagi – we really enjoyed this.
Fantastic recipe, thank you, was delicious.
Love hearing that Trish! So glad you enjoyed this – N x ❤️
I eat low carb 99% of the time, and this dish was perfect served over savory mashed cauliflower. Thank you!
I’m so glad you enjoyed this Deborah, thanks for letting me know! N x ❤️
Hallo Nagi,
I’ve tried this recipe for dinner, wow taste sooo good, what a great recipe! Thanks 🙂 Amallia
Thank you so much for sharing your feedback Amallia, I’m so pleased to hear you enjoyed this! N x ❤️
I want to try that but im alone so wondering if i could freeze it?
sorry I don’t recommend freezing this recipe 🙂 N x
I wanted to add some flavor to my baked fish to make it more palatable and I found this recipe. I couldn’t believe how DELICIOUS it was! It add the most amazing flavor to my baked fish, and I devoured every bite! My husband and I kept talking about that sauce all night. It was fabulous! And easy! I also swapped out the cream for unsweetened almond milk for a healthier version. Thanks so much!!!!
Love hearing that Tela! Thanks for letting me know – N x ❤️
Omg. I just made this for the first time tonight for 7 adults (risky, I know) and it was a huge hit!!! I tripled the recipe using 12 tilapia fillets and 3 baking dishes. There were a few hearty men that would be likely to have more than one fillet and I wanted some leftovers. I added more garlic, swapped out the heavy cream for unsweetened almond milk, and added white button mushrooms, lots of fresh dill, and lemon slices during the baking process. We like a thinner, more brothy type of sauce so the mushrooms added a bit more water and thinned out the sauce. The flavors were fantastic!! Served on a bed of brown basmati rice and wilted spinach, with a side of garlicky, parmesan asparagus. The only bad thing to say is there are no leftovers!! Definitely will be making this again and looking forward to checking out your other recipes. THANK YOU! ♥️
WOAH! So happy to hear it worked scaling it up so much!!! N xx
Hi Nagi,
This recipe looks delicious. I’m thinking of making it, but I have some leftover creme fraiche in the fridge. Do you think I could use this instead of cream?
Thanks,
😊
Hi Danielle! That should work just fine, your sauce will be a bit richer 🙂 Deeeelish! N x
I’ve made this twice – once following the recipe exactly and using fish. It was sooo good, and incredibly easy to make!! I thought the sauce would taste good with chicken, so I decided to try that the next time. This time I made the sauce as directed, but cooked everything on the stove top. It was delicious again! Thank you so much for this recipe!!
Wow that’s so great to hear Melissa! Thanks for letting me know! N x
Such a great recipe. Used tilapia and it came out delicious!! I have made this couple times already.
That’s so terrific to hear Jasmine!!!! Thanks for taking the time to let me know – N x ❤️
will this work with chicken?
I haven’t tried yet Jodi 🙂 I think it will need some tweaking 🙂
Well technically…on the vegetarian thing…she would be right in calling herself so. By definition a vegetarian may or may not eat seafood. But will eat meat byproducts such as milk base foods and egg. So i think you’ll be fine…lol
If she were vegan, however, she would eat lots of protien veggies, protien supplements and absolu2 no meat or meat byproducts.
I am always on the lookout for new fish recipes for dinner. Not only was this dish easy to prepare but it was delicious! My husband is super picky and he gave it a big thumbs up! I am definitely adding it to my meal rotation!
That’s so great to hear Andrea! Thanks for letting me know! N xx
Hi Nagi, Can I prep this dish ahead of time and let the fish sit in the sauce uncooked (in the fridge) until I’m ready to cook it? If not, can I cook it ahead of time and just reheat it when I’m ready to eat it? What’s the best way to reheat it?
I love your recipe and would like to prepare it for a friend who is not well–if I can prepare it ahead of time then all she would need to do is bake it in the oven or reheat it. Thanks.
HI HL! I’d leave the fish separate from everything else – put it all in bowl and pour it over just before baking 🙂 N x