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!!
We cook dory quite frequently and today I thought of trying something different. Searched a couple of different recipes and stumbled across this one that looked amazing, so I tried it–the verdict: my boyfriend claimed it was the best dory he has ever eaten! Thanks a lot for the recipe, Nagi! “Très bon ! C’est dé.li.cieux ! I really like it!”
YESSS!!! 🙌🏻 So pleased to hear that JL, thank you for letting me know! N xx
My son and I LOVED the fish. He had caught bass and my husband filleted them. After preparing the recipe, I sent some to my son and his wife. He called and said it is the best fish he has ever eaten!!
I am also going to try the sauce on steamed spinach. I think it will be delicious
That’s wonderful to hear Elizabeth! Thank you for letting me know! N xx
Love this! It was a huge success first time I made it…even with my fussy hubby. Tonigh I’m doing it with a mix of seafood & serving it with rice. Hubby’s the one that asked for it again!
Whoot! 🙌🏻 So happy to hear that Beth, thanks for letting me know! N xx
I have been looking for a recipe like this for years! Thank you! I have now made this three times, the last time with a combination of shrimp, scallops, and snapper (cut into about 2 inch pieces so it will cook the same time as the other items). The scallops were the star of the dish! Next time I’m trying just with scallops!
Also, I used half and half once, and it was too liquidy – I increased the mustard as noted and it was a nice flavor but think I’ll stick to quality cream. Also, I have a key lime tree, and when they ripen, I’ll be trying this with lime!
Great to hear Joan! Thank you for coming back to let me know! N xx
Hi Nagi, This Easter I was in a mood for cooking and I knew where to go for recipes. On Friday I cooked Parmesan crushed salmon & fish with lemon cream sauce with steamed cauliflower& sea asparagus. Saturday afternoon I cooked loaded beef humburger, Sunday I cooked sticky drumstick in plum sauce and soft no knead dinner rolls, and yes my family eat Nagi, we’ve got a good relationship with food. Now let me start with this dish here, I got them confused because I cooked two types of fish on Friday I wanted them to pick one – they were like we can’t mum, they are so nice, I was so happy that everybody was praising me and enjoying their meal. I will comment on other recipes I cooked please check
WOAH! What a wonderful compliment!! Your family is SO LUCKY to have you Nandi. N xx
I’m not use to cooking with fish or eating it. I’m trying to broaden my horizons in food. It sounds delicious, I hope I don’t ruin it. Thank you for the recipe.
You won’t ruin it! If you’re new to cooking with fish, this is a great one to start with! 🙂
Absolutely love this recipe! My fiancé told me he didnt like fish, however i vowed to change this. For this recipe ive used both haddock and cod for this recipe. Both are common white fish in the uk. My fiancé gave it 10/10 and i agree. The sauce is so creamy and tasty. We had this with some oven baked asparagus with parmesan which was also tasty. All in all a lovely meal. Thankyou for all your tasty recipes Nagi!
Woah what a compliment!!! I’m so pleased you and your fiancee enjoyed this, thank you for letting me know! N xx
I made this yesterday and it was out of this world!!! So easy, beautiful lemon butter sauce would be good with just about anything. I used flounder and served it with Thai jasmine rice. Delish! Thank you.
Fantastic! So pleased to hear that Valerie, thank you for taking the time to come back and let me know! N xx
I love these one pot meals, less fuss less cleaning!
Looks very delicious, great with mashed potatoes or rice! Thanks Nagi!
Hope you try it Malika! It’s pretty delish! 🙂
Dying to try this Nagi. We ear meat free once a week so I’m always searching for inspiration in the fish department! It looks wonderful and I’m convinced it will taste just as wonderful too. Many thanks Nagi. ? x
I hope you enjoy it Sarah! It really is so crazy delicious for something so quick and easy!!
Hi Nagi, thanks for another beautiful recipe which I cannot wait to try. Can you address cooking with frozen fish? I live in very rural Missouri and the only fish available here is frozen. I love fish but dealing with frozen fish is very frustrating. Defrosting it correctly, or according to package directions, gives a very soggy filet that no amount of blotting or drying can correct. I read about cooking the fish from the frozen state which requires only rinsing off the glaze of ice that is applied to the fish just prior to flash freezing, and I have baked swai from frozen, only to have it come from the oven soggy! While I understand that there may be no solution to this problem, I figure that if anyone could work it out, it would be you. Thank you, Nagi, for all your efforts, I find myself using your recipes almost exclusively. And Dozer, well he is just the icing on the cake. I am trying to figure out what position he was in while the waves washed over him but whatever it was, he is certainly a lucky, happy dog.
Hi Faith! I tried this with frozen and found it makes the sauce too liquidy. The best way to make this with frozen fish is to defrost and blot furiously. Then proceed with recipe. Hands down the best way to cook frozen fish is to dust with flour salt and pepper then pan fry, you’ll get a crispy fish this way. 🙂 Dozer will be pleased to be compared to ICING! You should have seen the mess he made the one time I let him lick some icing….
OMG…This baked fish with lemon sauce was delicious and easy! I made this for my niece who is not a big fan of fish, and her eyes lit up, and she devoured two pieces! I love, love your recipes; in fact, I made the chocolate cream pie a couple of days ago, and almost ate 1/2 of it by myself. I receive your emails all the time, but still have not received the two free cookbooks as the advertisement noted. Anything else I need to do to get those?
Oh WOW what a compliment! And you made the pie too?? I’m so pleased! I will send you an email now with the free cookbooks 🙂
Would this still be good if omitting the Dijon mustard? I want to jazz up the fish I’m planning to cook, but I’m completely out of Dijon mustard. I may have a tiny bit of Creole mustard which is a tiny bit similar.
Hi Jess! It won’t be quite the same I’m afraid, the mustard is used as a thickener for the sauce. Creole mustard will be a good sub, even if you can use some of it, it will go a long way to thicken up that sauce!
I’m fairly new to eating fish & this was not only easy but delicious … Thanks for helping me eat fish 🙂
We love rich food so butter & cream welcomed however I used whole peppercorns instead of just pepper to season … If you like pepper go the corns 😉
Thrilled to hear you enjoyed this Rach! Thank you for letting me know! N x
This was great. Perfect balance of flavors, easy to make. Thank you!
Fantastic to hear Autumn! So glad you enjoyed it! N xx
I had one cod filets from Costco and thought they. Needed Jazzing up as I really didn’t like them that much when I baked or pan fried.
So I tried this and it worked like a charm. Yogurt is a good idea. Wish I had thought of that b4 buying pet milk. I did use grey pompon (bit spicer) and I also used regular yellow onion and cooked them a a tad
So very pleased as I did not know what I would do with all these fish filets
Fantastic to hear Lisa! I’m so glad you enjoyed this, thank you for letting me know! N x
This was simple and delicious. Everyone enjoyed it. Thank you. I used greek yoghurt instead of cream – used about 2 tablespoons.
I’m so pleased to hear you enjoyed this Philippa, thank you for letting me know! N x
Wow amazing just made this tonight. THIs will be my go to fish recipe.
Thank you Lindsey! I’m so glad that you enjoyed it, and thanks for letting me know! N xx
Have you ever tried pan searing the fish in a skillet, then adding the sauce to the skillet instead of baking in the oven? Just curious? Your recipe looks delicious and I plan on making it tonight!!
Hi Michael! Often 🙂 That’s my stovetop way of making it!
Made it last night and my family loved it! I tried to rate this but the stars aren’t working… just FYI
Fantastic to hear you enjoyed it Michael, thanks for letting me know! N xx PS Also thanks for letting me know about the stars 🙁
So simple and absolutely delicious! I used evaporated milk and added a couple of tablespoons of capers – glad it was just the two of us at home because I could lick the plate without shame!! Thank you.
AWESOME!!! I’m so glad to hear that Michelle, thanks for letting me know! N xx