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!!
Always lovely. Cooked this a couple of times. I felt the lemon was overpowering so I reduced it the next time. Also the cream and butter tend to separate once baked. Would be good to know what I’m doing wrong.
Absolutely delicious and sooo easy ! I didn’t have parsley so l substituted lemon thyme from my garden .
Made this for dinner and it was SO good!!!!!!!!! I did rice on the side (for the extra sauce which was amazing) and a simple sautéed asparagus with garlic and olive oil and it all paired really nicely together. Adding this to my rotation!
Soooo good!
I have made this several times now and every time it is just perfection. So simple, with impactful flavours! Even gets the tick from my fussy kids!
Delicious and so easy! Made twice this week
This is delicious! I was surprised with how light it tasted considering it had butter and cream. And even more so at how easy it was to make. Thank you for this recipe!
Needed to try something different with fish ans came across this recipe in your cookbook. It was OUTSTANDING. I can’t complement you enough.
The only change I made was to add a little dried thyme on top of the fish. I never print a recipe until I try it out on myself and family. This recipe is a definite print!!!! With summer on the way, we will be having this refreshing dish again soon.
I made this in two pans. Half fish and half chicken thigh. I cooked the chicken for 40 minutes. It came out so tender you didn’t need a knife. Very happy wife!!
I splurged on some black cod and wanted a recipe that didn’t overpower the fish. This is so simple and delicious. We were food moaning the whole time as we ate! Will definitely make again. Thank you!
Just made this for a dinner Bed party to rave reviews. Afterwards, my husband said, you should always make our fish like this. Another winning recipe!
Was looking for a new recipe for white fish, which my store had today. (They don’t get a lot of fresh water fish.) I make a ton of fish, but not much fresh water varieties.
Made this almost exactly as written…I don’t cook with a lot of salt due to health issues, so I supplement lack of salt with other seasoning. Anyhow, the sauce was so delicious!! Will use this method again for other fish.
These receipies are fantastic., I love cooking and experimenting to., and make my own inventions.,
Thank you
A delicious and easy recipe! It will be on repeat – works with thawed and fresh fish fillets.
Delicious, tender, moist, flavorful. Prepared Ling Cod following instructions except for omitting garlic and reducing dijon mustard to only 2 teaspoons. Fisherman husband keeps requesting a repeat. Thank you for the help in dealing with a freezer full of fish I don’t want. LOL.
Was worried as husband protective of the fish he has caught…made it anyway with WA Dhufish and it was a winner and hubby happy 🤗
Love Dozer. Making this tonight with fresh Pacific rock and fresh dill. I like your recipes that I have tried and like your mom, also from Japan.
Delicious, lovely lemony sauce, will definitely make agai
I made this tonight. I could tell by reading the recipe that I wouldn’t need to make any adjustments. I followed the recipe exactly. I used fresh white fish. It was excellent. And it’s all gone.