• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to footer navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

RecipeTin Eats

Fast Prep, Big Flavours

Small book

My cookbook "Dinner" now available!

  • My RecipeTin
  • My cookbook!
  • Recipes
  • Recipes By Category
    • Cookbook recipes
    • Iconic + cult classics
    • Mains
      • Chicken
        • Chicken mince
      • Beef Recipes
        • Ground Beef (Mince)
      • Pork
      • Lamb
      • Turkey
      • Shrimp / Prawns
      • Salmon
      • Fish
      • Salad Meals
    • Quick and Easy
    • Soups
    • One Pot
    • Stews
    • Slow Cooker
    • Sides
      • All
      • Salads & veg
      • Show Off Salads
      • Rice (all)
      • Fried rice recipes
      • Rice (plain)
      • Potato
    • Pasta
      • All
      • Pasta bakes
      • Pasta salads
    • Sweet
      • Cakes
      • Cheesecakes
      • Cupcakes & Muffins
      • Cookies
      • Puddings & Cosy Desserts
      • Bite Size
      • Pies
      • Slices & Bars
      • Frosting & Icing
      • Ice cream
    • Cuisine
      • Asian
        • All
        • Stir fries
        • Noodles
        • Soups
        • Chinese
        • Japanese
        • Korean
        • Thai
        • Vietnamese
      • French
      • Greek
      • Indian
      • Italian
      • Mediterranean
      • Mexican
      • Middle Eastern
      • South American
    • Dietary
      • Gluten Free
      • Low Calorie
      • Vegetarian
    • Other Categories
      • BBQ
      • Breakfast
      • Burgers
      • Cocktails
      • Easter
      • Party Foods
      • Rice Recipes
      • Roasts
      • Sandwiches & Sliders
  • Collections
  • About
    • Me
    • RecipeTin Meals
    • Free Recipe Books
    • Contact
    • Nitty Gritty
      • Policy: Use of Recipes & Images
      • Privacy & Disclosure
Home Fish

Baked Fish with Lemon Cream Sauce

By:Nagi
Published:8 Jul '19Updated:11 Oct '22
1,187 Comments
Recipe v Video v Dozer v

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”!

Close up photo of Baked Fish recipe with Lemon Cream Sauce in a white pan, fresh out of the oven

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:

  1. Mix butter, cream, garlic, mustard and lemon;

  2. Pour over fish; and

  3. 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

Overhead photo Baked Fish with Lemon Cream Sauce in a white baking dish, fresh out of the oven

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!

Spoon drizzling Lemon Cream Sauce over Baked Fish (one pan fish and sauce recipe!)

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.

Ingredients in Baked Fish with Lemon Cream Sauce

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

  • Fresh Lemon Potato Salad or Greek Lemon Roasted Potatoes 

  • Potatoes au Gratin, Easy Creamy Potato Casserole or Mini Potato Gratin Stacks

  • Mushroom Rice, Kale Garlic Butter Rice or Tomato Basil Rice

And more fish recipes:

Overhead photo of 2 plates of Acqua Pazza - Italian Poached Fish
Acqua Pazza – Italian Poached Fish
Crispy Skin Salmon in a skillet, fresh off the stove
Crispy Skin Salmon
Overhead photo of a crispy pan fried fish fillet drizzled with Lemon Butter Sauce and sprinkled with parsley. On a white plate.
Killer Lemon Butter Sauce for Fish
Overhead photo of Crispy Pan Fried Fish with a side of asparagus and beans
Crispy Pan Fried Fish
Close up of Brazilian Fish Stew in a bowl, ready to be eaten
Brazilian Fish Stew (Moqueca Baiana)
A spectacular way to serve salmon which is crazy fast, crazy easy and crazy delicious! Honey Garlic Salmon recipetineats.com
Honey Garlic Salmon
If this Lemon Honey Glazed Salmon takes more than 8 minutes to make, you've overcooked the salmon. That sauce is lip smackingly delicious! recipetineats.com
Lemon Honey Glazed Salmon
Two Homemade Filet-O-Fish (BAKED!) stacked on top of each other with a side of fries
Homemade Filet-O-Fish (BAKED!!)
Close up of Fish Pie in white baking dish showing creamy filling with fish flakes
Fish Pie (for Easter!)
Fish Chowder Soup in a bowl, ready to be eaten
Fish Chowder Soup
Close up of Asian Glazed Baked Barramundi on coconut rice with a side of cucumber salad
Asian Glazed Baked Barramundi recipe
Fish
Overhead photo of Baked Fish with Lemon Cream Sauce on a plate with mashed potato and a side salad (rocket parmesan balsamic dressing)

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

Baked Fish with Lemon Cream Sauce (One Baking Dish!)

Author: Nagi | RecipeTin Eats
Prep: 5 mins
Cook: 10 mins
Total: 15 mins
Dinner
Western
4.97 from 450 votes
Servings4
Tap or hover to scale
Print
  • 5726
Recipe video above. A fantastic quick-fix dinner – baked fish in a lemon cream sauce, all made in ONE PAN! Don’t let the short ingredient list fool you, this tastes so good! The key to the tasty sauce is the fish juices that leeches out while baking and is essentially the broth for the sauce! 

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:

1. Fish – Any fillets or cutlets/steaks about 1.5 – 2 cm / 1/2 / 4/5″ thick will work great with this because they cook quickly in the oven. 
Great for: Ling (pictured), Tilapia, Snapper, Barramundi, Silver Dory, John Dory, Basa, Hokki, Perch, Flathead
OK for very lean fish like Swordfish, tuna (sauce adds richness!) but be VERY careful about not overcooking the fish.
Not great for:
  • salmon (too fatty, sauce splits)
  • very thin delicate fish like flounder, Dover Sole
  • small whole fish like sardines or mackerel 
If using thicker fish fillets that take longer to cook, you might need to thin the sauce out a bit at the end with a tiny bit of water.
Frozen fish – thaw completely, PAT DRY with paper towels to remove as much excess water as possible. Chances are, your sauce will be a little thin for your liking because frozen fish drops so much more liquid than fresh – see Note 4 for how to fix this. 
2. Healthier options – the cream can be substituted with evaporated milk which is still quite nice. If swapping with light cream, increase mustard by 2 tsp.
3. Eschallots – the small onions, also called French Onions in Australia, and just simply shallots in the US.
Sub with the white part of green onions or really finely minced normal onions. Adds a little something-something to the sauce so don’t leave it out!
4. Sauce – not intended to be thick and gravy-like. It is a light lemon cream sauce, suited to fish. However, it should not be watery.
Sauce consistency will differ depending on the fish that you use – different fish leech different amounts of water while baking. If you really want to thicken the sauce, just take the fish out of the baking dish and return the pan to the oven for a few minutes (it will thicken quickly so keep an eye on it!)
5. Nutrition per serving, assuming 180g/6 oz white fish fillets like John Dory/Tilapia are used and that all sauce is consumed.

Nutrition Information:

Serving: 213gCalories: 282cal (14%)Carbohydrates: 1gProtein: 34.1g (68%)Fat: 16.1g (25%)Saturated Fat: 9.8g (61%)Cholesterol: 128mg (43%)Sodium: 194mg (8%)Potassium: 28mg (1%)Vitamin A: 450IU (9%)Vitamin C: 4.1mg (5%)Calcium: 50mg (5%)Iron: 2mg (11%)
Keywords: baked fish, lemon cream sauce for fish
Did you make this recipe?I love hearing how you went with my recipes! Tag me on Instagram at @recipe_tin.

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!

Nagi and Dozer snoozing in winter sun - July 2019

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!!

dozer-jimmys-beach
Previous Post
Banh Mi ! (Vietnamese sandwich)
Next Post
Faster Chicken Stew (Casserole)

Hi, I'm Nagi!

I believe you can make great food with everyday ingredients even if you’re short on time and cost conscious. You just need to cook clever and get creative!

Read More

Free Recipe eBooks

Join my free email list to receive THREE free cookbooks!

Related Posts

Creamy fish on potato gratin fresh out of the oven

Creamy baked fish on potato gratin

Overhead photo of Kedgeree - English fish and rice

Kedgeree – English curried rice and fish

Canned tuna pasta in a bowl ready to be eaten

The most amazing canned tuna pasta

More Fish

Reader Interactions

Leave a Comment Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Cooked this? Rate this recipe!




1,187 Comments

  1. Maryann says

    May 25, 2023 at 11:17 am

    5 stars
    I’ve never cooked fish in my house! This turned out fantastic! I had to make changes since we made it on the fly. We used half and half, not cream, brown mustard not Dijon, garlic power, not garlic and used regular onion. It turned out so good and easy! I can only imagine how delicious it is with the correct ingredients!! Great receipt! Fast, easy and delicious!!

    Reply
  2. Sharon says

    April 24, 2023 at 7:06 pm

    5 stars
    This has become a regular. I have added green prawns or marinara mix half way through. Have also doubled the sauce. Great with mash and greens.

    Reply
  3. Dromomaniac says

    April 24, 2023 at 2:32 am

    5 stars
    OMG! This was so easy to make & so delicious! I would make this for friends & family again for sure – the fish was moist & delicious and the sauce was sublime. I served it with pasta & steamed veggies. Thank you so much for the recipe, Nagi!

    Reply
  4. Martha Formosa says

    April 23, 2023 at 1:23 pm

    5 stars
    Excellent recipe! Thanks for creating and sharing! The sauce is delicious and the hake fish was cooked to perfection!

    Reply
  5. sJudy Kirkpatrick says

    April 18, 2023 at 9:38 am

    5 stars
    Please give my previous comment 5 stars as I forgot to before

    Reply
  6. Judy Kirkpatrick says

    April 18, 2023 at 6:47 am

    I made this for my family this Easter. My daughter is dairy free so I made it with coconut cream instead. Delicious, thank you Nagi. xxx

    Reply
  7. Helen says

    April 12, 2023 at 4:55 am

    5 stars
    I made this again tonight and it was absolutely fabulous!!!! I hadn’t made it for a while but everyone said can we have it again next week!!!

    Reply
  8. kathryn l walker says

    April 6, 2023 at 9:39 pm

    5 stars
    So delicious, I would proudly make this for guests. I used cod with mashed potatoes and broccoli rab for sides. Great meal!

    Reply
  9. FranW says

    April 1, 2023 at 6:07 pm

    5 stars
    Made it tonight with thawed snapper. Served it over rice. Got a six stars out of five from snapper loving spouse. Thank you, Nagi!

    Reply
  10. Romanie says

    March 31, 2023 at 8:57 am

    Oh Nagi Thank-you so much for the most outstanding dishes you present..Love them all and I am going to make this lovely fish dish!!!
    A hug to You and Dozer…..

    Reply
  11. Karen says

    March 24, 2023 at 11:54 am

    5 stars
    This was a little tart for my taste. I added 2T honey which worked out well. I had to add an extra 10 minutes to cook time to get it to 145 on my meat thermometer. Served over orzo. Delicious with the changes.

    Reply
  12. Robyn says

    March 17, 2023 at 9:15 pm

    5 stars
    Great recipe. I used barramundi. I’ll definitely make this recipe again 👏

    Reply
  13. Maci says

    March 15, 2023 at 11:44 am

    5 stars
    I loved this easy recipe! I used it for haddock and baked for 13 minutes. Though there was enough sauce, I’ll double the recipe next time— we put some on mashed potatoes and just plain needed more. My husband said he’d like more lemon, so next time!

    Reply
  14. Mary says

    March 7, 2023 at 7:23 am

    This one’s a keeper! For my personal taste I would maybe reduce the lemon juice a little and I added some prawns just because everything is improved by the addition of prawns! But it was so simple, very quick to make and yet impressive enough to serve to friends for dinner – absolutely lovely!

    Reply
  15. Peg LeGendre says

    March 4, 2023 at 2:06 pm

    5 stars
    So delicious, and earned raves from dinner guests as well as my husband. Will definitely make this again! Thanks!

    Reply
  16. H.M says

    February 28, 2023 at 8:25 pm

    5 stars
    I made this last night for dinner and my 11 year old Son asked me to keep this delicious fish in the rotation! Plus the sauce is so divine.

    Thank you Nagi, this is definitely a keeper!

    Reply
  17. April L Gregory says

    February 24, 2023 at 1:05 pm

    5 stars
    OMG! So delicious. It was a definite hit at my house tonight. Sides: Garlic mashed potatoes and sweet corn.

    Reply
  18. Rachel says

    February 2, 2023 at 3:19 pm

    5 stars
    Fantastic. Made it as written with pollock. Couldn’t really be any easier, and we both thought it was absolutely delicious… but that the kids probably wouldn’t like it, so we shouldn’t save any for them!

    Reply
  19. Lesley says

    January 4, 2023 at 1:14 pm

    5 stars
    Happy New Year
    Nagi and Dozer

    Just baked this fish dish it’s superb !
    Thank you

    Reply
  20. Renee says

    December 19, 2022 at 9:07 pm

    5 stars
    Made this tonight for dinner. So delicious and easy! Was a crowd pleaser everyone loved it. Thanks for your recipes they are always so clear. I bought your book and they are all winners. Thank again x

    Reply
Older Comments

Primary Sidebar

Hi, I'm Nagi!

I believe you can make great food with everyday ingredients even if you’re short on time and cost conscious. You just need to cook clever and get creative! Read More

Free Recipe eBooks

Join my free email list to receive THREE free cookbooks!

Meet Dozer

Official taste tester of RecipeTin Eats! Meet Dozer
As Featured On

What's for Dinner?

Close up of beef enchiladas in a baking dish, fresh out of the oven

Beef Enchiladas

Butter Chicken served over basmati rice in a bowl, ready to be served

Butter Chicken

Overhead photo of 2 black bowls with Chinese Chicken Salad with Asian Dressing, ready to be eaten

Chinese Chicken Salad

Salisbury Steak recipe in skillet.

Salisbury Steak with Mushroom Gravy

Vietnamese Coconut Caramel Chicken - 7 ingredient magic. The coconut fragrance is heavenly! recipetineats.com

Vietnamese Coconut Caramel Chicken

Fast prep. Big flavours!

Never miss a recipe

Back to Top
  • Related
  • RecipeTin Japan
  • Food Bloggers Center
  • Help
  • Contact Us
  • Image Use
  • Privacy Policy & Terms
Site Credits Maintained by Zao Designed by Melissa Rose Design Developed by Once Coupled © RecipeTin Eats 2023 · All Rights Reserved Back to Top