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!!
Ann says
I have made this several times and always say I’m going to comment! I would literally say it’s one of my top 5 recipes. The sauce is so good you want to drink it! I have it bookmarked and when i get the craving it’s top on the list and so easy!! Thank you!!
Bonnie says
I’ve made this before from your recipe here. Wow. Husband and I love it. I going to make it again right now for dinner. But, I am going to try a different kind of fish than I did before wish me luck!
Miranda Jones says
This was really good. I especially liked the low carb factor and the modifications that could be made very easily.
Linda Wiesenecker says
Delicious, delicious. My husband just loved it. I added sun-dried tomatoes and artichoke hearts to the sauce then pour over Mahi Mahi.
Nagi says
Wonderful! So glad you enjoyed this Linda, thanks for letting me know! N x
Anna says
Hi there ! First off made this for my partner and he loved. literally tasted it straight out the oven and next thing I knew the dish had dissapeared and he just sat down and ate the whole thing. Very simple but exceptionally tasty ! I plan to make it again next weekend for mother’s day but my whole family is Paleo so doesn’t eat dairy products. My question is do you think I could make this with coconut cream and achieve the same amazingness?? Thanks 🙂
Fiona says
Substituting coconut cream was my first thought when reading this recipe…which incidently was given to me by a fellow supermarket customer tonight! Will be on the menu for tomorrow.
Anna says
Oh awesome! Let me know how it turns out ???? Will be excited to hear!!
Lynn D. says
My husband said let’s bake the fish with cream for a change. So I googled fish baked in cream and the first hit was your recipe. Fab-u-lous! And so easy. I used frozen fish and followed your instructions to reduce the water in the fish. I am thinking of trying this recipe with oysters. Thank you!
Nagi says
So great to hear Lynn!! Thanks for letting me know you enjoyed this – N x
Susan Bearer says
OH MY GOSH!! Being raised on a fishing boat, I’ve cooked allot of fish…this recipe is outstanding and i will definitely be using it often! I did add a bit of mayo to make it a tad thicker as I had to use frizen fish from last season. Excellent on Halibut, Cod and who knows what next!! Thank you for posting the recipe!!!
Nagi says
Love hearing that Susan! So pleased you enjoyed this 🙂 N x
Robyn says
My family loved this dish. The fish had a perfect texture not soggy nor dry (just melted in your mouth) and the sauce really made it. So easy to cook. Since finding your recipes I don’t need to visit any other cooking sites. Brilliant. Thank you Nagi.
Tina says
This dish is quite tasty. This time I added scallops Andy seasoned the cream sauce with a small dash of smoked chili powder dried cilantro and dried dill herbs and added a touch of seasoned salt. Loosely covered with foil then tossed fettuccine noodles the sauce ( after baking) and served.
adile says
nice recipe Nagi
Charlene says
I made this last night and I was very surprised how delicious this was !! My husband and I just loved it. I did use Hake , I believe that is how you spell it. It was perfect !!
Thanks for another outstanding recipe ….Love your site…
Char
Nagi says
That’s terrific to hear Charlene! I’m so glad you enjoyed this! N xx
Bonnie Hill says
I am so happy to have found you! If this recipe is any indication of the rest of your cooking, your site will become my latest addiction! I used two cod filets that were about 1 inch thick so ended up cooking them for 20 minutes. They were what I had in the freezer, and it was good to know that there would be plenty of sauce for four filets. Now about the sauce: I always make a recipe exactly as written and then decide if I want to tweak it to my taste. This sauce is perfection and needs no tweaking!! I would pour it on my Cheerios it was so good. Since I had some left over tonight, I’m using it on asparagus tomorrow. It will be my new “go to sauce” for fish and some vegetables. I can’t thank you enough!
Nagi says
I’m so pleased to hear that Bonnie! Thank you for letting me know you enjoyed this! N x ❤️
Maria says
Made this dish tonight and I couldn’t believe how easy it was ! Definitely will be making this again – Thanks 🤗
Nagi says
🙌🏻🙌🏻
Leanne says
I am wondering if this recipe would work with lobster tail?
Nagi says
I haven’t tried Leanne, sorry! 🙂 N xx
Leanne says
I made this recipe with barramundi and it was just amazing! So easy to make but sophisticated flavours – thank you for a great recipe, will definitely make this again.
Nagi says
That’s so great to hear Leanne! So glad you enjoyed it!
Daren Ridgway says
What a lovely surprise – had some frozen cod and didn’t fancy traditional fish n chips so thought why not baked fish + a sauce – tomatoey sauces always seem to heavy. Then. found this- liked the ingredients list – simple is best .
This was so delicious it will be a regular weekly meal – yum yum!
Nagi says
Yesssss! So glad you enjoyed it Daren! N xx
A Benjamin says
Hi Nagi,
Made this today for the first time. Absolutely loved it! It has such a light yet flavourful sauce! Only needed salad greens and the meal was complete.
Definitely making it again!
Adeline
Malaysia
Nagi says
Fantastic to hear Adeline! Thanks for letting me know! N x ❤️
Anneline says
Hi Nagi, tried this tonight in South Africa, I mixed it up a tiny bit and added some garlic and herb potato bake powder, unfortunately I am the only one in the family that LOVES garlic, but I still wanted some form of a garlic taste. It was absolutely beautiful. I love your recipes, I am not the world’s best cook, so I need all the help I can get and this one was a winner. Thanks so much 😊
Nagi says
That’s terrific to hear Anneline! So glad you enjoyed this – N x
Michelle says
Omg, wow! Made this tonight for the family. It was absolutely delicious. This is definately going to be a reoccurring dish in my house from now on. I swapped the lemon juice for lime because that’s what I had. Loved how quick and easy it was. The side salad took longer to prepare.
Nagi says
So glad it was a hit!! Thanks so much for sharing your feedback Michelle! N x
Donna says
Wow, Nagi, this was fantastic! My husband and son loved it too, it was their favorite of all my “experiments” with white fish. I used a thick piece of cod and just had to cook it longer. The sauce didn’t get too thick, in fact I still had to cook it a bit longer after taking out the fish to thicken it a bit. The only changes I made to the recipe was substituting lime for lemon (which I always do!) and I used minced onion instead of shallots. I have this recipe bookmarked now and will surely be making again!
Nagi says
LOVE HEARING THAT Donna! N x ❤️
Martin says
Hi Nagi
I have made this dish many times and it is always a big hit with our guests. So simple to make but definitely restaurant quality. Makes me look good every time! I generally use blue genadier (hoki) and I like to put fresh asparagus in the roasting dish with the fish. It cooks in the juices perfectly! Thank you for the recipe.
Nagi says
I absolutely love hearing that Martin!! Thanks so much for letting me know – N x