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!!
Excellent with grouper and salmon.
Forgot to give it 5 stars.
Made this for dinner last night. It was so delicious. I love how you include suggested sides and pictures. Best recipe website ever!!
This was SO good! My husband loved it and we matched it with you Greek lemon rice recipe and some steamed broccoli. on the side. Totally a winner!
I’m not a big fan of mustard. I know you use it as a thickener, but does the sauce taste mustardy after cooking?
Cooked this tonight and it was a huge hit with the whole family!! Thank you for sharing!
I have recently developed an allergy to shellfish, my favorite food! I can’t eat lobster, crab , shrimp etc and it’s been devestating . I am bored with chicken, I prefer pork to beef but was never a huge fish consumer. I found this recipe and decided to try it! Life changing game changer!!! Omg thank you. I doubled the recipe and the sauce. I served a lovely French loaf for the sauce and a risotto side. I could eat this twice a week! It is incredibly easy, not expensive and so good! I look forward to trying more fish recipes and replacing my favorite food group with my new seafood favs. I ate three plates of this and I’m small. lol. Highly recommend! Thanks for sharing, keep the recommendations coming. For those of you that review, I appreciate you.
I’m making this, again, for dinner tonight. It’s delicious and I’ve never felt the need to change a thing. With rice pilaf and carrots, perfection!
(I use cod)
I spontaneously decided to make use this recipe with Basa Fillet, it was incredibly !. I didn’t have any mustard or eschallots on hand. I added roasted peppers seasoning instead and used half & half instead of heavy cream.
My husband who isn’t a big fish eater, enjoyed this very much, I can’t wait to re-make this with the proper ingredients.
This recipe is is divine! Made it tonight for my boyfriend and we both devoured it. Simple and delicious and probably the fifth recipe I’ve tried of yours without fail. Wish I could post a photo! Thank you Nagi!
Easy and delicious. Paired it with your creamy cauliflower mash and brocollini (which I boiled in the leftover cauliflower broth). My husband licked the plate and went back for seconds!
I made this last night using Cod and loved it. I added a little dill and extra garlic just because I love both. It would’ve been just as tasty without it. Thanks for sharing!
This was tonight’s dinner, served with your left over mushroom risotto from last night!! Absolutely delicious!! Was so quick and easy. I imagine the yummy sauce would also be really good on chicken?
SO good. I did have more than the recommended amount of fish so it took closer to 20 mins to cook.
This sounds perfect. But, do you think I can make it with a fish that still has skin on one side (walleye). If so, would I bake it skin side up or down? Thanks.
Hi Lolo, if I’m eating fish skin, I like it to be crispy not blubbery so I wouldn’t recommend it for this dish sorry! You can always just take it off though! N x
Can i use chicken wings by any chance?
Sounds great. But, can I make this with Walleye that has the skin on?
Delicious sauce , we loved this a lot !
I’m sorry but we don’t buy butter i gonna try this with clover spread tell you how it turn out.
I can’t taste this recipe highly enough, it’s so quick and easy but I’d be happy to serve it to guests too. It’s become a firm favourite. Thanks so much.