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Home Fish recipes

Baked Fish with Lemon Cream Sauce

By Nagi Maehashi
1,321 Comments
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Published8 Jul '19 Updated9 May '25
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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
Freshly cooked flathead seasoned with homemade spice mix for fish
Fish recipes
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 minutes mins
Cook: 10 minutes mins
Total: 15 minutes mins
Dinner
Western
4.97 from 563 votes
Servings4
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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
Prevent screen from sleeping

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
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1,321 Comments

  1. Susan Mitchell says

    October 19, 2020 at 7:23 pm

    instructions call for salt and pepper to be added to the sauce but there are no measurements.

    Reply
    • Nagi says

      October 20, 2020 at 10:55 am

      Hi Susan, it’s just for seasoning here – all down to personal taste preference!

      Reply
  2. Chris says

    October 19, 2020 at 11:24 am

    5 stars
    I made with tilapia and the potatoe stacks with cheese. Delicious and so easy!

    Reply
  3. Row says

    October 14, 2020 at 6:22 pm

    5 stars
    Thank you so much Nagi! I used mahi mahi and pan fried first. The cream sauce was delicious! I’ll be making more tomorrow!

    Reply
  4. Row says

    October 14, 2020 at 6:20 pm

    5 stars
    Thank you so much Nagi! The cream sauce was delicious! I’ll be making more tomorrow!

    Reply
  5. Greg says

    October 8, 2020 at 10:20 pm

    5 stars
    Made this dish tonight with Thread fin salmon ..turned out sooo good , actually better than good. Quick and very easy given the 5 star result . Will be a keeper

    Reply
  6. Miriam says

    October 5, 2020 at 3:02 pm

    Garlic goes with very little in my world, and only in amounts small enough to blend in with other flavors. I like most other alliums, though. OK to substitute shallots?

    Reply
    • Nagi says

      October 6, 2020 at 9:57 am

      Hi Miriam, yes shallots would be fine here – N x

      Reply
  7. P Holnes says

    October 4, 2020 at 5:43 am

    A nice simple and tasty sauce. Goes well with the cod fillets.

    Reply
  8. Roisin says

    September 28, 2020 at 12:05 pm

    Hoping to make this tonight for dinner. Has anyone tried making it dairy free and using coconut cream?

    Reply
    • Pao says

      January 11, 2021 at 7:02 am

      Same question. Wondering if this would taste good?

      Reply
  9. Ana says

    September 24, 2020 at 3:16 am

    5 stars
    Made this dish today with halibut and it came out delicious! Next time I will add a little lemon zest to make it even more lemony. Yummy, thanks Nagi!

    Reply
  10. Linda says

    September 16, 2020 at 9:53 am

    I made this last night because I was looking for a quick meal. It was super easy and so tasty. My husband loved it so much he told me I needed to leave a comment. “Nagi has done it again!” is the main comment in our household since I have found your site and cooked your recipes. Thanks!

    Reply
  11. Cara Thurstans says

    September 11, 2020 at 12:43 pm

    This was an instant hit and has become a family favourite, so delicious. We have decided to sub the fish for prawns this evening, expecting it will be equally as delicious

    Reply
  12. Teresa Renita Melvin says

    September 9, 2020 at 4:02 am

    I have done this before but I didn’t member how to do do it again because it have so many years a go. I would love to get more recipes if that is possible

    Reply
  13. Christopher Marin says

    September 2, 2020 at 11:37 am

    In CA rockfish is plentiful, I never liked it because it was just too plain. This recipe takes it over the top and slaps you right in the mouth! Those poor fish I used to throw back…sorry boys, you’re coming home with me!!! Thank Tin☺️

    Reply
  14. Kezza McD says

    September 1, 2020 at 7:10 pm

    5 stars
    We are not big fish eaters so when I found this recipe I thought it could be the one to make a change. So easy and the flavour is delicious. I will definitely be using this recipe again, thanks Nagi!

    Reply
  15. Helen says

    September 1, 2020 at 11:03 am

    5 stars
    Made this for dinner tonight and it was so easy and delicious! My boyfriend loved it as well. I will definitely be making this again.

    Reply
  16. Gabriel Fowler says

    September 1, 2020 at 7:59 am

    5 stars
    I LOVE this recipe. I make it weekly. It is delicious and so easy. I pair it with oven roasted green beans and salad with lemon, olive oil, and thinly sliced apple. SO GOOD

    Reply
  17. Tamara Thomas says

    August 29, 2020 at 8:55 pm

    Made this, but added thinly sliced potato on top & parsley in sauce. Cooked foil on 15 mins & removed last 5 mins, sprinkled fresh grated parmesan over top to melt.

    Reply
  18. Erika Silk says

    August 28, 2020 at 3:49 pm

    Have made this recipe twice now and would highly recommend it, so easy and delicious. I think children would love it as well

    Reply
  19. Ms Lalani Hyatt says

    August 27, 2020 at 6:30 pm

    5 stars
    Nagi, you’ve done it again! I love this recipe, it’s so easy and delicious! thank you <3

    Reply
  20. Anna says

    August 26, 2020 at 1:13 pm

    5 stars
    Made with salmon fillets last night! Delicious!

    Reply
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