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!!
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.
Tried this for dinner using basa, it was a hit! Really delicious.
I don’t often comment on recipes but this was *amazing*. Made it with defrosted white snapper, pressed a lot of water out so didn’t need to thicken. The sauce is flavourful without overpowering the fish. Had some creamy mash and a salad with this and will definitely be making this again
Very excellent! Followed recipe exactly except used half of the fish but all of the sauce as I was serving only two. Can’t wait to make it again. Thank you from Charlotte, NC USA.
Made this last night with cod filets. Delish. I’ve never been much for baking my fish, prefer to pan sear, but the husband loved this, and I’ll definitely be making it again.
Another win! So quick and easy Friday dinner sorted!
Loved this. Used sour cream and cooked for 8 minutes in the air fryer.
Made this tonight with thick wahoo fillets, so took about 15-17mins. Lemons are hard to come by where I live, but bottled lemon juice worked well. Absolutely sensational meal, the kids smashed it 5/5 ⭐️
I have made this before and it went down very well with guests. I was making it again today and had everything prepped when our guests cancelled due to snow! Can I freeze this when it has been cooked? The fish was fresh and not previously frozen. Thanks 😊
Such an easy and delicious recipe! I am very picky when eating fish dishes but this is something I could eat every week. It’s on heavy rotation at home and we are always very happy afterwards. The only change we make is we add some capers on top.
This one was so delightful and so easy to make, it’s creamy without being too heavy. Perfect for a weeknight dinner!
We catch and eat a lot of fish. My husband normally cooks it, usually crumbed or fried. When I found this recipe I was a bit doubtful as to how it would work. Boy I was wrong. So simple but so tasty. Is now on high rotation on our meal plans. Thanks Nagi I can now cook fish.