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!!
We love this recipe, and we are so excited so many more of your creations! I am making the baked mac and cheese today! Thank you so much for sharing your love for foood! And, I love, love, love Dozer as well! I am a dog mama so I love to see him and what he is up too!
I’m so glad you enjoy this recipe – and I really hope you loved the Mac and cheese!!
This is such a lovely dish. Naji hats off to you.
Just a quick question, in the printed recipe you say to bake at 390 degrees F, but in the video you say to bake at 350 degrees F. Which one is the right baking temperature?
Hi Nancy! the video is a typo, I popped a little note above the video to explain that 🙂 So the correct temp is 390F. Hope you love it!
YUMO x 100! I made this ripper last night using basa fillets and whacked on some cherry toms. The sauce is simply amazing and very little effort. Garnished with shallots.
It’s a definite keeper, thanks Nagi.
I’ve made this now half a dozen times, after first trying it only 2 months ago – it’s unbelievably good. I’ve tried it with Swai, Orange Roughy, and Halibut, and tonight will try with salmon. FWIW, it works best with Swai…halibut (which is always ornery to cook) was not a great success. Orange Roughy is ok but the flavor of the fish overwhelms the sauce a bit.
This was simply AMAZING. Made it for my family of picky eaters who can usually never agree on any food. This was one of those rare times when everybody was licking my baking dish clean! A unanimous hit! Such a flavourful sauce and works so well with fish.
So glad you enjoyed this Prithika! Thank you for letting me know. 🙂 Have a great weekend! N x
すごく美味しかったです！ it was soooo delicious! I made it with rice and green peas. I added a bit more cream.
Thank you !
So glad you enjoyed this Terrie! Thank you for letting me know. 🙂 Have a great weekend! N x
This was good. My husband really like it also.I used 12 oz of tilapia and only had salted buttter but reduced the salt I added to the sauce. I cooked it about five minutes longer just because I’m paranoid. It was very flavorful.
Next time I would probably double the sauce as there’s more fish left than sauce. I will definitely keep this in my recipe box of quick easy dinners!
Thanks
I would like to make this to night for dinner, but doesn’t say what kind of cream sauce to use. Can someone please share.
Thank you
Wow! This looks awesome! Light, lemony and delicious – perfect now that summer is here in California. I will be making this for my family’s next Sunday get together. Well done Nagi!!
Hope everyone enjoys it Suzanne! N x
Fantastic recipe!! It was really easy and really good. My family LOVED! Thank you for sharing.
Glad you enjoyed this Kim!!! Thank you for taking the time to leave feedback! N x
Turned out amazing! The whole family loved it! Thank you for sharing! 🙂
I’m glad you enjoyed this Patricia! Thank you for letting me know 🙂 N x
I made this for dinner last night but doubled the mixture. It is without a doubt, one of the most delicious fish meals I have ever eaten.
I dusted the fish with a light coating of flour on each side so the sauce wasn’t too thin ( I used defrosted fish) and it turned out perfectly.
That’s so great to hear Tracy! I’m so happy to hear that! N x ❤️
OMG, this is delicious! So easy, so quick & will definitely be on a steady rotation here 😊
That’s so great to hear Alanna! I’m so happy to hear that! N x ❤️
Fabulous dish.. Thank you!
Because I had them in the fridge and they needed using, I pan fried Chorizo and added It, along with some fresh Dill into the sauce before pouring onto the fish. We all loved It!
Thankyou Nagi, my favourite recipe now. I’ve cooked it 5 times now and works with every type of fish. 10 out of ten from me and my family. Ps we cook many of your other recipes also.
That’s great to hear Andy! So pleased you enjoyed this! N xx
I am so happy to find this recipe! My Mom used to make this when I was a child, had a craving for it recently and found your recipe immediately! I’m in heaven! Plan to make it tonight! Thank you so very very much 🙂
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!!
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!
This was really good. I especially liked the low carb factor and the modifications that could be made very easily.