Baked Fish with Lemon Garlic Butter Sauce (2024)

4.7 stars (270 ratings)

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This baked fish is our absolute favorite baked white fish recipe. It's cooked in a delicious lemon garlic butter sauce until tender and flaky. It's a 20 minute dinner recipe you don't want to miss!

If you're looking for a delicious alternative to this baked fish recipe, try our lemon pepper fish and our favorite lingcod recipe next!

Baked Fish with Lemon Garlic Butter Sauce (2)

Table of Contents hide

What is the best kind of fish to bake

Seasonings for oven baked fish

How to bake fish

What to Serve with Baked White Fish

Popular baked fish recipes

Lemon Fish With Garlic Butter

This is a recipe for making baked white fish. There are several kinds you can choose from: cod, lingcod, grouper, snapper, tilapia. White fish are mild-flavored so it's a good choice if you're unsure about eating fish.

Bonus that they tend to be very inexpensive! We love this recipe as it is full of bright lemon flavor that goes so well with the mild-tasting fish.

Baked Fish with Lemon Garlic Butter Sauce (3)

What is the best kind of fish to bake

This recipe works best with mild-flavored white fish. Some of our favorite kinds of white fish are:

Cod
Lingcod (pictured)
Tilapia
Haddock
Grouper
Rockfish
Sole

Seasonings for oven baked fish

Lemon is a classic flavor with baked white fish. In this recipe, we add some garlic to the mix. But other flavors work well, too. To switch it up, try sprinkling on 1 teaspoon of any of the spices below when you season the fish with salt and pepper. Keep the rest of the recipe the same!

Italian seasoning
Dill
Thyme
Rosemary
Basil
Smoked paprika

How to bake fish

This is a very easy recipe. Here's what you're going to do:

Lay some lemon slices in a baking dish.
Season the fish with salt and pepper and put it on top of the lemons.
Melt some butter and add garlic and lemon zest to it before spooning or brushing it onto the fish.
Now pop the fish into the oven for 10 minutes and dinner will be ready!

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Cooking Time for Oven Baked Fish

One of the great things about making baked fish is that it cooks quickly so you can get a healthy dinner on the table fast.

The exact cooking time varies a little, depending on the thickness of the fish fillets. In a 425-degree Fahrenheit oven, the fish will be cooked in 10-12 minutes.

Because white fish is pretty thin, it can be a little tricky to use an instant-read meat thermometer. If you want to try, fish is fully cooked when it reaches an internal temperature of 140 degrees.

How can I tell when the fish is finished cooking?

When cooked, the fish will become completely opaque – rather than the slightly translucent color it has when raw. And it will flake easily with a fork.

Baked Fish with Lemon Garlic Butter Sauce (4)

Does the fish need to be flipped part way through baking?

Nope! White fish is very delicate and would fall apart if you tried to flip it. Simply leave it to bake on one side.

What to Serve with Baked White Fish

This baked fish recipe is delicious served with some basmati rice(or low-carb cauliflower rice!) and some roasted broccoli on the side.

You could also opt for a potato side such as mashed potatoes with cream cheese or crispy roasted potatoes. And a salad such as our spring mix salad or our favorite kale salad rounds out the meal.

Popular baked fish recipes

8 Minute Baked Salmon
Slow Baked Asian Salmon
Ginger Miso Salmon Steaks
Mahi Mahi Recipe

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4.73 stars (270 ratings)

Lemon Fish With Garlic Butter

Prep: 10 minutes mins

Cook: 10 minutes mins

Total: 20 minutes mins

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This baked fish is our absolute favorite baked white fish recipe. It's cooked in a delicious lemon garlic butter sauce until tender and flaky. It's a 20-minute dinner recipe you don't want to miss!

4 servings

Ingredients

▢ 4 tablespoons butter
▢ 3 cloves garlic (minced)
▢ 1 lemon
▢ 1 ½ lb white fish fillets (see notes)
▢ ½ teaspoon EACH: sea salt and pepper
▢ Minced parsley (to serve)

Instructions

Preheat your oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit.
Melt the butter in a small frying pan over medium heat. Add the garlic and let it cook for 1 minute. Zest the lemon (preferably with a Microplane) and add it to the butter.
4 tablespoons butter, 3 cloves garlic
Thinly slice the zested lemon and place the slices in the bottom of a baking dish. If there are extras, save them for the top of the fish.
1 lemon
Dry the fish with paper towels, season both sides with salt and pepper, then lay the fish on top of the lemon slices. Spoon or brush the garlic butter over the fish.
1 ½ lb white fish fillets, ½ teaspoon EACH: sea salt and pepper
Bake the fish for 10-12 minutes, or until it flakes easily with a fork. Serve with a little parsley sprinkled over the top for color.
Minced parsley

Video

Notes

White fish is the generic term for many different kinds of fish. A few to look for are cod, lingcod, grouper, snapper, whitefish, haddock, rockfish, or sole.

Nutrition

Serving: 1 serving = ¼ of the recipe, Calories: 275kcal (14%), Carbohydrates: 3g (1%), Protein: 35g (70%), Fat: 14g (22%), Saturated Fat: 8g (50%), Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g, Monounsaturated Fat: 4g, Trans Fat: 1g, Cholesterol: 115mg (38%), Sodium: 480mg (21%), Potassium: 563mg (16%), Fiber: 1g (4%), Sugar: 1g (1%), Vitamin A: 356IU (7%), Vitamin C: 15mg (18%), Calcium: 32mg (3%), Iron: 1mg (6%)

We have thoroughly tested this recipe for accuracy. However, individual results may vary. See our full recipe disclosure here.

For more inspiration, check out all of our fish recipes!

Kristen Stevens

Hi, I'm Kristen! I LOVE everything to do with food: making it, taking pictures of it, and (the best part) eating it. ♡♡♡

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Posted: 12/01/2020 Updated: 06/08/2024