Impress your family for dinner tonight with this incredibly easy Garlic Butter Lemon Baked Cod! With the zesty lemon and the rich garlic butter sauce, this will get the thumbs-up from even the pickiest eaters.
Are you a fish lover? I definitely wasn’t always. Definitely nothing beyond a salmon fillet.
But when you marry a guy who comes from a Mediterranean island? You gotta change your ways, ha!
I’m an absolute convert when it comes to fish now – and both kids are HUGE fish lovers, too.
This is one of my favorite easy and absolutely foolproof ways to prepare fish – any fish really, but today it’s cod. I make it at least once a month, and it’s always a huge hit at our house!
Lemon Butter Baked Cod Video Tutorial:
Baked Cod with Lemon and Butter
I’ve been making fish this way for years now – because it’s quick, easy and absolutely delicious.
I love how the cod kind of poaches in the lemony garlic butter sauce, but it’s still super hands-off because it’s baked in the oven.
The fish stays super succulent and delicious this way, and you automatically get a delicious sauce to mop up with bread, rice or potatoes. Win!
How to Bake Cod
There are many different ways to make oven baked cod, but this is the method I use the most, right next to foil baking.
It’s super simple: Place the fish in a greased baking dish (skin-side down, if there’s skin on your fillets) and pour the lemon mix over it. Dot with butter and bake!
So easy, but so good.
How long to bake cod
The exact baking time depends on the thickness of your fillet pieces.
When I have quite thick fish, I’ll bake it for around 20 minutes. Thinner pieces will be done after 10-15 minutes.
You can also check with an instant-read thermometer to make sure you’re not eating undercooked fish.
How do you know when cod is cooked? What temperature should you cook cod at?
You can tell your cod is cooked when it becomes opaque and flakes easily.
The internal temperature for cod should reach 145°F at the thickest part to be safe.
What should I serve with baked cod fish?
We love serving this with vegetables and any carb that helps mop up the delicious sauce – potatoes, rice or even some crusty bread are all a great choice.
To make a SUPER easy dinner:
Just place the baking dish with fish on one side of a rimmed sheet pan and fill the remaining space with veggies that will cook in 15-20 minutes (bell peppers, zucchini, red onion, asparagus, cherry tomatoes…), drizzle with oil and season with salt and pepper.
Then bake as directed in the baked cod recipe below and serve with bread. So, so easy!
More easy fish recipes:
Summer Veggie Salmon Foil Packets
Honey Teriyaki Salmon Baked in Foil
One Sheet Pan Tuscan Baked Salmon and Veggies
Garlic Butter Lemon Baked Cod
made it? tap the stars to add your rating!Ingredients
- 1.5 pounds cod fillet
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 lemons (juice only)
- 4 cloves garlic (minced)
- salt & pepper (to taste)
- 1/4 cup butter (diced)
- 1 small lemon (sliced)
- chopped parsley (to serve)
Instructions
- Prep: Preheat the oven to 400°F. Lightly grease a rectangular baking dish that will comfortably hold all your cod pieces and place the fish inside.
- Make sauce: Whisk together olive oil, lemon juice and minced garlic. Season with salt and pepper.
- Assemble: Pour the lemon sauce over the cod in the baking dish. Evenly sprinkle with the diced butter. Place lemon slices on cod pieces.
- Bake: Bake for 15-20 minutes, or until fish is opaque and flakes easily. Sprinkle with chopped parsley to serve, if you like.
Lynn says
Simple and delish! Making for second time tonight. I was new to cooking cod and while looking for baking directions found this recipe and it ended up wowing us. So so easy. Thanks!
Tina says
Trying to cut out fat. Do you think it would still be good with everything but the butter?
Nora Rusev says
Tina, unfortunately I have never tried it without butter. If you want to make fish without adding fat, I highly recommend poaching it. We do that all the time! OR you can try it baked “en papillote” – add the fish with lemon, garlic and seasoning in the middle of a piece of baking parchment. Then fold up the paper and pinch it together to create a pouch around the fish. Hope that helps!
Mickey keele says
I made this recipe but using thick catfish fillets. Wonderful.
2nd time making I added tiny pinch of cayenne and capers and really like that addition on the catfish fillets.
sherie says
I made this last night and it was delicious. Thanks for sharing your recipe