Garlic Butter Baked Cod
Do you love garlic bread as much I as do? Like, do you keep it on hand in your freezer at all times? Then you’re going to love this Garlic Butter Baked Cod. In my search for a more filling vehicle for that buttery garlic goodness (something that I wouldn’t be tempted to eat 16 pieces of in one sitting), I found some leftover cod fillets in my freezer that had “garlic butter” written all over them!
The mild, slightly rich flavor of a cod filet is the perfect base for the zesty fresh garlic and sweet, creamy butter. And as if this Garlic Butter Baked Cod wasn’t already perfect, it also happens to be incredibly fast and easy to make. Weeknight dinner perfection!
For this recipe, I literally took my basic Garlic Bread recipe and duplicated the topping, adding a pinch of paprika for color (baked cod is notoriously pale), and used that as the topping for my cod. I also happened to have a couple lemons, so I sliced one up and added it to the baking dish, which added a nice bright flavor to balance the rich butter. It’s absolute flavor perfection and my mouth is watering just typing this!
Should I Use Frozen or Fresh Cod?
Use whichever is available to you. If using frozen, make sure it is fully thawed first (transfer to the refrigerator the day before).
Is Fresh Parsley a Must?
I don’t expect you to buy an entire bunch of parsley just for 1 Tbsp of chopped parsley for this recipe. If you don’t already have some on hand, you can either skip the fresh parsley, or use one teaspoon dried parsley in its place.
Is the Lemon Necessary?
While you can make this recipe without the lemon, the lemon does take the flavor to the next level, so get a lemon if you can! Single lemons can be expensive, so remember, you can freeze your whole lemons if you buy them by the bag!
What Should I Serve with Garlic Butter Baked Cod?
I served my Garlic Butter Baked Cod with Roasted Asparagus and Tomatoes, but I think it would also be awesome with roasted broccoli, maybe some Lemony Artichoke and Quinoa Salad, or Roasted Vegetable Couscous.
P.S. I wrote the recipe below for just two servings because that’s all the cod I had left after testing, but you can easily increase it to four by changing the number of servings in the box below. It will automatically adjust the ingredients below to match.
Garlic Butter Baked Cod
Ingredients
- 2 Tbsp butter (room temperature) ($0.26)
- 1 Tbsp olive oil ($0.16)
- 2 cloves garlic, minced ($0.16)
- 1/8 tsp paprika ($0.02)
- 1/8 tsp salt ($0.01)
- 1 Tbsp finely chopped parsley ($0.10)
- 8 oz. cod (two 4 oz. filets) ($2.48)
- 1 fresh lemon ($0.37)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400ºF. In a small bowl, combine the butter, olive oil, garlic, paprika, salt, and chopped parsley. Stir until it forms a fairly smooth paste.
- Take a small dollop of the garlic butter and spread it over the surface of a small baking dish to keep the fish from sticking. Add the cod filets to the dish and then coat all sides of the fish with the remaining garlic butter.
- Slice half of the lemon and add the lemon slices to the baking dish with the fish. Cut the remaining 1/2 lemon into wedges for serving.
- Bake the cod for 20 minutes, or until it flakes easily with a fork and the internal temperature reaches 145ºF. Spoon any juices from the bottom of the pan over the fish. Serve the cod immediately with the remaining fresh lemon wedges for squeezing juice over top.
Nutrition
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Scroll down for the step by step photos!
Pictured with Roasted Asparagus and Tomatoes.
Step by Step Photos:
Preheat the oven to 400ºF. In a small bowl, combine 2 Tbsp room temperature butter, 1 Tbsp olive oil, 2 cloves garlic (minced), 1/8 tsp paprika, 1/8 tsp salt, and about 1 Tbsp finely chopped fresh parsley.
Mix the ingredients together until they form a fairly smooth paste.
Take a small dollop of the garlic butter and smear it over the surface of a small baking dish (to prevent the fish from sticking). Place the cod filets in the dish, then coat them on all sides with the remaining garlic butter mixture. Slice half a lemon and add the slices to the baking dish. Cut the rest of the lemon into wedges to serve with the finished fish.
Bake the Garlic Butter Cod for 20 minutes, or until it flakes easily with a fork and reaches an internal temperature of 145ºF.
Spoon any of the juices in the pan over the fish (that will spread the lemony flavor).
Serve immediately with some of the baked lemon slices, and a couple of the fresh lemon wedges to squeeze over top.
I paired my Garlic Butter Baked Cod with Roasted Asparagus and Tomatoes. It’s a great easy no-brainer side dish that you can serve with anything from fish to steak! Stay tuned!
This was fabulous! Used basa loins and added a few cherry tomato branches alongside. Because of my fish choice I reduced baking time to 10 minutes. Four thumbs up here.
I started the meal prep at 5pm with a solid block of frozen cod (frozen from a previous meal). Thawed the fish in a bowl (something I NEVER do). Started preparing the garlic, butter, olive oil, paprika and ran into another snag – no parsley! No problem; I used fresh cilantro instead. By the time I was ready to put my cod into the oven – about 15 mins. later – I was also fixing wild rice and sauteed asparagus; the cod had thawed. I dried each piece of cod carefully with paper towels and then followed the recipe. Only other change I made was after 5 minutes of baking, I raised oven temp to 425f – to get the fish to be baked yet not “rubbery”. After 15 minutes I pulled the fish out and voila’ – perfect. Great recipe! Thanks!
My fish came out rubbery and tasted blah. I’m disappointed as cod is expensive and I love all of your other recipes.