Do you love garlic bread as much I as do? Then you’re going to LOVE this Easy Garlic Butter Baked Cod recipe. I used the same buttery garlic spread that I use for my garlic bread to top these tender and mild cod fillets. I added a little lemon for brightness and the end result is a super simple weeknight main dish that I can make on a moment’s notice.
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The mild, slightly rich flavor of cod is the perfect base for the zesty fresh garlic and 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!
What’s In Garlic Butter Baked Cod
For this recipe, I took my basic Garlic Bread recipe and changed it up ever so slightly to make it more fish-friendly. Here’s what you’ll need to make this easy baked cod:
- Cod: Frozen cod is usually the most economical option, and it thaws quickly so you can make this dinner without any forethought! Try to get fillets that are about 4oz. each.
- Butter: This is the vehicle for all that good garlicky flavor! The richness of the butter pairs wonderfully with the light and flakey texture of the cod.
- Olive Oil: A little oil helps make the butter mixture more spreadable, and slows the browning just a bit.
- Fresh Garlic: The star of the show! Fresh garlic brings big punchy flavor to the fish.
- Paprika & Salt: A little seasoning is all you need here because we want to keep the flavors light, fresh, and simple. Paprika also helps add color to an otherwise pale palate.
- Fresh Parsley: Parsley adds a little freshness and color to this dish, which is always welcome, but it won’t be a deal breaker if you don’t have any. You can also use one teaspoon of dried parsley in place of the fresh.
How to Thaw Frozen Cod
Frozen cod is not only convenient, but you can usually get a better price than buying fresh. Frozen cod is usually sold in bags that have individually vacuum-sealed pieces, which makes thawing super fast and easy. Here is how to thaw frozen cod:
- Place vacuum-sealed fish in a bowl of cold water. If your fish is not vacuum sealed, place it in a tightly-closed zip top bag with as much as squeezed out as possible.
- Leave the fish in the cold water for 10-15 minutes, or until thawed. The total time will depend on the thickness of the fillet. Once thawed, transfer to the refrigerator until ready to use.
How to Know When Cod is Done Baking
The time needed to bake your cod will depend on the thickness of the filet and the type of baking dish you use, but cod should be baked until it reaches an internal temperature of 145ºF. At this temperature, the flesh will be opaque and will flake easily with a fork. If you continue baking too long past this point the cod can get tough or rubbery.
My filets were a little on the thick side and I used a thick ceramic baking dish that takes a little longer to heat, so I baked them for about 20 minutes at 400ºF to reach an internal temperature of 145ºF. If you have thin filets or are using a thinner metal baking dish, it may only take 15 minutes of baking. A simple electronic instant-read meat thermometer is really helpful for determining when the fish is finished baking.
What to Serve with Garlic Butter Baked Cod
I served my Garlic Butter Baked Cod with Roasted Asparagus and Tomatoes, but it would also go great with:
Garlic Butter Baked Cod
Servings 4Ingredients
- 4 Tbsp butter (room temperature) ($0.50)
- 2 Tbsp olive oil ($0.32)
- 4 cloves garlic, minced ($0.32)
- 1/4 tsp paprika ($0.02)
- 1/4 tsp salt ($0.02)
- 2 Tbsp finely chopped parsley ($0.22)
- 1 lb. cod (4 4 oz. filets) ($5.99)
- 1 fresh lemon ($0.69)
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.
- Add the cod filets to a baking dish, add the garlic butter mixture on top of the fish, the spread it until the fish is evenly coated.
- Cut half of the lemon into slices and add the lemon slices on top of the fish. Cut the remaining 1/2 lemon into wedges for serving.
- Bake the cod for 15-20 minutes, or until it flakes easily with a fork and the internal temperature reaches 145ºF (total baking time will depend on the thickness of the filets and the material of your baking dish). 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.
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Equipment
- Garlic Press
- Meat Thermometer
Nutrition
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Pictured with Roasted Asparagus and Tomatoes.
How to Make Easy Baked Cod – Step by Step Photos:
Preheat the oven to 400ºF. In a small bowl, combine 4 Tbsp room temperature butter, 2 Tbsp olive oil, 4 minced cloves of garlic, ¼ tsp paprika, ¼ tsp salt, and about 2 Tbsp of finely chopped fresh parsley. Mix the ingredients together until they are fairly smooth (a few small lumps of butter are okay).
Place the cod fillets in the dish, then spread the garlic butter mixture over each piece.
Slice half of a lemon and add the lemon 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 15-20 minutes, or until it flakes easily with a fork and reaches an internal temperature of 145ºF. If you’re using a thin metal baking dish or have thin filets, the fish will cook faster. If you are using a thick glass or ceramic baking dish or have thicker filets (as I did here), the fish will take slightly longer to bake. 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!
This was so good! I made it last night because my parents came to dinner and everyone loved it.
Excellent! This is just simply a great recipe. Instead of using paprika, I used Savory Spice’s Southland Smokey Herb Rub. This will be a “go to” recipe in the future!
I was very excited to try this recipe. Followed it exactly EXCEPT I doubled the garlic because we love garlic. Sad to say the flavors really fell flat. It was quite bland. 😢
Wonderful recipe! Thank you for your step by step approach!
Outstanding! No changes. Moist. Delicious. Easy. Served with rice and big spring salad. This recipe is a keeper!
This is a great easy recipe that will work for cooks without lots of time or experience. Will also impress guests because of the simplicity.
I did use cod (great way to cook it, doesen’t need to be flipped, no breaking apart). I can see doing other fish, perhaps salmon and tuna instead.
I used 6 cloves of garlic that I roasted, plus more butter and parsley.
I baked mine in a steel skillet, next time I’ll do a light broil before serving just to give it some extra texture.
Allowing the fish to warm a bit before cooking helps.
I served mine with salad topped with toasted almonds along with a simple lemon vinigrette dressing that I made.
Wondering if I should not have placed the sliced lemon on the fish as they seemed to have a bitter note – maybe from the skin. Love fish but this was a miss for us but the cook time was spot on.
I appreciate the scaling feature on your recipes. But note that on the garlic butter baked cod recipe, it always says (two 4 oz. filets) for any number of servings. Small quibble but some folks are “just not good at math (whimper)”.
I am one of those people, so I totally get it. We check out the back end and it was an issue with using a word vs a number to quantify the amount of filets. Should be fixed now! Thanks so much for pointing it out! XOXO -Monti
Am planning to cook this tonight however I noticed that there is 301.85 mg of sodium. Why is the sodium level so high?
301 mg of sodium per day equals about 13% DV (% daily value) based on a diet of less than 2,400 mg of sodium per day. To give you some perspective, as a general guideline, 10% DV (230 mg) or less of sodium per serving is considered low, and 40% DV (920 mg) or more of sodium per serving is considered high. XOXO -Monti
So it am not big on cooking and cooking fish on the smoker is just not that great, so I tried this recipe followed the directions (you know us guys never follow the directions). The cod came out perfect. Thank you
This was excellent! I used parchment paper on my baking pan but still spread a little of the garlic butter before placing the cod on it. We both loved it!!
Beth, I have been reading your site DAILY for years but have never commented before. This recipe was sublime. I used less butter because old eating disorders die hard, and I did add a splash of white wine. I served with your couscous and roasted vegetables. Yum.
Made this tonight with steamed broccoli. We loved it. Easy to prepare and tasted great. This is now one of my favorite ways to prepare cod.Put some of the sauce over the broccoli.
So so so good!!!! I made baked yams and green beans & corn with the cod. Dribbled the garlic butter, from the baking dish, over the yams and veggies.
Delicious 😋
Prepared the baked cod last night. Wasn’t sure my son would like fish that wasn’t fried but he went back for seconds!. I followed the recipe exactly and it was perfect. My favorite fish recipe now. Thanks