Baked Breaded Cod
My recipe for Baked Breaded cod, with juicy fish fillets and a golden brown, crunchy topping of lemon, herb and Parmesan breadcrumbs makes a perfect weeknight dinner. It’s a great way to get more healthy fish into your diet - and it’s tasty too so the whole family can enjoy it!
My favourite kind of recipe for a weeknight dinner is one that’s simple, tasty, healthy and quick. Today’s easy recipe for Baked Breaded Cod ticks all those boxes, so it’s perfect for feeding the family midweek.
Serve with oven baked fries, a simple homemade tartare sauce and a fresh green salad.
Baked not fried
I love fish and chips, but after a long day, the idea of getting the kitchen set up for a bit of deep frying is just too exhausting. In this recipe, the fish and fries are both baked, which is easier, healthier and involves much less clean-up. Win-win.
What makes this fish so tasty?
I’m glad you asked! In this recipe, the cod is covered with a super flavoursome, crunchy, buttery breadcrumb topping.
The topping is super quick and easy to prepare with panko crumbs, Parmesan, lemon and fresh herbs, and the butter ensures the fish is perfectly tender and juicy.
Ingredients
To make my Baked Breaded Cod you’ll need the following main ingredients (full recipe in the recipe card below):
- Butter: I always use unsalted butter so that I can control the amount of salt that I am using.
- Breadcrumbs: I use Japanese Panko-style breadcrumbs in this recipe, they are widely available and bake up deliciously light and crispy. I recommend Panko or fresh breadcrumbs as regular breadcrumbs are too fine for this dish.
- Parmesan cheese: Finely grated Parmesan gives the crumbs flavour and crunch for an extra crispy coating.
- Lemon zest and parsley: to add herby freshness to the crumb.
- Cod loin fillets: Any mild white fish will work with this recipe or even salmon fillets. I like cod as you can get some nice thick fillets from it.
- Garlic powder: I find fresh garlic a little overpowering in this recipe, so I use just a hint of garlic powder in the crumb instead.
How to make Baked Breaded Cod
I promised that this is an easy recipe, and it is!
- First, get set up. Heat the oven and get your fries baking as they’ll take longer to cook than the fish.
- Next, stir together all the ingredients for the crumb, lay the pieces of cod out and press the panko mixture all over the top. I never crumb the bottom of the fish as it doesn’t brown and just goes soggy. Trust me, there’s plenty of tasty crumb to go around. Make sure the fish is in a single layer with plenty of space around it so that it cooks easily.
- Then, all you need to do is bake the fish fillets for around 15-20 minutes until they are perfectly golden brown. While the fish is baking I stir together a quick and easy tartare sauce and throw together a crisp green salad, and before you know it, dinner is served! Simple, tasty, quick.
This is a great recipe to scale up or down, simply double or halve the ingredients as required. The cooking time will not change.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I make breaded cod in advance?
I’m not a huge fan of reheating fish, but you can absolutely make the crumb in advance. In fact, I often make up a big jar of buttery Parmesan breadcrumbs and keep them in an airtight container in the freezer. That way all I need to do is grab some nice fresh fish on the way home and dinner is basically sorted.
Can I make this recipe with different fish?
Yes! It’s great with salmon too! Try to get fish fillets that are around 2.5cm (1 in.) thick for best results. Very thin fillets will overcook before the crumbs have had a chance to brown.
What to serve with Baked Breaded Cod?
I’m all about the fish and chips action here, oven-baked french fries, lemon wedges tartare sauce and green salad. Keep it simple. A cold beer wouldn’t go astray!
Can I use frozen fish to make this recipe?
Yes, I just put it in the fridge to defrost before I leave the house in the morning. In a hurry? Seal the fish in a freezer bag and defrost under room temperature running water.
Looking for more quick and easy dinner recipes?
Try my Honey and Ginger Chicken, or my Salsa Verde Pork Tenderloin. Yum! Looking for more fish recipes? Try my Chili Lime Fish Tacos or my Quick Thai Fish Cakes instead.
Baked Breaded Cod
My recipe for Baked Breaded cod, with juicy fish fillets and a golden brown, crunchy topping of lemon, herb and Parmesan breadcrumbs makes a perfect weeknight dinner. It’s a great way to get more healthy fish into your diet – and it’s tasty too so the whole family can enjoy it!
Ingredients
for the buttery panko breadcrumbs:
- 75 g unsalted butter, softened
- 6 Tbsp fresh Panko bread crumbs
- 50 g Parmesan cheese, finely grated
- 1 bunch fresh parsley, finely chopped
- finely grated zest of 1 lemon
- ¼ tsp garlic powder
for the fish:
- 600 g fresh cod loin fillets, 5 oz. / 150g each
- sea salt and black pepper
for the easy tartare sauce:
- 250 ml mayonnaise
- 4 gherkins / dill pickles, diced
- 4 Tbsp capers, chopped
- 4 Tbsp fresh parsley, chopped
- 2 Tbsp lemon juice
to serve:
- oven fries
Instructions
- PREPARE: Heat the oven to 200°C / 400°F / Gas Mark 6. Line an ovenproof dish with baking parchment paper. If baking fries in the oven, cook as per packet instructions.
- MAKE THE PARMESAN CRUMB: In a small bowl, stir together the butter, breadcrumbs, Parmesan, parsley, lemon zest and garlic powder until rough and pebbly. Season well with salt and pepper.
- CRUMB THE FISH: Lay the cod fillets in the prepared baking dish. Cut a couple of slits into each piece of fish, then press the crumb mixture generously over the top of the fish. Scatter any remaining crumbs into the baking dish.
- BAKE: Bake in the preheated oven for 15-20 minutes until the crumbs are golden brown and the fish flakes easily.
- MAKE THE TARTARE: While the fish is cooking, Stir together all the ingredients for the easy tartare sauce, then chill until needed.
- SERVE: Serve the fish hot with fries, salad, tartare and lemon slices on the side.
Notes
I like to use panko crumbs in this recipe as they bake up beautifully light and crisp. Try to use some sort of fresh bread crumbs rather than very dry, very fine breadcrumbs for best results.
I have used cod in this recipe, however, any mild white fish will work perfectly well. Look for thick fish fillets as very thin fillets will overcook before the crumbs are browned.
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Nutrition
Serving: 1fillet | Calories: 780kcal | Carbohydrates: 14g | Protein: 35g | Fat: 65g | Saturated Fat: 19g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 28g | Monounsaturated Fat: 15g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 138mg | Sodium: 1018mg | Potassium: 792mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 2g | Vitamin A: 2220IU | Vitamin C: 29mg | Calcium: 238mg | Iron: 3mg
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This recipe was a true 5 star. I don’t give many of those. Impressed my wife with my cooking skills 🙂
Hi Andrew, wow, thank you for the lovely compliment and review! I am so happy you and your wife enjoyed this recipe. I hope you find lots of other recipes here to try out! J.
Thanks, Jay. This recipe was a lucky find! My husband loved it! Easy on me and tasty for him!
Hi Kathy, I am so happy you found this recipe! It’s such a quick and easy one for weeknights. Even better when it gets the husband seal of approval! All the very best for 2023 🙂 J.
I find it hard to eat fish but this recipe I 😋 could eat all the time.. its now a go to recipe ty 😊 xx
–So happy you like the recipe Neola!! Thank you so much for your review! J.–