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Easy baked cod recipe with lemon, olive oil, salt and cayenne pepper. One of the best cod recipes baked in the oven. Moist, juicy with 5 mins prep time. So good!
Table of Contents
Baked Cod Recipe
Cod is my favorite fish, other than swai fish and tilapia.
Oven baked cod is one of the best fish recipes and the end result is always juicy and moist.
As cod fillets have very mild flavor, you only need a few ingredients such as lemon and olive oil to bake the fish.
Why This Recipe Works
This simple and healthy recipe is so easy and calls for four (4) seasonings to bring out the natural flavors of cod fish. The cooking process takes as little as five (5) minutes prep time.
It’s a great dinner idea for those busy weeknights, especially after a busy day at work and you just want to come home for a simple, healthy, and quick dinner.
Other fish Recipes You Might Like
Garlic Butter Fish
Baked Salmon
Lemon Butter Swai Fish
Lemon Parmesan Tilapia
Ingredients for Cod Fish Recipes
Fresh or frozen cod.
Olive oil.
Lemon juice.
Cayenne pepper.
How to Bake Cod?
To bake cod fillets in an oven, first you need a baking tray. I like using a glass baking tray.
You can also line a piece of aluminum foil on a baking sheet and place the fish on top of it before baking.
The perfect temperature for baking cod fish is 400°F or 205°C.
How long to bake cod? The answer is 10 – 12 minutes; the baking time for cod fish depends on the thickness of the fish.
DO NOT overcook the fish fillets or they will turn dry and rubbery.
Can I Use Frozen Cod Fillets?
Yes. Thaw the frozen cod fillet at room temperature before cooking. Do not cook frozen fish straight out of the freezer as the texture will be tough.
After thawing, do make sure you pat dry the fish fillets with paper towels to remove excess water inside the fish. This simple step will make sure that there is no cloudy “fish water” seeping out after baking, and the natural sweetness of cod will shine through.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is It Healthy?
This recipe is healthy as cod fish is very low in fat. It’s high in lean protein and loaded with vitamin B-12, B3 (Niacin) and B6.
It has a lot of health benefits such as promoting heart wellness and brain functions. It’s also low in mercury.
How Many Calories per Serving?
This baked cod fish is only 286 calories per serving.
What to Serve with This Recipe?
Serve this dish with side dishes such as boiled potatoes. For a healthy meal and easy weeknight dinner, I recommend the following recipes.
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Baked Cod (The Best Recipe!)
Easybaked cod recipewith lemon, olive oil, salt and cayenne pepper. One of the bestcod recipesbaked in the oven. Moist, juicy with 5 mins prep time. So good!
Try a gentle cooking method: Instead of adding fat, you can also try a gentle cooking method like steaming or cooking en papillote. Both of these methods help to preserve Pacific cod's high moisture content and produce incredibly tender results.
Bake in 400 degrees F heated oven for about 10 minutes or until the cod is cooked through. The fish is ready when it turns a beautiful white opaque and flakes easily when you take a fork to it. Garnish and serve! I love adding some parsley for a pop of green!
When you overcook fish, it can become dry, tough, and lack flavor. Overcooked fish loses its natural moisture, which can result in a dry and chewy texture. The proteins in the fish also begin to tighten, which can make the fish tough and rubbery.
Before cooking, soak the fish in milk for 20 minutes
In this scenario, the protein in the milk binds with the compounds that cause that fishy odor, in essence extracting if from the fish. What's left behind is sweet-smelling, brighter flesh with clean flavor.
Dry fish: It used to be recommended to rinse fish before baking, but fear of splattering harmful bacteria that might be on the fish changed that. We recommend not rinsing unless you need to rinse off any scales. Pat dry with paper towels whether you rinse or not.
Pan-frying is a great option for cod fillet or loin as there is time to produce a lovely crispy skin without overcooking the delicate, flaky flesh. This is the way cod and similar white fish are often cooked in restaurant kitchens and is very simple to do at home.
Cod is a beautifully mild and buttery-flavored fish and this preparation couldn't be easier or more stunning. Coat it in paprika and a few other spices, then pan fry it until tender and juicy. It takes under 10 minutes to get restaurant-quality flavor!
This baked cod is an easy and foolproof recipe for perfectly flaky fish, every time. A simple buttery garlic herb topping transforms cod fillets into a delicious, light, and healthy weeknight dinner – in under 30 minutes! While baked salmon tends to get a lot of attention, a cod fillet is not one to be overlooked.
Another tip is to remove the fish from the fridge half an hour before cooking. The reason for this is that room-temperature fish loses less liquid during cooking than cold fish making it easier to avoid the fish becoming dry.
It's easy to accidentally overcook seafood, especially small shellfish—like shrimp and mussels—and thin fish fillets. The texture can also turn out mushy if it is too saturated with water.
The presence of bile in whole fish and fish viscera is shown to cause bitterness in fish protein hydrolysates. The fat and ash content could also cause bitter taste.
Temperature is the key to making sure your frozen cod doesn't turn out rubbery or chewy. No matter how you cook it, be sure that your cod reaches an internal temperature of 145˚F as measured by a food thermometer. At this temperature, its flesh will be opaque white and flake easily when pressed with a fork.
Before cooking the cod, though, you need to rehydrate and desalinate it by soaking it in cold water first. It does take a bit of preparation, but it is totally worth it! Don't worry, it's really simple, too!
Brining fish with salt before cooking is a helpful, but not crucial, step. The brine mixture adds flavor and firmness to the fish as it extracts excess moisture from the flesh which can make it stick to the pan during cooking. Lean white fish like cod and rockfish benefit greatly from a quick, dry brine.
If you are going to fry or grill lean, white fish, the flesh will be whiter and firmer if it is soaked for half an hour in a 10% salt solution (brine). The salt penetrates in better and the fish gains a firmer, more satisfying consistency. The flesh tastes better and is easier to handle.
Introduction: My name is Edwin Metz, I am a fair, energetic, helpful, brave, outstanding, nice, helpful person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.
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