This garlic herb baked cod is the perfect mix of tangy lemon, earthy herbs, and rich garlic all perfectly complementing the baked cod.
I have always had an up and down relationship with white fish. Sometimes I find it delicious, and other times I can’t stomach it. It really comes down to preparation and the type of white fish. Going through the grocery store, I stumbled across some cod filets. And I could not remember if it was a fish I liked or not. I probably should make a mental list, but something easily slip out. Which is not really a surprise.
Anyway, feeling a little adventurous, I decided to buy the cod and see what I could do. Then I saw the lemons and thought, hey that’s a classic pairing. With cod in one hand and lemons in the other, I started searching for what I wanted to do. That’s when a third ingredient entered the mix: garlic.
So, I wanted to use small garlic cloves, but I only had large ones, and I think I put too much garlic in my dish. But, oddly enough, it didn’t overwhelm me. Either it wasn’t as bad as I thought, or I lost my garlic taste buds. Both are equally likely. But that is how I landed on making a garlic herb baked cod.
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Ingredients
The core grouping of ingredients to make this garlic herb baked cod is cod, lemon, garlic, and herbs. The name itself has three of the ingredients! I had parsley so I used parsley, but I can imagine this recipe working with other herbs. It just depends on what type of herby flavor you want. I also added some paprika because it’s nice to have a hint of spice.
Process
The Sauce
Most of the flavor for a garlic herb baked cod is in the sauce (or marinade). This is a combination of butter, olive oil, garlic, parsley, paprika, salt, and pepper. The only ingredients that needed to be prepped were the garlic and parsley. And mincing was the best approach.
I meant to grab a couple of small garlic cloves, but I accidentally grabbed a couple of big ones. My brain did not adjust and reduce the amount of garlic as it should, I just continued to plow forward. Was this a good idea? Meh. I think it’s fine depending on taste, and I really like garlic. But a smaller amount is more universally palatable.
Anyway, I whisked everything together which caused an emulsion on the melted butter and the olive oil. These two don’t naturally mix so it’s always fun to see an emulsion come together.
The Cod
Next, I prepped my baking dish. I like baking in a 9 by 9 baking dish because the sides keep in all the mess quite nicely. It also is a smaller area which allows me to keep the sauce actually on (or under) the fish. The first part of the prep was putting lemon slices on the bottom of the baking dish. I used half of the lemon for the bottom.
Then I put down the cod. I did clean it a bit but there was not much else prep before going into the pan. To turn it into a true garlic herb baked cod, I ladled the sauce on top of the cod filets. Dividing this was an interesting task. Doing a straight divide would make sense if the filets were the same but they are not. Dividing based on size really makes the most sense but that’s a little more difficult for me to quantify. I could have done a ratio by weight but that feels like too much effort.
I finished the dish off by layering the remaining lemon slices and then popped the baking dish into the oven. Cod does not take long to cook and turns quite opaque and flakey, which is the best way to tell if the fish is fully cooked. Another option for the more cautious would be a temperature check. The cod should be 145° Fahrenheit when fully cooked.
Reflections
This is definitely a recipe I would like to try again. But there is a part of me that want’s to do less garlic (if that wasn’t already apparent) and add some lemon juice to the sauce. I got a very slight hint of lemon in the dish, but I wouldn’t have minded having it be a more prominent flavor. And I do like cod! Or at least, I like it when prepared in a garlic herb baked cod way.
Lessons
Measuring Weight
I realized after the fact that I could have written / performed this recipe in a more consistent way when it comes to garlic cloves: weight. If I had gone off of an amount by grams instead of cloves, there would have been a more consistent and defined amount added to the recipe. While I love having a scale in my kitchen, not all recipes work off weight so it’s not always the consistent tool that I want it to be.
recipe
Garlic Herb Baked Cod
Ingredients
- 2 8-Ounce Cod Filets
- 3 Tablespoon Butter melted
- 1 Tablespoon Extra-Virgin Olive Oil
- 1 Teaspoon Lemon Juice optional
- 3 Small-Medium Garlic cloves minced
- 2 Tablespoon Parsley
- 1 Teaspoon Paprika
- 1 Lemon sliced
- Salt to taste
- Pepper to taste
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400° Fahrenheit.
- In a nine-by-nine baking dish, lay half of the lemon slices, then place the cod on top.
- In a small bowl, whisk together the butter, olive oil, garlic, parsley, paprika, salt and pepper.
- Ladle the mixture on top of each cod filet, try to distribute as evenly as possible.
- Lay the remaining of the lemon slices.
- Bake for 13-15 minutes or until opaque and flakey.
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