Baked Fish

Name: Baked Fish
Total time: 15 min
Yield: 4 servings
Ingredients: 4 fish fillets or steaks of any kind of fish, skin on or off to taste; Extra-virgin olive oil; Fine sea salt; Black pepper; Lemon wedges, for serving

By Melissa Clark

Updated April 27, 2023

Baked Fish — Constantine Poulos for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Christine Albano.

Total Time: 15 minutes
Rating: 4(1,862)
Comments: Read comments

Cooking fish for 10 minutes per inch of thickness is an old rule of thumb that works perfectly when roasting fillets or steaks. It’s just enough time to cook the flesh through so that it’s opaque, but not so much that it flakes. The only hitch comes with fillets that are uneven. Use your judgment but err on the side of less is more. You can always put any undercooked parts back in the oven, but you can’t undo overdone. Serve these as is in their purist form, or add your favorite sauce on the side. A pesto, aioli or vinaigrette would work well.

Featured in: 5 Easy Meals for the Distracted Cook

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Ingredients

Yield:4 servings

4fish fillets or steaks of any kind of fish, skin on or off to taste
Extra-virgin olive oil
Fine sea salt
Black pepper
Lemon wedges, for serving

Ingredient Substitution Guide

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Preparation

Step 1
Heat oven to 400 degrees. Measure fish fillets at the thickest part. Drizzle fish with olive oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper and place on a rimmed baking sheet, skin side down if you've left the skin on.
Step 2
Roast fish for 10 minutes per inch of thickness, until the fish is opaque and tender when pierced with a fork but before it starts to flake. Serve with lemon wedges, drizzled with more good olive oil.

Ratings

4 out of 5

1,862 user ratings

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Comments

Deborah McDonald7 years ago

A trick I learned from a James Beard cookbook is to heat your pan in the oven while the oven preheats. That way the fish cooks from the bottom and the top at the same time. Hope this helps.

ajp7 years ago

Seems to me there are too many fish recipes on the Times site in which the fish comes out under cooked. I don't like over done fish, but raw (except for what's meant to be raw) is not appetizing. Further, it's a pain in the neck if you're cooking for company to have to stick this into the oven for another 10 minutes. This is 20 minutes cooking time NOT 10. And beware the other fish recipes for the same issue.

Harriet7 years ago

Ok, I pre-heat the oven, I measure the fish, I have it at room temperature when I put it in my fancy oven, and ten minutes an inch is never enough. I'm always taking it out and finding it quite opaque. Does anyone else find the fish needs more time? I've tried this several times with striped bass and halibut. Always the same outcome--back in the oven, generally another five or six minutes depending on the inches part!

Janet1 month ago

Easy. Delicious!

Kristen Hassell2 months ago

Omg all the drama about cook time! I used cod at room temp and with a pre-heated pan, but otherwise followed the recipe exactly. My fillet was maybe an inch thick (I folded the thinnest part under to even out thickness), I cooked for 10 min, it was a touch underdone so I went 4 minutes longer and it was perfect! Just flaking, tender and delicious. Couldn’t be easier. I will def do this again. Thanks @clarkbar!

Cindy1 year ago

Delicious and Easy! Only 2 of us and we had haddock fillets. Cut the recipe in half and used frozen corn. Definitely a keeper.

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