Roasted Fish With Spice Butter and Tomatoes

By Melissa Clark

Updated Feb. 26, 2021

Roasted Fish With Spice Butter and Tomatoes
David Malosh for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Simon Andrews.
Total Time
25 minutes
Rating
4(887)
Comments
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You can use any savory spice blend in this easy dinner — anything from garam masala to za’atar, baharat or Chinese five spice. If you have a very fresh blend with loads of flavor, use just 1 teaspoon. But if your blend has been sitting in the cabinet since, well, you can’t quite remember, feel free to use a bit more. Serve this with rice or crusty bread to catch all the spicy, buttery juices.

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Ingredients

Yield:4 servings
  • 1pint cherry or grape tomatoes (halved or quartered, if they are large)
  • Kosher salt
  • 6tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
  • 3garlic cloves, finely grated or minced
  • 1teaspoon finely grated lemon or lime zest
  • 1 to 2teaspoons spice blend of choice
  • 4(6-ounce) mild white fish fillets (for example, cod, hake or blackfish)
  • 2scallions, white and green parts, thinly sliced
  • Fresh lemon or lime juice, for serving
  • Torn fresh herbs, such as mint, dill, cilantro or parsley, for serving
Ingredient Substitution Guide
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Preparation

  1. Step 1

    Heat oven to 450 degrees. Place tomatoes on a rimmed baking sheet, sprinkle lightly with salt, and roast for 10 minutes as you prepare the fish.

  2. Step 2

    In a small bowl, stir together butter, garlic, zest, spice blend and a pinch of salt.

  3. Step 3

    Season fish lightly with salt. Pull pan from the oven, and nestle fillets among the cherry tomatoes. Pour spice butter over fish and tomatoes, tossing the tomatoes to coat them. Sprinkle scallions on top of everything.

  4. Step 4

    Roast until fish is flaky and cooked through, about 5 to 10 minutes, depending on the thickness of the fillets. Top with a squeeze of citrus juice and fresh herbs, and serve.

Ratings

4 out of 5
887 user ratings
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Comments

susiecue

This is fantastic. I didn’t have enough tomatoes, so added quartered zucchini. For the spice mix, I used Penzey’s Arizona Dreaming. The fish was locally wild caught black bass. Yum.

Janet M

J David Nelson. How about adding flavors that you particularly like... maybe olives, preserved lemon, more of the spice mix, garlic, vinegar, more herbs, lemon zest?

Libby

Why do people think they need to add more stuff to a recipe? Simple can be elegant, and this recipe is great as it is. I used garam masala and fresh mint.

Suzanne

Recommend a pint or more of tomatoes. For a pound of fish (I had flounder) I'd use less butter, not be too skimpy with salt, and add the same amount of spice. Try ciabatta in place of rice.

Lara

I made this with cod and ras el hanout. I also used a deeper baking dish because I wanted more of the spice butter to dunk baguette slices in. Absolutely delicious!

Gaily Tucson

Made with barimundi and Chinese 5 spice(NYT recipe). Leave the thick skin on. It was tender and no strong taste. This fish is naturally a little buttery, a perfect recipe for it.

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