TL;DR (Quick-Answer Box)
- What it is: An easy and elegant sheet pan dinner featuring tender cod fillets baked atop thinly sliced, seasoned potatoes with lemon and fresh thyme.
- Why you’ll love it: This impresses with minimal effort—just 10 minutes of prep + simple roasting deliver a delicious, complete meal that’s perfect for weeknights or guests.
- How to make it: Microwave seasoned potato slices until tender, arrange on a baking sheet, top with cod, butter, thyme, + lemon, then roast until the fish is flaky.
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This baked cod with potatoes is a ridiculously easy yet awesomely elegant sheet pan dinner. Fresh cod fillets are plopped atop sliced potatoes and baked to perfection. Understated. Impressive. And just 10 minutes of effort. Although no one besides you needs to know that last part.
Featured Review
I have just decided to get into cooking and baking, I baked my first loaf today (decent effort), and I choose this baked cod with potatoes as my first dinner. Easy-to-follow recipe, nice flavour, and a big success in the house. Already asked when will I make it again.
Andrew Spooner
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How Did Your Roasted Cod Turn Out?
Let me know how you liked this recipe. For an extra-helpful review, tell me what kind of fish you used (cod, haddock, halibut?) and what you served alongside it. Don’t forget to add your best photo!–David
Roasted Cod with Potatoes and Lemon
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 pounds russet potatoes, unpeeled, sliced into 1/4-inch-thick (6-mm) rounds
- 3 garlic cloves, minced
- 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper
- Four (6 to 8 ounce) fresh (not frozen) skinless firm white fish fillets, such as cod, haddock, or halibut, 1 to 1 1/2 inches (25 to 38 mm) thick
- 3 tablespoons (1 1/2 oz) unsalted butter, cut into 1/4-inch (6-mm) pieces
- 4 sprigs fresh thyme
- 1 lemon, thinly sliced
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 425°F (220°C). Adjust the oven rack to the lower-middle position. Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Combine the potatoes, garlic, and oil in a microwave-safe bowl and season with salt and pepper. Microwave, uncovered, until the potatoes are just tender, stirring once or twice, 5 to 10 minutes.
- Arrange the potatoes, overlapping the edges slightly, in 4 portions that resemble rectangles roughly 4 by 6 inches (10 by 15 cm).
- Pat the fish dry with paper towels, season with salt and pepper, and place a fillet on top of each stack of potatoes, skinned side down. Top each fillet with an equal amount of butter, thyme sprigs, and lemon slices.
- Roast until the fish flakes apart when gently prodded with the tip of a paring knife, 15 to 18 minutes. Slide a thin metal spatula underneath each stack of potatoes and fish, gently transfer the whole shebang to a plate, and serve immediately.
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Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Recipe Testers’ Reviews
This baked cod with potatoes and lemon was delicious, effortless, and elegant enough for company on a weeknight—this dish is a champion! The roasted cod was plump and juicy, and its delicate flavor was lovely with a hint of citrus and thyme. (What is it about lemon slices and herbs that makes everything look so refined?)
Using the microwave to precook the potatoes with garlic was brilliant, and it worked very well here. When roasted, the potato slices were the epitome of success—golden brown on the edges with the inside so incredibly creamy and beautifully flavored.
In order to make sure each serving stayed neat when serving, I lifted the fish and lemon slices with a thin spatula and set them aside in the empty space on the baking sheet, plated the potatoes, and put the cod and lemon back on.
It’s always nice to have a recipe for roasting that doesn’t require you to have the oven on for an hour or more when Mother Nature has left the oven on outside and it is over 90°F already in May. The microwaving of the potatoes in this recipe made this a possibility. And, overall, it’s a very easy recipe to cook.
I used cod. I also sprinkled the area around and between the fish and potato stacks with grape tomatoes just because I had them on hand. The bright red combined with the yellow and green of the lemon and thyme made for an attractive presentation.
We really enjoyed this simple yet elegant baked cod with potatoes and lemon. It was quick to prepare and the combination of buttery halibut atop crisp potatoes was awesome. I definitely will be making this again and again.
So I have just decided to get into cooking and baking, I baked my first loaf today (decent effort) and I choose this as my first dinner. Easy to follow recipe, nice flavour and a big success in the house, already asked when will i do it again.
Andrew, welcome to the delicious rabbit hole that is cooking—and what a way to start! A freshly baked loaf and a full dinner…you’re off to a smashing start. I’m thrilled this cod dish was a hit and that the family is already asking for an encore. That’s high praise, my friend. If you keep this up, we’ll have to start calling you Chef Spooner! Let me know what you tackle next—I’m rooting for you.