Bake this lemon butter fish in the oven then finish it with a flavorful lemon butter sauce and fresh herbs. You’ll be delighted by this delicious 20 minute dinner.
This oven baked halibut has a lemon butter sauce everyone will love. Cooked right in the oven it's an easy baked lemon fish recipe for a weeknight dinner. Your family and friends will be impressed by this flavorful seafood dish, and they won't know it's so simple to make.
If you're trying to eat more fish, try this made-in-minutes Coconut Curry Fish. You'll also love Salmon Chowder for a filling dinner.
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Lemon Butter Fish In 20 Minutes
A tasty recipe like this lemon fish is often ordered at a restaurant, not served at your dinner table on a Tuesday night!
But just use any firm white fish fillet, paired with some healthy veggies, and my easy lemon garlic butter sauce and you have a restaurant-worthy meal in minutes!
There is no frying involved, and you can cook the fish right in the oven. This actually causes less odor in the house too!
Ingredients For Lemon Butter Fish
White fish: Use any firm white fish such as halibut, cod, mahi mahi, or even snapper. It can be fresh or frozen. If frozen you'll want to thaw it in the fridge ahead of time.
Seasonings–Sea salt, black pepper, and garlic powder: Minimal seasoning really allows the flavors of the lemon and fish to shine.
Butter: The butter on the fish helps it brown in the oven, and the butter in the sauce adds the velvety richness and flavor.
Asparagus: Pairs so nicely with butter and lemon. You can swap it for trimmed broccoli florets, or thin green beans too.
Lemon: For zesting and juicing. Make sure to use fresh juice from real lemons, not the bottled juice.
Olive oil: Drizzle regular olive oil or even avocado oil over the asparagus for roasting in the oven.
Dry white wine: Adds an excellent flavor, but can be substituted for chicken broth or left out all together if you don't drink, or don't have an open bottle on hand.
Parsley and lemon wedges: For garnish and that extra pop of flavor when serving.
Lemon Fish Seasoning
Halibut and other white fish tastes so amazing smothered in lemon and garlic. For this recipe, I mix up lemon zest, garlic powder, and pepper and sprinkled it all over the fish and the asparagus. Then a nice pat of butter goes on top of each filet.
I used garlic powder to keep it simple, so you can use pantry staples in this recipe. You'll mostly likely find everything you need already in your spice cupboard.
Butter Sauce for Fish
While the fish cooks, make the butter sauce. Bring the lemon juice to a simmer in a small saucepan. I like to use stainless steel pots and pans.
Simmer until it is reduced to just a tablespoon. This reduced lemon juice will have so much concentrated lemon flavor.
Remove the juice from heat and add the lemon zest, white wine, and remaining butter. Stir it until the butter is melted and the sauce is well combined.
Place a piece of fish on each plate, along with a few spears of asparagus. Pour the sauce over the fish and asparagus, garnish with parsley and lemon wedges, and serve.
How Long to Bake Halibut
Baking halibut does not take long at all, so it is a great option to make when you're running low on time.
For this recipe, the asparagus and the halibut bake together in the oven at 425ºF for just about 10 minutes. The fish should have a few golden brown spots on top. Then, turn on the broiler and let the fish caramelize for another couple of minutes.
Lemon Butter Fish FAQS
Halibut is a nice firm white fish to use for this recipe. You can also use cod, sea bass, snapper, or mahi mahi.
You can omit the wine completely from this recipe. You can use chicken broth instead or leave it out completely.
More Fish Recipes You'll Love
Easy Coconut Curry Fish - A personal favorite with authentic Sri Lankan flavors.
Crispy Lemon Fish and Parmesan Fries - Use frozen fries to make this a super fun family meal.
Fish Tacos with Mango Salsa - You can't go wrong with mango salsa!
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📖 Full Recipe
Lemon Butter Fish
Ingredients
- Zest of 1 lemon
- ¼ cup fresh lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon granulated sugar
- 2 tablespoons dry white wine (optional)
- 8 tablespoons (1 stick) butter (divided)
- 1 pound halibut fillet
- ¾ teaspoon sea salt
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1 pound asparagus (stems trimmed)
- Olive oil
- ¼ cup minced parsley
- Lemon wedges
Instructions
- Heat oven to 425ºF. Line a rimmed baking pan with nonstick foil or parchment.
- Zest and juice lemon. In a small saucepan, bring lemon juice and sugar to a simmer. Simmer until reduced to about 1 tablespoon, about 4 minutes. Remove from heat and add the lemon zest, wine, if using, and 6 tablespoons of the butter. Stir until butter is melted and set aside.
- Mix together the salt, garlic powder and pepper. Cut halibut into 4 pieces and sprinkle all over with the salt mixture (you may have some leftover). Place on one half of the lined pan. Put ½ tablespoon of butter on top of each piece of fish.
- Add asparagus to the sheet pan, season with remaining salt mixture and drizzle with olive oil. Place in the oven to roast. Cook until fish is just opaque (no longer transparent), and golden brown in parts, about 9 minutes. Turn on broiler and place pan under the broiler for 1 to 2 minutes to caramelize the top of the fish.
- On plates, drizzle some sauce over the fish and asparagus. Garnish with parsley and serve with lemon wedges.
Nutrition Per Serving
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Tara Teaspoon
I'm Tara, a recipe developer and food stylist with nearly 30 years in food publishing, including the test kitchens of Martha Stewart and Ladies' Home Journal. My recipes and styling have appeared in magazines, cookbooks, television and advertising, and I'm the author of two cookbooks, Delicious Gatherings and Live Life Deliciously. Every recipe here is tested and reliable. Have a question? Leave a comment and I'll answer it, or get new recipes by email.
Jill says
So, so good! Loved this for dinner.
Tara Teaspoon Admin says
I'm so happy you enjoyed it!