Baked Halibut Lemon Butter (Printable)
Flaky halibut fillets baked gently and served with bright lemon butter sauce, perfect for an elegant meal.
# What You'll Need:
→ Fish
01 - 4 halibut fillets, skinless, 6 ounces each
02 - 1 tablespoon olive oil
03 - ½ teaspoon kosher salt
04 - ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
→ Lemon Butter Sauce
05 - 4 tablespoons unsalted butter
06 - 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice (about 1 lemon)
07 - 1 teaspoon lemon zest
08 - 2 tablespoons fresh parsley, finely chopped
09 - 1 small garlic clove, minced
10 - ¼ teaspoon salt
11 - ⅛ teaspoon black pepper
→ Optional Garnish
12 - Lemon slices
13 - Extra chopped parsley
# How-to Steps:
01 - Preheat oven to 400°F. Lightly grease a baking dish large enough to hold fillets in a single layer.
02 - Pat fillets dry with paper towels. Brush both sides with olive oil, then season evenly with kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper.
03 - Arrange fillets in the prepared baking dish and bake for 12 to 15 minutes, until opaque and easily flaked with a fork.
04 - Melt butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. Add minced garlic and sauté for 30 seconds until fragrant. Stir in lemon juice, lemon zest, salt, and black pepper. Remove from heat and fold in chopped parsley.
05 - Transfer baked fillets to serving plates. Spoon lemon butter sauce over each fillet. Garnish with lemon slices and extra parsley if desired. Serve immediately.
# Expert Pointers:
01 -
- The fish comes out impossibly tender and moist, with the butter sauce adding richness that makes it taste far more indulgent than it actually is.
- Thirty minutes from start to finish means you can make this on a weeknight and still feel proud of what you've made.
- It's the kind of dish that impresses people at the table without requiring you to spend hours in the kitchen.
02 -
- The biggest mistake I made early on was leaving the fish in the oven too long, thinking it needed to be more cooked—halibut cooks faster than you expect and tastes best when it's still slightly tender inside.
- Zesting the lemon before juicing it makes your life infinitely easier, and buying a microplane zester instead of a box grater changed how I approach any recipe calling for zest.
03 -
- Buy your halibut the day you plan to cook it, and ask the fishmonger to check that it's firm to the touch and doesn't smell strongly—those few minutes of conversation often mean the difference between good fish and great fish.
- If you can't find halibut, cod and sea bass work beautifully and often cost less; just watch them a minute or two more carefully since they can dry out slightly faster.