Baked Cod with Lemon
Cod is lean, so the gap between juicy and dry is narrow — about two minutes wide. A short dry salting firms the flesh, and the lemon goes underneath rather than on top: in direct contact the acid softens the surface into mush.
- Prep
- 15 min
- Cook
- 18 min
- Rest
- 15 min
- Total
- 48 min
- Servings
- 4
- Level
- Easy
- Per serving
- 260 kcal
Ingredients
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What to use instead
Haddock, pollock and sea bass behave the same way. A thick salmon fillet needs about 3 minutes more.
Makes: 4 servings
Shopping list
The ingredients for the servings you chose — copy them or send them to a messenger. Tick what you already have at home: only the rest goes on the list.
Method
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Step 1: Dry-brine
Salt the fillets all over and leave for 15 minutes. Moisture beads up on the surface — blot it away, and the flesh firms up instead of collapsing in the oven.
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Step 2: Heat the oven
Get the oven to 200 °C well in advance. Cod is baked briefly and hot; in a barely warm oven it simply leaks its juices.
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Step 3: Line with lemon
Cover the base of the dish with slices from half the lemon. The fish sits on them as if on a rack, stays dry underneath, and the aroma rises through it as steam.
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Step 4: Season
Lay the pieces on top, drizzle with olive oil, grind over pepper and scatter with the garlic slivers and thyme.
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Step 5: Bake 15 minutes
Pieces 3 cm thick need 15 to 18 minutes. Bake uncovered so moisture escapes instead of pooling around the fish.
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Step 6: Check doneness
Press a fork into the thickest part: it should open into large white flakes with no glassy translucence left in the centre. A thermometer reads 55 to 58 °C.
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Step 7: Serve at once
Scatter with parsley, squeeze over the other lemon half and serve immediately — cod dries out visibly while it waits.
Tips & variations
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Tip
Use even, thick loin pieces. A thin tail end will overcook long before the centre of a chunky piece is ready.
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Swap
Haddock, pollock and sea bass behave the same way. A thick salmon fillet needs about 3 minutes more.
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Tip
If the cod was frozen, blot it twice after salting: this fish holds water better than a sponge.
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Storage
One day in the fridge. Cold cod is good in a potato salad; baking it a second time turns it to cotton wool.
Nutrition
| 1 serving | Whole dish 4 servings | |
|---|---|---|
| Energy | 260 kcal | 1,040 kcal |
| Protein | 34 g | 136 g |
| Fat | 10 g | 40 g |
| Carbohydrates | 5 g | 20 g |
Approximate values calculated from standard ingredient data.
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