Easy Lemon Butter Fish in 20 Minutes

Easy Lemon Butter Fish Recipe

A dish like Lemon Butter Fish may be more frequently ordered at restaurants rather than made at home, as it’s not what people tend to think of as Tuesday night fare. But an easy fish recipe can be, and absolutely is a fabulous weeknight dinner. This easy fish recipe with lemon butter sauce goes from stovetop to table top in just 20 minutes.

What Fish is Easiest to Cook?

This lemon butter fish recipe is fabulous with any tender, flaky, mild flavored white fish. Any firm white fish such as cod, halibut, snapper, or mahi mahi would work beautifully.

You’ll want four generous pieces of firm white fish fillets that are about 6 inches in length and 1 inch thick. Definitely look for that 1-inch thickness, as thinner fish fillets won’t cook up as nicely and tend to fall apart easily. Also look for fish fillets with the same thickness throughout, so your fish cooks evenly.

Watch This Recipe in Action

How to Make Fish With Lemon Butter Sauce

Simple Equipment:

• A heavy, large and even-cooking skillet is your kitchen essential and worth every cent. My All Clad is my trusty kitchen workhorse for everything, including Seared Ahi Tuna.
• For flipping delicate food like fish, I use an extra wide stainless steel turner with a smooth/narrow edge to get underneath the food and flip it easily.

Basic Pantry Ingredients:

• Melted butter (I use salted, but unsalted is fine) – real butter makes a huge difference in flavor, so skip the butter substitutes.
• Juice and zest of lemon — avoid bottled lemon juice. If your lemon is on the larger size, use less of it.
• Kosher salt, plus extra to taste – Here’s why we always, always use kosher salt in our cooking.
• Paprika, for a bit of smoky flavor and natural color
• Garlic powder; it serves as your weeknight time-saving aromatic. Note that while freshly minced garlic is fantastic for marinades, it can burn easily in the skillet.
• Onion powder, for the same reasons as above. 
• Freshly ground black pepper – we always use fresh peppercorns, with whole black tellicherry as our favorite. Use a pepper grinder to grind your black pepper fresh. It makes a huge flavor difference. 
• Olive oil; we use olive oil for most of our cooking, which is healthier and works really well with most recipes. We even use it in chocolate cake — ridiculously moist, with no trace of olive flavor.  
• Freshly chopped basil or parsley leaves, for garnish and flavor
• Lemon slices for serving – fish always looks prettier with freshly sliced lemon slivers on top.

More to Cook and Eat

• Baked Salmon (Sheet Pan Recipe) – this one’s easy, big on flavor, and healthy.
• Marinated Seared Ahi Tuna – our popular seared ahi tuna is a reader favorite for good reason.
• Easy Perfect Mahi Mahi Recipe – see why so many home cooks gained confidence cooking restaurant-quality fish with this simple recipe.
• Lemon Garlic Swordfish Recipe – swordfish is made simple, yet wildly delicious.
• Pistachio Crusted Salmon – we love this salmon recipe for serving friends!

Easy Lemon Butter Fish in 20 Minutes

4.69 from 158 ratings

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This Easy Lemon Butter Fish only takes 20 minutes and a handful of ingredients. It's a delicious and nutritious weeknight meal the entire family will devour (even non-fish eaters!)

Prep Time: 7 minutes mins

Cook Time: 12 minutes mins

Total Time: 19 minutes mins

Servings: 4

Author: Amy Dong

Ingredients  

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• 4 firm white fish fillets, about 6 inches long, 1-inch thickness throughout (cod, halibut, or mahi mahi are great )
• 3 TB melted butter
• Juice and zest from 1 medium lemon
• ½ tsp kosher salt, plus extra to taste
• 1 tsp paprika
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1 tsp onion powder
• ¼ tsp freshly ground black pepper
• 3 TB olive oil
• freshly chopped basil or parsley leaves, for garnish and flavor
• extra lemon slices for serving

Instructions

• Use paper towels to thoroughly pat-dry excess moisture from fish fillets. This step is crucial for fish to brown nicely in pan – otherwise, it will steam instead of brown. Set aside.
• In a bowl, combine melted butter, lemon juice and zest, and 1/2 tsp kosher salt. Stir to combine well. Taste and add a bit more kosher salt, if desired.
• In a separate bowl, combine the remaining 1/2 tsp kosher salt, paprika, garlic powder, onion powder, and black pepper. Evenly press spice mixture onto all sides of fish fillets.
• In a large, heavy pan over medium high heat, heat up the olive oil until hot. Once your oil is sizzling,  Cook 2 fish fillets at a time to avoid overcrowding (allows for even browning). Cook each side just until fish becomes opaque, feels somewhat firm in the center, and is browned, about 2-3 minutes per side; lightly drizzle some of the lemon butter sauce as you cook, reserving the rest for serving. Take care not to over-cook, as that will result in a tougher texture. Season with extra kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste.
• Serve fish with with remaining lemon butter sauce, basil or parsley, and lemon wedges.

Equipment

• Large, heavy stainless steel pan
• Splatter Screen for Frying Pan

Notes

*Be sure to use coarse kosher salt, not fine table salt. Here’s why. 

*Actual cook time varies, depending on type, cut, and starting temp of fish. I typically cook 2-3 minutes per side for cold fish fillets that are 1-inch in thickness.

*Check for doneness by lightly pressing fillet centers for firmness. Once it feels somewhat firm, it’s usually done. The key to tender, flaky fish is to not overcook. 

*A large splatter guard helps a ton against random oil splattering during cooking.

*Serve with Perfect Instant Pot Brown Rice or Best Easy Roasted Vegetables Recipe for a healthy meal that happens to be gluten-free.

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Nutrition

Calories: 302kcal | Carbohydrates: 9.9g | Protein: 25.7g | Fat: 19.8g | Saturated Fat: 7g | Cholesterol: 88.1mg | Sodium: 158.1mg | Fiber: 0.8g | Sugar: 3.2g

Course: Dinner, Main Dish

Cuisine: American

Diet: Gluten Free, Low Calorie, Low Fat, Vegetarian

Method: Skillet