Baked Cod and Asparagus with Garlic Lemon Caper Sauce. Use pacific cod or black cod. Each cod fillet (together with asparagus and caper sauce) is baked in an individual foil pocket. One individual foil pocket with cod and asparagus equals one serving.
A delicious and easy recipe to cook any white fish - Pacific Cod (on photos), black cod, tilapia, halibat, mahi mahi, sea bass, etc. Healthy, low carb, gluten free recipe!
Ingredients you need to make baked cod
This delicious recipe will provide you with both the main dish (baked cod) and the side dish (asparagus) - and everything is baked together at the same time. There are only 7 ingredients:
- pacific cod fillets (you can use black cod, sea bass, or halibat)
- asparagus, ends trimmed
- Italian herbal seasoning (usually includes herbs like thyme, oregano, basil, marjoram, oregano, rosemary - all of them or just a combination of some of them)
- garlic cloves, minced
- thinly sliced lemon
- capers, drained
- butter
Tips for making a perfect baked cod
- I wrap each individual cod fillet in a foil packet. This helps to keep all the juices around the cod and asparagus together while baking, and also makes it convenient to serve individual portions.
- Cod is such a flavorful, buttery fish, it doesn't need much to taste good. I enhanced cod flavor only by using simple ingredients, such as capers (make sure to drain them), minced fresh garlic, freshly squeezed lemon juice.
- Do not overbake the cod. Bake it for 15-20 minutes in the preheated oven at 400 F. Your fish could be ready in 15 minutes depending on your oven and the thickness of a fillet. When your cod is done baking, it should cooked through and flaky.
How to bake cod
I use aluminum foil to bake each of 4 individual cod fillets separately, as individual portions, which can be handy. It also helps keep the juices inside each individual foil pocket.
First, preheat oven to 400 F. Prepare 4 separate foil pieces. Place equal portions of asparagus in the center of each foil. Season the asparagus with salt and pepper.
Place each cod fillet on top of asparagus. Season each cod fillet with a pinch of Italian herbal seasoning, salt, and pepper. Then, sprinkle minced garlic over each fillet and asparagus. Top each fish fillet with a thin lemon slice.
Next, sprinkle 1 tablespoon of capers over each cod fillet. Top each fish fillet with 1 tablespoon butter, thinly sliced. Wrap the foil over the cod to completely enclose it but do not wrap it too tightly or too close to the fish - leave some space.
Place foil-wrapped cod fish fillets on a baking sheet. Bake for 20 minutes at 400 F until the fish is cooked through and flaky. Could be ready in 15 minutes depending on your oven and the thickness of fillet.
Side dishes to serve with baked cod
What is really great about this recipe is that you're already cooking one side dish (the asparagus) together with the baked cod. So, you're saving time and effort right there! If you want more side dishes, you could make a side of rice or mashed potatoes - both will go beautifully with the juices from the baked cod. If you want rice with flavor, I recommend this cilantro lime and black bean rice or this sun-dried tomato and basil rice. Also try this cilantro lime potato salad - it's an excellent side for this fish!
More cod recipes
I am in love with cod thanks to its rich buttery texture, and I've cooked it many times. Check out the following cod recipes I made - they are all very different from this one and from one another:
- If you want a rich and sophisticated black cod dinner, I have a wonderful recipe for Black cod with balsamic shallot and pomegranate sauce .
- If you want something refreshing, like a perfect Summer cod recipe, try this Pan-Seared Black Cod with Tropical Fruit Salsa - it's a Mediterranean style fish with the cilantro lime pineapple salsa.
- For an Asian cod, make this Asian Black Cod and fettuccine noodles coated with the homemade peanut sauce.
Baked Cod and Asparagus in Garlic Lemon Caper Sauce
Ingredients
- 4 fillets cod (I used pacific cod)
- 1 lb asparagus (ends trimmed)
- salt and pepper
- 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning (thyme, oregano)
- 4 garlic cloves , minced
- 1 lemon , thinly sliced
- ¼ cup capers , drained
- 4 tablespoons butter
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 F.
- Prepare 4 separate foil pieces (large enough to completely cover each fish fillet, when folded).
- Place equal portions of asparagus (ends trimmed) in the center of each foil. Season asparagus with salt and pepper. Place each fish fillet on top of asparagus. Season each fillet with a pinch of Italian herbal seasoning, salt, and pepper, and sprinkle minced garlic over each fillet and asparagus.
- Top each cod fillet with a thin lemon slice. Sprinkle 1 tablespoon of capers over each fillet. Top each fillet with 1 tablespoon butter, thinly sliced.
- Wrap the foil ends over the top of the cod to completely enclose it but do not wrap too tightly or too close to the fish - leave some space.
- Place foil-wrapped fish fillets on a baking sheet. Bake for 20 minutes at 400 F until the cod is cooked through and flaky. Could be ready in 15 minutes depending on your oven and the thickness of cod fillet.
Nutrition
The nutritional information on this website is only an estimate and is provided for convenience and as a courtesy only. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed. It should not be used as a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
This recipe was originally published on July 20, 2016, and republished with updates, cooking tips in May 2018.
Light, easy & very tasty!
Linda, I am so glad the recipe was enjoyed! Thank you for the comment and the 5-star review! 🙂
Can you do all of this prepped before you cook it and then just stick the tin foil wraps in refrigerator until you’re ready to bake them?
I made it. Easy and tasty! Maybe a bit less salt next time as I didn't realize capers are so salty!
Jim, I am glad you gave this recipe a try and liked it! Very good point about not using too much salt. The capers are already salty!
Trying this tonight! Smells delicious cooking, can’t wait!
Enjoy! I hope you liked it! 🙂
What's the protocol if I'm using frozen cod filets?
Defrost them completely, in the fridge. Drain them of any liquid from the defrosting process. Then, just proceed with the recipe.
Splendid! So good. Thank you! Served with Mashed Potatoes.
Outstanding, delicious and easy.
Julia, this recipe is fabulous! As soon as I saw it, I knew I needed to try it. My husband loves capers. This will definitely be going in our rotation. We are both on Keto and this is the best cod recipe we have tried by far. So tasty!