A healthy, simple, and incredibly delicious mid-week dinner that will take only 30 minutes from start to finish! Our Lemon Herb Crusted Haddock is bursting with lemon freshness and the unique flavour of tarragon. Baked fish with spinach and tomatoes served with buttery rice seems like an extremely special meal that you can treat yourself to even when short on time or counting calories!
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Why You Will Love This Easy Baked Haddock?
- This recipe is extremely versatile! It is quick and easy to make for any weekday dinner, but also impressive enough to wow your dinner guests.
- For us, fish dishes always feel like a special treat, but the wow factor in this recipe is definitely TARRAGON! Sweet, slightly bitter, minty fresh, with a hint of vanilla, tarragon flavour is indescribable! However, tarragon works extremely well with white fish, especially when paired with zingy lemon and other fresh herbs like parsley.
- Plenty of room for substitutions! You can use any other white fish in this recipe (cod and sole work well), but make sure you adjust your cooking time based on how thick the fillets are. What is more, you can use defrosted fish (we did!), just make sure to pat it dry to avoid too much moisture seeping into the breadcrumb topping.
Ingredients and Substitutes
- haddock fillets: we used thin pieces of unsmoked frozen haddock that we have thawed in the fridge overnight.
- mayonnaise: full-fat or light!
- garlic clove: can be replaced with ready-made garlic paste.
- white breadcrumbs: or panko breadcrumbs.
- herbs: we used parsley and tarragon, but read more below on the best herbs to use in this baked haddock recipe.
- lemon: zest and juice will be used in this recipe, so choose fresh, juicy unwaxed lemons.
- cherry tomatoes: can be replaced with baby plum tomatoes.
What Herbs Go Well With Haddock?
We highly recommend you try this baked fish dish with tarragon crust (even if you don’t like tarragon)! We 100% believe that you will love the combination of lemon, tarragon and breadcrumbs. But here are a few more herbs that we things pair very well with white fish:
- parsley
- chervil
- coriander
- chive
- dill.
Method
Whilst your oven is preheating to 200ºC, lay your fish fillets onto a large baking tray. If you’re not lining it with baking parchment, grease it lightly first. Scatter cherry tomatoes around the fish. If you are going for that special presentation on your plate, you can use cherry vine tomatoes.
Mix mayonnaise and crushed (or grated) garlic in a small bowl.
In a separate bowl, prepare your breadcrumb mix. First, finely chop your herbs. We paired tarragon and parsley on this occasion, but tarragon goes very well with chervil, coriander or chive as well. Zest and juice your lemon. Mix it all into your breadcrumbs and season.
Now, spread a layer of garlic mayonnaise on your fish fillets and top with herby breadcrumbs. I like to press the breadcrumbs down for them to stick to the fish. That way, it’s easier to lift the fish onto a plate after baking without breadcrumbs going everywhere. Bake in the oven for about 15 minutes until your fish is cooked and the breadcrumbs are light golden brown.
Take care lifting your Herb-Crusted Haddock onto a plate. I use a dough scraper or a large spatula to ensure my fish remains intact and breadcrumbs stay on top. Finally, serve with roasted tomatoes and sauteed spinach.
What To Serve With Herb-Crusted Haddock?
- RICE: We feel that simple white rice with a bit of butter is great to go with this baked haddock, as there’s already a lot of flavour in the herb crust. However, flavouring your rice with a pinch of turmeric or cooking your rice in stock may add another layer of flavour. You should also try Turmeric Rice with it!
- GARLICKY SPINACH: When your fish and rice are almost cooked, prepare the spinach. In a large frying pan, melt the butter. Add spinach and thinly sliced garlic (a few chilli flakes won’t hurt either) and stir with a wooden spoon until spinach starts wilting. It only takes a minute or two. Overcooked spinach becomes soggy and can taste slightly bitter. Season with a pinch of salt.
For other delicious side dishes, have a look at our side dish collection. We think the below recipes go particularly well with herb-crusted haddock:
- Raw Courgette Ribbon Salad with Honey & Earl Grey Dressing
- Fried Tenderstem Broccoli with Garlic and Lemon (Garlic Broccolini)
- 4-Ingredient Tartar Sauce
Other White Fish Recipes
Hope you enjoyed this baked haddock recipe! If so, let us know in the comments below. And if you’re looking for other ideas to cook white fish, here are some of our favourite recipes for you to try!
- Homemade Fish Burger With Tartar Sauce (Without Relish)
- Panko Breaded Fish
- Smoked Haddock Gratin (Fish Pie with Smoked Haddock)
- Pan-Fried Sea Bass with Pesto (Basil Pistou)
- One-Pan Iberian Fish Stew
Recipe Card
Lemon Herb Crusted Haddock
Equipment
Ingredients
- 4 haddock fillets unsmoked
- 2 tablespoon mayonnaise
- 1 large garlic clove
- 80 g white breadcrumbs
- 15 g tarragon
- 15 g parsley
- 1 lemon zest and juice
- 300 g cherry tomatoes
To Serve:
- 240 g white rice
- 400 g spinach
- 20 g salted butter
- 1 small garlic clove
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 200°C. Line a large tray with baking parchment.
- Mix mayonnaise and crushed garlic in a small bowl.
- Chop the leaves of parsley and tarragon. In a separate bowl, mix together white breadcrumbs, tarragon, parsley, lemon zest, lemon juice and a pinch of salt.
- Place haddock fillets on the baking tray and scatter cherry tomatoes around them.
- Spread a layer of garlic mayonnaise on each of the haddock fillets. Then spoon the herby breadcrumb mixture on top and press down so that the breadcrumbs stick to the fish.
- Drizzle everything with a little olive oil and pop the tray in the oven to bake for approx. 15 minutes.
- Whilst the fish cooks, cook your rice following pack instructions. When cooked, stir in half of the butter.
- When your fish and rice are about 3 minutes away from being cooked, melt the rest of the butter in a large frying pan. Add spinach and thinly sliced garlic and stir until all the spinach has just started to wilt – it should only take a couple of minutes.
- To plate, use a large spatula (or a dough scraper) to lift the fish out of the baking tray. Serve with spinach, roasted cherry tomatoes and buttery rice on the side.
Nutrition
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