Roasted Fish With Spice Butter and Tomatoes
- Total Time
- 25 minutes
- Rating
- Notes
- Read community notes
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Ingredients
Yield:4 servings
- 1pint cherry or grape tomatoes (halved or quartered, if they are large)
- Kosher salt
- 6tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
- 3garlic cloves, finely grated or minced
- 1teaspoon finely grated lemon or lime zest
- 1 to 2teaspoons spice blend of choice
- 4(6-ounce) mild white fish fillets (for example, cod, hake or blackfish)
- 2scallions, white and green parts, thinly sliced
- Fresh lemon or lime juice, for serving
- Torn fresh herbs, such as mint, dill, cilantro or parsley, for serving
Preparation
- Step 1
Heat oven to 450 degrees. Place tomatoes on a rimmed baking sheet, sprinkle lightly with salt, and roast for 10 minutes as you prepare the fish.
- Step 2
In a small bowl, stir together butter, garlic, zest, spice blend and a pinch of salt.
- Step 3
Season fish lightly with salt. Pull pan from the oven, and nestle fillets among the cherry tomatoes. Pour spice butter over fish and tomatoes, tossing the tomatoes to coat them. Sprinkle scallions on top of everything.
- Step 4
Roast until fish is flaky and cooked through, about 5 to 10 minutes, depending on the thickness of the fillets. Top with a squeeze of citrus juice and fresh herbs, and serve.
Private Notes
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Cooking Notes
susiecue
This is fantastic. I didn’t have enough tomatoes, so added quartered zucchini. For the spice mix, I used Penzey’s Arizona Dreaming. The fish was locally wild caught black bass. Yum.
Janet M
J David Nelson. How about adding flavors that you particularly like... maybe olives, preserved lemon, more of the spice mix, garlic, vinegar, more herbs, lemon zest?
Ana
Just made this, it was so good! I used two pounds of cod so I could make plenty for leftovers (and used za'atar). No need to double the butter when doubling the recipe -- it is more than enough as is.
Libby
Why do people think they need to add more stuff to a recipe? Simple can be elegant, and this recipe is great as it is. I used garam masala and fresh mint.
Luther
Actually kosher salt does taste better. But that aside, kosher salt is healthier for you than regular salt because it has less sodium. You can not substitute one for one when using kosher vs regular salt as kosher has more weight to it than does regular salt. Kosher salt crystals are also larger than regular salt, so when a recipe calls for a pinch of kosher you are actually getting more flavor with less sodium than if you tried the same with regular salt.
Tara Breck
This heat level obliterated my tomatoes. I would suggest turning the oven to 400.
Bellaverdi
Delish and easy!! I had a lone zucchini that I added to the tomatoes . My cod was a bit thick and needed 15 min to cook. I worried that the veggies would get over cooked to mush. However, all was good.
Nancy
I am allergic to fish so I made this with skinless boneless chicken thighs. Doubled the garlic. I will make it again.
talewags
I made this for 2 with scallops 3/4 lb and kept the cooking to 5 min for scallops in oven instead of 10 min Used Chinese herbs, salt snd pepper. Chinese 5 spiced and Harisssa. Served with curry pearl barley with fresh peas. Yum
tramy
This was just fine, not much different from other oven roasted fish dishes- I used 2/3 olive oil and 1/3 butter( you can still taste the butter) used Za’atar seasoning. Agree with other reviewers that 450 is too high for the tomatoes- cooked mine at 425. Used orange roughy- cooked for 7 minutes after the tomatoes roasted for about 10 minutes. It was good, but I have cooked this type of dish before so again, not a revelation
Christina
This dish is delightful, so versatile, and very forgiving. Two tips: 1. I make it with old bay (and leave out the salt since old bay is already salty). 2. Also, I consistently use frozen (from the freezer) cod since it’s what we have access to and it comes out perfect.
Scott in Detroit
Used haddock and Herbes de Provence.
IllinoisFoodie
Wow! Absolutely delicious and not too much work. I used hake and it was delicious. Could make for a dinner party and it would definitely be a hit. Nothing like a simple butter sauce. We had a small amount of rice underneath. Great way to use our garden cherry tomatoes. Delicious!
Feminist Curry
Used tilapia, zaatar, and fresh dill. Yum. Would double the tomatoes next time as they were lovely.
Jim
Made this with Za'tar, and used dill and chives for the fresh herbs. Linc cod for the fish. Wonderful, it's a keeper.
Peggy
Very good - didn't cut the small tomatoes - 385 in convection oven Used mahi mahi Chinese 5 spice seasoning worked well
Eileen
Yummy! I loved the roasted tomatoes and wanted more. I’d double them next time. I had flounder filets, which are really thin, and they cooked in five minutes.
BabyBlue
This is a great and versatile dish. We used swordfish and compari tomatoes, the latter are juicier than cherry toms. Also took another's advice and used garam masala. The flavors melded beautifully with fresh chopped mint and parsley. Looking forward to trying other flavor profiles.
Sarah
I used pollock, Penzey's special salt, lime and cilantro; sungold and bumblebee blend tomatoes from my garden. Next time will use twice as many tomatoes as they cook down to nearly nothing but otherwise the combination was perfect- the smell in my kitchen was amazing!
Theresa
In response to a question posed here some time ago: King salmon worked well with this, with Penzeys Southwest blend. In the past, haddock was perfect; halibut overpowered the dish. Cod’s fine. I wonder if sprinkling the spice mix over all before pouring the butter-garlic-zest mixture would alleviate the spice clumping that always ensues when I mix them together before drizzling. As Utah Phillips would say: “Good, though!”
L. J. Deventer
Cooked exactly as written – used thick pieces of cod and a good dose of Zatarain's Creole spice because I like a little heat on a fairly bland fish. Finished off with cilantro. Partner and I both loved it; will make again.
Christina
This dish is delightful, so versatile, and very forgiving. Two tips: 1. I make it with old bay (and leave out the salt since old bay is already salty). 2. Also, I consistently use frozen (from the freezer) cod since it’s what we have access to and it comes out perfect.
Lisae
Loved this with the butter per recipe and Hawaiian kanpachi. Used Rumi berberi spice mix which was fab and served with mixed roasted mushrooms
sally
I used 4 tbsp of olive oil instead of butter for about a lb of rockfish and used za'atar as my spice. The tomatoes did get very thoroughly cooked but I liked how they turned into this delicious kind of confit with some crispy bits. Will definitely try again with different fish and spice combos (and actual butter).
Emily
Easy and oh-do-delicious. I used cod and za’atar and doubled the tomatoes and sauce. Thank you, Melissa, for another hit!
Christina
Since making this dish the first time, I have recreated it so many times. It always comes out perfect. A new variation I’ve tried is leaving off the main spice and then eating with a curry
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