Easy, tender baked fish infused with garlic and basil. The secret to this juicy fish is in the quick fish marinade with a few spices, garlic, fresh basil, a little citrus and extra virgin olive oil. A few tips make all the difference, so be sure to read on.
Serve it with lemon rice and my big white bean salad or any bright salad you love!
We often forget that, just like chicken and meat, delicate foods like fish can benefit from a little time in a tasty marinade.
As long as you keep the acid low and the marinating time short, marinating a firm fish or a fish fillet like halibut or cod can do some good.
The marinade will infuse the fish with all sorts of mouthwatering flavors. It will also keep the fish juicy while protecting it from sticking or drying out during grilling or baking.
So if you’re wondering, “what’s the best way to bake fish without drying it out?” One way is to bake your fish in foil, which I know can be a controversial method. But another way is to simply marinate your fish!
About this recipe
Today’s tender baked fish recipe could not be any easier to make.
I used halibut fillet (but another white fish of your choosing will work). The fillets sat in the fridge in a slightly lemony marinade with garlic, basil, and a few spices. I let it marinade in the fridge for only 30 minutes.
To bake, I added the fish and the marinade over a bed of colorful bell peppers and shallots and baked for about 15 minutes. Easy!
My family loved this fish served with lemon rice and a big bowl of Greek salad.
What’s in the fish marinade?
You’ll notice that I kept the citrus portion low using juice of 1 lemon (2 tablespoons of citrus) to 6 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil.
Here’s what is in my fish marinade:
- Spices- a trio of dry oregano, coriander, and paprika.
- Garlic- 10 fresh garlic cloves. I like to mince the garlic as finely as I can for maximum flavor.
- Fresh basil- 15 fresh basil leaves, sliced into ribbons. The combination of fragrant fresh basil with the warm spices pack this fish marinade with great flavor. If you don’t have basil, you can use parsley, cilantro, dill, or thyme to your liking.
- Citrus- juice of 1 lemon, which is about 2 tablespoons of citrus. If you like, you can switch it out for lime, white wine, or a mild-tasting vinegar.
- Extra Virgin Olive Oil- I used 6 tablespoons of Private Reserve Greek extra virgin olive oil. Because the fish bakes with the marinade, it’s important to use a tasty oil that will enhance the fish.
How long to marinate fish?
Like I mentioned earlier, when it comes to marinating fish, it’s important to keep the acid low and the marinating time short. I used juice of 1 lemon (2 tablespoons of citrus) to 6 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil.
As far as how long you should marinate your fish can depend a bit on the kind of fish and how firm it is. In general, it’s safe to marinate a fish fillet like halibut or even a flaky fish like cod for 30 minutes or so refrigerated.
If you’re marinating a fairly thick fish steak like a tuna fish steak or a swordfish steak, you may go for 1 to 2 hours of marinating.
Always keep your marinated fish in the fridge.
How to Make this Baked Fish Recipe
There really are two steps to this fish fillet recipe
1. Season and Marinate Fish
Pat fish dry and season with salt and pepper.
Place the fish in a large zip-top bag and add spices, garlic, basil ribbons, olive oil and lemon juice. Seal shut. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.
Tip: Be sure to squeeze the air out of the zip-top bag before sealing. Place the bag flat on a plate and refrigerate. Turn the bag occasionally to keep the marinade distributed evenly.
2. Bake
Heat the oven to 425 degrees F.
Slice shallots and bell peppers into rounds and arrange them on the bottom of 9 x 13 baking dish. Add the fish on top. Pour all the marinade all over the fish. Bake for about 15 minutes or until the halibut is fully cooked and flakes easily (start checking at 10 minutes or so).
To be sure your halibut (or fish fillet) is cooked, use an instant read thermometer to check at the thickest part of the fish. Internal temperature should register 145 degrees F and your fish should be opaque and should flake easily with a fork.
Serve with
Serve baked fish immediately with your favorite grain or lemon rice and a side of Greek salad, white bean salad, or herbed zucchini.
Browse our fish and seafood collection. And be sure to view our collection of Mediterranean diet recipes. For all recipes, visit us here.
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Easy Baked Fish with Garlic and Basil
- Total Time: 25 minutes
- Yield: Serves 6
Description
Easy, tender baked fish infused with garlic and basil. The secret to this juicy fish is in the quick fish marinade with a few spices, garlic, fresh basil, a little citrus and extra virgin olive oil.
Serve it with lemon rice and my big white bean salad or any bright salad you love!
Ingredients
- 2 lb fish fillet like halibut
- Salt and pepper
- 1 1/2 tsp dry oregano
- 1 tsp ground coriander
- 1 tsp sweet paprika
- 10 garlic cloves, minced
- 15 basil leaves, sliced into ribbons
- 6 tbsp extra virgin olive oil (I used Private Reserve Greek EVOO)
- Juice of 1 lemon
- 2 bell peppers any color, sliced (I used 1 red and 1 green bell pepper)
- 2 shallots, peeled and sliced
Instructions
- Pat fish fillet dry and season with salt and pepper on both sides.
- Place the fish in a large zip-top bag. Add the oregano, coriander, paprika, minced garlic, basil, extra virgin olive oil and lemon juice. Zip the bag shut and massage to be sure the fish is evenly coated in the marinade. Marinated for 30 minutes or up to 1 hour in the fridge (see notes).
- Heat oven to 425 degrees F.
- Arrange bell peppers and shallots in the bottom of a 9 x 13 baking dish. Place the fish on top and pour the marinade over it.
- Bake in heated oven for 15 minutes or until fish is done and flakes easily.
Notes
- Tip for how long to marinade fish: I used halibut fillet in this recipe and I typically marinate it about 30 minutes. Thicker fish steaks like tuna or swordfish could be marinated for 1 to 2 hours, but that is not the kind of fish I would recommend for this recipe.
- How to know if your fish is cooked? To be sure your halibut (or fish fillet) is cooked, use an instant read thermometer to check at the thickest part of the fish. Internal temperature should register 145 degrees F and your fish should be opaque and should flake easily with a fork.
- Visit our Online Shop to browse quality Mediterranean ingredients including Private Reserve Greek EVOO and all natural and organic spices used in this recipe!
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 15 minutes
- Category: Fish and Seafood
- Method: Baked
- Cuisine: Italian
excellent ideas
What type of what type of bags do I use and where do I get them and what are they called
Hi Charles, Devin here from the editorial team. Any large, sealable bag works well – it just needs to be big enough to fit the fish and marinade. You can also just put everything in a large mixing bowl and massage the marinade with your hands, then wash your hands well (or use gloves) and cover the bowl with plastic wrap. Hope this helps!
I made this for supper along with roasted spaghetti squash. My husband and I both LOVED it. We will be adding this to our regular rotation. Definitely a keeper! Thanks for sharing!
This is such an easy, satisfying fish din. My go to in addition to piccata. Tonight I used thyme from my garden, also precooked the onions and peppers because I am using cod which cooks quite quickly. Served with roasted butternut squash with tahini (your recipe) and steamed green beans. So fresh, delicious! Thanks for sharing your recipe! (I also have your cookbook, of course!!!)
This is an amazing dish. I can’t say how amazing it was.
I riffed off your dish and here were the changes I made.
* I used Grouper(very similar fish)
* Used dill instead of oregano – used alot of dill. I find that for me oregano overpowers the fish sometimes and I like to taste the sweetness of the fish
* I marinaded for an hour(I thought it was too long, but it was perfect)
* I didn’t have bell peppers so I used Pablano peppers
* Put the peppers, shallots and added 8 whole compari skinned tomatoes(whole) around the sides.
* Added a bit of olive oil to the dish and baked(peppers, shallots, and tomatoes) on 425 for about 10 minutes(no fish yet). Wanted to get a good sauce and I didn’t want to overcook the fish trying to cook the vegetables.
* Added the fish and cooked til the internal temp was 145.
Most amazing dish I’ve had since I was in Italy. My wife and I love to cook with whole(non processed) foods. This checked all the boxes. Had an amazing sauce to dip bread in after-words. Note about the Pablono peppers, while they added taste we didn’t eat the peppers because they were a bit bitter. Would have been better with regular bell peppers.
Thanks for sharing your adaptations here, Jay! This is definitely a fun recipe to play with a bit! So glad you enjoyed it!
This was excellent and so fast! Thank you for sharing, I will def be making again
We made this for dinner tonight, it was so easy and so delicious! We even made the recommended Greek lemon rice with it, also fantastic!
The marinade is excellent. I could only find cod. Cod bakes very fast so it came out over cooked. Next time I’ll look harder for halibut or flounder.
I coupled it with galic parmesan carrots. That was an amazing side dish!
Very nice. Up the salt and the olive oil content, tho. I cooked for 20 minutes just to be safe (my instant read thermometer chose this moment to die).
Oh, no! Glad it still worked out, even after the loss of your instant read thermometer!
I hope to buy your cookbook. I love watching your posts & seeing the delicious recipes you create. My Dr. says your way of cooking is one of the healthiest.
Thank you so much, Anne!
This was my first recipe of Suzy’s I tried back in 2020, and it is an old friend at this point. I will never live up to my first attempt because I splurged in Chilean sea bass and will never know when I can justify $60+ on fish for two lol. But the dish is so colorful and bursting with flavor. You will not be disappointed.
I did not have time to marinate but was still absolutely delicious. Used sea bass.
Thank you so much for this recipe! We prepared with haddock filets & it was delicious. We marinated 4 filets in the suggested marinade for 1 hour & then baked for 15 minutes. The shallot & bell pepper base to set the filets on is just the best!
We reduced the recipe for the two of us & grilled veggies for the side. This is my go to recipe now!
Wonderful! Thanks for sharing, Barbara Anne!
I made this recipe exactly as written. It was delicious!! I highly recommend this recipe. It was different, and I paired it with the white bean salad, yum…..yum….yum!!! Another keeper! Thank you so much for the good tasting food.
So glad you enjoyed it, Mari!
Just made this as a surprise for my wife! It was delicious! The only issue I have is that now this level of dish will now be expected from me! Lol I did add some capers and sun dried tomatoes because I can’t leave well enough alone. Turned out great
Do you use multiple fillets or one singular in this dish?
Either will work!