This easy lemon butter fish recipe is made with pan-seared, flaky white fish fillets and a simple sauce of butter, garlic, fresh lemon juice, and parsley. It is a quick seafood dinner that comes together in one skillet in 15 minutes.
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Use snapper, grouper, mahi, or another mild white fish for this quick skillet dinner. The fish is topped with a lemon garlic butter sauce with capers and parsley, then served straight from the pan.
Easy Fish Dinner
This is an easy fish dinner with a simple lemon butter caper sauce. I made it with snapper, but you can use almost any mild white fish you have on hand.
Make the lemon butter sauce first, then cover the pot and set it aside while you cook the fish in a skillet. Spoon the warm sauce over the fillets just before serving.
When you are shopping for fish, look for wild-caught fish from the USA whenever possible. Ask the fish counter what came in fresh that day, or choose good-quality frozen fillets.
If your fish is frozen, place the sealed package on a plate and thaw it overnight in the refrigerator.
For a quicker thaw, place the sealed package in a bowl of cold water. Change the water every 15 minutes until the fish is thawed enough to separate. Pat the fillets dry before cooking.
Best Fish for Searing
I use snapper for this recipe because it is mild, flaky, and cooks quickly in a skillet.
You can also make this recipe with other fish such as grouper, hogfish, cod, halibut, swordfish, or mahi mahi.
Cooking Fish with Skin On
For fish with skin, such as red snapper, cook it skin-side down first. Make sure the skin is scaled and the fillets are very dry before they go into the skillet.
Press the fillets gently with a fish spatula for the first 15 to 20 seconds so the skin stays flat against the pan and doesn't curl.
Cook the fish skin-side down for about 3 minutes, until the skin is crisp and releases easily from the pan. Flip and cook for another 1 to 2 minutes, until the fish is cooked through and flakes easily with a fork.
Ingredients
- Thin white fish fillets, bones removed
- Kosher salt and black pepper
- Olive oil
- Unsalted butter
- Garlic
- Lemon juice and zest
- Fresh parsley
- Capers
How To Make The Sauce
- Melt butter in a small saucepan over medium heat.
- Add the garlic and cook for 30 seconds, stirring, until fragrant.
- Stir in the lemon juice, lemon zest, parsley, and capers. Season with a drop of kosher salt and a few grinds of black pepper.
- Reduce the heat to low and cover the saucepan to keep the sauce warm while the fish cooks.
Want extra sauce? Increase the butter to 3 tablespoons and add an extra teaspoon of lemon juice. This is especially nice if serving the fish with rice, potatoes, or vegetables to soak up the sauce.
Cooking The Fish
- Pat the fish dry with paper towels. Season both sides with kosher salt and black pepper.
- Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat.
- Add the fish and cook 3 minutes on the first side, until it releases easily from the pan.
- Flip and cook for another 2 to 3 minutes, or until the fish is cooked through and flakes easily with a fork.
- Transfer the fish to plates. Spoon the warm lemon butter sauce over the top and serve with lemon wedges.
What to Serve with Lemon Butter Fish
Lemon butter fish is especially good with a simple vegetable or sliced avocado for a healthy meal.
Storage and Reheating
Store leftover fish in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 2 days.
You can reheat it in a skillet over low heat with a little extra butter. Cover the pan for a few minutes to keep the fish moist.
FAQ
Yes. Thaw the fish completely in the refrigerator, then pat it very dry before cooking. Excess moisture will make it steam instead of brown.
You can, especially if the skin is scaled and crisped in the skillet. For this lemon butter fish recipe, I usually use skinless fillets so the sauce coats the fish evenly and it is easy to serve.
Fish is done when it is opaque in the center, flakes easily with a fork, and reaches 145°F on an instant-read thermometer. Thin fillets cook fast, so start checking early.
Fish is best served right after cooking. You can prep the garlic, parsley, lemon zest, and side dishes ahead of time, then cook the fish just before dinner
Lemon Butter Fish
Ingredients
Lemon Butter Sauce
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1 garlic clove minced
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- ¼ teaspoon lemon zest, about ½ lemon
- 1 tablespoon finely chopped parsley
- 1 tablespoon capers optional
- Kosher salt and black pepper to taste
For The Fish
- 2 white fish fillets, about 5 to 6 ounces each
- Kosher salt and black pepper to taste
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
Instructions
Make The Sauce
- Melt the butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. Add the garlic and cook for 30 seconds, stirring, until fragrant.
- Stir in the lemon juice, lemon zest, parsley, and capers. Season with a drop of kosher salt and a few grinds of black pepper.
- Reduce the heat to low and cover the saucepan to keep the sauce warm while the fish cooks.
Cooking The Fish
- Pat the fish dry with a paper towel. Season both sides with a little kosher salt and black pepper.
- Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat.
- Add the fish and cook 3 minutes on the first side, until it releases easily from the pan. Flip and cook for another 2 to 3 minutes, or until the fish is cooked through and flakes easily with a fork.
- Transfer the fish to plates. Spoon the warm lemon butter sauce over the top and serve with lemon wedges.
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