Pan Fried Lemon Butter Fish
This 15 minute lemon butter fish is elegant enough for date night but perfect for a quick and easy weeknight dinner too! With just 8 ingredients, many of which you might already have you in your kitchen, this is a simple, delicious meal that your family is going to love!
Instructions
You’ll start with (what else?!) BUTTER. Melt it over medium high heat while you season the fish with my signature seasoning mixture (garlic powder, onion powder, paprika, salt and pepper).
Then toss that fish into the butter to give it a quick sear – about 2-3 minutes on the first side. Give the fish a flip and add MORE butter, lemon zest and fresh parsley to the butter mixture. Cook the other side of the fish for another couple minutes or until it’s tender and flaky.
Gently remove the fish from the pan and set aside. Add pasta to the pan and toss spaghetti in the lemon, butter, parsley mixture. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
Add fish back into the pan on top of the pasta. Finish the fish with a squeeze of fresh lemon juice. Then garnish with lemon wedges and fresh chopped parsley and serve it right there in the pan!
Fish to Use
- cod
- haddock
- stripped bass
- mahi mahi
- grouper
You’ll Love This
- Did you see the ingredient list? It’s SUPER short. Which means you won’t have to spend hours hunting down ingredients at the grocery store. Most of these things are pantry staples so you might even have everything in your kitchen already!
- It’s SO freaking tasty! This is one of my absolute favorite dishes because the flavors are fresh and light but also rich and a little indulgent. Lemon, butter, and fish are literally a three-way marriage made in heaven.
- It’s a kid-friendly dinner. My toddler’s not super into fish, but she ate up bowl after bowl of the lemon butter spaghetti. If your kids are averse to little green flecks of delicious parsley, leave them out and just add them to your dish after.
- Also, if you think there’s no way your kids will eat this, I’d urge you to give it a try. You might find yourself very surprised by the things that they are willing to try! Especially if you get them involved in the process of making the meal!
Tips
- Don’t overcook the fish. This seems obvious but when you’re pan-frying the fish it’s going to cook very quickly! You’re looking for a nice dark golden brown sear on the outside of the fish and a tender, flaky inside. This will be achieved with just a few minutes of cooking on the first side and only a couple minutes of searing on the second side. This is not a dish you want to walk away from while it’s cooking on the stove because it’s so easy to overcook!
- Whatever you do – use fresh lemon for this recipe. Nothing is going to replace the fresh lemon juice and zest in this recipe. It is the key ingredient and you are going to love every light and lemony bite!
- Feel free to use another kind of pasta in this dish. I love the long strands of sgetti in this recipe but penne, bucatini, bow ties, or even rotini would be great in this lemon butter fish dish too. The sauce is going to get into every nook and cranny of your pasta and deliver that lemon butter flavor into every single bite.
Try these seafood recipes next!
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Pan Fried Lemon Butter Fish
This 15 minute lemon butter fish is elegant enough for date night but perfect for a quick and easy weeknight dinner too!
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 10 minutes
- Total Time: 15 minutes
- Yield: 2 servings 1x
- Category: Main Dish
- Method: Stove Top
- Cuisine: American
Ingredients
- 8 oz. cod or other white fish
- 6 tablespoons butter, divided
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
- 1/4 teaspoon paprika
- 2 tablespoons fresh chopped parsley + more for garnish
- zest and juice of 1 lemon + wedges for garnish
- 4–8 oz. spaghetti, cooked according to package directions
- Kosher salt
- fresh cracked pepper
Instructions
- Heat large saute pan over medium high heat. Melt 3 tablespoons butter.
- Season fish with garlic powder, onion powder, paprika and a large pinch of salt and pepper.
- Saute fish for 2-3 minutes in the butter.
- Flip fish over to cook the other side and add remaining butter, chopped parsley and lemon zest.
- Cook fish on the second side for another 2-3 minutes.
- Gently remove fish from the pan and set aside.
- Add in spaghetti noodles and toss to coat evenly.
- Then add fish back into the pan and squeeze the fresh lemon juice over the fish.
- Garnish with fresh chopped parsley and lemon wedges and enjoy!
Equipment
Buy Now → Notes
Don’t overcook the fish. This seems obvious but when you’re pan frying the fish it’s going to cook very quickly! You’re looking for a nice dark golden brown sear on the outside of the fish and a tender, flaky inside. This will be achieved with just a few minutes of cooking on the first side and only a couple minutes of searing on the second side. This is not a dish you want to walk away from while it’s cooking on the stove because it’s so easy to overcook!
Whatever you do – use fresh lemon for this recipe. Nothing is going to replace the fresh lemon juice and zest in this recipe. It is the key ingredient and you are going to love every light and lemony bite!
Feel free to use another kind of pasta in this dish. I love the long strands of sgetti in this recipe but penne, bucatini, bow ties or even rotini would be great in this lemon butter fish dish too. The sauce is going to get into every nook and cranny of your pasta and deliver that lemon butter flavor into every single bite.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1/2 of recipe
- Calories: 611
- Sugar: 1.8 g
- Sodium: 140.4 mg
- Fat: 35.8 g
- Carbohydrates: 45.2 g
- Fiber: 2.6 g
- Protein: 28.5 g
- Cholesterol: 143.7 mg
So fresh, light and delicious. I added steamed broccoli
Light and delicious is the best way to describe this dish! Thanks so much for leaving a review, Katie. I really appreciate it 🙂
This is the perfect recipe to find this week — we have some cod filets in the freezer and I always have lots of lemon on hand. I think we’ll make it with zucchini noodles. My 4 year old and 1 year old love fish, and this is the perfect easy dinner recipe. We’ll be making it tomorrow night!
The stars have aligned! You’re going to love this recipe Julie!
Drooling!!! Those spices and BUTTER! Fish just became the most exciting dinner option around!
Thanks Charity!
Really nice and drool worthy looking fish! Loving your photography! And the lemon butter sounds dreamy :).
Thanks Daniela!
Oh this sounds so delicious. I love all the spices you used to flavor this fish dinner. It’s perfect family friendly meal. I’m definitely making this.
Thanks Natalie!
This is such a light and easy dish for a weekend or weekday meal, perfect for warmer weather when you don’t want to spend much time in the kitchen.
Exactly!
I made this for a last minute date night last night and it was fantastic! It is definitely going to be a staple at our place.
So glad you enjoyed it!
This is easy enough for weeknight dinners, but elegant enough for date nights. I love how quickly is coms together!
Thanks Des!
I have never tried butter fish before. This looks amazingly delicious and your pics are making me drool. I will try this soon for dinner. Thanks for sharing.
Feel free to use cod or any other white fish also!
YUM, this fish looks so juicy and flaky, I’ve got to make it! Our local Costco just brought in a bunch of wild cod, so I am going to have to go back and pick some up.
Thanks Sam!
Ok I’m a huge fan of any dinner recipe that comes together in only 15 minutes that’s amazing! And I thought it was helpful that you listed the different varieties of fish that would work with this recipe, thanks!
Thanks Kate!
I make pan seared cod in butter very often but I never thought about adding lemon! Definitely trying this in 2 weeks when my mom is going to bring me some awesome lemons from Italy!
Yum! I can’t imagine how delicious those lemons will be!
This looks incredibly good! I have never tried butter fish, but I will definitely look into it now.
Just to clarify it’s a “lemon butter” fish recipe. Not a butter fish recipe 🙂 You could use any mild white fish in this recipe (cod, haddock, etc.). Thanks Denise!
I have only recently tried butterfish in sushi and LOVE it. I am on the lookout to find it in the grocery store. No luck yet, but now I really want to find it and give this recipe a try.
Cod works great in this recipe too! Thanks Gloria 🙂
My family asks for this meal over and over again. My toddler can’t get enough of the ‘sketti and my husband loves the tender, flaky fish!