It’s time to take your taste buds on a journey across the country with this mouthwatering dinner meal. This baked cod fish recipe is easy to make, and takes just about 30 minutes from start to finish. Leave your worries behind and enjoy the many flavors of New England with every bite of this delicious meal. This post contains affiliate links.
Seasoned, fresh cod fish fillets are baked with a buttery cracker topping in the oven. The end result is a flaky, fresh, and delicious fish dinner that your family is sure to love! It is easy, simple, and makes for a delicious meatless comfort dish.
For our buttery baked cod fish, we used the Wild-Caught Pacific Cod we received in our Good Chop Box. You can learn more about this meat and seafood delivery service in our Good Chop Review Post. Or, you can visit their site to save $100 off your first 3 boxes! You choose what you want in your box so that is really cool!
[adthrive-in-post-video-player video-id=”DZqeOejB” upload-date=”2021-09-08T23:06:54.000Z” name=”New England Baked Cod” description=”Seasoned, fresh cod fish fillets are baked with a buttery cracker topping in the oven. The end result is a flaky, fresh, and delicious fish dinner that your family is sure to love! It is easy, simple, and makes for a delicious meatless comfort dish.” player-type=”default” override-embed=”default”]Is your mouth watering yet? Mine sure is thinking about how delicious this was! The best part about this meal is that it comes together with just a few ingredients! You really do not need much to produce the most buttery, flaky, and flavorful cod fish ever! Let’s explore everything you need to know about making this fish recipe below.
Baked Cod with Ritz Cracker Crumbs
Besides the delicious Wild-Caught Pacific Cod, the shining star ingredient in this recipe is none other than Ritz Crackers. Ritz Crackers are such a pantry staple that everyone should have on-hand. They can make delicious meatball crumbs (instead of bread crumbs), go great on baked chicken, stuffed shrimp, baked onions, and even on fish.
To get them to perfect consistency, you can either add them to a freezer bag and roll over them with a rolling pin to crush them, or you can use the food processor. I used my food processor because it is simply amazing and gets stuff done quick and effortlessly.
I have found that AFTER crushing your RITZ you should then mix them with melted butter. I used to just cube my butter over my cracker crumbs on the fish, but the premixing before topping the fish is the BEST way to go. This method ensures that the already buttery RITZ get even more scrumptious!
Best Temperature to Cook Cod Fish
Believe it or not, baked cod fish cooks best in a preheated oven that is set to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Cod fish cooks rather quickly and starts to shrink, separate, and become white and flaky when done. Typically, you only need 25-30 minutes at this temperature.
How to Bake New England Style Cod Fish
If you use frozen fish, you’ll want to make sure it is fully defrosted in the refrigerator. Once it is no long frozen, remove it from the packaging, and pat each filet dry with a clean paper towel. You can also pat fresh fish dry to remove excess moisture.
Season each fillet with salt and pepper. I feel like these complement the fish the best and do not over power the flavor.
Then, place the cod in a buttered baking dish. The butter prevents it from sticking, but is not a deal breaker since cod will make plenty of juices along with the butter.
Mix the Ritz Cracker Crumbs with the melted butter, and sprinkle them over the fish evenly. Your fish fillets can touch and will shrink as they bake. My pan of fish looks a little funky because some pieces shrank a little more than others.
Bake the cod fish uncovered for 25-30 minutes. The crackers will be a deep golden brown color and the fish will be white, flaky, and easily fall apart when touched with a fork.
What to Serve with Bake Cod
This baked cod dish is so scrumptious and pairs well with many side dishes as well as tartar sauce, fresh parsley, and lemon. Below are a few of our favorites sides to try!
- Steamed carrots, asparagus, or green beans
- Mashed potatoes
- Macaroni and cheese
- Green salad
- Rice
- Baked Potato
- Sweet mashed potatoes
- French fries
- Potato salad
- Smashed baby potatoes
Storing Baked Cod Fish
Sadly, this recipe does not freeze well as it will be toughen the fish and make the cracker crumbs really soggy. But, you can store any leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 2 days for best taste. Simply microwave to heat throughout.
Where to Buy Wild-Caught Pacific Cod
We received our Wild-Caught Pacific Cod Fish in our Chop Box. You can learn more about this meat and seafood delivery service in our Good Chop Review Post. Or, you can visit their site to save $100 off your first 3 boxes! You choose what you want in your box so that is really cool! If you want all cod–go for it!
If you cannot get cod, you can use scrod (young cod), haddock, flounder, or rock fish.
Delicious New England Baked Cod Fish
Equipment
- oven adjusted to the center rack position
- Small baking dish – We used an 8"x8" pan
- cutting board & knife
- paper towels
- food processor
- Microwave
- Bowls
Ingredients
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400°F. Grease a baking dish with one tablespoon of melted butter and set aside.
- If fish is in large pieces, cut it into smaller portion sizes. Season cod fillets with salt and pepper on each side and place them in the baking dish.
- In a food processor, chop the Ritz crackers until a rough crumb is formed. You don't want them super fine, but processed enough to have some larger pieces.
- In a bowl, combine melted butter and crushed Ritz crackers.
- Sprinkle crumbs on top of the seasoned fish.
- Bake at 400°F for 25-30 minutes or until crackers are golden brown and fish is no longer opaque. It should be white, and flaky.
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