Weeknight Easy Mustard Roasted Fish Recipe

We all know that seafood is good for us. When you want an easy weeknight meal, fish is a great choice. Want a quick and easy dish to pop in the oven for a weeknight dinner? I love this delicious weeknight easy mustard roasted fish recipe.

We love seafood for its light texture and health benefits. A fish or shrimp dish is on the table at least two or three times a week.

Seafood dishes are wonderful in the warm months and in the cooler months, too.

The variety of seafood available in our markets today is truly amazing. With current fishing methods, transportation, and refrigeration, seafood can be caught on the east or west coast one day and in your local grocery store the next day.

We are very fortunate that our local Central Market has a huge seafood area. Sweet Shark thinks on any given day, there are 20 – 25 varieties of seafood in the iced containers. The fishmongers stay busy.

Inspiration for this Fish Recipe

Several years ago, each month I wrote a column for a local neighborhood magazine. I interviewed a neighborhood resident who shared a favorite family or entertaining recipe.

One month, my subject shared a dish that she often prepared for casual dinner parties for friends.  It comes from Ina Garten’s Barefoot Contessa Back to Basics Cookbook.

The resident shares the story behind the recipe with me, prepares two plates and a photographer takes pictures of the dish and the resident. I write the story and I get the benefit of the recipe.

After my interview and photo session, I would often prepare the dish for Sweet Shark. Since we love fish, this dish fit perfectly in my easy prep, easy cooking, easy clean-up requirements. And it is delicious!

Ironically, I have seven Barefoot Contessa cookbooks. But the one I didn’t have was Back to Basics. So I was happy that I had one recipe from the book.

 I knew it was high time that I shared this easy mustard roasted fish recipe with you.

Mustard-Roasted Fish Preparation

The suggested fish for this recipe is red snapper, which is what I used. You could also use tilapia, red or white fish.

I like that the sauce has both Dijon and coarse-ground mustard, two ingredients we always have in the refrigerator.

Crème fraîche, basically French sour cream, is now available in just about any grocery store. It adds a wonderful tanginess to sauces.

We love capers so that was another bonus.

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Recipe Ingredients

As always, gather all your ingredients for your mise en place.

• 4 skinless fish fillets
• Dijon mustard
• course-grain mustard
• capers
• shallots
• crème fraîche
• kosher salt
• freshly ground pepper

Why is This Such a Great Recipe for Weeknight Dining?

• It’s so easy that anyone can make it.
• It’s a quick dish to prep and roast – 15 minutes tops.
• Because it’s roasted in the oven, it doesn’t dirty the stovetop.
• It allows you to focus on making the side dishes.
• It needs just a few simple ingredients.

Steps to Making this Fish Dish

Step 1 – Pre-heat the oven to 425˚F.

Step 2 – Place a sheet of parchment paper on a rimmed baking dish or in a baking dish. Add the fish fillets and generously salt and pepper.

NOTE: I like to use a sheet of parchment paper on the half sheet pan for easier clean up. When you are done baking the fish, wad up the parchment paper, throw it away, and wipe down the sheet pan.

NOTE: This red snapper was one side of the fish. I cut into into two generous pieces. A normal serving would be 4 – 6 ounces.

Step 3 – Gather and measure all the ingredients for the mustard sauce.

Step 4 – In a small bowl, combine all the other ingredients and blend thoroughly with a spoon, rubber spatula, or whisk.

Step 5 – Spoon the sauce over the fish fillets, covering them completely. Sprinkle some more capers on top of the fillets.

NOTE: I halved the recipe and had more than enough sauce. If you have leftover sauce, place it in an air-tight container and use it with other seafood, such as salmon or crab cakes. It will last a few days in the refrigerator.

NOTE: The mustard sauce not only provides a lot of flavor to this dish, it also keeps the fish moist and tender.

Step 6 – Place the sheet pan in the heated oven. The original recipe calls for the fish to bake 10-15 minutes.

NOTE: I find that it’s best to check doneness after 8 minutes. Experience has shown that fifteen minutes is way too long for a thin piece of fish like this.

TIP: The traditional rule of thumb to cook fish is 10 minutes per inch. In culinary school, I had an instructor who said this was too long, that 8 minutes per inch was better. I’ve followed that suggestion ever since and my fish have always been perfectly cooked, never dry or overdone.

I cooked these fillets for 10 minutes and they were flakey and done. Use your judgement and the type of fish to determine the length of cook time.

Serve hot out of the oven.

That’s all there is to this dish.

For another meal, I paired this sauce with boneless, skinless chicken breasts. I sautéed the chicken breasts in a skillet and added the sauce the last few minutes of cooking.

TIP: You can add an herb, such as tarragon or thyme, which is a good pairing with the mustard.

I served the Mustard-Roasted Fish with roasted asparagus and roasted corn, grape tomatoes, and sliced shallots garnished with fresh basil from our herb garden. It was a delicious meal, completed in under 20 minutes.

Here is another favorite seafood recipe – Baked Salmon with Butter Garlic Lemon Sauce – that is so easy and delicious.

What to Serve with the Mustard Roasted Fish?

Just about any vegetable side dish will work beautifully with this fish recipe. Here are a few suggestions.

• Delicious Southern Creamed Corn
• Maque Choux
• Easy Skillet Sautéed Corn and Okra
• Easy Pesto, Corn, and Tomatoes

Hope you enjoyed the lesson and the recipe! I know you will want to Pin this recipe for your future dining pleasure. You can check out more recipes on these Pinterest Boards: Seafood Recipes, Recipes, and side dishes on Vegetable Recipes.