Lemon Piccata Cod is a simple, delicious dish that features pan-seared cod, cooked in butter, and topped with a lemon, wine and caper sauce to serve.
Several months ago I had some cod fillets in the freezer that I wanted to use for dinner. I started pondering HOW I wanted to cook them. Isn’t that always the case? Here’s some fish… now how should I cook it?
I ended up deciding to cook them and use the sauce I make for my yummy chicken piccata. It would just have to work for cod! This plan sounded good to me. How can you go wrong with cooking fresh fish and serving it with a butter, wine, broth, capers and lemon juice sauce? It seemed like lemon piccata cod was just begging to be made. So… I made it! And it WAS good! Who knew?
Lemon piccata cod is very simple to make, as well, and the whole dish can be ready in about 20 minutes! The cod fillets are pan-seared (in browned butter) until done, then a simple but delicious pan sauce is made and spooned over the fish, when served. Here’s how to make this dish:
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Prepare The Cod Fillets
Place about 2-3 Tablespoons of flour onto a dinner sized plate. Add salt and pepper, then mix these ingredients together, and spread it out on the plate.
Rinse the cod fillets, and then pat them dry with paper towels. Place each cod fillet into the flour mixture one at a time, and “dredge” the fish in the flour to completely cover BOTH sides.
Cook The Cod Fillets
Heat 2 Tablespoons butter (on medium heat) in a large non-stick skillet. When butter has melted and skillet is really hot, add the pieces of fish. Cook the fish for about 4 minutes. When the bottom of the fish is nice and golden brown, carefully turn the fish to the other side.
Continue cooking the fish for another 3-4 minutes until golden brown and crispy on the outside. TIP: The butter will brown as you cook the fish. Spoon the browned butter over the top of the fish as they cook (after turning to second side). Do this often, because it helps to add even more flavor!
Once the fish is done, remove from the skillet and keep warm while you make the lemon piccata pan sauce. Do NOT clean the skillet. Leave all that browned butter in there!
Make The Pan Sauce For The Lemon Piccata Cod
To the browned butter in the skillet, add the white wine and minced garlic. Cook on medium high heat until the garlic has slightly browned and some of the wine has cooked away. This will take 2-3 minutes (approximately).
Add chicken broth, lemon juice and the capers to the skillet. Cook until very hot (2-3 minutes), and then add 1 Tablespoons of butter to the skillet, to finish the sauce. Cook, stirring often until butter has melted and is incorporated into the sauce. Once done, you are ready to serve the lemon piccata cod!
Serve The Lemon Piccata Cod
To serve this dish, place each of the lemon piccata cod fillets onto dinner plates. Spoon some of the lemon piccata sauce over the surface of the fish. Feel free to use as much or as little sauce as you wish. You will probably have a tiny bit extra left over.
The lemon piccata sauce adds so much flavor to the very mild tasting cod, so I recommend a good couple spoonfuls! Garnish each piece of fish with a couple thin lemon slices, and serve!
I truly hope you will consider trying this very simple, but tasty lemon piccata cod, and trust you will enjoy it! Have a wonderful day!
Looking For More Recipes That Use COD?
You can find all of my seafood recipes in the Recipe Index, located at the top of the page. A few favorites that use COD include:
- Roast Cod with Garlic Bacon Butter
- Spicy Fish Sandwich with Chili Mayo
- Chili, Lime & Cumin Cod
- Beer-Battered Fish and Chips
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Lemon Piccata Cod is a simple, delicious dish that features pan-seared cod, cooked in butter, and topped with a lemon, wine and caper sauce to serve.
- 8 ounces cod fillets (2 fillets-4 ounces per fillet)
- 3 Tablespoons all purpose flour
- salt/pepper, to season fish
- 2 Tablespoons butter
- 1/3 cup dry white wine
- 1½ teaspoons minced garlic
- 3/4 cup chicken broth
- 3 Tablespoons lemon juice (fresh)
- 3 Tablespoons capers , drained
- 1 Tablespoon butter
- fresh lemon slices , for garnish (optional)
Place about 2-3 Tablespoons of flour onto a dinner sized plate. Add salt and pepper, then mix these ingredients together, and spread it out on the plate.
Rinse the cod fillets, and then pat them dry with paper towels. Place each cod fillet into the flour mixture one at a time, and "dredge" the fish in the flour to completely cover BOTH sides.
Heat 2 Tablespoons butter (on medium heat) in a large non-stick skillet. When butter has melted and skillet is really hot, add the pieces of fish. Cook the fish for about 4 minutes. When the bottom of the fish is nice and golden brown, carefully turn the fish to the other side. Continue cooking for another 3-4 minutes until golden brown and crispy on the outside. TIP: The butter will brown as you cook the fish. Spoon the browned butter over the top of the fish as they cook (after turning to second side). Do this often, because it helps to add even more flavor! Once the fish is done, remove from the skillet and keep warm while you make the pan sauce. Do NOT clean the skillet. Leave all that browned butter in there!
To the browned butter in the skillet, add the white wine and minced garlic. Cook on medium high heat until the garlic has slightly browned and some of the wine has cooked away. This will take 2-3 minutes (approximately). Add chicken broth, lemon juice and the capers to the skillet. Cook until very hot (2-3 minutes), and then add 1 Tablespoons of butter to the skillet, to finish the sauce. Cook, stirring often until butter has melted and is incorporated into the sauce. Once done, you are ready to serve the dish! To serve, place the fish onto dinner plates. Spoon the lemon piccata sauce over the surface of the fish. Feel free to use as much or as little sauce as you wish. Enjoy!
Here’s one more to pin on your Pinterest boards!