Baking fish in foil was probably one of the first “grown up” meals I learned to cook on my own. This was, of course, after I had mastered the ubiquitous pasta plus sauce combo of college youth everywhere. Then I moved on to the fine art of inadvertently frying the contents of a stir fry mix that came with a pre-packaged sauce. Somehow I never found being vegetarian and broke too inspring; it may have had something to do with discovering alcohol. Or boys. Food was definitely not a priority then. But when I did eventually grow up a little, this fish baking method was a lifesaver. It’s quick, of course. But it’s also pretty infinitely variable in terms of seasonings and flavors. Plus it works for almost every type of thick sliced fish, even those that are very lean and would otherwise be at risk of drying out. I especially love the baked halibut version of this because of the firm texture. Because I used very light vegetables here, I did make an extra side dish to go with this (mmm, greeeeeeens) but if you sub in some leeks and mushrooms, say, you wouldn’t even have to make a side dish. And as long as you don’t rip a hole in the foil – like I still manage to do almost every time – you won’t even have to clean a pan. Bonus!
PrintBaked Halibut with Lemon & Thai Chili
Baked halibut made easy, wrapped in foil packets. No mess, no fuss and no dried out fish fillets! Yay!
- Prep Time: 10 mins
- Cook Time: 15 mins
- Total Time: 25 mins
- Yield: 4 servings 1x
Ingredients
- 4 cups spinach, packed
- 2 11oz halibut steaks, about an inch thick
- Juice of half a lemon
- Salt and pepper to taste
- Sprinkle of smoked paprika
- 1/2 lemon, sliced into 4
- Half bunch of green onions, sliced
- 1 red thai (birds eye) chili, deseeded, halved & sliced thinly
- 1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
- 2 tbl avocado oil, divided
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400F. Lay out two large squares of foil and divide the spinach between the two equally, placing it in the middle of each square.
- On a chopping board, lay out the halibut steaks. There is a membrane running down the middle of each steak, along with a small bone that need to be removed. Run a small knife between the flesh and the membrane, separating each side of the steak away from both membrane and bone. Each steak should now be divided into two separate pieces of fish, so that you have four pieces in total.
- Lay two pieces of halibut on top of each pile of spinach. Squeeze the lemon juice over the fillets, season to taste with smoked paprika and top each one with a slice of lemon.
- Divide the sliced green onions, thai chili and cherry tomatoes equally between the two squares. Divide the avocado oil so that each piece of fish is topped with about 1/2 tbl oil.
- Wrap the foil around the fish tightly & place both packages on a baking tray.
- Bake for approximately 15 minutes, until fish is cooked through and flakes easily.
- Remove the fish from the packages (as well as the skin from the fish if you want) and plate, spooning the juices over the fillets before serving.
Yum! I’ve been eating the same catfish recipe over and over again and I think it’s time I break out of my rut. Thankfully salmon was on sale this week but next time I see halibut I will definitely be giving this a try.
PS I can’t remember if you’ve mentioned it before, but I’m curious as to which camera you use. Your photos are always beautiful. Been thinking of buying my own DSLR and just can’t make a decision.
This would work really well with cod, too, which is usually cheaper. Plus you wouldn’t have to debone it which would make it quicker!
Thank you for your kind words about my pictures – I shamelessly “borrowed” my husband’s camera for the first time maybe a few months ago and have yet to actually give it back. Oops. I believe it’s a Canon T3i, I’ll have to check on the lens we use for food pictures! 🙂
This is what I’m looking for. Now I know what to cook this upcoming weekend. Ed of AlaskasHealthySeafood.com
Great! Quick and seems easy to prepare. Good idea for dinner. Thanks!
I was looking for a fish recipe that I could use my new bottle of Thai Sweet chili sauce which has no sugar in it…lol.
So I adapted your recipe here…did it just the same but, instead of just chili powder, I used the sauce.
I took your advice and added some chopped mushrooms to the package. Checked it after 15 minutes but was not full cooked so left it another 5 minutes…perfect. Added a bit more of the sugar free sweet Thai chili sauce and it was the perfect Keto meal. Thank you for posting.
★★★★★