LEMON BAKED COD WITH PARMESAN CHEESE

A simple, healthy weeknight recipe for baked cod coated in parmesan cheese and drizzled with lemon juice. Low carb, keto friendly, and gluten free.

This recipe is for anyone who finds themselves always making the same chicken dinners every night. You want to break out of the rut, and to expand your repertoire into other meaty entrees. If you like seafood, this lemon baked cod is an excellent choice for a first foray into making fish dinners — all of the cooking is left to the oven, making it a breeze — and it tastes deliciously lemony with parmesan cheese flavors.

It’s fast to make as well, taking only 30 minutes total for prep time and baking, so you can add this to your weeknight dinner rotation. I call this a “pantry dinner” since you don’t need much in the way of fresh ingredients: the cod can be bought frozen and then thawed, paprika is a dried spice, finely grated parmesan cheese is usually in abundance in my cheese drawer, and I always have butter and garlic cloves readily available.

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 pounds cod fillets thawed if frozen
• 3/4 cup finely grated parmesan cheese (sandy consistency)
• 1 lemon zested and juiced
• 4 cloves garlic minced
• 4 tablespoons salted butter melted
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley
• 1 teaspoon paprika
• salt and pepper

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 400 F.
2. Pat the cod fillets dry using paper towels. Remove bones, if any.
3. Prepare a shallow bowl with melted butter and minced garlic. Stir together until well-mixed.
4. In another shallow bowl, add parmesan and paprika. Stir together until well-mixed.
5. Prepare a baking dish large enough for all cod fillets to sit in a single layer. Line the dish with parchment paper.
6. Working with one fillet at a time, dip it into the melted butter and flip to coat all sides, then into the parmesan mixture to coat all sides, and then place it onto the lined baking dish.
7. Repeat for all other cod fillets and keep them evenly distributed on the baking dish. Distribute any remaining parmesan on top of the fillets, pressing down to adhere.
8. Sprinkle parsley and half of the lemon zest on top of the cod fillets.
9. Bake at 400 F until the cod is cooked through, about 15 minutes. The cod is cooked when it can be easily flaked using a fork.
10. Spoon lemon juice on top of the cod, about 2 tablespoons. Sprinkle remaining lemon zest on top. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Nutrition Notes

This recipe yields 1.5 g net carbs per serving.

all image & recipes adapted by www.savorytooth.com