If you're looking for a dinner that's impressive enough to serve to guests, but still easy enough for a weeknight, this Cod Piccata is it. Flaky cod is coated in a light crust and finished in a bright lemon butter caper sauce that's perfect for spooning over pasta, orzo, or whatever you have on hand.
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There aren't many foods that aren't made even more delicious with freshly squeezed lemon juice.
While chicken piccata gets most of the attention these days, piccata-style sauce works with all kinds of proteins, including lots of seafoods. This cod piccata is one of my favorite ways to take a simple white fish and bring it to a whole new level.
If you're trying to eat more fish, this cod dish is an easy and delicious way to prepare it!
❤️ Why this recipe works
The mild fish is perfectly complemented by lemon: cod is mild and flaky, so it absorbs the lemon caper sauce really well, while still holding its shape when gently handled.
The cod has a light coating of flour: the fish is dredged in just a thin layer of flour, which helps give the cod a subtle golden exterior and allows the sauce to cling, but it doesn't overwhelm the delicate fish.
Flexible ingredient options: as long as you have cod and lemon juice, there are lots of shortcuts and ingredient swaps you can use to make a delicious dish.
Easy, but impressive: this cod is easy enough to serve for a weeknight dinner, but also impressive enough to serve company.
🗒 Ingredients
Here's everything you need to make this easy cod piccata (be sure to view the recipe card at the bottom of this post for ingredient amounts and full recipe instructions):
- Cod fillets
- All-purpose flour
- Salt
- Pepper
- Garlic powder
- Dried parsley
- Olive oil
- Unsalted butter divided
- Dry white wine: optional ingredient
- Freshly squeezed lemon juice
- Low-sodium chicken broth or vegetable broth
- Capers
- Fresh parsley
🍋 Recipe tips
- Dry the cod well before coating in flour mixture as an excess moisture will make it harder for your fish to brown. I pat the fillets with paper towels.
- I recommend using a stainless steel skillet as it helps form flavorful browned bits on the bottom, which add to the depth and deliciousness of the final dish.
- If you don't have a large enough pan, cook the cod in batches. You don't want to overcrowd it in the pan.
- Watch cod carefully to prevent overcooking. Cod can cook fast and can go from flaky to dry very quickly. You'll know it's done when you see an opaque flesh that flakes easily with a fork.
- You can keep the cod warm by tenting the plate with a piece of foil, but remember you'll be warming it in the sauce before enjoying.
- White wine helps add complexity to the sauce and is also great at dissolving the brown bits at the bottom of the pan. But you can definitely skip it and will still get an incredible dish.
- Lower heat before whisking butter into sauce. You want the sauce to emulsify and turn glossy instead of breaking.
- Taste the sauce before adding more salt. Capers add a good amount of saltiness, so you may not need to add more.
- Always use freshly squeezed lemon juice and not the bottled juice. Bottled lemon juice doesn't have the same bright and aromatic flavor and is more acidic. Trust me on this!
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- Add cod back into the skillet and spoon sauce over it. Let it warm a bit before serving.
- You can serve the cod piccata over anything you want. I almost always opt for the traditional pasta, but you can use grains or even vegetables.
- Whatever you serve it with, be sure to spoon more sauce over everything.
🥗 What to serve with
Here are some ideas for what you can serve the cod with:
- Angel hair pasta, linguine, or the pasta of your choice
- Orzo
- Polenta
- Rice
- Couscous
- Farro
- Risotto
- Sautéed spinach
- Mashed potatoes
- Baby potatoes
- Crusty Bread
I also like to serve this dish with a side of broccoli, asparagus, or green beans.
⏲️ How to store leftovers
This cod piccata is definitely best when enjoyed right after making it. But you can save leftovers if you have them.
I recommend storing the cod and sauce in an airtight container in the fridge for 2 days at most.
For best serving results, heat the fish and sauce over low heat in a skillet. You can add an extra splash of broth or water if sauce is thin or breaking.
You can also re-heat it in the microwave using 50% power, but take care not to heat it too much or it could dry out.
🎉 Recipe substitutions
This recipe is pretty versatile and forgiving if you don't have certain ingredients. Here are some ideas for substitutions:
- Use halibut, tilapia, or sole instead of cod. Any mild, white flaky fish will work.
- Try the dish with shrimp.
- Use gluten-free flour or even rice flour for the fish coating. You can also skip this step, but note the sauce won't cling to the fish quite as well.
- Add the seasonings of your choice into the flour mixture.
- If you don't have fresh and have to use bottle lemon juice, I recommend adding a little splash of white vinegar. If you have lemon zest, add that, too.
- If you don't have capers, try green olives or even a few pieces of chopped anchovy.
- If you don't have butter for finishing the dish, add a splash of cream.
- Traditional piccata does not have garlic, but if you can't imagine a dish without garlic, you can certainly add it.
- Chopped shallots of onion would also be yummy.
- Finish the dish with grated parmesan.
- Stir in dijon mustard for a little tang.
🐟 More easy fish recipes
One of my favorite things about most seafood dishes is that they're simple and easy to make, but are also impressive enough to serve to guests.
Here are some of my favorite recipes:
If you love lemon flavor, I hope you'll try this cod dish!
I also highly recommend serving these lemon cookie dough bars for dessert.
📖 Recipe
Cod Piccata
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Ingredients
- 1 ½ lbs. cod cut into 4 fillets
- ⅓ cup all-purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon pepper
- ¼ teaspoon garlic powder
- ¼ teaspoon dried parsley
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 6 tablespoon unsalted butter divided
- ½ cup dry white wine optional
- ½ cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
- 1 cup low-sodium chicken broth or vegetable broth
- ¼ cup capers drained
- ¼ cup chopped parsley
Instructions
- In a shallow bowl, combine flour, salt, pepper, garlic powder, and dried parsley.
- Pat cod fillets lightly with paper towel to dry. Put the fish in the flour mixture to lightly coat both sides, shaking off excess.
- Heat olive oil and 2 tablespoon butter in a large skillet (I like to use stainless) over medium heat.
- Put cod fillets in skillet and cook for 3-4 minutes per side, until golden and just cooked through. Remove to a plate and keep warm.
- If using, add white wine to skillet and scrape up browned bits with a wooden spoon. Let it simmer 1-2 minutes to reduce slightly. If not using wine, add lemon juice now and use a wooden spoon to scrape up browned bits.
- Add lemon juice (if not yet added), chicken or vegetable broth, and capers and simmer for 3-4 minutes to reduce slightly.
- With heat on low, whisk in remaining 4 tablespoon butter, 1 tablespoon at a time until the sauce is glossy. Taste and add more salt if desired.
- Gently nestle the cod back into the pan and spoon sauce over the top. Simmer 1-2 minutes to warm through. Sprinkle fresh parsley over the top. I like to add red pepper flakes, too.
- Serve cod piccata over angel hair pasta, orzo, couscous, or the side of your choice.
Notes
- This cod piccata is best when enjoyed right after making it, but you can save leftovers if you have them. I recommend storing the cod and sauce in an airtight container in the fridge for 2 days at most. For best serving results, heat the fish and sauce over low heat in a skillet. You can add an extra splash of broth or water if sauce is thin or breaking. You can also heat at 50% in the microwave, but take care not to over-cook or you risk drying out fish.
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