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Why You’ll Love My Recipe
Lightly crispy on the outside, tender and flaky on the inside, this pan-fried cod is ready to eat in less than 15 minutes!
Make your own Cajun seasoning to use for this recipe. Learn How to Clean White Fish if you’ll be preparing this with fish you caught yourself. Check out these Fish Tacos for another easy fish meal.
Karlynn’s Recipe Notes
- Skill Level: This is an easy recipe.
- Total Time: It takes just 15 minutes to make this fish.
- Variations: Try using shallots instead of the green onions. Add some minced garlic or fresh herbs like dill or tarragon to the melted butter. Experiment with adding a bit of onion powder, some lemon pepper, or whatever seasonings you generally enjoy on fish.
- Tools Needed: For this recipe, you’ll need a large skillet, a cutting board, a knife, and a spatula for flipping the fish.
What You’ll Need For Ingredients
Seasoning: This recipe uses a tasty Cajun seasoning on the cod that adds a lot of flavor. But there are other seasonings for fish, too. You can use Fish Seasoning or a great garlic mix, as that always goes well with white fish too.
Cod: While you can use a different white fish instead, cod tends not to have a strong fish flavor and is often used for the familiar “fish and chips” dinners that people enjoy. It also tends to hold together nicely in the pan.
Butter: Salted butter, unsalted butter, a plant-based alternative, or even a neutral oil will work just fine for this recipe. Just adjust your cooking temperature to ensure nothing burns.
How To Make Pan Fried Cod
This is a brief overview of the recipe. The full list of ingredients and step-by-step instructions are in the recipe card below.
- Season fish fillets with your seasoning of choice. Set aside on a plate.
- Melt butter on medium heat in a pan.
- Stir in lemon juice and green onion. Cook for 3 minutes.
- Add the cod and fry for approximately 3 minutes per side, basting with butter, until it’s browned and flaky.
- Remove from heat and let rest for 5 minutes before serving.
Karlynn’s Tips and Tricks for Making Pan Fried Cod
Using Oil: You can use oil to pan-fry fish. If you are going to cook fish at a higher temperature, it is recommended to use oil because it has a higher smoking point. Oils like canola, corn, safflower, peanut, and avocado oil have higher smoking points for pan-frying fish. We like to use butter at a lower temperature as it adds more flavor to the fish. Whether you use butter or oil, make sure it’s sizzling in the pan before you add the fish.
Suggested Sides: Pan-fried cod goes great with almost any vegetable side dish. Try serving it with Roasted Fingerling Potatoes or some Air-Fried French Fries. For those with a sweet tooth, you can add Candied Carrots or Sweet Potato Fries. Make some Dirty Rice or Mushroom Rice to round out the meal even more.
Storage Instructions
Fridge: This fish is best eaten while warm and fresh. However, once the fish is cooled, you can store it in a sealed container in the fridge for 2-3 days. Reheat for a few seconds in the microwave or an air fryer.
Freezer: Try freezing the fish spread out on a plate or tray until it’s solid before putting it into a freezer safe container or bag. That way it won’t stick together into one big clump. You can freeze it in a sealed container for a few months.
More Delicious Fish Recipes
Looking for more easy ways to prepare fish?
Try this Extravagantly Luxurious Garlic & Herb Fish with rice and vegetables.
Make some Maple Glazed Salmon.
If you love ranch, why not try making Zesty Ranch Air Fryer Fish?
There you go, everyone. A quick and easy way to make yummy fried cod. Try out this recipe and let me know what you think.
Happy Cooking!
Karlynn
Pan Fried Cod
Ingredients
- 16 ounces cod fillets, two 8 ounce pieces cut in half
- 1 tablespoon Cajun seasoning
- ¼ teaspoon pepper
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 1 lemon, juiced
- 2 tablespoons chopped green onion, white part only
Instructions
- Season both sides of cod fillets with Cajun seasoning, pepper, and salt. Set fillets aside on a plate.
- Melt butter in a small saucepan over medium heat, stir in lemon juice and green onion, and cook until onion is softened, about 3 minutes.
- Cook fillets on the preheated pan until browned and flaky, about 3 minutes per side; baste frequently with butter mixture while cooking.
- Allow fillets to rest off the heat for about 5 minutes before serving.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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