Bring the South of France to your home kitchen by making Cod Provencal, an easy one-skillet dinner that comes together in under 30 minutes.
Fish Provençal is a rustic, but easy-to-make French recipe where hearty white fish fillets are nestled in an aromatic tomato sauce with thinly sliced onions, fennel, and garlic sautéed together until they’re softened and sweet. The anise notes of fennel, a favorite ingredient in Provencal-style cuisine, work beautifully to help transport you to the Mediterranean, no matter where your kitchen is!
This bright and cozy cod recipe is a riff on a classic Chicken Provençal, a staple in Southern French cuisine. While I use Cod in this recipe, the same flavor combination is just as delicious with haddock, halibut, hake, or any other meaty white fish you like!
Another thing to love about fish Provençal? It all cooks in one pan, which makes for easy prep work and even easier clean-up. I like to use a cast iron skillet for this recipe, but any large, oven-safe pan will work.
Table of Contents
What’s in Cod Provençal?
If you don’t already have most of the ingredients for this recipe, you can find them in any grocery store. Here’s the full list:
- Cod is a mild-tasting white fish with a firm texture and large flakes that make it ideal for baking. You can use fresh or frozen then thawed cod fillets. Or substitute any meaty white fish such as hake, haddock, halibut, or even mahi mahi.
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper: I think you get the best tasting result if you season this dish in stages as you cook, rather than trying to season it all at the end.
- Extra virgin olive oil helps the onion and fennel soften and adds richness to the finished sauce. Hojiblanca Spanish EVOO has notes of fresh cut grass, apples, and tomatoes, which complement this recipe.
- Onion: Sautéed slowly, the onion softens and becomes sweet.
- Fennel adds a floral, anise-like flavor to the sauce that makes this dish decidedly French. Need an idea for the rest of the bulb? Try this roasted fennel with Parmesan.
- Garlic adds lots of flavor to the tomato sauce. Skip the jarred stuff and mince three fresh cloves for a sharp, balanced flavor.
- Crushed tomatoes form the base for this dish, which also means that you can make it even when fresh tomatoes aren’t in season.
- Kalamata olives: I love the richness and briny flavor that kalamata olives add to this sauce. Just a few pack a punch.
- Thyme is a classic Provençal ingredient that adds earthiness to the sauce. You can substitute a teaspoon of dried thyme, if you like.
- Parsley: Chopped fresh parsley brightens up the dish with flavor and color. My preference is for flat-leaf parsley, but curly would work fine, too.
- Lemon zest adds brightness and subtle floral notes to the rich tomato mixture.
How to Make Cod Provencal
Although this cod recipe is mostly prepared and cooked in a skillet on the stovetop, you’ll finish baking it in the oven until the fish is cooked through. I like to have everything prepped before I start cooking. Here’s how I tackle it step by step.
- Get ready. Preheat the oven to 350℉. Thinly slice half a large yellow onion. Core and thinly slice half of a fennel bulb. Mince three garlic cloves. Cut 1/4 cup pitted kalamata olives in half, lengthwise. Strip 1 tablespoon thyme leaves from the stem and finely chop. Grab a small handful of flat-leaf parsley leaves and finely chop 1 tablespoon. Zest one lemon. Pat 4 (5-ounce) cod fillets dry with paper towels. Season with salt and pepper. Set aside.
- Sauté the vegetables. Heat the olive oil in a large cast-iron skillet set over medium-low heat. Add the onion, fennel, and 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt. Cook, stirring, for 7 to 9 minutes until the vegetables are softened. Add the garlic, stir, and cook for 1 minute, just until fragrant.
- Make the sauce. Add the crushed tomatoes, olives, thyme, parsley, lemon zest, another 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Stir and cook for about 2 minutes until the mixture begins to thicken.
- Bake the fish in the sauce. Nestle the cod fillets into the sauce, spooning a little over the top. Transfer to the oven and bake for 6 to 8 minutes until the fish is cooked through and flakes easily.
- Finish and serve. Season with salt and pepper. Garnish with more chopped parsley and serve.
What to Serve with Fish Provençal
I like to serve fish Provençal with crusty bread like French Baguettes or Homemade Focaccia to sop up the tomato sauce.
It would also pair well with this Butter Lettuce Salad with Tarragon Vinaigrette served on the side. And any South-of-France-inspired dish would be lovely with a Rosé Lemonade.
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30-Minute Fish Provençal
Ingredients
- 1 1/4 pound cod fillets, cut in 4 portions
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt divided, plus more to taste
- 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, plus more to taste
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 1/2 large yellow onion, thinly sliced
- 1/2 bulb fennel, cored and thinly sliced
- 3 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 14.5-ounce can crushed tomatoes
- 1/4 cup pitted Kalamata olives, halved
- 1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves
- 1 tablespoon chopped parsley leaves, plus more to garnish
- Zest of 1 lemon
Instructions
- Get ready. Preheat the oven to 350℉. Pat the cod dry with paper towels. Season with salt and pepper. Set aside.
- Sauté the vegetables. Heat the olive oil in a large cast iron skillet set over medium-low heat. Add the onion, fennel, and 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt. Cook, stirring, for 7 to 9 minutes until the vegetables are softened. Add the garlic, stir, and cook for 1 minute, just until fragrant.
- Make the sauce. Add the crushed tomatoes, olives, thyme, parsley, lemon zest, another 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Stir and cook for about 2 minutes until the mixture begins to thicken.
- Bake the fish in the sauce. Nestle the cod fillets into the sauce, spooning a little over top. Transfer to the oven and bake for 6 to 8 minutes until the fish is cooked through and flakes easily.
- Finish and serve. Season with salt and pepper. Garnish with more chopped parsley and serve.
Notes
Nutrition
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