If you’re looking for simple cod recipes, you’ll love this lively flavored version. Topped with a quick and luscious Mustard Caper Cream Sauce makes this a super exciting seafood entree. This pan fried cod recipe uses a classic restaurant technique for a beautifully seared cod fillet. A method that can easily be mastered at home.
Disclaimer: I have received free product from Sitka Salmon Shares. My opinions about their products are my own.
Purchasing seafood for our weekly seafood entree finds me experiencing mini-anxiety issues when approaching the seafood counter.
- What will they have?
- Will I know what it is? … Turbot? Never heard of it.
- How much will it cost?
- Will I be able to prepare it correctly?
- Is it wild caught?
- How fresh is it… really.
- Should I just purchase it from the freezer section instead?
- Cooking fish is such a fickle event for me.
- …actually, those chicken breasts in the next section look more familiar and safer.
Sound familiar?
Sitka Salmon Shares to the rescue.
I’m so glad I found a company by the name of Sitka Salmon Shares. Especially being land locked like we are here in Colorado.
Blast-frozen at the peak of freshness, Sitka Salmon Shares delivers fresh as I could ever dream of seafood, directly to my front doorstep. It’s a very cool program. Check it out, and head over to their website for the full story.
It’s a win-win. You get some of the best seafood you’ll ever taste and you feel good about your purchase.
And where there’s fresh Alaskan seafood, you’ll find plenty of fresh cod. And I’m thrilled to be honing my skills for preparing the best cod recipes I possibly can.
How to pan fry cod, successfully
I personally think it’s harder to cook a thin piece of fish than a thick one. And cod is a thin fillet, delicate light and flakey. Plus it has a tendency to break when you handle it. Here are some tips I learned in Culinary School for a successful pan fried cod fillet.
- Make sure the cod fillet is nice and dry. Patting with a paper towel will do the trick.
- Create a barrier for the delicate flesh of cod by dusting the cod with flour. I like the light texture of Wondra Flour. Season the cod fillet with salt and pepper and then sprinkle it generously with the flour. Shake off any excess flour. The flour will help hold the fish together. You can also use panko bread crumbs in place of the flour.
- Using a heavy bottomed pan. A well-seasoned cast iron skillet is a good choice. Let that skillet get nice and hot over medium high heat for a couple of minutes before adding the oil. Then let the oil heat to a shimmering point before adding the fresh cod fillets.
- Don’t be afraid of hot oil, if you’ve practiced due diligence in drying that cod fillet, the spattering will be virtually non-existent.
- Choosing a neutral oil with a high smoking point will help sear the flesh quicker to reduce the risk of the fish falling apart. Canola oil, vegetable oil and grape seed oil are good examples.
- Don’t over cook the fish. About 4 – 5 minutes per side and your fish will be crispy on the outside and flakey on the inside. And only turn the fish once. The less handling the better.
If you don’t have a cast iron skillet, I’d put it on my wish list if I were you. It’s a beautiful piece of equipment to have in your kitchen. It sears and browns so beautifully, you’ll feel like a restaurant chef.
I’ve even trusted delicate scallops to my cast iron for our favorite Seared Scallops with Pinot Gris Butter Sauce.
Recipe for Pan Fried Cod with Mustard Caper Sauce
Here’s why this recipe works. The delicate sweet flavor of fresh cod shines through the briny caper and tart mustard sauce. Keep the side dishes simple in flavor as to not have to many over-powering flavor on the plate. Serve with a fresh crisp tossed green salad, garlic butter baked potatoes or even simple pan grilled salt and peppered summer squash.
I hope you give this pan fried cod recipe a try and if you do, please come back and give the recipe a star rating and leave a comment about your experience with the recipe.
And if you have a recipe that you would consider to fall into the best cod recipes category, let me know, I’d love to give it a try.
More Cod Fish Recipes
One of our favorite seafood recipes is this Recipe for Ling Cod. Topped with an easy lemon aioli and served over wilted Swiss chard makes this a restaurant quality feel special seafood meal.
- Grilled Tequila Lime Cod Fish Tacos, Cod gets a quick marinade in lime juice, orange juice, some chili powder and the party gets even better because there’s tequila involved.
- Battered Fried Cod with Rose Marie Sauce, Marie Rose Sauce for Fried Fish is a classic sauce for any seafood but especially good with battered cod.
- Black Cod with Miso Glaze, Buttery and tender black cod is marinated in a magical miso ginger garlic glaze. Seared stovetop and finished in the oven.
And if you’re looking for more seafood recipes, don’t miss my Seafood Category, you’ll find some fun recipes including the most popular recipe on my site for Heavenly Halibut.
Culinary School Tip:
If you’re a caper lover like me, you’ll always have a jar of capers in brine in your refrigerator. They’re easy to find and have an indefinite shelf life. However, the vinegar in the brine sharpens the flavor of capers.
Look for salted capers next time and give them a try and let me know what you think. They’re packed in salt, and have a more pure flavor. However, the salt draws the moisture out the caper, which shortens the shelf life, Always rinse salted capers a couple of times before using.
If you liked this recipe, please leave a star ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ rating in the recipe card below and leave a comment. I always appreciate your feedback and hearing how everything went.
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Pan Fried Cod with Mustard Caper Cream Sauce
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons whole-grain mustard
- 1 tablespoon capers drained and rinsed
- 1 tablespoon fresh tarragon chopped, or 1 teaspoon dried tarragon
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 tablespoons white wine
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 2 tablespoons heavy cream
- 1 ½ pounds cod fillets 4 fillets, weight will vary
- ½ cup Wondra Flour
- 2 tablespoons canola oil
- salt and black pepper to taste
Instructions
- In a small bowl, stir together the mustard, capers, tarragon, olive oil, and white wine. Transfer to a small sauce pan and cook over medium low heat for 5 minutes. Remove from heat swirl in butter and heavy cream. Set aside.
- Pat the cod fillets dry and season with salt and pepper. Dust each fillet with the flour until well coated. Then shake off the excess flour.
- Heat 2 tablespoons of canola oil in a heavy bottomed pan, such as a cast iron. Cook until opaque throughout, 4 to 5 minutes per side.
- To serve, drizzle the cod with the mustard-caper sauce.
Notes
- Make sure the cod fillet is nice and dry. Patting with a paper towel will do the trick.
- Create a barrier for the delicate flesh of cod by dusting the cod with flour. I like the light texture of Wondra Flour. Season the cod fillet with salt and pepper and then sprinkle it generously with the flour. Shake off any excess flour. The flour will help hold the fish together. You can also use panko bread crumbs in place of the flour.
- Using a heavy bottomed pan. A well-seasoned cast iron skillet is a good choice. Let that skillet get nice and hot over medium high heat for a couple of minutes before adding the oil. Then let the oil heat to a shimmering point before adding the fresh cod fillets.
- Don’t be afraid of hot oil, if you’ve practiced due diligence in drying that cod fillet, the spattering will be virtually non-existent.
- Choosing a neutral oil with a high smoking point will help sear the flesh quicker to reduce the risk of the fish falling apart. Canola oil, vegetable oil and grape seed oil are good examples.
- Don’t over cook the fish. About 4 – 5 minutes per side and your fish will be crispy on the outside and flakey on the inside. And only turn the fish once. The less handling the better.
Nutrition
Pan Fried Cod with Mustard Caper Sauce …It’s What’s for Dinner.
Why Trust My Recipes? I am a Culinary School Graduate and a lifelong student of home cooking. I hope to inspire you try to cook as often as you can. I’ve been cooking for 50 years, and my recipes are tried and true tested and tested and then tested again before published. To read more take a look at my About Page.
Your meal sounds great especially with the sauce. Try turbot the next time it is available…one of my favorites as it has a lovely mild flavor much like flounder or sole. I can’t believe how expensive seafood is in the middle of the country.
Re: seafood costs, Karen you haven’t seen anything yet…you should see the price of Lobster. :/ That’s why you’ve never seen it on my blog.
beautiful Lea Ann, ya can’t go wrong with capers and lemon on flakey white fish… I have never heard of turbot either so I had to google it – turns out it’s a fancy name or similar to our bay flounder, which I love….
very nice recipe and a job well done – BTW.. bet that mustard sauce (and my Bordelaise reduction) would go great with that chicken in the case… have a great weekend
Well gosh, do you think they could have told me about turbot at the counter???? :/ I’ll buy it next time. I agree about your sauce and chicken. Your sauces are amazing.
Great photo and recipe!
Thanks Nancy.
I usually rely on salmon also for our fish dinners – or rainbow trout. Sometimes, I find cod a little bland but topped with your mustard caper sauce it sounds delicious!
Mee too Susan. RE: cod and “bland”. That’s why I didn’t go for the turbot, he said it was even milder.
I have a freezer full of sea bass I caught in Oregon this summer, makes me think the $100 I spent on chartering the boat wasn’t such a bad deal after all!
I’m definitely trying this one with some of my bass…
xxoo,
RMW
Wow, that’s a lot of wonderful Sea Bass! I hope you post some of the ways you cook it.
Great post! I think that caper and mustard sauce would great on anything. Heck, I’d probably eat a shingle if it had enough of that sauce on it ;). I’ve made a similar salad dressing and loved it on seafood.
If you get a chance, try the dry-cured capers – just capers and sea salt. The flavor is outstanding.
Thanks Dave! And LOL, I agree about the shingle/mustard caper sauce. I’ve seen those capers, I’ll pick some up next time.
I’ve never really cooked a fish … I mean, we eat fish, but “industrial” ones. I never dare to cook a “real” fish ! I know it’s stupid. Most of all I live close to the sea !!
So, sometimes, we go to eat fishes in restaurant.
It’s amazing, isn’t it? A piece of fresh halibut can cost more than a filet mignon (and it’s caught right off the Oregon coast!) Your dinner looks so delicious and I can’t wait to try the mustard-caper sauce. I agree with you about cooking the thin pieces. They usually cook so fast. So much stress…
But I love that halibut dearly. I splurge when I’m feeling rich.
Beautiful photo! That mustard caper sauce sounds like such a great topping for pan-fried fish. Especially a white flaky fish like that. Yum!
I am also a chicken of the sea (food) except for wild caught salmon and catfish. If you ever see fresh flounder, go for it and bake it with lemon, wine, butter & garlic.
Thanks for the compliment on the photo Vickie! I’ve never purchased flounder. Next time I see it, I’ll most certainly buy it.
Way to go LA, it looks just right and I really like the sound of the sauce. I should have tossed a bag of our lake crappie in the freezer to bring to you.
I always worry when cooking fish also..always afraid I will make a mess of the whole dish ~ I always lean toward shrimp, lOL!! Great caper sauce~
Shrimp most certainly seems to cooperate better. 🙂
It looks fresh, easy and delicious ! All for me 😉
Thanks so much for stopping by and the comment.
We eat fish or seafood at least three times a week, yet I never seem to think of cod. You’ve give me a reason with this yummy sounding mustard & caper sauce. Sea bass is off the charts expensive. I only eat it if we’re in a very good restaurant and I trust the chef.
Sam
We need to eat fish or seafood three times a week. Now if I could just cook it. 🙂
I totally feel your anxiety when it comes to buying a cooking fish. My personal favorite is halibut, but between the rarity, cost and sustainability issues, I usually default to flounder, Dover sole or opakapaka which the fishmonger at Whole Foods says that always usually have on hand. Even though I grew up on the coast I am by no means an expert. I just like something very mild in flavor. This looks like a delicious topping. I’ll be sure to give it a try next time I feel brave enough to buy fish.
I totally agree with the Halibut “thing”. I don’t think I’ve ever tried flounder and most certainly will buy that opakapaka next time. Thanks Karen.
Congratulations to Jane! She does have a lovely blog.
Pan fried cod is delicious, love it. Cod is one of my favorite fish, I would choose it over salmon… 🙂
I love Jane’s blog.
if you cannot see the ocean the fish is not fresh. An old saying but makes sense. We have http://www.montereyfish.com/ Best fish and all is politicaly correct. You pay for the privilige of peace of mind but great stuff.
Thanks ChileB. I’ll check out that link. And love the saying.
ahh thank you! I will send you an email. I must say though, that fish buying stresses me out too! I want to try sea bass sometime, but it is just so expensive!
I may just have to start acting like I’m rich and buy the good stuff. 🙂