Simple Greek Style Baked Fish ~ this is a vibrant example of the healthy Mediterranean diet, it’s low in calories, high in nutrients, and drop dead gorgeous!
I’d happily eat this way every night. It’s quick, easy, and healthy. Everything gets layered into one pan or dish, and cooks, on the grill or in a hot oven, in about 15 minutes. Between the tomatoes, the lemons, the olive oil and the wine, a luscious sauce magically develops as it cooks. Make sure to serve this with bread, or couscous (or something!) to sop up every last drop. This one pot Greek inspired halibut is pretty much the perfect example of why Mediterranean cooking is so incredibly good for us.
This is true ingredient based cooking — there aren’t any fancy techniques involved, so the focus is on freshness and quality. The Greeks know this combination just works. Halibut is brilliantly white and flaky, but any firm fish will do. I used beautiful strawberry tomatoes, still attached to the stem, but regular cherry tomatoes have the same great flavor. I love how the heat of the oven splits their skins and allows the juices to flow, no chopping necessary! For the olives, fresh from an olive bar is best. Good olives are rich and briny, and I like to mix firm green ones along with more pungent cured black ones. The more variety the better, and don’t worry about the pits, that’s part of the rustic charm of this dish.
And can we talk about cooked olives for a minute? They are the best things ever. Ever. When you heat them, they get juicer and the flesh just falls off the pit. The flavors get intensified while the sharpness of the olives mellows. If you haven’t already seen my FRIED OLIVES, or my ROASTED OLIVES, you need to check them out.
Simple Greek Style Baked Fish
Ingredients
- 2/3 lb halibut, cut in two portions
- ยฝ white or yellow onion
- 1 lemon
- Strawberry tomatoes, or assorted cherry tomatoes
- mixed olives, with or without pits
- salt and fresh cracked black pepper
- a little smoked paprika
- a few red pepper flakes, optional
- olive oil
- white wine
- fresh dill, or thyme, parsley, whatever you like
- feta cheese, optional
Instructions
- Set oven to 425F
- Peel and thinly slice the onion. Lay it out on the bottom of a baking dish.
- Thinly slice the lemon and lay out the slices on top of the onion. Put the halibut on top of the lemon. Season the fish with a little smoked paprika and red pepper flakes, if using.
- Scatter the tomatoes and olives around the fish. If any of the tomatoes are on the large side, cut them in half.
- Sprinkle everything with salt and pepper. Drizzle with olive oil and pour a little white wine into the dish, about 1/4 cup or so.
- Bake for about 15 minutes, or until the fish is done through. Finish under the broiler for a little more color.
- Serve with fresh dill and a crumbling of feta cheese.
I Was thinking of trying this with mahi mahi .. what do you think. Also 2 in family donโt like olives. Could I roast them on a small dish separately in the oven with the fish ?
Yes, and yes! Mahi mahi would be wonderful baked this way, and you can definitely do the olives separately.
How many does this dish feed?
Iโve made this so many times! Itโs delicious.
Thanks Pauline, I love to hear that. We’re big fish eaters here, and we love this method too. Thanks for leaving the feedback ๐
Made this tonight after googling โGreek Fish Recipeโ at my husbandโs request. It was phenomenal and easy. My mandoline helped get the onions and lemon thinly sliced. Definitely goes into rotation!
Glad I stumbled upon the site looking forward to trying more recipes.
I’ve made this twice now with Cod. It turned out great, but I don’t think Cod is the best fish for it because cod is not the greatest. Both times i added some shrimp to the mix and they were wonderful. Next time I will try Halibut and shrimp or maybe halibut and mussels.
Definitely let us know how it goes!
I added a handful of spinach on top of the onions. Delicious! Will have to try it with salmon like one of the comments suggested.
Spinach will be next for me…thanks for the inspiration Jackie!
I made this for dinner tonight, but with salmon. It was simple to make and quite delicious.
You know I’ve always used a white fish, or shrimp when I make this, and I never thought to try salmon, great idea!
Ooh shrimp! Good idea ? I’m making this tonight with halibut but I think I’ll throw some shrimp in for the fun of it! Thank you for this delicious recipe!
You can never go wrong with halibut!