Easy White Fish with Healthy Lemon Garlic Sauce {No Butter}

Name: Easy White Fish with Healthy Lemon Garlic Sauce {No Butter}
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 20 min
Total time: 30 min
Ingredients: 4 six ounce white fish fillets ((i.e. cod, sole, halibut, haddock etc.)); 1/2 cup unsalted cashews (soaked in water); 1/3 cup plus 2 tablespoons water ((or more if you prefer a thinner sauce)); 1 tablespoon lemon juice; 1 garlic clove (minced); 1/4 teaspoon salt and pepper ((or more to taste)); Chopped fresh parsley, dill or chives

Enjoy delicate white fish any time, without drowning it in butter, with the most delicious healthy lemon sauce for fish. It’s incredibly flavorful yet only requires six ingredients, so it’s the perfect restaurant-style meal for busy weeknights!
{Gluten-free, dairy-free & paleo)

Using fork to eat fish with lemon sauce and asparagus

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Healthy Lemon Sauce for Fish – No Butter

This easy lemon garlic sauce for fish is a super simple yet classy meal that also happens to be incredibly versatile. It can be served up on busy weeknights or for special occasions and the preparation time is less than 25 minutes tops!

This healthy lemon sauce contains absolutely no butter, but is smooth, velvety and infused with flavors of lemon and garlic. With all that flavor, you’d never guess it only contains a few basic ingredients. You’ll be hooked from the first time!

Serve up this buttery sauce with cauliflower rice or healthy roasted potatoes and a side of asparagus or broccoli for a light and healthy meal!

Parmesan Crusted Cod

Why We Love This Healthy Sauce for Fish

Easy to Make: With only six simple ingredients, this healthy fish sauce takes less than 20 minutes to whip together.

So versatile: This sauce might be intended for fish, but it can be served over so many different dishes! Serve it with any fresh seafood, like scallops or crab legs, or drizzle it over roasted chicken. The lemon flavor really shines.

Healthy: Unlike the traditional lemon butter sauce recipe you get at restaurants, this recipe is light yet filling and satisfying. It’s packed with lean protein, while being lower in fat and calories!

Adaptable: You can easily adapt the amount of lemon and garlic used in the sauce to suit your taste preferences and can also sub in your favorite type of fish, so it makes the perfect quick dinner for the whole family to enjoy!

Finished fish recipe with lemon sauce and asparagus

Ingredient Notes

For the Fish:

White fish: Choose your favorite white fish, like cod, sole, halibut, haddock, etc. A mild-tasting fish is best for the bright lemony sauce.

For 5-Ingredient Lemon Garlic Sauce

Soaked unsalted cashews: These will blend into a creamy sauce without requiring any butter!
Water: For diluting the sauce to your preferred consistency. You can also use chicken broth.
Lemon juice: The bright flavor of fresh lemon juice always tastes amazing with fish! Feel free to add the lemon zest for an even brighter flavor.
Fresh garlic: The sharp bite of minced garlic adds a zesty flavor to this white fish recipe.
Salt and black pepper: Season to taste. Feel free to add more black pepper if you like a kick.

Optional Garnishes

Chopped fresh parsley, dill or chives

Step-by-Step Instructions

How to Make the Fish

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
Place the fish fillets on the baking sheet. Pat them dry with paper towels to remove excess moisture. Bake for 15-20 minutes, or until fish flakes easily with a fork. You may need to adjust the cooking time depending on the thickness of the fish that you use.

How to Make Healthy Lemon Sauce for Fish

While the fish is baking, you can prepare the lemon garlic cashew cream sauce.
Place the soaked cashews, water, lemon juice, garlic, salt and pepper into a powerful blender, or Ninja. Blend until mixture is smooth and creamy.

Pour the emulsified sauce into a small saucepan over low heat and heat for 5-10 minutes or until heated through, stirring frequently.

Divide the sauce over the fish fillets. Garnish with fresh chopped dill, parsley or chives, if desired.

Pouring lemon garlic sauce over white fish

Keep scrolling to the recipe card below for the full printable recipe!

Recipe Tips:

You may need to adjust the cooking time depending on the thickness of the fish that you use.

To make this healthy sauce for cod or other preferred fish, soak the cashews in boiling hot water for 15 minutes before blending to help them break down and create a nice smooth sauce. You can also soak them in water for up to 2-4 hours if you’d like to do the soaking in advance.

Do not over heat the sauce on the stove or it will thicken up too much and stick to the bottom of the pan. Instead, remove it from the stove when the sauce has just heated through

Storage & Reheating Guidelines

Refrigerator: You can store the fish and sauce covered in the fridge for up to a week. The sauce may thicken up while in the fridge. To thin it out, you can add a bit of water and adjust the seasonings to taste when reheating.

To reheat: Pour the sauce into a small sauce pan and heat over low heat until just heated through. Just be careful that you don’t bring it to a boil or overheat it as it may stick to the pan.

You can also reheat the fish and sauce in the microwave for 1-2 minutes, being careful that you don’t overcook it.

Recipe FAQs

What is the best type of fish to use?

You can use any type of white fish that you prefer for this recipe. I’ve tried it with sole, cod, tilapia and halibut and it was equally tasty each time.

I’ve also tried the lemon garlic sauce drizzled over baked and grilled salmon and it was also delicious. The sauce is pretty versatile, so feel free to switch it up and experiment with different types of fish!

Can you make lemon fish sauce without butter?

Although it’s traditional to serve a creamy lemon butter sauce with fish, you don’t have to use butter to get that creamy consistency! This healthy lemon sauce for fish uses soaked cashews for a lusciously creamy sauce without any butter at all. Once you try it once, you’ll want to make this easy fish recipe all the time!

Do you have to heat cashew sauce for fish?

Although you do have to warm up this cashew-based sauce, it’s very fast. You actually blend all of the ingredients together in a blender, then heat the blended sauce on the stove for 5-10 minutes to bring the flavors together. It’s incredibly simple!

Serving Suggestions

This fish tastes especially good served along with asparagus, green beans, or broccoli and rice. The sauce recipe does tend to make a little extra, so you can always drizzle some of the additional sauce over the rice and vegetables to soak up all of that flavour.

Alternatively, you can serve it with roasted potatoes, sweet potatoes, your favorite pasta, or a nice refreshing salad!

Try it along with the following recipes:

Recipe Variations

Try a different fish: Although I typically serve this non-dairy lemon cream sauce over cod or tilapia, it would also taste great over a trout fillet or even mahi mahi!
Adjust the seasonings: Feel free to add your favorite spices or fresh herbs for extra flavor. This flavorful sauce would taste delicious with garlic powder, onion powder, or red pepper flakes for a little heat!
Change the liquid: Instead of water, use chicken stock or vegetable stock. You can even replace some of the water with white wine for another layer of flavor. A lemony white wine sauce tastes amazing over clams or white fish!

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White fish with lemon garlic sauce drizzled over top with some lemon slices.

Course Main Course