Halibut With Creamy Dill Sauce

Baked Halibut with Creamy Dill Sauce
Photo: Diana Rattray
Prep: 7 mins
Cook: 20 mins
Total: 27 mins
Servings: 4 servings
Yield: 4 fillets

This quick and simple recipe for baked halibut coated in a creamy dill sauce is a delicious and wholesome option for a busy weeknight, but elegant enough for when you are hosting and need an easy-to-make meal. Meaty halibut fillets are baked to perfection while you cook a cream, shallot, and herb sauce to cover the fish once ready. This dish is very straightforward and requires just following the steps. There's no need for technical knowledge nor are there complex cooking techniques involved. This fish is a great main that you can accompany with a green salad and roasted potatoes, and it goes well with garlic pasta, mashed potatoes, white rice, quinoa, or any grain that can help soak up the tasty sauce. Ready in under 30 minutes, this is a great seafood option for when you're tired of eating the same old dishes on repeat.

Halibut is a large flatfish usually found in the cold northern waters of the Pacific and Atlantic oceans. Some of it is wild caught but most of what you find in fisheries and supermarkets comes from farms also located in these cold waters. The best environmentally conscious choice would be buying farmed halibut, as the wild populations struggle to reproduce to healthier numbers due to high demand. All of these conditions contribute to making halibut a costly fish compared to other more accessible species like tilapia, grouper, or haddock.

Since you aren't eating halibut on weekly basis, splurging on a great piece of this fish on occasion makes for a wonderful treat. Besides, the nutritional benefits of halibut are great, bringing great levels of protein, fatty acids, and minerals. An 8-ounce fillet like the one you'd be serving per person in this recipe has 42 grams of protein and 103 µg of selenium, which is the equivalent of 200 percent of the recommended daily intake of the mineral and close to a hundred percent of the recommended daily intake of protein for a sedentary adult (between 46 and 56 grams)—you need around 0.8 grams per kilogram of weight.

Ingredients

  • 4 halibut fillets, about 8 ounces each

  • 2 tablespoons olive oil

  • 1 tablespoon unsalted butter

  • 1 medium shallot, finely chopped

  • 3/4 cup heavy cream

  • 2 tablespoons fresh dill, chopped; or 2 teaspoons dried dillweed

  • 1 tablespoon fresh parsley, chopped

  • Salt, to taste, optional

  • Freshly ground black pepper, to taste, optional

Steps to Make It

  1. Gather the ingredients.

  2. Preheat oven to 425 F. Brush halibut fillets with olive oil and sprinkle with optional salt and pepper to taste.

  3. Arrange in a lightly greased baking dish and bake for 15 to 20 minutes, or until halibut is cooked through and flakes easily with a fork.

  4. Heat butter and sauté the shallots until tender.

  5. Add the cream, dill, parsley, and salt and pepper to taste. Bring to a boil.

  6. Serve the sauce over baked halibut.

  7. Enjoy.

Nutrition Facts (per serving)
598 Calories
31g Fat
3g Carbs
73g Protein
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Nutrition Facts
Servings: 4
Amount per serving
Calories 598
% Daily Value*
Total Fat 31g 40%
Saturated Fat 14g 71%
Cholesterol 249mg 83%
Sodium 275mg 12%
Total Carbohydrate 3g 1%
Dietary Fiber 0g 1%
Total Sugars 2g
Protein 73g
Vitamin C 3mg 13%
Calcium 65mg 5%
Iron 1mg 5%
Potassium 1765mg 38%
*The % Daily Value (DV) tells you how much a nutrient in a food serving contributes to a daily diet. 2,000 calories a day is used for general nutrition advice.
(Nutrition information is calculated using an ingredient database and should be considered an estimate.)
Article Sources
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  1. Halibut, Atlantic and Pacific, Raw. FoodData Central. United States Department of Agriculture.