Panko Parmesan Crusted Cod with Lemon Cream Sauce

4.6 from 25 votes

Recipe by Danelle

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Posted February 15, 2024Last Updated October 28, 2024

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Cod fillets with a panko and Parmesan coating, finished off with a delicious lemon cream sauce.

Panko Parmesan Crusted Cod with Lemon Cream Sauce

My oldest child has always been a picky eater, but one thing he has loved from a young age is fish. Which means I learned early on to incorporate seafood into our diet, and this Panko Parmesan Crusted Cod with Lemon Cream Sauce is a family favorite.

I’d always had the impression that fish was hard to prepare, but I didn’t want our seafood choices limited to frozen fish sticks, so I started trying new seafood recipes and quickly learned how easy it really is to make delicious seafood dishes at home.

I tried this recipe last week. My boyfriend isn’t a fan of cod but we had a lot on hand and so I decided to give this a try- it was absolutely delicious! It will definitely be a repeat dish in our house. ~ Gabrielle

This recipe is a perfect example of a dish that’s easy yet elegant. It’s a restaurant quality meal that you can make at home in about 30 minutes–totally doable, even on a weeknight!

You can use either fresh cod filets, or frozen, thawed filets in this recipe. It’s much easier to keep frozen cod filets on hand, so that’s usually what I use, but fresh is, of course, always best.

And I love that fish is high in quality protein, low in saturated fat and sodium, and full of vitamins, minerals and oils essential to good health.

My whole family, including my two younger boys, loved this dish! I find when serving seafood to kids, something with a nice crunchy crust always goes over well.

White fish is also a good choice for the younger crowd, since it’s familiar to most of them. If they’re anything like my kids, once they try white fish and realize how much they like it, they’ll be excited to try other varieties.

This recipe will work with almost any firm white fish, including halibut, flounder and tilapia, so I often prepare it with whatever is freshest but least expensive.

This was so delicious! I can never seem to get fish just right and this was perfect, easy, and my whole family loved it. This will be part of our regular dinner schedule! ~ Joanne

Whatever you do, don’t skip the lemon cream sauce–it’s what makes this dish really special. In fact, sometimes I double the sauce recipe so we have plenty to serve over rice or pasta on the side.

If you’ve traditionally stayed away from seafood as part of your usual dinner routine because you thought it was difficult or time-consuming, give this recipe a try!

This Panko Parmesan Crusted Cod with Lemon Cream Sauce is easier to make than you think, and your family will love having something so “fancy” for dinner.

What Should I Serve with Panko Parmesan Crusted Cod?

Grilled or roasted vegetables, as well as rice and orzo are always great sides for almost any fish dish. These are some of our favorite things to enjoy alongside these beautiful breaded cod filets:

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Tips for Cooking Fish

Choosing fresh fish: Rather than shopping for a certain type of fish, buy the fish that looks the freshest. Similar types of fish can usually be substituted in a recipe. If you were planning to use cod in a recipe, for example, you can easily substitute orange roughy or snapper.
Cooking time: Measure your fish at its thickest part, then aim for about 10 minutes of cooking time per inch of thickness.
Is it done? To test fish for doneness, insert a knife into the flesh at the thickest part. It should be just barely translucent in the center. Even if it doesn’t look quite done, the fish will continue to cook after you remove it from the heat, so make sure not to overcook it.

Here’s what you’ll need to make Panko Parmesan Crusted Cod with Lemon Cream Sauce

Fresh or frozen cod fillets
Panko breadcrumbs
Parmesan cheese
Butter
Mayonnaise
Lemon juice
Spices: cayenne pepper, salt and pepper
Produce: fresh parsley, lemons, garlic
Heavy cream
Flour