Roasted Fish With Spice Butter and Tomatoes

By Melissa Clark

Updated August 14, 2026

  • David Malosh for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Simon Andrews.
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Total Time
25 minutes
Rating
5(1,191)
Comments
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You can use any savory spice blend in this easy dinner — anything from garam masala to za’atar, baharat or Chinese five spice. If you have a very fresh blend with loads of flavor, use just 1 teaspoon. But if your blend has been sitting in the cabinet since, well, you can’t quite remember, feel free to use a bit more. Serve this with rice or crusty bread to catch all the spicy, buttery juices.

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Ingredients

Yield:4 servings

  • 1 pint cherry or grape tomatoes (halved or quartered, if they are large)

  • Kosher salt

  • 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

  • 3 garlic cloves, finely grated or minced

  • 1 teaspoon finely grated lemon or lime zest

  • 1 to 2 teaspoons spice blend of choice

  • 4 (6-ounce) mild white fish fillets (for example, cod, hake or blackfish)

  • 2 scallions, white and green parts, thinly sliced

  • Fresh lemon or lime juice, for serving

  • Torn fresh herbs, such as mint, dill, cilantro or parsley, for serving

Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (4 servings)

5 grams carbs; 131 milligrams cholesterol; 339 calories; 6 grams monounsaturated fat; 1 gram polyunsaturated fat; 12 grams saturated fat; 20 grams fat; 1 gram fiber; 683 milligrams sodium; 35 grams protein; 3 grams sugar

Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.

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Preparation

  1. Step 1

    Heat oven to 450 degrees. Place tomatoes on a rimmed baking sheet, sprinkle lightly with salt, and roast for 10 minutes as you prepare the fish.

  2. Step 2

    In a small bowl, stir together butter, garlic, zest, spice blend and a pinch of salt.

  3. Step 3

    Season fish lightly with salt. Pull pan from the oven, and nestle fillets among the cherry tomatoes. Pour spice butter over fish and tomatoes, tossing the tomatoes to coat them. Sprinkle scallions on top of everything.

  4. Step 4

    Roast until fish is flaky and cooked through, about 5 to 10 minutes, depending on the thickness of the fillets. Top with a squeeze of citrus juice and fresh herbs, and serve.

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Ratings

5 out of 5
1,191 user ratings
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Comments

Libby

Why do people think they need to add more stuff to a recipe? Simple can be elegant, and this recipe is great as it is. I used garam masala and fresh mint.

susiecue

This is fantastic. I didn’t have enough tomatoes, so added quartered zucchini. For the spice mix, I used Penzey’s Arizona Dreaming. The fish was locally wild caught black bass. Yum.

Janet M

J David Nelson. How about adding flavors that you particularly like... maybe olives, preserved lemon, more of the spice mix, garlic, vinegar, more herbs, lemon zest?

Peter S.

Put a little olive oil in the pan before cooking the tomatoes. They only need a few minutes of cooking before adding the fish. Garam masala works great. The proposed amounts work very well. More would overpower the fish.

Steven

We made this dish for a quick dinner and loved it. The recipe is open and easy. This is a great addition to our repertoire.

Elise

Made this last night with fresh caught Black Sea Bass. We did I the recipe as written. It was delicious! It’s in the rotation. 2 things to note. 1) use a pan small enough to fit your tomatoes. Our sheet pan was smears to big (? Or maybe we don’t use enough tomato’s! 2 owe had skin on fish. The skin doesn’t crisp - I oils do without skin next time.

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