Panko Parmesan Baked Haddock

“Of all the fishes in the sea, haddock is the one for me.”

~ Juggling with Julia ~

Yep, it’s true. If you made me choose just one, I’d choose haddock every time. It’s so easy to cook with, takes on all kinds of flavors gracefully, and cooks up quickly with little fuss. It’s hard to mess up haddock. I’m sure I could if I had to, you know, catch it, gut and skin it. But let’s be realistic, peeps — I’m not the kill it and eat it type of gal. I’m more of a hunt-it-down-in-the-grocery-store kind. And that’s OK

Back to my beloved haddock. I’ve cooked it up many ways, including smothered in cheese sauce or simmered in chowder. Fish cakes are likely in my near future as well, thanks to the popularity of the recent salmon cakes. But my fave way to have haddock is simple: baked with butter and bread crumbs.

This recipe takes that standard and ramps up the texture with crunchy Panko breadcrumbs, and the flavor with grates Parmesan cheese. So simple, the whole dish is only 5 ingredients (7 if you include salt and pepper). And prep is so quick, you’ll be done in 10 minutes, and eating within a half hour. The butter helps the crumb mixture brown and crisp, and adds richness to the otherwise very lean fish.

Serve it up with a couple of veggies and some whole grain, then plan on an indulgent dessert, cuz this is one healthy meal! I think this night I had some rich chocolate ice cream drizzled with natural peanut butter. Heaven

Panko Parmesan Baked Haddock
Serves 4

3/4 cup Panko bread crumbs
1/2 cup grated Parmesan
1/2 cup milk
4 haddock fillets (about 1 pound total)
3 tablespoons butter, melted
Salt and pepper, to taste

Preheat oven to 500 degrees F. Prepare an 8×8 baking dish with pan spray.

Combine bread crumbs and cheese in a wide, shallow bowl (I use a pie tin). Pour milk into a separate, small bowl. Dip each fillet into the milk, shake off excess, and then press the fillet into the crumb mixture, turning and pressing to ensure the fish is coated on all sides. Transfer to the baking dish.

Pour the melted butter over the fillets. Sprinkle with salt and pepper, as desired. Bake for about 15 minutes (the thicker the fillet, the longer the cooking time). The fish is done when it is firm and flakes easily with a fork.

Tagged as: baked haddock, haddock, Panko bread crumbs, Parmesan cheese