Flounder Fillets in Lemon Sauce

Flounder Fillets in Lemon Sauce is a simple meal that delivers every time!  The fish always turns out flaky, juicy, and flavorful. It is sublime with every bite! Boneless flounder fillets are delicate white fish simmered in a skillet with lemon sauce, resulting in an easy weeknight dinner, and one you’ll fall in love with!

 

2 pieces of white fish served on a white plate smothered in lemon sauce and top with a slice of lemon.

Flounder Fillets in Lemon Sauce

We love lemon.  Can you tell? Lemon sauce is most popular in many of our seafood recipes and dishes like Easy Baked Swordfish, and Fresh Cod Fish Salad.  

And to our surprise, these flounder fillets turned out to be so juicy and best tasting with a sublime seasoning that will take you by surprise.  We promise!

If you love lemon sauce dishes as much as we do, then try our most popular Italian recipes like Mom’s Best Chicken Piccata, and even Veal Piccata with Lemon and Capers.

Best Reasons to Use “Frozen” Flounder Fillets…

  • Since we cannot find flounder fillets in our town, we decided to buy these frozen flounder fillets at Costco.
  • They come already boneless and skinless.
  • No need to prep them, only give them a good rinse.
  • Easy to keep them in the freezer. No need to run out to buy them.
  • They come individually packaged, making it very convenient to select how many fillets we need for dinner.
  • These fillets come super thin, keeping the cooking time down to literally minutes.
a photo of the packaging of the frozen flounder. by 2sistersrecipes.com

Reasons we LOVE this fish recipe!

  • very lean fish and they cook up so quickly.
  • nothing to prep, only thaw and rinse them.
  • cooked in one skillet, which makes clean-up a breeze.
  • flounder fillets are naturally low in fat and high in protein.
  • Best of all, a 4-ounce (112g) of flounder is only 80 Calories, 2 grams of Fat, 0 Carbs, and 13 grams of protein.
A forkful of white fish in lemon sauce on a white plate.

How to Make Flounder Fillets in Lemon Sauce?

All you will need is one large skillet, a few lemons, some seasonings, and white wine. And the rest is easy! Plus, our video and printable full recipe card is on the bottom.

Ingredients Needed:

  • Frozen Flounder Fillets – about 3 to 4 fillets
  • Extra Virgin Olive Oil – 1 tablespoon
  • Butter – 1 tablespoon
  • Seasonings – herbs de Provence, cayenne pepper, sea salt, dried oregano
  • Fresh Parsley – prefer Italian parsley
  • White Wine – any drinking wine you have leftover (not cooking wine)
  • Lemons – for fresh-squeezed lemon juice

Cook’s Notes and Tips…

  • It’s important to rinse the fillets before cooking them.  If you don’t, they will smell fishy and even taste fishy even after you cook them.
  • The time needed to cook these flounder fillets will depend on how thick they are.  But these frozen ones, which come very thin, will cook up fast, about 5 to 7 minutes.
  • Also, if you purchase fresh flounder fillets from your local fish market, they may be thicker, and therefore, you may require more time to cook them.
  • This recipe is enough for two or possibly three servings.  If you plan to double the portions,  keep in mind, that you will need to increase all the liquid ingredients as well.

Easy-to-Follow! Directions to Make Flounder Fillets in Lemon Sauce:

*For our recipe, you can easily follow these directions, or just down to the bottom for our full recipe card.

1.  Grab a large skillet, and heat olive oil, and butter on low heat, until the butter melts.

A skillet showing the butter, and the fillets. by 2sistersrecipes.com

2.  When the butter is melted, add the fillets to the skillet. Then sprinkle over them with sea salt, herbs de Provence, oregano, and cayenne pepper.  Cook them on low heat for 30 seconds to one minute.  They will start to release excess water, and that’s fine.

3.  Next, sprinkle them with freshly chopped parsley.  And, pour in the wine and lemon juice.

4.  Then COVER with a lid.

Fillet are cooking in a skillet. by 2sistersrecipes.com

5.  Simmer, covered for 4 to 5 minutes or more, ( depending on how thick the fillets are) until the fish turns opaque-white-ish and the lemon sauce is reduced a little.

Quick NOTE: You may add a slice of lemon on top of each fillet if you prefer, (it makes for a lovely presentation). 😉

6.  When the flounder fillets are fully cooked. Turn off the heat.  Pour over the fish an additional 1 to 2 tablespoons of freshly squeezed lemon juice.  Serve immediately.

Cooking fillets with lemon sauce in skillet. by 2sistersrecipes.com

 

What Makes this Lemon Sauce So Outstanding? 

Using fresh ingredients is the key to transforming any recipe from “boring” to FABULOUS! Here are 4 ingredients for the sauce:

  • *Lemons:  We always recommend using freshly squeezed lemon juice.  It’s better tasting than any commercially bottled lemon juice which contains preservatives.
  • *Parsley:  As always, fresh Italian parsley is important for this recipe. But there is one ingredient that makes a huge difference and should not be left out, cayenne pepper.
  • *Cayenne Pepper: Cayenne pepper will make the flavors pop in this dish. Sometimes the smallest ingredient makes a difference.
  • *Herbs de Provence: It has a terrific blend of aromatic herbs in one jar.
Flounder Fillets in Lemon Sauce by 2sistersrecipes.com

A delicious seafood meal…

These Flounder Fillets turn out AMAZING every time! Moist, tender, white-meaty fish with the most amazing flavors infused into them – you too will be totally surprised after your first bite.

Serve them with a side of steamed rice, or cauliflower rice to soak up some of that delicious lemon sauce, and maybe a green salad to complete your dinner. 

You may enjoy it with some angel hair pasta with lemon sauce,  which makes the meal outstanding! And, don’t forget dessert, try our lemon pound cake or our easy lemon cream pie to complete the meal!

ENJOY!!

More Seafood Dishes to Love

WATCH VIDEO! How to Make Flounder Fillets in Lemon Sauce? (1-minute video)

If you try our flounder fillets in lemon sauce, please come back and leave a star rating and review.  It’s so helpful to other readers to read your results, adaptations, and ideas for variations.

2 pieces of white fish served on a white plate smothered in lemon sauce and top with a slice of lemon.

Flounder Fillets in Lemon Sauce

Yield: 2 servings
Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook Time: 7 minutes
Total Time: 12 minutes

Flounder Fillets in Lemon Sauce always turn out juicy, flaky, and amazingly tasty every time! The lemon sauce is sublime with every bite, you'll fall in love with this recipe - hands down. Super quick and easy, making dinner a snap!

Ingredients

  • frozen flounder fillets - about 3 to 4 fillets
  • 1 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
  • 1 Tbsp. butter
  • 1/8 tsp. sea salt
  • 1/4 tsp. herbs de Provence
  • pinch of cayenne pepper
  • 1/8 tsp. dried oregano
  • 1 Tbsp. finely chopped parsley
  • 2 Tbsp. white wine
  • 3 Tbps. lemon juice, plus extra

Instructions

  1. First, thaw the frozen flounder fillets either on the counter or overnight in the fridge. Open the packages, and drain the excess water from their packaging. Give them a quick rinse under running water, and allow them to drain again.
  2. Next, in a 10-inch non-stick skillet, heat olive oil and butter on low heat, until the butter melts.
  3. When the butter is melted, add the fillets to the skillet. Sprinkle over them with some sea salt, herbs de Provence, oregano, and cayenne pepper.
  4. Cook them on low heat for 30 seconds to one minute. They will start to release excess water, and that's fine.
  5. Pour in the wine and lemon juice, and sprinkle over them with freshly chopped parsley. Then cover with a lid.
  6. Simmer for 4 to 6 minutes or more, ( depending on how thick the fillets are) until the fish turns opaque-white-ish and the sauce is reduced a little. And the fish flakes off with a fork.
  7. When the flounder fillets are fully cooked. Turn off the heat. Squeeze additional lemon juice over the fish (about 1 tablespoon, or more). Then serve.
  8. Serves 2

Notes

See VIDEO or photos in post!

Keep in mind, the prep time does not include the time to thaw the fish.

Nutrition Information:
Yield: 2 to 3 servings Serving Size: 1 serving
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 127Total Fat: 9.3gCarbohydrates: 0.7gProtein: 13.3g

Did you make this recipe?

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Happy Cooking!  🙂

Thanks for stopping by…

xo anna and liz

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8 Comments

  1. Your lemon sauce is perfect, full of flavor but yet doesn’t overpower the taste of the flounder.

    1. Awe, thank you so much Karen! So glad to hear you enjoyed our Flounder recipe. Looking forward to hearing from you again!
      xo anna and liz

    1. Me too, and that’s why we have to buy them at Costco! But they are perfect for this recipe. ENJOY!