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!
We love lemon. Can you tell?
Lemon sauce is most popular in many seafood recipes and dishes like our Easy Baked Swordfish, and our Fresh Cod Fish Salad.
Plus, how can we forget the most popular Italian dishes like Mom’s Best Chicken Piccata, and even Veal Piccata with Lemon and Capers, which is cooked with a simple lemon and butter sauce?
But to our surprise, these flounder fillets are so juicy and best tasting along with a sublime seasoning that will take you by surprise.
I promise!
For this recipe, I used “frozen” flounder fillets.
- Since we cannot find flounder fillets in our town, I decided to buy these frozen flounder fillets at Costco and always keep them in my freezer.
- They come individually packaged, making it very convenient to select how many fillets I need for dinner.
- These fillets come super thin, keeping the cooking time down to literally minutes.
Reasons to LOVE these Flounder Fillets in Lemon Sauce…
- very lean fish and so 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.
How to Make Flounder Fillets in Lemon Sauce?
INGREDIENTS NEEDED to Make Flounder Fillets in Lemon Sauce…
- 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
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.
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.
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.
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.
- 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.
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:
1. *Lemons: We always recommend using freshly squeezed lemon juice. It’s healthier than any commercially bottled lemon juice which contains preservatives.
2. *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.
3. *Cayenne Pepper: cayenne pepper will make the flavors pop in this dish. Sometimes the smallest ingredient makes a difference.
4. *Herbs de Provence: a terrific blend of aromatic herbs in one jar.
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…
- Bake or Roast Branzino with Lemon
- Easy Baked Swordfish
- Best Salmon Piccata
- Easy Italian Shrimp Salad
- Filet of Sole Francese
WATCH OUR VIDEO! How to Make Flounder Fillets in Lemon Sauce? (1-minute video)
Yield: 2 servings
Flounder Fillets in Lemon Sauce
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!
Prep Time
5 minutes
Cook Time
7 minutes
Total Time
12 minutes
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
- 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.
- Next, in a 10-inch non-stick skillet, heat olive oil and butter on low heat, until the butter melts.
- 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.
- Cook them on low heat for 30 seconds to one minute. They will start to release excess water, and that's fine.
- Pour in the wine and lemon juice, and sprinkle over them with freshly chopped parsley. Then cover with a lid.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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 servingsServing Size:
1 servingAmount Per Serving: Calories: 127Total Fat: 9.3gCarbohydrates: 0.7gProtein: 13.3g
… Thanks for PINNING!
Flounder and Sole are two of my favorite fish, I love their mild flavor. A lemon butter sauce is perfect as it doesn’t overpower it delicate flavor.
So true Karen! And, positively, this sauce won’t overpower them at all. Enjoy!!
So beautiful and delicious! I wish flounder was available more often here.
Me too, and that’s why we have to buy them at Costco! But they are perfect for this recipe. ENJOY!
i love lemons! this sounds great. fish in lemon sauce? yep fab.
Thanks so much, Sherry. This one is a keeper! I make it weekly. enjoy 🙂