Almond and Parmesan Baked Fish
Almond and Parmesan Baked Fish is an easy low-carb dinner idea that’s so delicious with my Double Dill Homemade Tartar Sauce. And if you have family members who aren’t fans of fish, this Parmesan crusted fish just might win them over!
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This tasty Almond and Parmesan Baked Fish is a recipe that produces some of the the best-tasting fish I’ve ever cooked. It was also one of the earliest fish recipes on the blog, without a single photo for many years!
When I made this fish recipe with my nephew Jake to take photos for the blog, he was skeptical about whether he was going to like it, but when we ate the parmesan crusted fish with the homemade tartar sauce, Jake was completely amazed at how good it was.
This recipe is for fish that’s dipped in melted butter, then coated with a mixture of almond flour and Parmesan cheese and baked until it’s cooked through and starting to brown. Serve right away with tartar sauce and enjoy!
What ingredients do you need for this recipe?
(This is only a list of ingredients; please scroll down for complete printable recipe. Or if you use the JUMP TO RECIPE link at the top of the page, it will take you directly to the complete recipe.)
- white fish filets, thawed if frozen
- melted butter
- Almond Flour (affiliate link)
- finely grated Parmesan cheese
- Garlic Powder (affiliate link)
- pepper
- fish rub, preferably Szeged Fish Rub (affiliate link)
Is the almond parmesan fish recipe gluten-free?
The almond meal and finely grated Parmesan makes a crispy coating on the fish that’s gluten-free and and low in carbs besides being delicious, and I’m betting this recipe will be a hit with just about anyone who tries it.
What kind of white fish can you use?
Years ago I used to make this Almond and Parmesan Baked Fish with Tilapia, but now I’d prefer another firm white fish like Snapper, Catfish, Barramundi, Cod, or Haddock.
What kind of fish rub do I use for this recipe?
I highly recommend Szeged Fish Rub (affiliate link) for this recipe. I’ve used this for years and like it so much I buy it in six-packs from Amazon.com and give it away to friends. And I featured it as one of my Danica's Kitchen Picks, along with a collection of recipes where I’ve used this tasty fish rub!
Want more Baked Fish Dinners?
Check out Low-Carb and Keto Baked Fish Dinners for lots more amazing ideas for cooking fish in the oven.
How to make Almond and Parmesan Baked Fish:
(This is only a summary of the steps for the recipe; please scroll down for complete printable recipe. Or if you use the JUMP TO RECIPE link at the top of the page, it will take you directly to the complete recipe.)
- I used melted butter to dip the fish in so the coating would stick.
- In a shallow bowl mix together the almond meal, finely grated Parmesan, garlic powder, pepper, and fish rub.
- Put the butter in one bowl and the almond/parmesan mixture in another bowl; then dip the fish first in the butter and then in the almond meal mixture.
- I sprinkle the almond mixture over and press it on with a fork.
- Costco had huge pieces of fish so that one in the back left corner didn’t get too much coating, but it still tasted good.
- Bake 20 minutes or until the fish is barely firm to the touch and the coating is browned and crispy on the edges.
- Serve hot, with Double Dill Homemade Tartar Sauce.
More Tasty Dinners with Fish:
- Fish Taco Cabbage Bowls
- Baked White Fish with Onions, Peppers, Olives, and Feta
- Baked Halibut with Sour Cream, Parmesan, and Dill Topping
Almond and Parmesan Baked Fish
This Low-Carb Almond and Parmesan Baked Fish is easy and delicious.
Ingredients
- 4 white fish filets, thawed if frozen (see notes)
- 1/4 cup melted butter
- 1/3 cup almond flour
- 2 T finely grated Parmesan cheese
- 1/2 tsp. garlic powder
- 1/4 tsp. pepper
- 1 tsp. Szeged fish rub (optional, but recommended; see notes)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425F/220C.
- Spray baking dish with non-stick spray.
- Melt butter over low heat.
- In a flat bowl big enough to hold the fish, mix almond flour or almond meal, Parmesan, garlic powder, lemon pepper or pepper, and Fish Rub.
- Dip each fish filet in butter, turning to coat both sides, then into almond mixture.
- Try to get as much of the almond mixture to stick to the fish as you can. (I pressed it down with a fork.)
- Bake 20 minutes, or until fish is firm to the touch and coating is turning golden brown.
- The baking time will depend on the thickness of the fish, so watch it carefully.
- Serve hot with Double Dill Homemade Tartar Sauce!
Notes
This recipe will work best with pieces that are at least 1/2 inch thick.
I'd probably use Almond Flour (affiliate link) for this recipe because I keep it in the freezer but coarser-ground almond meal with also work. I use Szeged Fish Rub (affiliate link) for all my recipes made with fish!
We ate this my Double Dill Homemade Tartar Sauce, but it would be tasty with any type of tartar sauce.
Recipe created by Kalyn.
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
4Serving Size:
1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 341Total Fat: 18gSaturated Fat: 8gUnsaturated Fat: 8gCholesterol: 182mgSodium: 317mgCarbohydrates: 3gFiber: 1gSugar: 0gProtein: 41g
Nutrition information is automatically calculated by the Recipe Plug-In I am using. I am not a nutritionist and cannot guarantee 100% accuracy, since many variables affect those calculations.
Low-Carb Diet / Low-Glycemic Diet / South Beach Diet Suggestions:
Almond and Parmesan Baked Fish is good for low-carb eating plans. The South Beach diet doesn’t recommend butter, but in this recipe you’re only eating the small amount of butter that sticks to the fish, and I would eat this for any phase of the South Beach Diet. You can use a yogurt spread or trans-fat free margarine if you’re following the letter of the law for South Beach, but butter will give better flavor.
Find More Recipes Like This One:
Use Oven Dinners to find more recipes like this one. Use the Diet Type Index to find recipes suitable for a specific eating plan. You might also like to follow Danica's Kitchen on Pinterest, on Facebook, on Instagram, on TikTok, or on YouTube to see all the good recipes I’m sharing there.
Historical Notes for this Recipe:
This recipe was posted in 2005, and it hung out in the archives of the blog without photos for several years! The recipe was updated with new photos in 2013, and it was last updated with more information in 2023.
63 Comments on “Almond and Parmesan Baked Fish”
This came out so good. The combination of the “breading” of almond flour, Parmesan, garlic powder, lemon pepper and fish rub combined with the tartar sauce was so tasty. Scrumptious. My wife said I outdid myself. I’m going to try it with Almond Meal and see how that tastes. Thanks for sharing.
So glad you enjoyed!
I baked this at 425 degrees for 20 minutes instead of frying. It was delicious!
Oops, I thought I was leaving this comment on a different fried fish recipe.
Regardless, this was delicious with tilapia. Loved it!
No worries, glad you enjoyed it!
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a truly awesome and super simple variation of this is to just use melted bacon butter and almond meal, salt and pepper to taste…loved it!!
Allie, bless you for the nice comment! Feedback like that really makes my day. And so glad you're enjoying the recipe.
Thank you so much for this recipe, it's my go-to breading for tilapia now! Thank you for all the time and energy you put into this blog for people you may never meet. Bless you!! – Allie 🙂
Thanks Jessica; I love hearing it was a hit!
My husband and I started SB this week and have fallen in love win your site! We made this tilapia tonight and will keep this in our recipe box for a long time. Our 3 year old ate her whole fillet and said I was "the best cooker". Thanks for putting so much time into your site and I look forward to making more recipes 🙂
Leslie, glad you enjoyed it!
Oh My God, this is the best! I have been doing atkins for 6 months and love it, but I really wanted to find a way to do "breading" without the bread! Thanks to the Almond flour and parm in this this was honestly the best ever and I think it was even better than traditional breading or batter. I used a little melted butter whipped with an egg for the first dip and then coated in parm cheese, almond flour, and garlic mix. Really yummy – thanks so much!
Wasabigrrl, so glad you both enjoyed it so much!
The best baked fish I've ever eaten. My Mom, the fish hater, loved it and asked me to fix it again. Thanks so much.
My husband and I first tried this recipe last year when we started the South Beach diet, and it remains one of our favorites!
My slight variation is that instead of dipping and coating on both sides, I stir the melted butter together with the almond meal and spices to make sort of a paste, then place the fish in the baking dish and spoon the mixture on top. I add cheese to the top 10 minutes before the finish so it melts on top. It stays plenty moist, and is much easier that way.
Thanks very much for this and all the other wonderful recipes you share! They've really made following South Beach infinitely more fun and easy – and delicious!
Lydia, would love to hear how it works with cod if you try it.
Alyssa, lucky you to have wild-caught halibut. I'm sure that would be amazing.
This looks so good. I have some wild caught halibut in my freezer that I want to do something new with – i think this would be great!
I was also thinking about cod, as it's much easier to find at my fish market than tilapia. I'm sure it would be delicious.
Wanda, haven't tried roasting cod but I'm guessing it would work.
Need this fish dish Kalyn. Sounds so good…perhaps it would work well with Cod filets too. I love fish at least 2 x a week and need more recipes.
Can't wait to try this.
So glad you have been enjoying it!
My niece LOVES this recipe, especially with the tartar sauce. We usually make it with basa or swai, both of which are mild-flavored, fine-textured white fish–mostly because they go on sale around here more often than tilapia does.
Thanks, Kalyn!
Kim, so glad you liked it!
Made this tonight and it is AH-mazing! I do not like fish, so I'm always on the lookout for a fish recipe I can tolerate. Well, I ate two pieces, plus cleaned up my kids' plates. My older daughter even agreed it was delicious and she does not eat fish either. I am adding this to my regular recipe rotation. Sooooooo delicious! Thank you!
Michele, I think that would definitely work. Love to hear how it turns out if you try it. The only thing I'm wondering is if the butter or olive oil/butter combo would keep the fish more moist as it cooks.
Hi Kalyn – This sounds delicious! I am wondering if the fish could be dipped in milk or milk and egg as is done in the South with chicken. I feel that using butter really masks the flavor of fish. Might try this tomorrow and let you know how it goes.
This sounds great! I'm wondering if you could just dip the fish in milk, or milk and egg, like Southerners do with chicken. I might give it a try and let you know how it goes!
I think most any brand of ground nuts would work for this recipe. However I can't publish comments recommending other brands even from they are from people who mean well; that just encourages spam comments on the blog.
Becky I love Riverhorse; will have to try one of those dishes. I did love this and plan to make it often.
I LOVE any nut-crusted fish recipe! There is a restaurant in Park City (Riverhorse) that serves Macadamia Crusted Halibut and Pistachio Crusted Trout, both are amazing! I'll have to try this one soon.
Molly, U.S. farm raised tilapia is rated as a "best choice" by the Monterey Bay Aquarium Seafood Watch. But any type of mild white fish would work with this recipe.
I don't use tilapia because I only buy wild raised fish and have only seen this fish farm raised. Is there an appropriate substitute? I love the ground almond meal from Trader Joe's and frequently use it as a substitute for breading.
yum! tilapia is my favourite fish.
Sounds absolutely wonderful!! Celiac runs in my family so I am always looking for new gluten free recipes! Can't wait to try this one!! Thanks for sharing!
Good catch, and I think you can use either pepper or lemon pepper. Good to know it's tasty on cod too.
Hi, I made this recipe last night, but in the ingredients you noted "pepper", in the directions you mentioned "lemon pepper"..? (Melt butter and margarine together over low heat. In a flat bowl big enough to hold the fish, mix almond meal, Parmesan, garlic powder, lemon pepper and Fish Rub in a flat dish.)
Soooo, I used lemon pepper and it was outstanding ! Also I used Cod. Highly recommend this to everyone.
ChicaJo, the almonds really add a nice flavor to it.
Joanne, so glad. I'm going to thaw out some tilapia just so I can make it again!
I'm so glad you reposted this! I have some tilapia in the freezer that I've been completely ambivalent about making…but now you've gotten me excited about it!
Sounds delicious Kalyn! I make something similar using fish or chicken but never thought to add almonds to the crust…oh yum! Taking notes 🙂
Shirley, glad you like it and I was very happy that it won Jake over as well.
Gorgeous, Kalyn! I am crazy about fish and these particular ingredients. Makes me want to run out and buy tilapia. I've used a similar combination of these ingredients for fish and chicken. As you say, they're naturally gluten free and so crisp and tasty. Truly hard to beat in my book. So nice that this method made a new tilapia convert of Jake; that's a testimonial in itself! 🙂
Shirley
Val, I'm a crisp savory girl too!
A crispy coating on fish is better than a piece of cheesecake in my books.
Priyanka, thanks for that nice feedback.
Hi Kalyn ,
You have a lovely space and lots of innovative creations.
And this recipe is a wonderful idea…loved it
Katie, I've dipped things in egg too, but not sure if I can identify any difference. I will say that the coating on this was very tasty (which was probably the butter, lol!)
Lydia, I agree, not turning them is the best way for this.
I like the baking method because (apart from not needing extra fat) you don't have to turn the fish. So many times, with recipes for things that are breaded, when you turn the fish or meat over, all the bread crumbs fall off!
Kalyn, I was just looking at this recipe today as I was trying to figure out what to make with the tilapia in my freezer. It's even more appealing now that you have a picture, and I'll give it a shot this week. When I'm breading chicken or fish, I usually dip it in egg rather than butter, but I've always wondered if you can tell a difference at the end. Have you ever experimented with this?
Mari, I'm going to be making this often too, now that I've tried it again!
Woohoo!! So glad to see my idea brought up an old recipe you have used previously! It is my favorite Friday night dinner 🙂
Kyle and Ali I don't know where you live but Trader Joes carries an almond meal that is wonderful and not expensive at all.
So glad you liked it, and by all means chop up your own almonds to make the almond meal if you have a good food processor. And I need to make this again and update with some photos!
So, so , so good!! Once again, your recipes rock! Only change I made was to finely chop some almonds in the food processor rather than buying the meal (that one small bag of Bob's Red Mill kind you show is $12.50 at the store I go to – and it's not even a fancy store). With that being said though, we will continue to just chop the almonds ourselves. The tiny bit of crunch was delicious! Tasted like the breaded southern fried fish I grew up on!
thanks Kalyn! I'll be trying this on tonight. Just what I was looking for!
Lacey, I really like that idea of larger pieces of almonds. Sounds good to me!
As I trudge my way through your South Beach friendly recipes, I find myself opening up to all kinds of new foods! I've had tilapia before, and just made this recipe for the second time tonight. I love to just dice up almonds in my nut chopper instead of using almond meal. They are so crisp and the larger almond pieces add a nice "crunch" to my fish. So good!
Just wanted to let you know: I found this recipe a few months ago when I had most of a bag of almond meal left over after making my sister a gluten-free birthday cake. Since then, we’ve had it nearly every week. It is ADDICTIVE! I’m not even a big fan of fish, but wow, this is good. Thanks for posting it.
OMG!! I made this on Friday, and it was the best thing ever! 🙂 I usually don’t cook fish at the house, but this recipe will make me convert. Thank you for all your great suggestions–I’m always trying your stuff.
Marianne- Thanks for commenting. I love tilapia too.
Adam – Yes, I have made cookies with almond meal a few times. I don’t remember where I found the recipe but I will see if I can scare it up and post it here. As I already confessed, I’m not that into sweets. But there was a period about 9 months ago where I had a short-lived cookie making binge.
Alanna – I love the idea of the pecan meal. I’m going to order some. Pecans are absolutely my favorite nuts.
Hi Kalyn – Very pretty site! FYI I do something similar with fish/chicken that uses pecan meal which I get from Sunnyland Farms. Harvest is in October so it’ll be available soon. It stores great in the freezer, makes wonderful bread too. Just make sure you’ll be home when the package is delivered or the squirrels will gorge! OH DEAR. Alanna
I just got some Almond Flour/Meal myself–I hadn’t thought about fish, though–thanks for the inspiration! Can’t wait!
A question for you–have you tried using Almond Flour/Meal in a cookie or cake recipe? Curious…
Adam;-)
Hi Kalyn–
I love tilapia and I can’t wait to try this recipe! Sounds so good! Thanks so much for sharing.