Baked Flounder with Tomatoes and Basil
Fresh flounder baked in a light garlicky white wine sauce blended with cherry tomatoes and basil is the perfect easy dinner recipe — and a sure hit with family and friends! My Baked Flounder with Tomatoes and Basil pairs well with rice, roasted, or sautéed vegetables.
You really can’t go wrong with any dish that combines fresh basil, garlic, and cherry tomatoes. It just sounds great, doesn’t it?
My grandfather grew a garden in his backyard and I had the pleasure of enjoying freshly grown tomatoes quite often. One would think it’s tough to get kids to eat on the healthier side, but when tomatoes looked as good as my grandfathers’ I had to at least give them a try. And I have been a fan of any type of tomatoes ever since.
Flounder is a fish I really didn’t get to appreciate (and enjoy) until I got older. It’s is a staple in most restaurants in the New Orleans area and once you get to experience it just once you will understand why it’s on so many menus. Most of the time you’ll find flounder stuffed with a crab or shrimp mixture then topped with an etouffee sauce.
The mild and sweet flavor (plus its flaky texture) opens the possibilities. Hence, it’s the perfect fish for stuffing, baking, and drizzling on a plethora of sauce combinations. And my spin on a light garlic-laced wine sauce will be the star of this recipe. Paired with a little kick from the spice, this fish recipe will certainly raise some eyebrows.
Ingredients you’ll need to make this dish:
For the flounder itself, the ingredients are fairly straightforward. Filets of fresh flounder are simply seasoned with black pepper, creole seasoning, and parsley flakes. Plus, some fresh lemon so you can add a little “zest” to the top of the dish once it’s all ready to go.
For the sauce, you’ll need cherry tomatoes, minced garlic (you can also use freshly sliced garlic), freshly chopped basil, low-sodium chicken stock, and white wine of your choice. You can use white cooking wine as an alternative, but I would highly recommend going with an inexpensive bottle of white wine.
You’ll want to season your sauce using red pepper flakes, garlic powder, ground ginger, Himalayan salt, and red cayenne pepper. If you don’t like as much heat, you can decrease the amount of red pepper flakes and/or cayenne pepper to suit your taste.
How to make baked fish with tomatoes and basil:
Begin by heating your cooking pan to medium heat then add butter allowing it to melt before adding any other ingredients. Add the garlic into the pan, stir, and cook for a minute before adding the cherry tomatoes. Once the tomatoes cook for three minutes add in the chicken stock and white wine.
Chop the fresh basil until you have at least one-fourth of a cup then add it to the pan along with the remaining sauce seasonings. You’ll cook the sauce for ten minutes.
While the sauce is cooking you can pre-heat your oven to 350 degrees and season your flounder. Place your seasoned fish on a non-stick baking dish then cover with the tomato basil wine sauce evenly. Make sure each piece is completely covered in the sauce then bake for 10 minutes uncovered.
Once you remove the flounder from the oven, top off the dish with lemon zest.
You can go from prep to dining in less than an hour and feel like you had a fine dining experience with this recipe.
This baked fish with tomatoes and basil brings an aroma from the oven that will have you anxiously waiting to dive in and enjoy!
Cooking Tips
- Don’t have flounder on hand, you can also use sole, turbot, or halibuts as a substitute. Really any white flaky fish will do. You’ll just need to adjust your cooking time based on the thickness of the fish (flounder does tend to be fillet quite thin.)
- Looking for side dish suggestions? This dish goes great with sautéed spinach, roasted vegetables, grilled zucchini and squash, a fresh side salad, cauliflower, rice pilaf, and more.
- Tuck the thin edges of the flounder so the fillet don’t cook faster than the thicker/center areas.
And if you’re looking for a few more seafood recipes:
- Foil Baked Chilean Sea Bass with Lemon Parmesan Cream Sauce
- Beer Battered Cod with Sriracha Tartar Sauce
- Creole Fish Etouffee
- Creamy Tuscan Steelhead Trout
- Honey Balsamic Steelhead Trout
- Pan-Seared Salmon with Succotash
- Hot Cajun Fish Dip
Baked Flounder with Tomatoes and Basil
- Total Time: 30 minutes
- Yield: 6 1x
Description
Fresh flounder baked in a light garlicky white wine sauce blended with cherry tomatoes and basil is the perfect easy dinner recipe — and a sure hit with family and friends! my Baked Flounder with Tomatoes and Basil pairs well with roasted or sautéed vegetables.
Ingredients
For the flounder:
- 2 lb Flounder Fish Filet
- 2 tsp Black Pepper
- 3 tsp Creole Seasoning
- 2 tbsp Parsley Flakes
- 3 tbsp Butter
- 1 Lemon (Zest)
For the tomato basil sauce:
- 1 cup Cherry Tomatoes
- 2 tbsp Minced Garlic
- 1/4 cup Fresh Chopped Basil
- 3/4 cup Chicken Stock
- 1/4 cup White Wine
- 1 tsp Red Pepper Flakes
- 1/2 tsp Garlic Powder
- 1/4 tsp Ground Ginger
- 1/4 tsp Himalayan Salt
- Dash Red Cayenne Pepper
Instructions
- Begin by heating your cooking pan to medium heat then add butter. Add the garlic into the pan and stir cook for 1 minute before adding the cherry tomatoes. Once the tomatoes cook for 3 minutes add the chicken stock and white wine.
- Remove the leaves from the fresh basil then chop around 1/4 cup. Add basil to the pan along with remaining sauce seasonings except for the lemon zest. Cook for 10 minutes.
- Season both sides of the flounder then place in baking dish. Cover fish evenly with garlic basil wine sauce. Bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes uncovered.
- Once baked, top off the dish with lemon zest. Serve immediately.
Notes
You can use white cooking wine (in place of bottled white wine), but I would highly recommend going with an inexpensive bottle of white wine.
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 20 minutes
- Category: Fish
- Method: Oven Baked
- Cuisine: American
Nutrition
- Calories: 608
- Sugar: 1.1g
- Sodium: 1134mg
- Fat: 11.3g
- Carbohydrates: 3.5g
- Fiber: 0.8g
- Protein: 107.5g
- Cholesterol: 282mg
Very good. Excellent for someone that doesn’t like a fishy taste.
I look forward to making it again.
Thanks, Jim! Glad you enjoyed it!
I absolutely loved this sauce but it’s a one time deal for me. The sodium levels are much too high.
Thanks so much Mel! Sorry if the sodium levels are too high for you liking you can possibly try to use a no or low sodium chicken stock or veggie stock. That may help on that end for you. Thanks for your feedback!
So flavorful and light, the presentation is gourmet looking and brings my frozen flounder filets to the next level! A great combination of seasonings to compliment home grown tomatoes and basil prepared in a white wine pan sauce topping the filets which baked quickly. Will make again with flounder, and will try the pan sauce with other fish, shrimp, and even a chicken breast cutlet. Thank you!
Hi Peggy! Thanks for the great feedback!
Planning to try this tomorrow! We don’t drink, can I substitute the white wine with more chicken stock, or is there something else I could use?
Thank you so much!
Hi Deema! Chicken or vegetable broth are both great substitutions for white wine. You can use equal amounts of low sodium (so the dish is not too salty) stock. You can also use a 1/2 white wine vinegar and 1/2 water for similar results.
I made this tonight and it was absolutely delicious! My husband said, “This is restaurant quality!” Lol! Thank you for this wonderful recipe. This is definitely going in our dinner rotation!
That’s the kind of feedback we love! Thank you!
Fixed this recipe tonight. My husband and I loved it even without the lemon or lemon zest because I didn’t have a lemon. Will fix this one again! ❤️
Thanks for the feedback, Cindy! Glad you and your husband enjoyed it!
Made as per recipe except served on a bed of mashed potato with chard. Was absolutely delicious particularly with cherry tomatoes from the garden.
Hi Paul! Mashed potatoes and swiss chard sound amazing! Thanks for trying the recipe!
fantastic!
Thank you!
We made this last night, with flounder and shrimp. It was flavorful, bright, fresh… delicious. We’ll be making this again!
Awesome! Thanks for taking to time to leave feedback!
This was a super quick, fool-proof, and flavorful recipe! Loved the addition of the ground ginger too. I’ll definitely be making this again!
This looks so good and is so simple to make! This will be making an appearance very soon! Thanks for sharing!
Lovely pictures! Lovely recipe!! Will be trying this soon!
I went ahead and pinned this one! Looks delicious and I love the flavors you added.
So good! I loved the sauce with the flounder, it paired perfectly!
Oooh this is perfect for summer! We have been looking for good fish recipes and this is it!
This flounder is so fresh and light and your step-by-step photos were extremely helpful!
I love the addition of ginger in the sauce. That is a unique twist. This makes a great weeknight meal!
I love a good baked fish- and this recipe did not disappoint! It was so flaky and delicious.
Flounder is one of those fish that I never thought to try. This is really delish and I love the fresh herbs and flavors!
This dish looks so flavorful and delicious. Plus, I’ve been looking for new recipes to incorporate all of the cherry tomatoes I’m growing into dishes. I love flounder and will definitely make this very soon.
The fresh tomatoes and herbs make this fish truly a stand-out recipe!! Thanks for this!
I love the white wine sauce! The flavors of the dish are so perfect!
Oh my husband would LOVE this! I might just have to forward it to him lol
These photos were so helpful in putting together this recipe! Thanks for sharing, my husband loved this dish!
I hadn’t had flounder in YEARS and this was a great dive back into the pool. I loved the sweetness from the tomatoes and the ease of the entire recipe.