Baked Haddock with Italian Seasoning

Elizabeth Kelly
Apr 23
4 min read

Updated: May 31

Baked haddock with Italian seasoning has it all, taste, convenience, and easy to make, takes just enough time to bake to put together some sides.

When I make this fish, I generally cook from frozen. A lot of chefs and cooks will tell you to thaw the fish first but I have never done that, and and there are pros and cons either way. For me, the pros are convenience, quick, and food safety.

Convenience Just take it out of the freezer and cook it. There is no wait time, no fussing with the fish, just open the package and cook. One step and it's ready for the oven.

Quick Again, just take it out of the freezer and cook it. From freezer, to counter, to baking pan to oven, in 5 minutes.

Food Safety Fish doesn't last very long out of the freezer and I am easily distracted. It would absolutely be like me to take it out and forget that I did.

The cons include texture and uneven cooking.

Texture Cooking from frozen releases the moisture rapidly, causing the fish to cook in its own juices, leaving it soggy or waterlogged.

Uneven Cooking Thinner parts of the fish will cook faster than thicker parts. When cooking from thawed, the thinner parts can be tucked under to create a more even thickness

To be honest, when I looked into cooking from fresh and frozen, I found conflicting reasons for thawing. Some sites said the fish would be too dry, some said it would be took soggy. At some point, it would be up to your own taste to determine whether you want to cook from frozen or thawed. What I do recommend is you research about thawing and storing fish before making a decision.

Cooking from Frozen

The nice thing about cooking from frozen is how fast this cooks up. Take the fish out of the freezer, put it in a baking dish, brush with oil, sprinkle with Italian Seasoning Blend, cover, and put it in the oven. You can take the cover off half way through, but I don’t always remember to do that and it works out just fine.

I find that it takes about 25 to 30 minutes to cook from frozen and the longer cooking time makes up for having to remember to take the fish out of the freezer ahead of time or defrost it in cold water (which takes a lot more time and attention).

I also give a portion size, and you can use that as a guide to selecting the filets if you are buying them fresh. Generally, I just buy them from frozen. The packages I get are 400 g (about 14 ounces). If I am making for one meal, I just take out what I think is a nice portion. Sometimes, to save even more time and money (only run the oven once), I bake the whole package at. Because the filets are individually seasoned, I sometimes season only some with the Italian Seasoning Blend and not others, or I might add just dill to others, depending on how I plan on using them.

I have indicated using oil to brush on the filets. I generally find that it recommended that butter be used but I much prefer oil, usually canola or sesame. Don't let that stop you, brush on melted butter instead, if you like. I use the oil sparingly, just enough to help the

seasoning stick to the fish.

However you choose to cook it, from frozen or thawed, with butter or oil, the flavour of the Italian Seasoning Blend on the fish is worth trying. My kitchen smells wonderful every time I make this and the flavour is rich and complex; an earthiness from the oregano and thyme, sweetness from the onion powder, garlic powder, and basil, and just a hint of heat. It compliments the fish extremely well.

Let me know in the comments if you make this fish, and what you paired it with. Enjoy.