This New England Baked Haddock Recipe is so comforting, delicious, and easy to make! This easy, family-friendly dinner uses only THREE ingredients and requires only FIVE MINUTES of hands on time.
If you are from New England, you have had New England Baked Haddock. If you aren’t or haven’t had it… you need to get it in your mouth ASAP. And I mean like, now.
You only need THREE ingredients for this baked haddock recipe: fish, butter, and bread crumbs, plus some salt and pepper. And lemon and parsley, if you want to get a little crazy. This is such a simple and inexpensive meal to make.
This is a very traditional dish in New England, and is often served as the fish option at weddings and other shindigs. It can be ordered at almost any seafood restaurant (sometimes, it’s made with cod), and is so melt-in-your-mouth yummy, it will be hard to go back to eating fish any other way!
New England baked haddock is perfect for when you want something pescatarian, but a little more soul-satisfying than your average light and healthy fish recipe.
It’s almost like fish meets casserole. It’s warm and hearty, and will satisfy even the meat lovingest of the meat lovers as a main course.
Traditionally, New England baked haddock is made using Ritz crackers (which are, incidentally, from New England) crumbled up with butter and spread on top of the fish, then baked in the oven with lemon and herbs. Delicious.
However, you can get the same delicious effect by using breadcrumbs and lots of butter (to get that awesome buttery Ritz-y taste).
Ritz Crackers vs. Breadcrumbs
I prefer using breadcrumbs instead of Ritz crackers. Here’s why.
For one thing, they’re already broken up, so you don’t have to worry about that extra step of smashing the Ritz crackers into crumbles. Just pour the breadcrumbs in a bowl, add some butter, and mix together.
For another thing, breadcrumbs are a little more flexible. You can easily make your own out of scratch-made or fresh bread, which means you’ll be more in control of the ingredients in the bread.
And there are so many kinds of breadcrumbs out there, including gluten-free or whole wheat versions, so it’s a great way to meet certain dietary needs easily.
That said, please feel free to use Ritz crackers, or another similar buttery cracker, in place of the breadcrumbs! Just crush them up (you can use a rolling pin to crush them in a zip-top bag) and add a little less butter than the recipe calls for with breadcrumbs.
What else can I add to the breadcrumb topping?
This recipe is SUPER basic- only three ingredients. You can add herbs, garlic (powder or fresh), and other seasonings to the breadcrumb mixture if you want!
Or you can season the fish with more than salt and pepper. I think Italian seasoning or lemon pepper would be great.
My store doesn’t carry haddock! What can I use instead?
Now that I live in Texas, it’s hard for me to find haddock at the store.
If you can’t find it, or if you just don’t like it, you can use any other mild white fish, such as tilapia, cod, pollock, flounder, or halibut. I’ve even gotten super Southern on this and used catfish- it was great!
If you like this New England Baked Haddock recipe, try these other easy fish recipes:
- Four Ingredient Southern Style Oven-Fried Catfish
- Instant Pot Fish Stew
- 10-Minute Blackened Tilapia with Avocado Cucumber Salsa
- 15-Minute Poached Salmon with Chive Butter
Here’s the printable recipe!
New England Baked Haddock
Ingredients
- 1-1.5 lbs. haddock patted dry (or cod)
- 1 cup plain breadcrumbs or seasoned, see note
- 6 tablespoons salted butter melted (see notes)
- kosher salt and black pepper
- lemon wedges and fresh parsley for serving (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Combine the bread crumbs (1 cup) with the rest of the 6 tablespoons of melted butter.
- Salt and pepper both sides of the fish liberally (I used about 1 teaspoon kosher salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper), and lay in the buttered baking dish.
- Spread bread crumbs – all of them – evenly over the top of the fish. I use my hands to sprinkle it on (it won't really stick like traditional breading – it's more like a topping).
- Bake for 15 minutes, or until fish is cooked thoroughly (and flakes easily).
- Serve with a squeeze of lemon juice and a garnish of fresh parsley, if desired.
Notes
- Looking for more flavor? This recipe is basic and simple, which I LOVE. But if you’re looking for bolder flavor, try adding spices or herbs to the breadcrumb mixture, such as fresh parsley, dill, chives, garlic (powder or fresh), onion powder, and/or lemon zest, or use Italian Style Seasoned Breadcrumbs. Grated parmesan cheese would also be delicious added in!
- If you use unsalted butter, I recommend adding 1/4 teaspoon salt to the breadcrumb mixture, in addition to seasoning the fish.
- If your fish is particularly thick, you may need more time to cook it. The cooking time indicated is for fish about 3/4″-1″ thick. Keep in mind, oven temperatures vary as well.
- How to use Ritz crackers: New England Baked Haddock is traditionally made with crushed Ritz crackers. You can use them if you prefer- just put them in a zip-top bag and use a rolling pin to crush them. Then, use in place of the breadcrumbs in the recipe and use only 3 tablespoons of melted butter instead of 6.
- The provided nutrition information does not include any added sodium from seasoning to taste, any optional ingredients, and it does not take brands into account. Feel free to calculate it yourself using this calculator or by adding the recipe to Yummly.
Video
Nutrition
Nutrition Information Disclaimer
The provided nutrition information is my best estimate and reflects one serving of the recipe (total servings indicated at top of recipe card). It does not include any added sodium from seasoning to taste, any optional ingredients, and it does not take brands into account. I use an automatic API to calculate this information. Feel free to calculate it yourself using one of these tools:
This New England Baked Haddock recipe first appeared on Bowl of Delicious in September 2014. I’ve updated it to include a video, updated tips and tricks, and clearer instructions.
Kristen Lee
This was simple and delicious! I did a combo of seasoned crumb and plain panko and added the lemon squeezes and fresh dill (didn’t have parsley on hand). We all loved the dish, thank you from New England.
Elizabeth Lindemann
So glad you liked it!
Phyllis
For 1 lb of cod or haddock: preheat oven to 450. Put 4-6 tbsp butter in shallow baking dish and put in oven while preheating. When melted turn the fish in it and sprinkle crumbs to cover liberally. Bake for 10 minutes or when it flakes with a fork. Squeeze a little lemon over and garnish with parsley. I like to add browning seasoning and 1 tbsp olive oil to bread crumbs.
Elizabeth Lindemann
Thanks for adding your tips!
Danicee
First time following this recipe. All I can say is “Delicious”.
Elizabeth Lindemann
So glad you liked it!
Emmy
This recipe is nostalgic, I grew up in New England and still live here and this is how we always made it. We opt for the Ritz crackers. Thank you for this simple and delicious recipe, I love making it for my husband and he loves coming home to it after a long day at work. 🩷
Elizabeth Lindemann
So glad you liked it! I agree, it’s such nostalgic comfort food for any New Englander :-)
Alice
Hello, thank you for this recipe.
I had a similar recipe for baked fish fillets with a homemade breadcrumb topping, but I can’t find it, either in my recipe cards or online.
It was even simpler, in that it didn’t require mixing and sprinkling the fat with the breadcrumbs. Just dry bread crumbs were poured over the top, that had a non-dairy seasoning or two of some sort (not parmesan, butter or even oil mixed in.)
I think it might have involved drizzling an oil over the fish, and then breadcrumbs stirred together with paprika, and salt and pepper, amd perhaps fresh parsley, or something similarly simple. I don’t think it had garlic or garlic powder either. It was just a few ingredients, and didn’t use commercially prepared and seasoned breadcrumbs. I liked that I could just make my own dried breadcrumbs from whole wheat bread, and then add whatever herb or spice the recipe called for. Unfortunately, I can’t remember the details.
I loved this recipe because it didn’t use butter, which i need to avoid for heart health (I need to avoid saturated fat), and I didn’t have to get my fingers dirty by combining the breadcrumbs with butter or fat: which made it that much quicker! And it was so tasty!
So I tried this on my own with haddock fillets last night, hoping it would come out right, without having the recipe.
I put the fish on parchment, drizzled 2 fillets with olive oil, and 2 with melted butter, then poured on plain, unseasoned breadcrumbs, (not even S & P) and baked it. I’m not sure if I ate one with the olive oil or the butter. It was disappointing.
Have you ever seen a recipe for baked fish fillets with a breadcrumb topping like I just described described, please? No butter, no parmesan, no store bought breadcrumbs, and no mixing of the fat with the breadcrumbs.
Maybe if I’d just added S & P, that would have been enough. I also baked them at 350 for ~15 minutes, and they came out very dry. But I’m sure the recipe i can’t find didn’t require dipping the fish in oil, egg, or anything else. Just perhaps oil on top, and homemade seasoned breadcrumbs.
Maybe if I’d brushed the oil on for full coverage, and added S & P, paprika, and fresh parsley, that would have been the recipe.
Any ideas, please?
Thank you again. Yours was the most informative and helpful I’ve seen of this recipe.
Elizabeth Lindemann
Hi! So, the reason why fat is mixed with the breadcrumbs is so they get nice and toasty and golden brown. If you bake them without the added fat, they will likely dry out, turn hard, and potentially burn. I personally would not use a recipe that didn’t have some kind of fat with the breadcrumbs.
That said, you said you drizzled the fish with oil and butter and then topped with breadcrumbs and baked. I would opt instead to leave the fish plain, then just add the breadcrumbs mixed with oil or butter on top of the fish. There will be enough oil that seeps down to help keep the fish moist, plus the breadcrumb layer will trap some of the steam trying to escape the fish to help keep it moist. No need to do oil directly on top of the fish!
On that note, I am also recently limiting my saturated fats and I’ve used olive oil in place of butter for this recipe, and less of it, with great success.
I do find that mixing the breadcrumbs with the oil or butter helps evenly coat them and makes them cook better. That said, if you want to avoid getting a bowl dirty, you could drizzle oil or melted butter on top of the breadcrumbs (and any spices) sprinkled over the fish.
Hope that all helps!
Leslie
Hi I noticed that chefs make the fish with oil but I prefer with butter but will the butter burn on the fish please explain also can I mix shaking bake with the butter instead of crackers please explain also iusually bake the haddock 400 degrees Fahrenheit should I bake it at 375 or 350 and for how many minutes I want to taste it tender and juicy please explain thank you and have a nice day .
Elizabeth Lindemann
The butter won’t burn at this baking temperature (350 degrees F)! In fact, I often find that there isn’t enough color on the breadcrumbs and end up broiling it for a minute or so to crisp them up a bit. You may have missed the recipe card at the bottom of the post – it has all the temperature and time instructions (you can scroll down or click “jump to recipe” at the top of the page). Hope that helps and hope you like it!
BILL ASHNESS
Very easy a fast. Used garlic powder 1/4 ts in the bread crumbs
Elizabeth Lindemann
So glad you liked it!