024 / 75 · Fish Without Fuss

Foil-Baked Cod with Tomato White Beans

Name: Foil-Baked Cod with Tomato White Beans
Prep time: 20 min
Total time: 55 min
Yield: 2 complete foil-packet meals, each with 1 cod fillet, half the bean-tomato base and 40 g bread
Ingredients: 2 skinless boneless Atlantic cod fillets (300 g total raw; about 150 g each); About 1 1/3 cups fully cooked unsalted white beans, well drained (240 g); 2 medium ripe tomatoes, diced (250 g); 1/2 small onion, finely diced (60 g); 1 small garlic clove, minced (3 g); 2 teaspoons olive oil (10 ml/about 9 g); 2 tablespoons drinking water (30 ml); 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon lemon juice (20 ml/about 20 g); 1 tablespoon finely chopped parsley (5 g); 1/4 teaspoon fine salt (1.5 g); 1/8 teaspoon black pepper (0.3 g); 2 generous slices whole-wheat bread (80 g total)

2 complete foil-packet meals, each with 1 cod fillet, half the bean-tomato base and 40 g bread · Active 20 min · Total 55 min

Print recipe · PDF

A foil packet traps steam around cod, while a warm tomato-and-bean base gives the fish a useful cushion. The beans must already be cooked; the oven time is for the fish and the assembled packet, not for softening dry pulses. Warming the base first makes the timing more predictable. Open each packet away from your face and check the fillet rather than assuming that steam proves doneness.

Jump to ingredients

Original hand-drawn illustration of foil-baked cod with tomato white beans.

Build a shallow parcel

Use enough foil to bring the sides together comfortably above the food. A tightly wrapped block is harder to open for checking and gives hot juices nowhere to sit. Put the warm beans and tomato in a shallow central mound, lay the fish on top and fold the seam above it. Two similar fillets bake more evenly than one thin tail piece and one thick center cut. If a thinner piece finishes first, remove its packet and let the larger one continue. Keep the foil on a rimmed tray so a small leak cannot spill onto the oven floor.

Check through the thickest part

Cod is delicate once cooked. Slide the thermometer into the thickest section rather than repeatedly breaking the fillet apart to inspect it. It should reach 145°F/63°C, with flesh that is opaque and separates readily. The preheated bean base should remain hot through. Lift the food to a plate with a broad spoon or open the packet on a plate that will catch its juices. The measured bread is useful for those juices and belongs in the estimate. If canned white beans are easier than home-boiled beans, use them as the concrete variation below, with their label values. A drained canned product is not silently identical to the unsalted-boiled composition used for this base.

Ingredients

2 skinless boneless Atlantic cod fillets (300 g total raw; about 150 g each)
About 1 1/3 cups fully cooked unsalted white beans, well drained (240 g)
2 medium ripe tomatoes, diced (250 g)
1/2 small onion, finely diced (60 g)
1 small garlic clove, minced (3 g)
2 teaspoons olive oil (10 ml/about 9 g)
2 tablespoons drinking water (30 ml)
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon lemon juice (20 ml/about 20 g)
1 tablespoon finely chopped parsley (5 g)
1/4 teaspoon fine salt (1.5 g)
1/8 teaspoon black pepper (0.3 g)
2 generous slices whole-wheat bread (80 g total)

Set out

Oven and rimmed baking tray, 2 large heavy-duty foil sheets, about 30 x 40 cm/12 x 16 inches, 2-litre/2-quart saucepan, Spoon, Knife and separate raw-fish board, Kitchen scale, Food thermometer, 2 plates

Allergens

Fish, Wheat; check bread for soy, milk or sesame. Check labels and substitutions.

Make it

Heat oven to 400°F/200°C. Set both foil sheets on the rimmed tray with edges lifted slightly. Keep fish cold while preparing the base.
Heat oil in the saucepan over medium heat. Soften onion for 5 minutes, add garlic for 30 seconds, then stir in tomato, cooked beans, water and half the salt. Simmer for 5–7 minutes until tomatoes soften and the bean base is hot through at 165°F/74°C.
Divide the hot base between the foil centers. Lay one cold raw cod fillet on each, sprinkle with remaining salt and pepper and add half the lemon and parsley. Wash hands and clean raw-fish equipment. Fold foil edges above the food into secure seams, leaving a little space inside.
Bake for 15–20 minutes, or longer for thick fillets. Carefully open a seam away from your face and check the thickest fish reaches 145°F/63°C and is opaque and easily flaked. Reseal and bake longer if needed.
Set each opened packet on a plate or spoon its contents carefully onto the plate. Serve each with 40 g of the measured bread.

A useful kitchen skill

Open a steam-filled packet away from your face, then use a thermometer on the actual fish rather than treating escaping steam as a doneness test.

A useful detail

The 55-minute total includes heating the bean base and checking the packets. Cod thickness, not only fillet weight, changes baking time. The beans start fully cooked and drained.

Another way

Use 240 g drained canned white beans instead of boiled beans and calculate from the canned label.
Replace cod with the same 300 g raw skinless haddock, checking 145°F/63°C and calculating for that fish.

Keep it well

Refrigerate leftovers promptly in shallow covered containers at 40°F/4°C or below, within 2 hours or 1 hour above 90°F/32°C. Use within 2 days, or the shorter original bean deadline. Remove food from foil for storage and reheat the needed portion to 165°F/74°C throughout. Keep bread separately.