Cod and Parsley Sauce

Cod and parsley sauce is a simple, traditional Irish meal, often eaten on Fridays in years gone by when meat was off limits for Catholics.

This is a taste of my childhood, and when made with really fresh fish it's truly satisfying.

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Fried Cod Served with Parsley Sauce

The cod is dredged in seasoned flour before frying, then smothered in a creamy white sauce infused with parsley and a hint of onion. Simply delicious.

Parsley sauce is a white sauce made form a roux with chopped fresh parsley added. It's often used in Irish dinners and is perfect for topping ham, bacon or corned beef especially when served with cabbage.

I served this cod and parsley sauce with a side of champ, a delicious mixture of mashed potatoes with milk and green onions. A few steamed carrots gave this dinner a real Irish taste and look, with it's green, white and orange color theme. An Irish flag dinner if you don't mind, just in time for St. Patrick's Day.

Ireland is an island, which means excellent fresh fish is easily available all over the country. I love to cook with fish and some of my favorite recipes are a cheesy seafood casserole, cod fishcakes, or budget friendly salmon fish cakes.

Irish people even love to mix smoked salmon through their scrambles eggs.

Anyway, without further ado, here's my recipe for this traditional Irish lunch or dinner favorite.

Ingredients for Cod and Parsley Sauce

Here's a list of the ingredients you'll need. You'll find exact amounts in the printable recipe at the bottom of this page.

For the fish:  

• cod fillets
• all-purpose flour
• salt and pepper to season
• canola or vegetable oil
• butter

Note: This technique works for many types of fish, and is especially tasty for white fish. You can use halibut, haddock, or any fish fillet of your choosing.

For the parsley sauce:

• whole milk
• onion - peeled and sliced
• bay leaf
• whole peppercorn
• pinch of nutmeg
• butter
• all-purpose flour
• salt to season if desired
• chopped fresh parsley

It's important to use whole milk rather than low-fat milk for this sauce. The extra fat gives the sauce its signature creamy texture.

This sauce features parsley as the main herb. You can use the same technique and add chopped, fresh dill instead of parsley. Dill sauce goes exceptionally well with salmon.

You can add additional ground black pepper to this sauce once it's cooked, and season it to taste. I sometimes like to add ground white pepper to avoid having too many black flecks in this deliciously creamy sauce.

Directions for Cod and Parsley Sauce

The first step is to infuse the milk you are going to use to make the sauce with a lovely variety of flavors. Onions provide the first flavor layer.

Peel the onion and slice half of it.

A rough chop is fine. Don't worry about presentation since the onion will be discarded after it has infused the milk.

I only use half an onion since I like a subtle hint rather than a bold blast of onion in my sauce.

Next add the sliced onion, peppercorns, bay leaf and nutmeg to the milk in a saucepan.

Bring it to simmering point over medium heat, then turn off the burner and let it stand for about 10 minutes.

Do not boil the milk, since the flavor will change slightly if it is boiled for a while. The purpose of this step is to infuse the milk for the parsley sauce with the subtle flavors of onion, bay, pepper and nutmeg, taking your sauce from bland to something extra special.

Be sure to use whole milk for the best sauce. Low fat milks just make thin sauces, so I must recommend whole milk.

While the milk is infusing with those lovely flavors you can get started cooking the cod.

Season the flour with salt and pepper and mix it through in a flat bowl or on a plate. Then dredge each of the cod fillets in the flour.

No need to dip the cod in an egg wash before coating in flour. The flour just helps to give the fish a nice brown color when it is fried.

Add the oil and butter to a pre-heated skillet over medium heat. When the pan is hot and the butter is melted add the fish pieces to the skillet.

Fry the cod for 3 to 4 minutes on each side, turning when the first side is a lovely golden brown.

Once the fish is nearly cooked it's time to finish the parsley sauce.

Strain the infused milk and discard the onion, peppercorns, and bay leaf. Keep the hot milk ready for making the sauce.

Melt the butter in the bottom of a saucepan.

Then add the flour and mix together to form a roux.

Stir the butter and flour together over the heat for at least one minute.

This step is extremely important so that you won't get a taste of uncooked flour from your parsley cream sauce.

Gradually add the hot milk to the roux whisking all the time over medium heat.

Bring to simmering point while using the whisk to avoid any lumps forming.

The sauce should be a relatively thick, yet pourable consistency.

If the sauce is too thick for your liking just add some more milk and stir it through.

Finely chop the fresh parsley.

Add the parsley to the white sauce and stir it through.

And then you'll be ready to plate. Lay a piece of the cooked cod on a plate and smother it in this lovely creamy parsley sauce.

Here's my Irish dinner complete with a side of champ and steamed carrot batons.

This dinner is also often served with floury mashed potatoes Irish style, instead of champ.

Printable Recipe and Video for Cod and Parsley Sauce

Here's a short video outlining the steps.

Here's the printable recipe. Just below the ingredient list you'll find a tab to switch to metric measurements, if that's how you cook.

If you would like to serve champ with your cod and parsley sauce just click here for my Irish champ recipe.

Happy Irish cooking to all.

Here are some other Irish recipes you might like: