Crispy Cod with Broccoli & Keto Cheese Sauce

Name: Crispy Cod with Broccoli & Keto Cheese Sauce
Prep time: 20 min
Total time: 20 min
Ingredients: 2 tbsp heavy whipping cream (30 ml); 1 tbsp unsalted butter (14 g/ 0.5 oz); 2 tbsp cream cheese or soft goat cheese (30 g/ 1.1 oz); ¼ cup grated cheddar or hard cheese of choice (28 g/ 1 oz); pinch of sea salt, if needed; 1 tbsp water or more cream if you need to thin it down; 1 bunch broccolini or 1 small broccoli (250 g/ 8.8 oz); 2 skin-on cod loins (300 g/ 10.6 oz); sea salt and pepper, to taste; 1 tbsp ghee or virgin avocado oil (15 ml)

Martina SlajerovaUpdated 4 January 2021★★★★★4.6 (9 ratings)

Ready in 20m
6.4 g net carbs
433 kcal
Serves 2

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Crispy Cod with Broccoli & Keto Cheese Sauce (low-carb, gluten-free, grain-free)

Simple meals are the best meals, especially if you're new to the keto diet. This keto dinner recipe has the perfect balance of protein, carbs and fat. You have crispy skin-on cod for protein, broccoli for fibre and cheese sauce for fats and flavour.

This keto fish dinner recipe takes no more than 20 minutes to make from scratch, and that includes the keto cheese sauce. I made this meal for two but it's really easy to scale up if you're cooking for more people. (Two servings will require you to make half of my famous Keto Cheese Sauce recipe.)

Recipe Substitutions

If you're not a fan of fish or you don't have any, drizzle the cheese sauce over some Poached Chicken & Broccoli instead of the olive oil & lemon sauce.

Instead of broccoli you can use other low-carb vegetables such as green beans, broccoli or zucchini noodles. You can find more options in this keto food list.

Finally, you can try swapping the cheese sauce with some of the options below:

Low-Carb Curry Simmer Sauce — this sauce can be served with steamed vegetables, meat and fish.
The Best Keto Gravy — this sauce is rich and creamy and infused with porcini mushrooms.
Low-Carb Marinara Pizza Sauce
Low-Carb Alfredo Sauce — an alternative to the keto cheese sauce and it's prepared with one type of cheese.
DIY Taco Sauce — this sauce can be served with meatballs, chicken or as keto pizza topping.

Step-by-step

Make the cheese sauce. Place the cream and butter into a small sauce pan and gently heat up. Add the grated cheddar cheese (or any hard cheese of choice) and cream cheese.
Stir until melted and bring to a simmer. Once you see bubbles, take off the heat. Mix until smooth and creamy. If you prefer a thicker sauce, cook for 3-5 more minutes while stirring. If too thick, add a splash of water or cream.
Pat dry the cod loins (or you can use fillets) with a paper towel. Season with salt and pepper on both sides.
Heat a skillet or a non stick pan greased with ghee (or avocado oil) over a medium-high heat. Add the cod loins, skin side down, and depending on the thickness of the fish, cook for 3 to 5 minutes, or until the skin is crisped un and the sides are opaque. Flip on the other side and cook for another 1-2 minutes. When done, set aside and keep warm.
While the cod is cooking, cut the ends off the broccolini, and cut in half. Place the broccolini (or broccoli florets) to a double boiler, or a pot filled with boiling water, and cook for 4-5 minutes, enough for the broccoli to get crisp-tender.
Serve the broccoli with the crispy cod and cheese sauce (about ¹/₄ cup/ 60 ml cheese sauce per serving). Sprinkle with more pepper to taste.
Eat immediately or store for up to a day. Reheat before serving.
Tip
The cheese sauce should be eaten immediately or kept at room temperature before serving. If you do need to refrigerate and then heat it up, make sure to heat up gently over a low heat while stirring to prevent the butter from separating and the cheese sauce from clumping up.

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