Foil Packet Fish
White fish fillets sealed in foil with cherry tomatoes, olives, capers, zucchini and lemon. Everything steams together in 15 minutes — on the grill or in the oven. Zero cleanup.
Ingredients
- 700 gwhite fish fillets, 2–3 cm thick
- 200 gcherry tomatoes
- 1 medium zucchini
- 80 gpitted olives
- 2 tbspcapers
- 4 garlic cloves
- 4 tbspolive oil
- 3 tbsplemon juice
- 1 lemon, thinly sliced into rounds
- 1 tspdried oregano
- 0.5 tspred pepper flakes
- 1 tspsalt
- 0.5 tspblack pepper
- 3 tbspfresh parsley
Method
- Preheat oven to 200°C (400°F), or heat a grill to medium-high with the lid closed.
- Cut four large sheets of heavy-duty foil, about 40 cm each. Place each sheet in a bowl to make folding easier.
- Divide zucchini, tomatoes, olives, capers and garlic between the four sheets, piling them in the center. Drizzle with olive oil and season with salt, pepper and oregano.
- Lay a fish fillet on top of each vegetable pile. Drizzle with lemon juice, add red pepper flakes and lay 2–3 lemon slices on top.
- Fold the long sides of the foil together over the fish and roll down in tight double folds to seal. Then fold and roll the short ends tightly. Leave a little air space inside — the steam needs room to move.
- Oven: place packets on a baking sheet and bake 12–15 minutes. Grill: place directly on the grates and cook 10–12 minutes with the lid closed. No need to flip.
- Let packets rest 3 minutes before opening — the steam inside is scalding. Open carefully, away from your face. Scatter parsley and serve straight from the foil.
FAQ
Most likely the packet wasn't sealed tightly enough and steam escaped during cooking. Steam is the whole mechanism here — it builds up inside and cooks the fish gently from all sides. Fold the foil edges at least twice in double folds on every side. Second possibility: overcooked. At 200°C, a 2–3 cm thick white fish fillet is done in 12–15 minutes. After that the steam keeps working and the flesh dries out.
200°C for 12–15 minutes for fillets around 2–3 cm thick. On the grill it's the same time at medium-high heat with the lid down. To check doneness without opening every packet: press lightly on top of the foil — cooked fish feels firm and slightly springy. Or open one packet and test with a fork at the thickest part: it should flake easily and look opaque all the way through.
Nearly the same — 10 to 12 minutes on medium heat with the lid closed. The key difference is that a grill heats strongly from below, so always put vegetables at the bottom and fish on top. Don't flip the packets. For grilling, use foil only — parchment paper will burn over direct flame. Heavy-duty foil or a double layer of regular foil holds up better on the grates.
Cod, halibut, sea bass, mahi-mahi and dorade all hold their shape well inside a foil packet. Tilapia and pollock work too but run thinner — cut 2–3 minutes off the time. Salmon is excellent in foil because its fat content keeps it naturally moist even if you go a minute over. Avoid very thin fillets under 1.5 cm — they overcook in the trapped steam before you've had time to open the packet.
You can build the packets up to 24 hours ahead and keep them in the fridge — great for camping or a planned dinner. One thing to watch: if your recipe includes lemon juice, add it just before sealing, not the night before. Citric acid starts chemically denaturing fish protein within a few hours, and by morning the flesh will be mushy before it hits any heat. Everything else — vegetables, herbs, oil — can go in the night before without any issue.
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Comments (1)
The residual heat continues cooking the white fish fillets for 2-3 minutes after you remove it from the pan. I pull my foil packet fish when it looks slightly underdone in the center — it finishes perfectly on the plate.