Cod in Tomato Sauce with Mashed Potatoes
Frozen cod goes straight into a homemade tomato sauce with garlic, onion, and bell pepper, then gets five minutes under a lid while the sauce does the rest. On the side: creamy mashed potatoes with a splash of milk.
This dinner runs 361 kcal with 26g of protein and just 9g of fat. Nine ingredients, one pan for the sauce, one pot for the potatoes, twenty minutes start to plate.
Frozen cod goes straight into a homemade tomato sauce with garlic, onion, and bell pepper, then gets five minutes under a lid while the sauce does the rest. On the side: creamy mashed potatoes with a splash of milk.
This dinner runs 361 kcal with 26g of protein and just 9g of fat. Nine ingredients, one pan for the sauce, one pot for the potatoes, twenty minutes start to plate.
Ingredients
- cod fillet (frozen) 1 fillet
- potato 0.25 pound
- onion 0.5
- garlic 1 clove
- bell pepper 1
- olive oil 0.5 tablespoon
- tomato paste 1 tablespoon
- diced tomatoes 6 ounces
- milk, 2% reduced fat 1.5 fluid ounce
Method
-
Allow the cod to defrost briefly.
-
Peel the potatoes, cut them into small pieces and boil them in a pot of water for 15 minutes until cooked.
-
In the meantime, finely chop the onion, mince the garlic and dice the bell pepper.
-
Heat the oil in a pan and sauté the onion, garlic and bell pepper for 4 minutes. Add the tomato paste and cook for an additional 1 minute. Stir in the diced tomatoes, mix well and let it simmer for 10 minutes.
-
Place the fish into the pan with the tomato sauce. Spoon some of the sauce over the fish and let it cook for 5 minutes with the lid on the pan.
-
Meanwhile, prepare the mashed potatoes. Drain the potatoes and mash them with the milk until smooth.
-
Serve the mashed potatoes with the cod in tomato sauce on a plate. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
Cook the tomato paste in the oiled pan for the full minute before adding the diced tomatoes. Paste has already been broken down by processing, and research found it produces 2.5 times the peak lycopene levels of fresh tomatoes when eaten with fat. That minute in hot oil activates what the factory started.
Research found that the sulfur compounds in garlic and onion, when heated with tomatoes, push lycopene into a version the body takes up more efficiently. This recipe sautés both in oil before the tomato paste and diced tomatoes go in, which is exactly the sequence the studies describe.
Why This Works
Behind this recipe
Can I use fresh cod instead of frozen?
Absolutely. Fresh cod works identically. Skip step 1 (the brief defrost) and place the fillet straight into the sauce. It cooks in five minutes either way. Frozen is called for because it's cheaper, always available, and behaves almost the same once it hits the hot sauce.
Is this a good dinner for losing weight?
At 361 kcal with 26g of protein and just 9g of fat, it fits most calorie-controlled plans. Research on the thermic effect of food found that protein burns 20 to 30 percent of its own calories during digestion, more than carbs or fat. With 29% of this meal's energy coming from protein, a meaningful portion of those 361 calories goes toward processing the meal itself.
Read the full evidence reviewCan I use another white fish instead of cod?
Any firm white fish works well here. Haddock, pollock, tilapia, or sea bass will all hold together during the five-minute simmer. Softer fish like sole may break apart in the sauce. The macros will stay close since most white fish have a similar protein-to-fat ratio as cod.
