Old Timber Outdoors
A freshly caught black crappie
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Crappie fillets, skinless

Parmesan Baked Crappie with Lemon

Crappie fillets brushed with garlic lemon butter under a crisp Parmesan and panko crust, baked hot and fast.

Serves
4
Hands-on
12 min
Total
22 min
Skill
Easy

Cooks on: Oven · Dinner

Ingredients

  • 1½ lbCrappie fillets, skinless
  • 3 tbspButter, melted
  • 1 cloveGarlic, minced
  • 1Lemon
  • ¾ tspSalt
  • ¼ tspBlack pepper, ground
  • ½ cup grated Parmesan cheese
  • ½ cup panko breadcrumbs
  • 1 tbsp chopped parsley
  • 1 tsp neutral oil

You'll need

  • Oven
  • Instant-read thermometer
  • Rimmed sheet pan

Contains

Fish, Dairy, Gluten.

Method

  1. Heat the oven to 425°F with a rack in the upper third, and brush a rimmed sheet pan with the oil.
  2. Stir the garlic and the zest of the lemon into the melted butter. In a separate bowl, mix the Parmesan, panko and parsley, then stir in 1 tbsp of the garlic butter until the crumbs look evenly damp. Buttered crumbs brown in the short time the thin fillets take to cook.
  3. Pat the crappie dry, season with the salt and pepper, and lay the fillets on the pan without overlapping, tucking thin tail ends under so each fillet is an even thickness.
  4. Brush the fillets with the rest of the garlic butter, then press the crumb mixture on top.
  5. Bake until the topping is golden and the fish is opaque, flakes easily, and reads 145°F in the thickest fillet, 7 to 10 minutes; thin crappie fillets can be done in 6, so check early. Squeeze the juice of half the lemon over the top, cut the rest into wedges, and serve.

When it's done: 145°F

Federal guidance: 145°F, or until the flesh is no longer translucent and separates easily with a fork.

If it goes wrong

Topping pale when the fish is done
Run it under the broiler for 1 minute, watching closely. Next time, make sure the crumbs are buttered.
Fish dry or mushy
It baked too long. Crappie fillets are thin; start checking at 6 minutes.
Thin tail ends drying out
Tuck them under so each fillet is an even thickness.
Soggy bottom
The fillets were wet. Pat them dry, and do not crowd the pan.

Leftovers. Keep fish at 40°F or below until cooking. Eat right away; refrigerate leftovers within 2 hours and reheat to 165°F.