This is a two-part meal in one pot! Cooking the parchment-wrapped fish over a bed of potatoes makes for easy clean up, and cutting slits in the bottom of the parchment allows the herbs and juices to season the potatoes, too.
Prep time 20 minutes
Serves 6
2 pounds (905 g) red potatoes or sweet potatoes, cut into 1-inch (2.5 cm) pieces
2 tablespoons (30 ml) melted Homemade Ghee, plus more for drizzling
Sea salt
Black pepper
2 to 3 pounds (905 g to 1.4 kg) large fillets of firm white fish like cod, halibut, or rockfish
1 lemon, cut into 1/8-inch (3 mm) slices
3 cloves garlic, peeled and thinly sliced
2 sprigs fresh thyme
Chopped fresh parsley, for garnish
1 Put the potatoes in a 6-quart (5.7 liter) slow cooker. Drizzle with 2 tablespoons (30 ml) ghee and sprinkle with 11/4 teaspoons (20 ml) sea salt and 1/4 teaspoon (20 ml) black pepper. Stir well. Cover and cook on low for 21/2 to 3 hours until the potatoes are mostly cooked through. (Cook for 2 hours if using sweet potatoes.)
2 Lay a piece of parchment paper or aluminum foil twice the size of the fish on a flat work space. Cut a 2-inch (5 cm) slit in the center of one side. Place two of the fillets on top of the slit. Sprinkle liberally with sea salt and a few pinches of black pepper. Lay half of the lemon slices and garlic on the fillets. Place the other two fillets on top. Sprinkle those liberally with sea salt, black pepper, and lay the other lemon slices, garlic, and thyme sprigs on top. Fold the other half of the paper over the fish and, starting on one end, fold and crimp the edges of the paper together until it forms a packet.
3 Place the packet on top of the potatoes. Turn the slow cooker on high, cover, and cook for another 45 minutes. Check the fish for doneness every 15 minutes, until the fish flakes easily with a fork.
4 Transfer the fish and potatoes (with sauces) to serving dishes and sprinkle with parsley.
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Simple lemon-herb parchment fish and potatoes is a slow cooker meal that feels like it came from a coastal kitchen. Potatoes cook slowly in ghee until tender, then a sealed parchment packet of firm white fish, lemon slices, garlic, and thyme steams right on top. Open the packet and dinner is a fragrant, buttery mess in the best way.
Pro Tips
- Start the potatoes first — they need two and a half to three hours on low, and the fish packet only joins for the final forty-five minutes.
- Sweet potatoes cook faster than red potatoes, so give them only two hours before the fish goes on top.
- Cut a slit in the center of the parchment before folding. The slit helps steam circulate inside the packet and cooks the fish evenly.
- Check the fish every fifteen minutes after the first half hour. Slow cooker fish goes from perfect to chalky quickly, so watch it closely.
Frequently Asked Questions
What fish works best in this recipe?
Firm white fish like cod, halibut, or rockfish holds up to the slow cooker steam. Thin delicate fillets like sole would fall apart in the packet.
Can I bake this instead?
Yes — roast the potatoes first, then bake the parchment packet at 400°F for ten to twelve minutes. Faster, with the same lemony result.
Is parchment or foil better for the packet?
Both work. Parchment is inert and gives you a cleaner flavor; foil seals more easily. Crimp the edges tightly either way so the steam stays where the fish needs it.
Recipe Card
Ingredients
Method
- Chopped fresh parsley, for garnish
- 1 Put the potatoes in a 6-quart (5. 7 liter) slow cooker.
- Drizzle with 2 tablespoons (30 ml) ghee and sprinkle with 11/4 teaspoons sea salt and 1/4 teaspoon black pepper.
- Stir well.
- Cover and cook on low for 21/2 to 3 hours until the potatoes are mostly cooked through. (Cook for 2 hours if using sweet potatoes.)
- 2 Lay a piece of parchment paper or aluminum foil twice the size of the fish on a flat work space.
- Cut a 2-inch (5 cm) slit in the center of one side.
- Place two of the fillets on top of the slit.
- Sprinkle liberally with sea salt and a few pinches of black pepper. Lay half of the lemon slices and garlic on the fillets.
- Place the other two fillets on top.
- Sprinkle those liberally with sea salt, black pepper, and lay the other lemon slices, garlic, and thyme sprigs on top.
- Fold the other half of the paper over the fish and, starting on one end, fold and crimp the edges of the paper together until it forms a packet.
- 3 Place the packet on top of the potatoes.
- Turn the slow cooker on high, cover, and cook for another 45 minutes.
- Check the fish for doneness every 15 minutes, until the fish flakes easily with a fork.
- 4 Transfer the fish and potatoes (with sauces) to serving dishes and sprinkle with parsley.
