Prep Time: 30 minutes
Cook Time: 8-12 minutes
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Although I love a good fish fry, baking is much healthier than cooking in layers of oil. The key to getting a good crisp on an oven baked fish is to lift it onto a rack that can sit over the baking sheet and allow the juices to drain. Fish doesn’t take long to cook, making it my favorite meat to toss into the oven. My favorite fish to oven bake is flounder, snapper, and salmon.
My oldest son loves seafood, bringing the total amount of seafood lovers in the family to two. A lot of my recipes are inspired by his adventurous palette that I am all the way here for!
The Sauce
While the roasted veggie chili sauce may not win any beauty contest, it sure is to exceed your expectations in flavor and aroma. It really is a chili sauce, but even better, with a healthy roasted veggie base. While you don’t necessarily need to add olive oil and light seasoning to the veggies before roasting, I highly recommend this touch. You will notice that pre seasoning is the glue that holds all of my signature sauces together.
Out of four children, only one likes spicy food in my household. For him, I keep a shaker of ground white pepper in the cabinet. This allows him to make his food spicy as he desires. Try adding some ground white pepper to your sauce and turn it into a roasted veggie hot sauce. You can also add some crushed red pepper for a kick and flavor boost.
What to Pair Beside or Under Your Filet…
With this delicious dish, I like to substitute the noodle or rice that I would normally pile underneath my fish filet. I don’t make it complicated; I just take a portion of the veggies I intend to roast and shred them. I use a peeler or the larger gaps of a grater, because I like the bigger shreds they give. I also keep the seasoning more dulled down. I want this to act as my “noodle or rice” base, so I want to keep it simple. I lightly coat the veggie shreds in olive oil, kosher salt, and black pepper.
Of course, you can skip my idea and favorite option for your own. Serve your filet and sauce beside or over your favorite noodle or rice. This dish also serves well with yellow rice and black beans. If you are a fan of quinoa, this is another great option to serve with any fish filet. if you are feeling adventurous, or already like it, go for some delicious plantain instead.
Alternatives and Substitutions
This recipe can be done with more than one type of fish. Don’t have flounder? Use salmon or snapper filets instead. This recipe can also be done with chicken or pork cuts. You would follow the same seasoning process with an extended cooking time. Tofu is also another great protein substitute for this recipe.
The sauce that I made is subjective with the ingredients. I have made the same sauce without the carrot slices. You can also roast fresh garlic to add to your sauce. The dry seasonings stay the same while the fresh ingredients fluctuate. It truly depends on which fresh veggies I am abundant in. I don’t like to go to the store, so I make things work.
Make it a Meal Prep
This is a recipe that you can prep and freeze for future cooking. This is also a recipe that you can cook, portion out, and freeze. If you are like me, with a sensitive stomach, limited options, and require fresher ingredients in your meals, it helps to cook your meals and freeze them.
If you end up having a taco or lasagna night, but can’t risk the heartburn, you will always have a frozen meal to rely on. All you’ll need to do is place it in the microwave or oven to reheat it. It also makes for a great prepped lunch that you can pack into your lunch bag, if you work outside of the home. Meal prepping is great for a lot of quick and easy meals, such as burritos and mini pizzas. This is also a life saver when the kids are hungry, and you are busy. The meal is cooked; they’ll just need to reheat the food.
Ingredients
Baked Flounder
- Flounder Filets
- Kosher salt to taste
- Black pepper
- Onion powder
- Thyme
- Ground Mustard
- Paprika
- Garlic powder
- Roasted garlic and herb seasoning
- White wine vinegar
- Olive oil (or preferred cooking oil)
- Fresh lemon for lemon juice (small to medium sized)
The amount is per seasoning is subjective, depending on the number of filets you are working with. I used around 1 TBSP each, aside from the salt (about 1.5 tsp).
Roasted Veggie Chili Sauce
- Assorted veggies (preferably raw and fresh)
I used carrot, tomato, onion, green bell pepper and cucumber - Roasted garlic and herb seasoning (optional)
- Olive oil
- Chili powder
- Paprika
- Ground mustard
- Garlic powder
- Kosher salt to taste
Instructions
Roasted Veggie Chili Sauce
Preheat your oven to 375 degrees.
Brush a light layer of olive oil over your veggies. I cut my veggies down before this step.
Sprinkle a light and even layer of roasted garlic and herb seasoning over your oiled veggies. This is optional, but it definitely makes the sauce.
Place your veggies into the oven and cook for 12-15 minutes.
Once you remove from the oven, allow your veggies to cool down a little bit, then puree them in your blender or food processor. If you don’t have these tools, your veggies will be soft enough to mash with a potato masher or other mashing tool.
Combine the rest of your ingredients (dry seasonings to taste) with your roasted veggie puree and blend well.
Your roasted veggie chili sauce is ready. Give it a taste.
Baked Flounder
Your oven may already be set to 375 degrees from the roasted veggies. Turn up the heat to 400 degrees.
First, in a bowl or wide cup, combine all of the dry seasonings, white wine vinegar, olive oil, and lemon juice together to form a seasoning sauce or paste.
I use a sieve to sift out seeds and pulp from my fresh lemon, while squeezing the juice out.
After forming your seasoning sauce, place the flounder filets in a bag or container and evenly coat and saturate each filet with the seasoning.
I usually do this step while waiting for the veggies to roast for the sauce.
Place each seasoned filet on your baking sheet. I prefer to set them on a baking rack that sits over the baking sheet.
Place them in the oven and bake for 8-12 minutes. 8 is fine for smaller filets. You may need a few more minutes for bigger and thicker filets.
I personally like to go for 12 minutes because I like a slight crisp on the outer layer.
That’s it; that’s all there is to it. Your meal is ready. Serve with rice, pasta, potatoes, or whatever you desire.
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