Stuffed Butter Cod With Garlic Zucchini

The way I schedule my meals weekly is usually 2 days of vegan, 2 days of fish, and 2 days of meat. The 7th day is our own personal choice. When we buy fish for our household we only get wild-caught. So our first option is always salmon but sometimes we like to switch it up a bit, which is where cod comes in.

This is another fish option we usually choose but we’re never too excited to eat it. So I decided I would try to create it in a way that’s a bit more appealing to our taste buds. Stay tuned to see how I turned boring cod into an appetizing meal

Meal Idea

My definition of a meal idea is an idea of what you can cook without precise measurements or saying you have to use these exact ingredients. I have re-created some great recipes by substituting what was originally used in the recipe with things that are actually in my fridge. And you know what, it still came out good.

So I want to take this time to encourage you not to fret if you don’t have everything that you see in my photos or whatever I place on the ingredients list. The things I list are things that you can use, however, they are not things you MUST use.

We all have an idea of what we like, so I used cod for this meal but you may want to replace it with pollock, haddock, or sea bass and that’s fine. You may also be a vegan who would rather use tofu, banana blossoms, or jackfruit as a substitution and that’s fine too.

I’m just here to give you an idea and you can create something fairly similar depending on what you want and most importantly, what’s in your kitchen.

Tip: Topping it vs Stuffing it

One thing I was always a fan of is stuffed foods, whether it’s salmon stuffed with crab, chicken stuffed with cheese and mushrooms or peppers stuffed with turkey meat. The problem I often run into is how to stuff fish. At times I don’t find fish filet’s thick enough to stuff and I’m not a fan of stuffing two pieces of fish.

In my mind, serving those two pieces of fish with stuffing in the middle means it’s for one person and although I could cut it in half and share the thick stuffed fish with a partner, I would rather top it. So that is what I did with this recipe and that’s what I do with many recipes that I find boring. I think about what will work as a stuffing and instead of stuffing it I top it.

Things I used for my Butter Cod with Zucchini

1. Wild Caught Cod
2. Wild Caught Sardines
3. Zucchini
4. Organic Cherry Tomatoes
5. Garlic
6. Vegan Cream Cheese
7. Organic Spinach
8. Butter

How to Make Stuffed Butter Cod with Garlic Zucchini

I prefer to season my ingredients before placing them on the skillet. I’ll usually take out a long sheet of parchment paper, lay my fish and my chopped zucchini on separate ends, and season them.

This is not an official recipe. I won’t have specifics, but to start out just play it simple with sea salt (preferably pink himalayan) cracked black pepper, garlic and onion powder. Make sure you use enough of it to give it some flavor. After you finish seasoning you’ll need two pans.

Place the butter or even ghee in the pan on medium heat until it melts and add the cod cooking for 6 minutes and flipping after 3 minutes. I also like to take a spoon to use some of the leftover butter to top the cod while it’s cooking and even after it’s finished. However, if you’re more of a visual learner check out the 60-second video below.

I’ll use the same pan and add canned sardines, fresh spinach, and vegan cream cheese (the violife brand is pretty good). I heat that up until the cream cheese melts and the spinach wilts. Then I’ll top the cod with the sardine stuffing.

The second pan should already be cooking with butter, extra virgin olive oil, or avocado oil. Then add the garlic to cook for around 30 seconds or until it’s fragrant. Place your chopped seasoned zucchini in the pan and leave it cooking flipping it every minute or so.

Cook until the zucchini is tender for about 7 minutes. Another way to tell if it’s cooked is when the white part of the zucchini turns translucent.

Chop your cherry tomatoes in half, sprinkle salt and pepper over top of it. If you don’t have tomatoes but you have olives that may work as a good replacement.

Again this meal doesn’t have to be exactly how I make it. If you decide to make it on a lazy day it may look more like butter cod and seasoned zucchini with tomatoes. You may even want to throw the zucchini in the same pan as the fish.

If you choose this route check out my how-to make jalapeno aioli sauce. This 3-minute sauce will go good with the butter cod. The important thing is that you start cooking with healthier ingredients.

Thanks for checking out my recipe. I hope you enjoyed and stay tuned for more. Follow me on Facebook and Instagram for other recipe ideas.

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