A quick and easy dinner elegant enough for a dinner party!

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This delicious cod and potato stew is easy enough for a busy weeknight but elegant enough for a dinner party. You need just a few basic ingredients and a shallow pot to make perfectly cooked lemony herb cod with potatoes in a luscious lemony sauce. It’s so flavorful, your house will smell amazing, and it will be ready to impress in no time!
Why this will become a favorite
- Light poached cod
- Melt in your mouth soft potatoes
- Brothy lemony herb sauce
- A simple, quick one-pot meal perfect for a busy weeknight or special dinner party!

Basic Ingredients
- Olive oil –Try the new olive oil in our shop straight from Crete!
- Onion –finely chopped
- Garlic cloves –grated or minced
- Scallions –thinly sliced and swirled in cool water to release any dirt.
- Medium potatoes –peeled and sliced into 1/4-inch rounds
- Salt –to taste
- Freshly cracked black pepper –to taste
- Dried thyme
- Cod fillets
- Chicken stock –fish or vegetable stock would be just as flavorful
- Fresh lemon juice –add less if you don’t prefer it as lemony as I do
- Cornstarch –omit if you want a thin soup-like sauce and add more if you like a thicker sauce
- Finely chopped dill or parsley
Additional ingredients
Except for the garlic, I didn’t add any unusual ingredients outside of the traditional lemony cod and potato stew recipe. It’s not traditional to add garlic to fish dishes in Greece. But I like lemon, and I like extra garlic. So, I add it every chance I get. You could also add a serrano chili while sautéing the onions and potatoes. It would add a little heat and an extra bit of freshness.

How to make Lemony Cod and Potato Stew
- In a large shallow pot, cook the onion with olive oil over medium heat until soft –about 8 minutes and season with a pinch of salt.
- Add the garlic and warm through until fragrant, then add the scallions and cook 1-2 minutes.
- Place the potatoes in the pot and season with salt and pepper.
- Place the cod over the potatoes and season with salt, pepper, and thyme.
- Then, pour the stock into the pot and cover with the lid.
- Simmer over medium-low heat for 30 minutes.
- Whisk the lemon juice with the cornstarch in a small bowl until smooth, then pour it into the pot and swirl around.
- Simmer uncovered for an additional 5 minutes.
- Taste and adjust the seasoning if needed.

Serving
Dill pairs so well with fish that I garnish my stew with dill before serving. If you don’t have dill, parsley would add just as much freshness. Since you’ll already have fish and potatoes ready, you could serve this with a side salad, your favorite roasted vegetables, or some sautéed spinach and garlic. I can’t wait to hear if you put your own twist on it or make it just like I do. Kali Orexi!

Lemony Cod & Potato Stew
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 1 onion, finely chopped
- 2-3 garlic cloves, grated
- 6 scallions, thinly sliced
- 5-6 medium potatoes, peeled and sliced into 1/4-inch rounds
- salt, to taste
- freshly cracked black pepper, to taste
- 1 heaping teaspoon dried thyme
- 5-6 cod fillets (2 lbs/910 grams)
- 2-3 cups chicken or fish stock
- 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
- 1-2 tablespoons cornstarch
- Finely chopped dill or parsley
Instructions
In a large shallow pot cook the onion with olive oil over medium heat until soft. About 8 minutes. Season with a pinch of salt.
Add the garlic and warm through until fragrant.
Add the scallions and warm through 1-2 minutes.
Place the potatoes in the pot and season with salt and pepper.
Place the cod over the potatoes and season withs alt, pepper, and thyme. Pour the stock into the pot and cover with the lid. Simmer over medium-low heat for 30 minutes.
In a small bowl, whisk together the lemon juice with the cornstarch until smooth. Pour into the pot and swirl around. Simmer for an additional 5 minutes. Taste and adjust the seasoning if needed.
Garnish with dill and serve. Kali Orexi.
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Traditional Cretan Aprons (heavier fabric)
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Question: In the video you say 2 teaspoons of cornstarch but the recipe says tablespoons. Please clarify the correct measurement. Thank you. Loved the recipe!
our regular recipe for a Friday fish supper is a near match for yours, Dimitra; you use a large amount of cod as we do; and we use chicken bone broth, that we prepare from the remains after roasting/serving a whole chicken. we now usually have Dill on hand after your persuasion. we continue to enjoy your recipes. ruesch fam.
your evoo in a can still shows a 5L quantity, different than the checkout quantity of 3L which is likely correct. we will go for the can size, which is an economical deal for our family usage, AND, for olive oil to be graded evoo it should be processed in a controlled cool environment from the beginning of processing: selection, grinding, malaxing, separation, decanting, filtering, and storage. different producers use different methods all the way through the processing but the lowest acidic evoo obtainable starts in the olive grove: soil, olive cultivar, sustainable farming, ripeness of olives at time of picking, proper/smart handling to time of start of processing and continuing as aforementioned.
Hi Dimitra,
This dish fits right in for my vegetarian meals and before Easter. I’ll try it tonight for my dinner with my partner. I wonder if you can use some other seafood or chicken and if it will still be tasty.
Thank you
Zoe
Dear Dimitra,
I made the cod and potato stew for dinner tonight and my partner had two servings and raved about it! I too love it! It’s simple, easy to make and with all the spices very tasty! I will be eating it for several days!
Thank you for sharing it with us!
Zoe
You’re welcome!! So glad that you enjoyed it 🙂
I, too, love my fish very lemony and garlicky. However, it is hard to cod fish here in Israel. What other fish could be substituted in this recipe?