Creamy Garlic Butter Cod and Shrimp Skillet

Twenty-five minutes. One pan. Cod and shrimp in a garlic parmesan cream sauce that tastes like you put real effort in.

This is the dinner I make when someone’s coming over and I haven’t planned anything. It looks like a restaurant dish, it comes together faster than pasta, and the one pan means cleanup takes four minutes. The only thing that can go wrong is overcooking the shrimp — which is easy to avoid if you watch for it.

Prep: 10 minutes  ·  Cook: 15 minutes  ·  Serves 4

Before You Start — Three Things to Know

Dry the seafood. Pat the cod and shrimp completely dry with paper towels before they go in the pan. Wet fish doesn’t sear — it steams. You get pale, sad seafood instead of anything with color on it. Thirty seconds with paper towels is the difference.

Pull the shrimp at the C. Shrimp are done when they curl into a C shape and turn pink. If they keep cooking to a tight O, they’re overdone and will be rubbery. They go fast — about a minute per side. Watch them.

Don’t boil the cream sauce. A hard boil breaks it — you end up with something grainy instead of silky. Once the cream goes in, keep the heat at a gentle simmer.

What You Need

Ingredient	Amount	Note
Cod fillets	500g (1 lb)	Fresh or thawed; cut into chunks if large
Shrimp, peeled and deveined	10–12 medium	Tails on or off — your call
Olive oil	1 tablespoon	For the initial sear
Butter, divided	3 tablespoons	1 for searing, 2 for the sauce
Garlic cloves, minced	4	Fresh — not powder, not jarred
Chicken or seafood broth	½ cup	Dry white wine also works
Heavy cream	1 cup
Parmesan, grated	½ cup	Grate it yourself if you can — it melts cleaner
Dijon mustard	1 teaspoon	Optional but worth it — adds depth without tasting like mustard
Paprika	½ teaspoon
Italian seasoning	½ teaspoon
Red pepper flakes	¼ teaspoon	Optional
Fresh lemon juice	½ lemon	Squeezed at the end
Fresh parsley, chopped	2 tablespoons	For garnish
Salt and black pepper	To taste

this now & bake later ❤️

The Dijon mustard is listed as optional but I always include it. At one teaspoon it doesn’t taste like mustard — it just adds a background depth that makes the sauce taste more complex than it has any right to at this price point. Try it once with, once without, and see what you think.

How to Make It

Sear the Cod

Pat the cod completely dry and season both sides with salt and pepper. Heat the olive oil and one tablespoon of butter in a large skillet over medium-high until the butter foams. Lay the cod pieces in the pan and don’t touch them for two to three minutes. Let the crust form.

Flip once. Another two to three minutes. It should be lightly golden and just cooked through — it will carry over in the sauce. Move it to a plate.

Sear the Shrimp

Same pan, same heat. Add the shrimp in a single layer. One minute per side. Pink and C-shaped means done — pull them immediately. They go to the plate with the cod.

If the pan looks dry at this point, that’s fine. There should still be flavor stuck to the bottom.

Build the Sauce

Drop the heat to medium. Add the remaining two tablespoons of butter. Once melted, add the minced garlic and stir for 30 seconds — just until it smells like garlic and before it turns any color. Burnt garlic turns the sauce bitter.

Pour in the broth and scrape the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon. Everything stuck down there is flavor. Let it bubble for a minute, then add the heavy cream, parmesan, Dijon, paprika, Italian seasoning, and red pepper flakes if using.

Reduce the heat to medium-low and let the sauce simmer for three to four minutes, stirring occasionally, until it coats the back of a spoon. It’ll look thin at first — give it time.

Bring It Together

Return the cod and shrimp to the pan along with any juices that collected on the plate — don’t leave those behind. Spoon sauce over everything to coat.

Simmer gently on low for two to three minutes just to warm the seafood through. Don’t stir hard. Cod is delicate and will break apart. Gentle spooning is enough.

Squeeze the lemon over the top, scatter the parsley, and serve immediately. This doesn’t sit well — eat it hot.

What to Serve It With

The sauce is the thing here, so you want something to soak it up. Pasta works — linguine or fettuccine. Mashed potatoes work even better because the sauce pools into them. Crusty bread on the side for whatever’s left in the pan.

For a lower-carb plate: zucchini noodles, steamed broccoli, or cauliflower rice. The sauce coats vegetables well and makes them feel substantial.

If you’re serving wine, something dry and crisp — a Sauvignon Blanc, a Pinot Grigio. Nothing sweet.

The Numbers

• ~480 calories per serving
• 32g protein, 36g fat, 6g carbs
• 750mg sodium — mostly from the parmesan and broth

High protein, very low carb. The fat comes from the cream and butter — this is a rich dish and it’s supposed to be. It’s filling in a way that most 25-minute dinners aren’t.

Leftovers

Fridge up to 3 days in an airtight container. Reheat gently in a skillet over low heat with a splash of broth to loosen the sauce. Don’t microwave the shrimp if you can help it — it toughens them fast.

This doesn’t freeze well. The cream sauce separates when thawed and the texture of the cod suffers. Make it fresh.

Make It Tonight

This is the recipe I give people when they tell me they don’t cook seafood at home because it’s intimidating. There’s nothing here that requires skill — just a hot pan, dried fish, and enough restraint to not stir too much.

If you try it, tell me in the comments whether you added the Dijon or skipped it, and what you served it over. Rate the recipe, save it on Pinterest for weeknight inspiration, and subscribe for more.

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