Easy baked fish with juicy rainbow peppers & hawaij spices

Succulent baked fish and sweet, juicy peppers combine in this easy family meal. Serve with rice for a delicious dinner that everyone will enjoy.

By the end of the High Holiday season I was utterly fed up with eating salmon. We seemed to be having it at almost every meal – hot with toppings, cold with salads, smoked salmon, pate… I was even dreaming about it at night!

And then one evening, I was looking in the fridge for the salmon and I froze. I just couldn’t bring myself to make salmon yet again! It was time to shake myself out of this cooking rut before I faced mutiny at the dinner table!

Fishy variety!

Having decided to be a bit more creative with our fish meals, the first step was to buy some white fish fillets. I chose hake, although this easy baked fish recipe would work fine with any flaky white fish – cod, haddock, or whatever you fancy.

The second step in my rut-busting plan was to create an easy and delicious dish with them. Simple!

Baked Fish + vegetables 

I do love to cook fish and vegetables together because: 

1. The flavours intermingle and everything becomes super-delicious
2. You get your protein and your side dish all in one pot – less washing up!
3. Colourful veggies make everything look beautiful

This easy baked fish didn’t disappoint on any of these points! The sweet peppers and caramelised onions were infused with the hawaij spice blend (see below) that marinated the fish, and the pan juices were a wonderful combination of flavours – perfect spooned over the rice that we had alongside.

You can see for yourself how pretty those rainbow-hued peppers looked. And yes, minimal washing up. Easy to make, easy to eat, and easy to clean up – win-win-win!

What is hawaij?

Hawaij – properly hawaij l’marak meaning ‘spice mix for soup’ – is a Yemenite spice blend which is fairly ubiquitous in Israel, where it is used to season everything from soup and rice to fish, meat and vegetables.

I bought some from a spice merchant when I visited Tel Aviv’s Levinsky market, but you can easily find jars of it in shops and supermarkets in Israel, and in kosher/Jewish shops outside of Israel. You can even find it on Amazon!

How to make hawaij l’marak spice blend

Easy baked fish recipe – ingredients

This tasty baked fish with vegetables was super simple to make, and has just a few ingredients. To make it yourself you will need:

• Hake or other white fish fillets
• Olive oil to grease the dish and transfer the flavours
• Onions for a deeply savoury flavour
• Bell peppers – a few different colours to make the dish bright and vibrant!
• Garlic – because it makes everything delicious
• Fresh lemon juice for freshness and zing!
• Hawaij l’marak spice blend – see above if you need to mix up your own

How to make baked fish with hawaij and peppers

To prepare this tasty dish, simply soften the onion, peppers and garlic in some olive oil, while the fish fillets marinate in a mixture of oil, lemon juice and spices. Then transfer everything to a baking dish and cook in the oven until the fish is tender and flaky and everything is delicious!

This wonderful baked fish recipe certainly shook us out of our dinnertime rut… for the time being at least!

Recipe serves 4.

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📖 Recipe

Baked fish with hawaij spices and sweet rainbow peppers

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An easy family meal of succulent spiced fish with sweet juicy peppers. Serve with rice for a simple dinner that everyone will love.

5 from 8 votes

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Prep Time 15 minutes mins

Cook Time 20 minutes mins

Total Time 35 minutes mins

Course Main Course

Cuisine Israeli

Servings 4

Calories 243 kcal

Ingredients

 

US CustomaryMetric

 

1x2x3x

• 2-3 tablespoon olive oil
• 2 small onions, peeled and thinly sliced
• 3 medium-large peppers, deseeded and sliced
• 3 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed

To marinate the fish

• 400 g hake fillets – or the fish of your choice (4 fillets)
• juice of half a lemon
• 3-4 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 tablespoon hawaij spice blend

Instructions

 

• 2-3 tablespoon olive oil, 2 small onions, peeled and thinly sliced, 3 medium-large peppers, deseeded and sliced, 3 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed
  Heat 2-3 tablespoon olive oil in a large skillet and fry the sliced onions for 2-3 minutes until beginning to soften. Add the sliced peppers and the garlic and continue to cook, stirring occasionally, for 10-15 minutes.
• 400 g (14 oz) hake fillets – or the fish of your choice, juice of half a lemon, 3-4 tablespoon olive oil, 1 tablespoon hawaij spice blend
  Meanwhile, rinse the fish and pat dry. Mix the lemon juice, olive oil and hawaij spices in a bowl, then add the fish fillets and turn gently to coat evenly.
• Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F).
• Spread ⅔ of the pepper mixture over the base of a baking dish. Arrange the fish fillets on top, and pour any remaining marinade over. Spoon the remaining ⅓ of the peppers over the fish.
• Cover the dish tightly with foil and bake at 180°C (350°F) for 10 minutes. Remove the foil and cook for a further 10 minutes until the fish is cooked through and the peppers are just beginning to char.
• Serve at once, with any pan juices spooned over.

Notes

To make hawaij spice mix – combine 1 tablespoon each of black peppercorns, cardamom seeds and coriander seeds and 3 tablespoon each of cumin seeds and ground turmeric. Grind together in a spice grinder or mortar and pestle. Store in an airtight jar.

Nutrition

Nutrition Facts

Baked fish with hawaij spices and sweet rainbow peppers

Amount per Serving

Calories

243

% Daily Value*

Fat

 

18

g

28

%

Saturated Fat

 

2

g

13

%

Sodium

 

76

mg

3

%

Potassium

 

427

mg

12

%

Carbohydrates

 

4

g

1

%

Fiber

 

1

g

4

%

Sugar

 

2

g

2

%

Protein

 

18

g

36

%

Vitamin A

 

4

IU

0

%

Vitamin C

 

4

mg

5

%

Calcium

 

53

mg

5

%

Iron

 

1

mg

6

%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

Keyword fish, pepper, spice

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