Cod Mornay Recipe

Classic Cod Mornay is baked in a luscious Gruyère cheese sauce that originated in France. I like to add spinach - for good health! 

The Mornay sauce is basically béchamel sauce enriched with cheese. 😋

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*Post updated October 2024

A really comforting cod bake with a lovely cheesy sauce that will warm you up on the coldest of evenings.

So, what is cod mornay?

It's a colourful dish of cod and potatoes. The sauce is made with Gruyère cheese, a crispy crumb, and a cheddar topping.

The sauce is a cheese sauce made in the same way as a classic béchamel.

With the béchamel sauce over low heat, stir in Gruyère cheese, Emmental, and white cheddar cheese, any melting cheese works; those 3 are just the classics.

We are greedy and ate the lot! 😳 But it really it would do a family of 2 adults and 2 small kids. This is filling autumn or winter comfort food at its best.

You can also serve this sauce with eggs or chicken, but is pretty much the sauce for cauliflower or macaroni cheese.

Recipe Top Tips!

Because cod can be a large fish, the fillet is often too big for a single portion. It is, therefore, possible to buy the cod loin, which is cut from the middle section or the fattest part of the fillet.

The loins are short and fat compared to longer cod fillets and are more expensive, however, it really is worth buying cod loin for this as the last thing you want is to find bits of fish bones.

To slice the potatoes really thinly, you will need a mandoline slicer - if the potatoes aren't sliced thinly they won't cook for ages, by which time the cod will be overcooked.

Panko crumbs

Panko crumbs are the way to go! Panko is made from crustless white bread that is processed into flakes and then dried.

They have a much dryer and flakier consistency than regular breadcrumbs, and as a result, they absorb less oil.

Panko certainly produces lighter and crunchier-tasting fried food, and is available in any good supermarket. You can buy panko crumbs in most good supermarkets or over on Amazon.

How to make it

Add a little vegetable oil to a large frying pan and throw in the chopped shallots.

Cook for 10-15 five minutes or until they're nice and soft; you don’t want them to colour just soften.

Now add the spinach and season with salt, pepper and a pinch of nutmeg - it will look like you have far too much spinach, but trust me, once it wilts, it'll be fine.

Keep the spinach moving about in the pan and once it’s wilted (a minute or two) turn off the heat and leave it to one side.

See what I mean, once the spinach has wilted, it looks like you don't have enough!

In another (much smaller frying pan) heat up the 250ml of milk and then put the cod in along with a bay leaf and the peppercorns; you’ll know when the cod is cooked as it will begin to show signs of flaking.

Follow the recipe card below and your dish will be ready to go into the oven.

Once baked for about 40 minutes, the cheese will have melted and the panko crumbs will be nice and crunchy.

That's it, now dive in and enjoy!

Serve with a good amount of nice peas.

Have you tried this recipe? Please leave a ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ star rating in the recipe card below!

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dinner, main, fish

French

Yield: 4

Author: Jan Bennett

Cod Mornay Recipe

Classic French dish - cod baked in the oven with a Gruyère cheese sauce.

Prep time: 10 MinCook time: 35 MinTotal time: 45 Min

Ingredients

• vegetable oil
• 400g cod loin
• 150g ready-washed baby spinach leaves (4 big handfuls)
• 2 large Maris Piper potatoes (yukon gold) - sliced very thinly using a Mandolin slicer
• 3 shallots - finely diced
• 1 bay leaf
• 3 black peppercorns
• 250ml whole milk (full fat)
• 50g of butter
• salt and black pepper
• a pinch of nutmeg
• panko crumbs (a handful)
• 70g (a handful) Extra matured Cheddar - grated for sprinkling on the top

Cod Mornay sauce

• 75g butter
• 75g plain flour
• 170g Gruyère cheese - grated
• 220ml of whole milk - plus all the milk that you poached the fish in
• 1 teaspoon English mustard

Instructions

1. Add a little vegetable oil to a large frying pan and throw in the chopped shallots. Cook for 10-15 five minutes or until they're nice and soft; you don’t want them to colour just soften.
2. Now add the spinach and season with salt, pepper and a pinch of nutmeg - it will look like you have far too much spinach but trust, me once it wilts, it'll be fine. Keep the spinach moving about in the pan and once it’s wilted (a minute or two) turn off the heat and leave to one side.
3. In another (much smaller frying pan) heat up the 250ml of milk and then put the cod in along with a bay leaf and the peppercorns; you’ll know when the cod is cooked as it will begin to show signs of flaking.
4. Don't overcook the fish as it's going into the oven. Remove the cod from the milk, but keep the milk for making the sauce.
5. Put the cod onto a plate and use a fork to break it up. It will naturally fall into flakes quite easily. Don’t mush it up, keep those flakes of cod looking good!
6. Now peel and very thinly slice (2mm) seriously they need to be thin, or they won't cook, so it's best to use a mandolin slicer.
7. Lay the potatoes in a shallow dish with a little water and cover with cling film, make a couple of holes and pop it into the microwave for about 1 minute.
8. Give the potatoes a stir and back into the microwave for another minute or so - the exact time will depend on your microwave and how thinly you sliced those potatoes. They need to be pretty much cooked, as they won't have time to cook properly once they are in the oven.
9. *Time to make the sauce - see below*

To make the sauce

1. In a medium-sized saucepan add the butter and once it’s melted add the flour. Cook for a couple of minutes whilst stirring with a wooden spoon. If you don't cook the flour, your sauce will taste floury and will be lumpy!
2. Add the milk you reserved earlier when you poached the cod, add it a little at a time, stirring all the while.
3. Now add the mustard and the 220ml of milk, stirring continuously on the heat until the sauce bubbles and begins to thicken.
4. Add a pinch of salt and turn down to a simmer and cook for around 5 minutes - you will need to keep stirring.
5. Remove the sauce from the heat, find the 3 peppercorns and discard.
6. Stir in the grated Gruyère cheese until you have a nice, thick but smooth sauce. If you really need to, you can add a tiny bit more milk.

Preheat your oven 180°C/360°F Gas 4

1. To finish the cod mornay, butter a 10-inch gratin dish or similar.
2. Do a layer of potatoes and season lightly with salt and pepper, then add the spinach followed by the rest of the potatoes.
3. Now add the fish and top with the rest of the sauce.
4. Sprinkle the top with the panko crumbs and add a handful of Cheddar cheese.
5. Bake on the middle shelf of your preheated oven for about 35-40 minutes, check that everything is piping hot and serve with some nice peas.

Notes

It really is worth buying cod loin because the last thing you want is to be picking out fish bones!

https://www.aglugofoil.com/2011/01/cod-mornay-easy-one-dish-recipe-for-cod.html

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