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    Home » Recipes » Fish and seafood recipes

    Spicy fish and rice bake in tomato sauce

    Published: Apr 29, 2020 · Modified: Jan 2, 2025 by VJ · This post may contain affiliate links · 17 Comments

    Jump to recipe

    If you are looking for a different way to cook fish, I think you will love this spicy fish and rice bake in tomato sauce. Succulent white fish fillets are nestled on a bed of rice and oven-baked in a spicy tomato sauce. All you have to do is put it in the oven and then relax while it cooks itself!

    A plate of spicy fish and rice with peas.

    This recipe is similar to my cheesy cod and broccoli bake in that it is also baked in one dish. Don't you just love recipes that provide a complete meal in only one dish?

    Spicy fish and rice bake

    Jump to:
    • Spicy fish and rice bake
    • How to make spicy fish and rice bake
    • Save for later
    • Related recipes
    • 📋The recipe

    I grew up in the north of England where a plate of fish and chips formed the staple part of most people's diet. I remember being sent to the fish shop to fetch the family supper and watching as the golden chips and crispy battered fish were scooped out of the warmer onto a sheet of newspaper, before being wrapped up and handed over to me. How times have changed? My local chippy now packs the fish and chips into a polystyrene box!

    But I think those early days must have been when I developed my love of fish. It's still one of my favourite foods and it features on my menu, in one form or another, at least once a week.

    The recipe I'm sharing today is for a spicy one-dish fish and rice bake. It's super quick and easy to prepare and tastes amazing. The fish is baked in the oven with the rice in a spicy tomato and onion sauce until it is fork-tender and the rice has absorbed all the lovely flavours from the sauce.

    And because the sauce is packed with onions, tomatoes and red and yellow peppers you don't need much by way of side dishes. A bowl of peas is probably sufficient, and perhaps a fresh green salad if you are feeling really energetic!

    This is a meal that basically cooks itself, so without any further ado, let's get on to the recipe, so I can show you how quick and easy it is to make.

    A plate of spicy fish and rice with peas.

    How to make spicy fish and rice bake

    The ingredients given in this recipe are sufficient for 2 people. If you are feeding more people you can double the quantities.

    You will need a 7" x 9" baking dish. However, if you are making a larger quantity you will need to increase the size of the baking dish.

    Fish

    You will need one large or 2 small fillets of firm white fish (about 200g / 7 oz) per person. Cod or haddock is a good choice, but any firm white fish will be suitable. I wouldn't use a delicate fish such as a sole because this will fall apart during cooking. Use a nice firm chunky fish.

    Also, check the fish carefully to ensure that there are no bones.

    Rice

    I used basmati, but you can use any long-grained white rice. Don't use brown rice because the longer cooking time for brown rice would mean that the fish would be cooked long before the rice was cooked.

    For 2 people you will need ¾ cup (150g) of uncooked white rice.

    Stock

    For this recipe, you need 1 ¼ cups of stock. You can make the stock with a stock cube. I like to use a vegetable stock cube for this recipe because I don't want to introduce any other meaty flavours. If you don't have vegetable stock cubes then a chicken cube would be the best alternative.

    The ratio of liquid to rice is 2 : 1 - ie double the amount of liquid by volume. So for ¾ cup of rice, you would normally use 1 ½ cups of liquid. However, because of the liquid that is present in the tomatoes, I reduced the liquid by ¼ of a cup to compensate. The aim of this recipe is to have just enough liquid to be fully absorbed by the rice. Too much liquid and the dish will be 'runny'; not enough liquid and the rice will be hard.

    Dissolve the stock cube in 1 and ¼ cups of boiling water and then mix in ½ teaspoon chilli paste or crushed chilli. This will add a little heat. You can adjust this to your own taste. Do take care if you are doubling the recipe so that you don't overdo the chilli. Then add 1 teaspoon paprika, ½ teaspoon salt and 2 tablespoons tomato puree.

    Rice in a dish of sauce.

    Place the rice into the baking dish and cover with the hot seasoned stock. The heat from the boiling water will give the rice a head start in the cooking process.

    Vegetables

    You will need one large onion, two large tomatoes and half each red and yellow bell pepper. These should be cut into approximately 1cm pieces. and then fried in a little olive oil until the onions are translucent and the peppers have softened. I find that if I leave the lid on the pan and turn the heat down to the lowest setting the vegetables sweat nicely, and take about 5 minutes to soften. They don't need to be completely cooked. They will finish off the cooking process once they are in the oven.

    Alternatively, if you have made (and frozen) my chilli tomato sauce, you could take a packet of that out of the freeze, defrost it and add it to the peppers once you have softened them. This will replace the fresh onion and tomatoes.

    Tomatoes, onions and peppers in a dish of sauce.

    Mix the onions, peppers and tomatoes into the stock and rice mixture.

    Add the fish

    Submerge the fish fillets in the rice/sauce mixture. If the fillets are large cut them into smaller pieces first.

    Fish fillets in a dish of sauce.

    Cover the dish with a sheet of tin foil and place it in a preheated oven (190C / 350F) for 30 minutes. Try to fold the tinfoil as tightly as possible over the edges of the dish to keep as much steam as possible inside.

    After 30 minutes remove the dish from the oven and carefully remove the tinfoil lid. I speak from experience when I say the steam will be very hot. Take care not to burn yourself!

    Taste the rice to make sure it is cooked. It should be soft and the liquid should have been completely absorbed. If the rice is still hard, and the liquid has not all been absorbed, replace the tinfoil lid and cook for a few minutes longer.

    A baked dish of spicy fish and rice.

    Serve with a side helping of peas, and possibly a fresh green salad.

    A spoonful of baked fish and rice.

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    Save for later

    Why not pin this fish bake recipe to one of your Pinterest boards so you can find it easily? Just click the image below.

    Alternatively, you can save the recipe by clicking on the floating heart icon on the right-hand side of the screen.

    Related recipes

    Visit my fish and seafood recipes page for other delicious fish dishes. Here are a few you might enjoy:

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      Easy fish curry in a tomato and onion sauce
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      Tempura-battered cod with sumac
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    📋The recipe

    A plate of spicy fish and rice with peas.

    Spicy fish and rice bake in tomato sauce

    If you are looking for a different way to cook fish, you are going to love this easy one-dish fish and rice bake. Succulent white fish fillets are nestled on a bed of rice, and oven-baked in a spicy tomato sauce. Just put it in the oven and then relax while it cooks itself!
    Recipe by: Veronica
    Main Course
    British
    Calories 668
    Prep 20 minutes minutes
    Cook 30 minutes minutes
    Total Time 50 minutes minutes
    Servings: 2 people
    Print Pin Comment Bookmark Saved!
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    4.52 from 25 votes

    (Click the stars to rate this recipe)

    Equipment

    • Baking dish
    • Saucepan
    • Sharp Knife
    • Chopping Board

    Ingredients

    • 14 ounce 400 grams firm white fish cod or haddock, or your fish of choice
    • I large onion
    • 2 medium tomatoes
    • ½ red pepper
    • ½ yellow pepper
    • 2 tablespoons olive oil
    • ¾ cup / 150 grams uncooked white long-grained rice
    • 1¼ cups / 310 ml vegetable stock use a stock cube.
    • ½ teaspoon chilli paste / crushed chilli or to taste
    • ½ teaspoon salt
    • 1 teaspoon paprika
    • 2 tablespoons tomato puree

    Instructions

    • Pre-heat the oven to 190°C / 375°F
    • Peel the onion and chop them into 1cm pieces.
      I large onion
    • Cut the tomatoes and peppers into 1cm pieces
      2 medium tomatoes, ½ red pepper, ½ yellow pepper
    • Heat 2 tablespoons olive oil in a saucepan and saute the vegetables gently until the onions are translucent and the peppers have started to soften
      2 tablespoons olive oil
    • Make the stock by dissolving 1 vegetable stock cube in 1¼ cups of boiling water
      1¼ cups / 310 ml vegetable stock
    • Add ½ teaspoon chilli paste (or crushed chilli), ½ teaspoon salt, 1 teaspoon paprika and 2 tablespoons tomato puree to the stock and stir to combine
      ½ teaspoon chilli paste / crushed chilli, ½ teaspoon salt, 1 teaspoon paprika, 2 tablespoons tomato puree
    • Place the rice in a 7" x 9" baking dish
      ¾ cup / 150 grams uncooked white long-grained rice
    • Pour the stock over the rice
    • Mix in the vegetables
    • Submerge the fish in the stock/rice mixture
      14 ounce 400 grams firm white fish
    • Cover with a sheet of tinfoil
    • Place in the pre-heated oven and bake for 30 minutes
    • Remove from the oven and serve with rice and a fresh green salad

    Notes

    You can use any firm white fish.  Don't use a delicate fish such as sole because it would just fall apart during the cooking process.  Make sure that you have removed any bones from the fish.
    This recipe serves 2 - to feed a larger family you can double the quantities.  Just take care when doubling the chilli - you might not need it all.
    You can substitute the vegetable stock cube with a chicken stock cube.  I think beef would have too strong a flavour with the fish.

    Nutrition

    Calories - 668kcal | Carbohydrates - 74.1g | Protein - 53.7g | Fat - 17.1g | Saturated Fat - 2.5g | Cholesterol - 110mg | Sodium - 800mg | Potassium - 1140mg | Fiber - 5.6g | Sugar - 10.8g | Calcium - 87mg | Iron - 5mg

    I am not a nutritionist. The nutrition information has been calculated using an on-line calculator, and is intended for information and guidance purposes only. If the nutrition information is important to you, you should consider calculating it yourself, using your preferred tool.

    Unless otherwise stated, a cup is the standard US cup containing 240 ml. In all my recipes this cup is assumed to hold 140g of flour. For help converting other ingredients between cups, grams, ounces and other measures, see my recipe conversion calculator.
    All my recipes are developed and tested at sea-level. For tips on adjusting recipes for high altitudes see my post on baking at high altitudes.
    Tried this recipe?If you made this recipe I'd love it if you could leave me a comment and let me know how it went!
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    If you made this recipe and enjoyed it, I'd love it if you could give me a star rating in the comments below. And if you'd like to get in touch, you can email me at [email protected]. I'd love to hear from you. And don't forget to subscribe to my mailing list so you can grab yourself a copy of my FREE COOKBOOK!

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    About VJ

    Before I started my food blog I was an IT Consultant. Now that I've swapped an office for a kitchen I have a lot more time to spend on things that interest me such as trying out new recipes. Most of my cooking is based around quick and easy meals, mostly made from scratch, using everyday pantry ingredients.

    Reader Interactions

    Comments

      4.52 from 25 votes (15 ratings without comment)

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    1. Chris

      March 22, 2025 at 7:24 pm

      5 stars
      Loved this recipe, I used Balsa fillets( never used that before) and they were fine tasted lovely .We have some left do you think it would be OK to freeze ?

      Reply
      • VJ

        March 23, 2025 at 10:06 am

        Hi Chris - Technically you can freeze anything! The question is - how well will it defrost and reheat? The rice and onion mixture will be fine, but as I haven't actually frozen this dish myself, I can't say how well the fish will stand to up being frozen, defrosted and reheated. I suspect it will still taste fine, but I can't say what will happen to the texture of the fish.
        Sorry I can't be more help than that!

        Reply
    2. Jane

      May 24, 2023 at 7:05 pm

      5 stars
      Perfect. Followed the recipe exactly. My only problem was cups and ml Added 300ml and it seemed exactly right as rice cooked perfectly.. We really enjoyed it. Just enough spice to give it a kick

      Reply
      • VJ

        May 25, 2023 at 1:46 pm

        5 stars
        Hi Jane,
        Thanks for pointing that out. I have a note at the bottom of my recipe card to say that I use the standard American sized cup which holds 240 ml. In most of my recipes I do the conversion and give the liquid quantities in both cups and ml. I seem to have missed it on this particular recipe. I'll update it now!
        Update - I updated the recipe and your guess was spot on - I used 310 ml stock 🙂

        Reply
    3. Rosemary Argent

      May 05, 2023 at 11:00 am

      5 stars
      so easy and delicious, hubby made it for tea tonight without the chilli and it was demolished in minutes great recipe.

      Reply
      • VJ

        May 05, 2023 at 1:32 pm

        Thank you - I'm glad you enjoyed it!

        Reply
    4. Dawn Russell

      April 04, 2023 at 7:41 pm

      Lovely recipe. Tastes so good but In the recipe blog it states 290 degrees Celsius. I didn’t scroll down to find the actual recipe until third time of making it. Now I know why the rice hasn’t always cooked and I have to add a bit more water - I evaporated out all the water at that high temperature!
      Someone needs to get a proof reader me thinks ☺️

      Reply
      • VJ

        April 04, 2023 at 8:01 pm

        Oops - proof reader (ie me) fired!!!!!!! I'll check and update the post. Thanks for pointing it out :). Fixed - should have been 190 not 290. Bit of a slip of the finger there. If you want a job as a proof reader I'm hiring 🙂

        Reply
    5. Lynda

      November 14, 2022 at 2:31 am

      1 star
      The rice didn't get cooked at all even though I followed this recipe exactly.

      Reply
      • VJ

        November 15, 2022 at 11:06 am

        I'm sorry to hear that - I've made this recipe many time with no problems. What sort of rice did you use?

        Reply
    6. Robert

      August 11, 2022 at 1:44 am

      4 stars
      Good recipe, the quantiles required a larger baking dish. As it turned out the quantities of veggies (which are my favorite veggies) would allow more fish. I would suggest cooking the rice before adding it to the recipe. I used regular bagged rice and much of it did not cook. I do not know if using Minute Rice would make a difference.
      Good, easy and healthy!

      Reply
      • VJ

        August 11, 2022 at 1:20 pm

        I'm glad you enjoyed the recipe, but sorry your rice was still hard. Did you keep to the rice/liquid ratio of the recipe? I just use normal basmati rice that you can buy in any supermarket and I've never had a problem with it not cooking.

        Reply
    7. D A Moat

      August 12, 2021 at 7:08 pm

      3 stars
      (took the fresh tomato's out) added chorizo, tin tomato's and peas as well as ground garlic, fried off the chorizo added the pepper and onion to that, heated the tin tomato's with the garlic, paprika, chilli flakes and stock cube as well as 200 mill water put rice in base of dish, put veg/chorizo mix on top of the rice, pour tomato stock mix over that, cover place in oven 15 mins place fish on top cook for a further 10 mins, add fresh or defrosted frozen peas cook for a further 5/7 mins sprinkle with fresh parsley serve with a wedge of lemon

      Reply
      • VJ

        August 13, 2021 at 6:54 am

        That's what cooking is all about - finding a recipe and then adapting it to your own taste.

        Reply
    8. Beverly

      April 21, 2021 at 11:27 pm

      This is very tasty ..I used a 9” square glass dish Needed about 5 more minutes for rice! Very tasty not very healthy . Way high in the nutrition numbers!!

      Reply
    9. Becky White

      April 16, 2021 at 6:18 pm

      5 stars
      I'm currently cooking this dish for the second time in 2 weeks. It was delicious and loved by everyone in the family.

      Reply
      • VJ

        April 17, 2021 at 10:16 am

        5 stars
        That's fantastic Becky. I'm so pleased you enjoyed it.

        Reply

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