Enjoy a nutritious seafood dinner with this maple walnut crusted sheet pan halibut recipe. This dish features succulent halibut fillets coated in a crunchy, flavourful crust made with maple syrup and chopped walnuts, along with perfectly roasted sweet potatoes and asparagus.With easy preparation and only one pan to clean up, it's the perfect meal for busy weeknights or special occasions.
Maple Walnut Crusted Sheet Pan Halibut with crispy sweet potato chips and tender asparagus is the simplest dinner you'll make all week! This recipe also works well with other species of white fish, like cod, halibut or tilapia.
❤️ Why you'll love this sheet pan halibut dinner
- This easy Maple Walnut Crusted Halibut Sheet Pan dinner is a delicious, balanced meal with only one pan to clean.
- It's topped with a crunchy crust, lightly flavoured with lemon and dill. This walnut crust helps to keep the fish tender and moist, just the way halibut should be served.
- It's one of the quickest meals you'll ever make! It cooks in about 10 - 12 minutes, all on one pan.
My recipes for this always-popular Sheet Pan Chicken and Roasted Harvest Vegetables and this perfectly seasoned, heart-healthy Thai Chili Sheet Pan Salmon are some of my favourite meals to make when I'm in a hurry.
Using halibut as the protein makes a delicious, nutritious sheet pan dinner, too.
🛒 Ingredients
You'll find a list of ingredients with amounts in the recipe card below. Here are a few notes about some of the ingredients.
- fresh halibut or frozen and thawed halibut: You'll need about 1 pound for 4 people (about 4 ounces each.)
- fresh walnuts
- lemons: you'll zest one lemon and slice another one into quarters to serve as a garnish.
- pure maple syrup: You'll combine lemon zest, maple syrup and dill with the walnuts to make the crunchy maple walnut crust.
- dried dill
- Dijon mustard: Dijon mustard acts as the "glue" that holds the crunchy walnut topping on the fish and adds incredible flavour.
- sweet potatoes: You'll need to slice these very thinly so they'll cook at the same rate as the asparagus and the fish.
- fresh asparagus spears: Plan on serving 6 - 8 spears per serving. Choose thin spears so they will cook quickly.
- extra-virgin olive oil: You'll toss the asparagus and the sweet potato slices with olive oil before roasting.
🔪 Step-by-step instructions
- After preheating your oven and lining a sheet pan, start by preparing the vegetables.
- Trim the tough ends from asparagus and save them to make soup or compost them. Toss the spears with a teaspoon of olive oil.
- Peel and slice sweet potatoes very thinly (⅛th inch). Toss with 2 teaspoons of olive oil. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. If the sweet potatoes are too thick they won't be tender when the fish and the asparagus spears are done.
- Next, make the maple-walnut crust. Chop the walnuts either with a sharp knife or in a mini food processor. Transfer them to a small bowl and combine them with lemon zest, maple syrup and dill.
- Use a very sharp thin knife to remove the skin from the halibut pieces. Spread the opposite sides of each piece with one tablespoon of Dijon mustard.
- Divide the walnut mixture evenly, and press it on top of each piece of halibut.
- Arrange asparagus and sweet potatoes on the prepared baking sheet and top with the halibut.
- Bake at 400°F for 10 minutes or until the halibut registers 130°F to 135°F. and the sweet potato slices are fork-tender. Remove the sheet from the oven and let the halibut stand for 3 - 5 minutes while you arrange the vegetables on plates or on a serving platter. The halibut will continue to cook once it is removed from the oven. It should be about 145°F. when ready to serve.
👍🏼Tips for making the best sheet pan fish dinners
Have you tried making sheet pan dinners? They're just so easy and they seem to miraculously turn out with everything perfectly cooked at the same time . . . as long as you follow some simple guidelines.
Line your baking sheet with parchment paper or foil for easy clean up.
Season the fish with salt and pepper and toss the vegetables lightly with olive oil.
Turn the vegetables once, halfway through cooking time. Don't keep opening the oven door to check or you'll lose heat.
Consider contrasting flavours and textures. In this recipe, I chose orange sweet potatoes instead of white potatoes to cook with halibut to provide more interest. White on white is not very appealing, and we eat with our eyes first.
Fish cooks quickly so be sure to use vegetables that will cook at the same time. I chose thin spears of asparagus and I sliced the sweet potatoes very thinly, using a mandolin slicer.
❓FAQ's about sheet pan fish dinners
Halibut is the king of white fish to me. However, this recipe would be good with other white fish like cod, snapper, haddock, tilapia, or whatever is most commonly available where you live.
🍽What to serve with walnut-crusted halibut
Your veggies are all cooked along with the halibut, but if you'd like to add a salad, I'd suggest this Strawberry Kale Salad with Poppy Seed Dressing. Another delicious option would be this easy Raw Carrot Salad with Honey-Dijon Dressing.
Add a simple but decadent dessert like Dairy-Free Chocolate Mousse or this 10-Minute Creamy Lemon Ricotta Cherry Parfait for the perfect ending to a delicious meal!
🥶 How to store and reheat leftovers
Refrigerate leftover fish and vegetables within two hours in covered containers. Reheat at 350°F. for a few minutes in an air fryer or on a lined baking sheet in the oven for 10 -12 minutes.
🗒 More Sheet Pan Dinner ideas! Easy clean-up.
When you make this walnut-crusted halibut recipe, please leave a comment and a star rating below. Thanks in advance! Subscribe to my newsletter and have new recipes delivered straight to your inbox.
📖 Recipe
Maple Walnut Crusted Sheet Pan Halibut
Ingredients
- 1 lb halibut, skin removed
- 1 ½ cups walnuts, finely chopped
- 1 tablespoon lemon zest
- 1 tablespoon maple syrup
- 1 teaspoon dried dill
- ¼ cup Dijon mustard
- 2 cups sweet potatoes, very thinly sliced
- 1 bunch asparagus spears, 6 - 8 spears per serving, ends trimmed
- 1 tablespoon olive oil, extra virgin
- 2 medium lemons, sliced
Instructions
- Heat oven to 400°F.
- Line a sheet pan with foil and either spray it lightly with cooking spray or brush with olive oil.
- Trim tough ends from asparagus and save to make soup. Toss the spears with a teaspoon of olive oil.
- Peel and slice sweet potatoes very thinly (⅛th inch). Toss with 2 teaspoons of olive oil. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.
- Chop walnuts, transfer to a small bowl and combine with lemon zest, maple syrup and dill.
- Remove skin from halibut pieces, spread opposite sides of each piece with 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard. Press walnut mixture on top.
- Arrange asparagus and sweet potatoes on baking sheet and top with halibut.
- Bake at 400°F for 10 minutes or until the halibut registers 130°F to 135°F. and the sweet potato slices are fork-tender. Remove the sheet from the oven and let the halibut stand for 3 -4 minutes while you arrange the vegetables on plates on or a serving platter. It will continue to cook once it is removed from the oven. It should be about 145°F. when ready to serve.
Elaine
Made this tonight for dinner and loved it! It is simple and quick to prepare. I used Sea Bass and added a golden beet, parsnip, and a slice of rutabaga to the sweet potatoes. Yummy!
Flavour & Savour
That's great to hear! Love all the extra veggies you added. Great idea.
Beth Leahy
What do we do with the lemon slices?! (Halibut, sweet potato one)
Flavour & Savour
Hi Beth,
You could either bake the slices along with the asparagus, or you can serve them raw to squeeze on to the halibut. Great question—-I’ll add this suggestion into the recipe. Thanks!
kathi @ laughingspatula
Huge fan of sheet pan dinners and this one looks fabulous! Eager to see the new recipe format you are using!
Happy New Year Elaine!