Easy to cook and equally easy to clean up: this fresh and delicious fish en papillote recipe is steamed with sprigs of fresh herbs, lemon juice, white wine and a bit of shallot butter for a light and delicate flavor.

Fish cooked en papillote is an easy, healthy, and flavorful way to cook fish; sealed in its own parchment paper pouch, the fish is essentially steamed and infused with flavor inside a convenient little package. It’s also a method that won’t leave your house smelling like a fish market, one reason why it’s probably our favorite way to cook fish.

The fish comes out of the pouch tender and flaky. Despite the amount of stuff that was cooked with it, the flavor is delicate and perfectly balanced by the richness of the butter and white wine.

The thinly sliced fennel serves as both an edible steamer rack and a built-in side dish, baking up perfectly tender and ready to be enjoyed along with your perfectly cooked fish.

We’ve made this recipe with butterflied rainbow trout as well as thicker filets of firm white fish such as cod (pictured here) or snapper. Anything works, really. Just keep in mind if you are using much thinner filets of, say, trout or tilapia, adjust the cooking time as necessary (you’ll probably need more like 10 minutes instead of 15 to 20).

You can mix up the herbs as well. We particularly enjoyed the licorice notes that the tarragon added, and dill is a natural pairing for fish, but herbs like thyme or oregano would be lovely here as well. It’s a great way to use up fresh herbs that might be on their last legs.

The shallot butter is a mix of finely chopped shallots, lemon zest, and dill. Technically, you could leave this off, but just a few pats of butter add another level of richness and flavor to the steamed fish. And it’s still way healthier than pan-frying in oil!

You can easily make the shallot butter ahead of time; roll up the log of butter in a piece of plastic wrap and keep it refrigerated until ready to use.

Cut a piece of parchment big enough that gives your fish plenty of room around the edges, then double it to allow for the foldover. It’s always better to have too big of a piece than too small.

When folding your fish into its parchment pouch, think of it like a big potsticker: make 1/4 inch folds along the edge, folding at an angle so that the creases overlap each other, thus sealing the fish inside. If you do it correctly your parchment will curve into a half-moon shape.