Stuffed Flounder Florentine is a delicious restaurant-quality dish that is perfect for a date night dinner or fancy dinner party. Yet easy enough to make a family for a week-night dinner.
Mild flaky flounder stuffed with a mixture of spinach and cheese, baked to perfection in a mornay sauce, is a classic stuffed flounder recipe that won’t break the bank but impress your guests with its simple elegance.
And the great part is, that it takes almost no time to prep! And did I mention it was OMG delicious?
If you love flounder, my Crabmeat Stuffed Flounder and Fried Flounder are two of my favorite recipes.
What ingredients do I need to make Stuffed Flounder Florentine?
Let’s start by gathering the ingredients we need to make Stuffed Flounder Florentine. In Chef Speak this is called the “Mise en Place” which translates to “Everything in its Place”.
Not only does setting your ingredients up ahead of time speed up the cooking process, it also helps ensure you have everything you need to make the dish.
Can I make this dish with other fish?
Absolutely! You can use any mild white fish fillets that you like. Tilapia, sole, perch, walleye, and even catfish are good fish to stuff. The fillets just need to be thin enough to roll.
How do I make Stuffed Flounder Florentine?
- Saute the baby spinach in a little olive oil, and let the spinach cook down completely (add a little water if necessary); this should only take a few minutes.
- Place the spinach in a colander to drain. When it’s completely cooled, squeeze out any remaining water. It should be moist, just not wet.
How do I make Béchamel and Mornay Sauce?
- In a saucepan, melt the butter, then add in the flour and mix well to make a roux. Allow the roux to cook on low heat for about 5 minutes to cook the flour.
- Add your heated stock to the roux to make a bechamel.
- Remove ¼ cup of the bechamel to add to your spinach.
- Add the milk, and allow to cook for a few minutes. If the sauce is too thick, it can be thinned out with a little more milk or water. You have now made a Veloute’.
- Add the shredded cheddar (or cheese of your choice) and season with salt and pepper to taste.
- You now have made this into a Mornay sauce. Set aside and allow to cool.
How do I stuff flounder?
The first step is to mix the cheese, spinach, roasted red peppers, and bechamel sauce together to make the stuffing mix for the flounder.
- Place the flounder fillets on a sheet pan or flat surface.
- Divide the stuffing between the flounder fillets.
- Roll the flounder fillets so that the flounder surrounds the stuffing.
- Place the fillets in two individual baking dishes or one large enough to hold all four rolls without them moving around too much. Make sure the fillets are seam-side down so the flounder does not open up while baking.
- Add a little water to the pan and place in a 350-degree oven for 15 minutes.
Remove from oven and drain off the water, add the mornay sauce to the casserole dish with the stuffed flounder rolls and return to the oven to bake for an additional 10 minutes ( I overfilled the dishes with mornay sauce and ended up taking some out. You should actually be able to see the flounder rolls).
Finish baking the Stuffed Flounder for 10 – 15 minutes or until golden brown and bubbly.
Serve with lemon wedges and your favorite side dishes. Since I already had spinach in the dish, I served my stuffed flounder florentine with seasoned rice, and it was ah-mazingly delicious!!
Recipe FAQ’s:
Yes, you can. This dish can be prepared up to a day ahead of time. Make sure to keep it well-covered and refrigerated until it’s time to bake the stuffed flounder. Then place the dishes in a preheated 350-degree F. oven for 35-40 minutes or until the top gets golden and bubbly.
I like to use a blend of cheese in my mixture using mozzarella, goat cheese, and gorgonzola. But you can use cheddar, swiss, gruyere, bleu cheese, fontina, or any cheese that you enjoy eating that melts well.
Yes, you can. Allow it to cool completely, then double-wrap the container with plastic wrap to ensure freshness. When reheating, allow the stuffed flounder to defrost in the refrigerator overnight, then unwrap the plastic wrap and cover with foil. Bake at 350 degrees for 30-35 minutes or until an internal temperature of at least 165 degrees F has been reached.
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Stuffed Flounder Florentine
Ingredients
Stuffed Flounder
- 1 pound flounder 4 small fillets 3-4 oz each
- 8 ounces baby spinach
- 1 tablespoons roasted red pepper small dice
- 2 oz goat cheese
- 2 oz shredded mozzarella
- 2 oz gorgonzola cheese or cheese of your choice
- ½ cup bechamel sauce
Mornay Sauce
- 2 oz butter
- ¼ cup flour
- 1 cup chicken stock shrimp stock or vegetable stock may be used instead
- ½ cup milk
- ½ cup shredded cheddar cheese
- sea salt and black pepper to taste
- 1 teaspoon Italian Parsley finely chopped parsley as garnish
Instructions
- Saute the baby spinach in a little olive oil. Let the spinach cook down completely (add a little water if necessary), this should only take a few minutes.
- Place the spinach in a colander to drain. When it's completely cooled, squeeze out any remaining water. It should be moist, just not wet.
- While the spinach is cooling start your Mornay sauce
Mornay Sauce
- In a saucepan melt the butter, then add in the flour and mix well to make a roux. Allow roux to cook on low heat for about 5 minutes to cook the flour.
- Add the stock to the roux to make a bechamel.
- Remove ¼ cup of the bechamel to add to the spinach mixture.
- Add the milk, and allow to cook for a few minutes, If the sauce is too thick it can be thinned out with a little more milk or water. You have now made a Veloute’
- Add the shredded cheddar (or cheese of your choice) and season with salt and pepper to taste.
- You now have made this into a Mornay sauce. Set aside and allow to cool.
Stuffed Flounder
- Mix the goat cheese, shredded mozzarella, and gorgonzola cheese, spinach, roasted red peppers together. Try to separate the spinach a little to get the cheese and bechamel thoroughly mixed in with the spinach. If the mixture looks too dry add a little of the mornay into the mix, but the mixture should be soft and solid not runny.
- Divide the stuffing between the flounder fillets and roll them, so that the flounder surrounds the stuffing.
- Place the fillets in two individual baking dishes or one large enough to hold all four rolls without them moving around too much, make sure the fillets are seam side down so the flounder does not open up while baking.
- Add a little water to the pan and place in a 350-degree oven for 15 minutes
- Remove the casseroles from the oven and drain off the liquid. Add the mornay sauce to the casserole until it comes about ¾ of the way up the stuffed flounder rolls. Return to the oven to bake for an additional 10 – 15 minutes or until golden brown and bubbly.
- Remove from the oven, garnish with chopped parsley and serve with your favorite sides.
BakingWithoutaBox
That flounder looks so good. Perfect to have a recreation of a favorite restaurant dish. And sustainable as well!
Please enter me in the toffee. Who wouldn't want it with such an endorsement? Sounds delicious!
Stella
Hey Dennis! I don't know what's different exactly, but your blog looks really great, man:-) It had a very bright and happy feeling to it now-that's nice!
Oh, and the flounder looks really wonderful too. This is my kind of meal, which is why I'm going to go do some buzzing like a bee;-)
Cheryl and Adam
So glad you shared this! I was not a big fan of fish when I was a kid, but when my mother introduced me to this dish I was a convert, and have enjoyed it many a time since. I'll look forward to Cheryl preparing your recipe! And, I should add, ANYTHING with Mornay Sauce is an automatic buzz in my book!
Big Dude
You just keep cranking out the great fish dishes.
Carole
yes, I'd love to have the toffee. 🙂
I like your spin w/ flounder and will try it soon.
Elisabeth
Dennis-Stuffed Flounder Florentine is such a classic, elegant dish. Years ago, I used to stuff it with baby shrimp, in a cracker type stuffing, which also was a classic.
You did an outstanding job of the way you prepared it.
Light, and delicious…perfect for Valentine's, as long as it is cooked for family, (and not a date)…spinach is always a scary thing to eat when you're on a date!
(Just a "flashback", on a scary date)
savoringeverybite
Yumm, Dennis! This looks so good, flavorful and temping! My weekdays and weekends are so crazy too but getting in the kitchen and enjoying a sit down meal is absolutely necessary to complete my day! No matter what I have cook and this is a dish I must try!
anniebakes
Oh you're killing me with this one…off to the store for flounder! 🙂 anne
A Thought For Food
My mom used to do stuffed flounder when we were kids and I've really enjoyed making it. It's a great, elegant looking recipe. And so simple!
Beautiful recipe, Dennis!
ravienomnoms
I know what you mean! I always seem to work harder on the weekends than I do during the week..maybe that is because I am actually working on something I WANT to work on haha. Anyways, this meal looks delicious! I too have been trying to cut out the junk and focus in on more healthy things. This looks like just the ticket! Thanks for sharing the recipe, as always your pictures are fabulous and you are such an inspiration!
Rich
We also are all about the 'have at least a few minutes for dinner' policy, though I've got to say, how could you not take a break from the day when you're eating this – it looks and sounds unbelievably good!
Claudia
I think this is a classic dish. I love that the spinach has roasted red pepper in it – tasty surprise. And the sauces. I would be so pleased to see it go into rotation here… which means Claudia cooks it! Which works for me! I would prefer flounder but could make do with tilapia. Or walleye freshly-caught. Happy Valentine's Day to you and your wife. My family has also noted the time I put into the blog. And the tasty dishes that result from it!
Angela@RecipesFromMyMom
This reminds me of the first dinner my husband cooked for me when we dated 25 years ago. I was so impressed – in fact, it made me worry about what I could make for him that could possibly compare. I've since figured out how to wow him :} Hope you and your valentine share a wonderful dinner.
the constant hunger
This look divine. And flounder is such an affordable fish. Love it!
Elin
Chef Dennis, his is a lovely fish recipe 🙂 You have just given idea what to do with the fishes in the freezer. Yea…more fishes and this recipe is great. Thanks …oink oink !
Have a great day,
Elin