Scrod vs Cod: What Scrod Actually Means on a Menu

Scrod vs cod is a question of size, not species: scrod (also spelled schrod) is a young, small cod or haddock, graded in Boston’s fish market at 1 to 2½ pounds, usually split and boned for cooking. Cod is a species; scrod is the small end of that species, or of haddock, sold under a New England name.

Order scrod when you want a thin, delicate, quick-cooking fillet under buttered crumbs. Order cod when you want thick, large-flaked pieces for fish and chips, chowder or a center-of-the-plate fillet.

Scrod vs cod at a glance

	Scrod	Cod
What it is	A market size grade for small cod or haddock, not a species	A species: Atlantic cod Gadus morhua (or Pacific cod Gadus macrocephalus)
Species behind the name	Cod or haddock; occasionally small pollock or cusk	Cod only
Size	1 to 2½ lb whole fish under Massachusetts grading rules; fillets are thin	“Market cod” 2½–10 lb, “large cod” 10–25 lb; Atlantic cod reaches 51 in and 77 lb
Flavor	Mild and clean; slightly sweet when it is haddock	Mild, clean; Atlantic cod sweeter than Pacific (NOAA)
Texture	Delicate, fine, small flakes; cooks in minutes	Large, moist flakes; less firm than haddock
Price	Varies; usually among the cheapest fish entrées on a New England menu	Varies; 2024 US Atlantic cod landings averaged about $2 per pound at the dock, haddock about $1.39
Best cooking methods	Broiled or baked with butter and crumbs: the classic “baked scrod”	Baked, broiled, poached, battered and fried, chowder
Nutrition per 100 g raw (USDA)	Cod: 82 kcal, 17.8 g protein, 0.67 g fat; haddock: 74 kcal, 16.3 g protein, 0.45 g fat	82 kcal, 17.8 g protein, 0.67 g fat, 0.18 g EPA+DHA
Where you’ll see it	New England menus and fish counters, Boston above all	Everywhere

What is scrod?

Scrod is a young cod or haddock, small enough to be split and boned whole. Merriam-Webster defines it as “a young fish (such as a cod or haddock), especially one split and boned for cooking,” with “schrod” as a less common spelling. The American Heritage Dictionary says “a small cod or similar fish, such as haddock or hake, especially one split and boned for cooking.”

Boston’s fish trade put numbers on it. Massachusetts regulation 201 CMR 10.01, “Culling of Fish in All Ports,” grades cod by weight: scrod cod is 1 to 2½ pounds, market cod runs over 2½ to 10 pounds, large cod 10 to 25 pounds, and extra large over 25. Haddock splits the same way: scrod haddock is 1 to 2½ pounds, and anything over 2½ pounds is simply haddock. The rules even list scrod pollock (1½ to 4 pounds) and scrod cusk, which settles it: scrod was always a size, never a species.

Is scrod cod or haddock?

Either, and on most New England menus today it is haddock. NOAA’s haddock profile lists “scrod” among the fish’s other names. The old menu custom of spelling it “scrod” for cod and “schrod” for haddock is a restaurant convention, not a rule; both dictionaries treat schrod as a plain variant spelling.

Supply decides what you get. NOAA’s 2021 assessments found both US Atlantic cod stocks, Gulf of Maine and Georges Bank, overfished, and 2024 commercial cod landings came to just 1.4 million pounds. Haddock is not overfished, and the fleet landed about 7 million pounds the same year, five times the cod. When a kitchen writes “scrod” without naming the fish, assume haddock unless the server says otherwise. The cod vs haddock guide explains how to tell them apart on the plate.

Where does the word scrod come from?

From Cornish fishing dialect, not from a Boston hotel. Merriam-Webster dates the first known use to 1841 and traces it to the British dialect word “scrawed,” from a Cornish verb meaning to split, salt and lightly dry young fish. The American Heritage Dictionary gives the same Cornish origin.

The popular story credits Boston’s Parker House, which opened in 1855 and still lists “Boston Scrod made from fresh haddock or cod” among the dishes its kitchen pioneered, alongside Boston cream pie and Parker House rolls. Yankee Magazine retells the legend of a Parker House maître d’ naming the top fish off the morning boats and wonders whether it was a contraction of “sacred cod,” the carved codfish that hangs in the Massachusetts House of Representatives. The word was in print fourteen years before the hotel opened, so the Parker House popularized the name rather than inventing it. The acronym explanations (“Select Catch Received On the Day”) are folk etymology.

How is scrod served? The baked scrod question

Split, buttered and broiled or baked. Fannie Farmer’s Boston Cooking-School Cook Book of 1896 put it plainly: “A young cod, split down the back, and backbone removed, except a small portion near the tail, is called a scrod. Scrod are always broiled, spread with butter, and sprinkled with salt and pepper. Haddock is also so dressed.”

Modern “baked scrod” or “Boston scrod” keeps that idea with a fillet instead of a split fish: a thick-cut piece topped with buttered bread or cracker crumbs, a squeeze of lemon, sometimes a splash of white wine, baked until the crumbs brown and the fish just flakes. It stays on menus across the region; Merriam-Webster’s own usage examples include a 2021 Boston Globe listing for “baked scrod.” A scrod fillet cooks through in ten to fifteen minutes, which is why the dish works at home with no special equipment.

Does scrod taste different from cod?

Slightly: scrod is milder and more delicate, with smaller flakes, because it is a younger fish with thinner fillets. Mature cod gives NOAA’s “large flakes” and a fuller, sweeter flavor, and thick loin pieces hold up to batter and frying. When the scrod is haddock, expect NOAA’s “slightly sweet” taste and a “delicate flake” that “is finer than that of cod.”

Nutritionally there is nothing to separate them. USDA lists raw Atlantic cod at 82 calories, 17.8 g protein and 0.67 g fat per 100 g, and raw haddock at 74 calories, 16.3 g protein and 0.45 g fat. FDA puts cod and haddock both on its “Best Choices” low-mercury list. For a richer relative in name only, see black cod vs cod, which is a different family altogether.

Which should you order?

Baked fish with crumbs, a lighter plate, kids: scrod. The delicate fillet and butter-crumb topping are the whole point.
Fish and chips: cod, or ask for haddock. A thick market-cod loin stays moist inside the batter; a thin scrod fillet overcooks.
Chowder: cod or haddock in chunks. Scrod breaks apart too easily.
Fish sandwich: either; scrod is the better fit for a smaller roll.
Outside New England: you will rarely see the word. In Florida the mild-fish choices are grouper, mahi, snapper and flounder; Fish On Fire’s menu runs on Gulf grouper, mahi and shrimp, and our mild fish guide maps the swaps.

When ordering scrod, ask two questions: which fish is it today, and is it baked or broiled. Those answers tell you more than the word itself.

Bottom line

Scrod is not a species; it is a young cod or haddock weighing under about 2½ pounds, split and boned, with roots in Cornish fishing slang that Boston made famous. Order it for a delicate baked fillet under buttered crumbs. Order cod when you want big flakes and a thick cut. To see how the rest of the family lines up, read pollock vs cod, cod vs tilapia and halibut vs cod, or start with what cod tastes like.

Scrod vs Cod: What's the Difference?