Baked Salmon Recipe
I make this baked salmon with a garlic butter sauce, lemon, fresh dill and is about the most perfect weeknight dinner I can put on my plate. Skin-on fillets bake over citrus slices in around 18 minutes and stay moist and juicy. I love serving mine over rice.
Ingredients
- 4 8-10 ounce skin on salmon fillets
- 1 stick melted unsalted butter
- 3 finely grated garlic cloves
- Zest of 1 lemon, plus thinly slice the lemon
- Zest of ½ orange, plus thinly slice the orange
- 2 tablespoons capers
- 1/2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
- 1/2 teaspoon sweet paprika
- 2 tablespoons fresh dill leaves for garnish
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 450° F convection or 475° F no fan.
- Season the salmon on both sides with salt and pepper and refrigerate uncovered 30 minutes. Place them in the fridge uncovered.
- In the meantime, mix together the melted butter, finely grated garlic, lemon zest, orange zest, Dijon, sweet paprika, capers, salt, and pepper.
- Slice the zested orange and lemon into thin slices.
- Line a sheet tray with foil and then parchment paper over top. Then, evenly spread out the orange and lemon slices onto the parchment where the salmon slices will go.
- Next, pat the salmon fillets very dry on both sides. This will help with the browning process.
- Place the salmon skin side down over the orange and lemon slices. Drizzle and spread on ¾ of the melted butter-citrus mixture.
- Bake the salmon uncovered, on a rack towards the upper middle area of the oven for 15 to 18 minutes or until it reaches 135° to 140° F internally.
- Once it’s done remove it from the oven and drizzle on the remaining ¼ of the butter sauce and let it rest for 3 to 4 minutes.
- Garnish with the fresh dill and serve.
Notes
The temperature I trust every time I bake salmon is 135°F internal, and I never let it go past 140°F. Carryover heat keeps cooking the fish while it rests and drives it up into the low 140s. That is the window where salmon stays moist, juicy, and tender instead of dry and chalky. A thermometer in the thickest part of the fillet takes all the guesswork out if it. Once you've hit that mark a couple of times you will know it's close just by the way the top has set.
Leave the skin on: Bake the fillets skin-side down and keep the skin on through cooking. It shields the flesh from the hot tray and holds the juices in the fillet instead of letting them cook out onto the pan.
Salt 30 minutes ahead: I recommend to season the fish and let it sit in the fridge uncovered for a half hour before it bakes. The salt penetrates past the surface so every forkful is seasoned, and the dry top browns better.
Bake on a high, hot rack: Set the tray in the upper-middle of the oven where it is hottest. The goal is a browned top, and that browning is where a lot of the flavor comes from.
Season the sauce, not just the fish: Taste the garlic butter sauce and adjust the salt before it goes on the salmon. It should taste flavorful on its own, because a flat sauce makes a flat plate no matter how well the fish is cooked.
Skip the smoked paprika: Use sweet paprika for its mild pepper and its browning. Smoked paprika fights the lemon, orange, and dill and takes over the whole plate.
Make-Ahead: I mix the garlic butter sauce and slice the citrus up to a day ahead and keep them covered in the fridge. The salmon has a temperature on it, so I bake that fresh, though I can hold a finished tray covered in a very low oven around 160 F for up to 20 minutes before serving.
How to Store: Cover the cooked salmon and keep it in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. Cover the cooked salmon and freeze it for up to 3 months, then thaw it in the refrigerator for a day, or until fully thawed, before reheating.
How to Reheat: Set a fillet in a small pan with a tablespoon of unsalted butter over the top, cover it with a lid or foil, and warm it on a middle rack at 350 F for 6 to 8 minutes, until heated through.
Nutrition
Calories: 208kcalCarbohydrates: 1gProtein: 1gFat: 23gSaturated Fat: 15gPolyunsaturated Fat: 1gMonounsaturated Fat: 6gTrans Fat: 1gCholesterol: 61mgSodium: 300mgPotassium: 24mgFiber: 0.3gSugar: 0.1gVitamin A: 835IUVitamin C: 1mgCalcium: 13mgIron: 0.2mg