Simple Lemon Salmon Recipe – A Couple Cooks

This simple baked lemon salmon is roasted till tender with tangy lemon, garlic, and dill, delivering a burst of freshness in simply 20 minutes. Dinnertime solved!

As two cookbook authors, we’ve discovered we may write one million and one salmon recipes and nonetheless not get bored. And this new simple dinner concept has captured our coronary heart: meet this lemon salmon recipe! The salmon is roasted proper on prime of precise lemon slices and butter, which bakes right into a sauce which you could spoon over the tender fish. Seasoned with slightly dill and garlic powder, you’ll be able to broil the highest to get it evenly crisp after baking. It’s so easy and one in every of our new favourite methods to cook dinner up this tasty fish!

Leap to the recipe—now.

What you want for lemon salmon

This lemon salmon recipe qualifies as really easy recipe: one the place you don’t must assume too onerous to get dinner on the desk. (That is what we’re in search of, in our busy family!) An important factor relating to salmon is a high quality piece of fish. All the things else is simply secondary!

• Salmon fillets, wild caught if attainable. We discover the very best salmon is contemporary bought at a fish counter. Frozen salmon can have extra of a fishy taste, and in addition tends to get extra of the “white stuff”. Fillets which can be 1 to 1 1/2-inch thick have nice taste: you may discover this kind labeled “heart reduce” on the retailer.
• Lemon: A contemporary lemon is essential. There’s actually no different strategy to do it! No shortcuts. When you choose a recipe with lemon pepper seasoning, do this Salmon with Lemon Pepper.
• Salted butter: Salted butter brings out a savory taste; when you don’t have it, add one other pinch of salt.
• Garlic powder, onion powder, and dried dill: The dried dill particularly is what carries this recipe! Be certain that to top off (you’ll use it for extra recipes, like ranch dip).

Suggestions for baking lemon salmon

There are many individuals who declare to have “cracked the code” relating to baking salmon. However everybody has a special concept of the best temperature! We primarily based this lemon salmon on the tactic in our baked salmon recipe, however it has totally different seasonings and requires broiling on the finish.

• The very best temperature for baked salmon? 400°F. Excessive warmth makes for a tasty, tender piece of fish.
• Bake the fillets over sliced lemons and pats of butter. This creates a sauce whereas baking, which you spoon over as soon as the fish is completed.
• How lengthy to bake salmon? Bake the salmon for 10 to 16 minutes, relying on thickness, till simply tender and pink on the heart (the inner temperature needs to be between 125 to 130°F within the heart). A 1-inch thick fillet ought to cook dinner in about quarter-hour whole.
• For a crispy prime, broil the salmon. When the salmon is at 115°F, broil for about 2 minutes (concerning the final 2 minutes of the cook dinner time). We like our salmon with a touch of texture on the highest, and that is the proper contact.

Tips on how to keep away from the white stuff

Have you ever ever cooked a fillet of salmon, then had gooey white stuff ooze to the floor whereas cooking? It’s known as albumin. It is a coagulated protein that seeps to the floor when roasting. It’s suitable for eating, however it does look lower than appetizing on prime of a lovely fillet.

The most important tip for avoiding the white stuff? Purchase the suitable fish! We’ve discovered salmon we purchase contemporary on the fish counter at sure grocery shops has much less white stuff than what we get from different shops, although there’s no labeling distinction. One other factor you’ll be able to strive is to brine the fillets earlier than baking. It makes for completely moist and evenly cooked salmon, and it could actually assist scale back the albumin, too. Right here’s brine the fillets earlier than making this lemon salmon recipe:

• Combine up a salt water answer. You’ll use 4 cups of water to three tablespoons salt to make a salt water answer.
• Place the fish within the water for quarter-hour. Simply set the fish within the water for quarter-hour. You are able to do this within the time it takes to preheat your oven: so there’s no time misplaced.

Facet dishes for lemon salmon

What are the very best sides to make salmon right into a meal? Since that is baked lemon salmon, you’ll need to keep away from the oven. Go for contemporary and easy sides like salads, grains, and sauteed greens. Listed here are a few of our favourite concepts:

• Salads like Caesar salad, kale salad, pear salad, arugula salad, chickpea salad, radicchio salad
• Grains like orzo, couscous, quinoa, farro, or rice
• Sauteed greens like simple peas, sauteed spinach, sauteed kale, sauteed carrots or sauteed broccolini.

Extra salmon recipes

Listed here are a couple of extra of our prime salmon recipes that house cooks love: