You will love how simple and delicious this Garlic Butter Baked Salmon recipe is! It is the perfect weeknight dinner recipe as it is ready in 30 minutes or less! It’s a no-fuss, no-muss recipe as the tin foil makes clean up super easy. Make this family-favourite recipe tonight for dinner!
Tender, flaky, and packed with flavour, this baked salmon recipe is going to be a hit with your family. It’s a hands-off recipe that only takes a couple of minutes to throw together and is a delicious healthy dinner option.
Even better, this baked salmon recipe is gluten-free, keto-friendly, and low-carb. Enjoy it on its own or add it to a salad like this Easy Salmon Salad Recipe.
Baked Salmon is a delicious fish recipe. When you use garlic butter and lemon to create the sauce, it gives this baked salmon recipe even depth of flavor.
We’ll show you how to make this salmon recipe easy for clean up by wrapping the fish fillets in foil packs and baking them in the oven!
Ingredients To Make This Baked Salmon Recipe
- Salmon filet — Take your pick of fillets! See down below to see which your should pick. If you only have small fillets, try making my Spicy Salmon Sweet Potato Skillet instead.
- Lemon juice — Fresh lemon juice is best. Skip the bottled stuff.
- Garlic – Minced.
- Melted butter or melted ghee — Be sure to use unsalted butter.
- Seasoning — I used salt, black pepper, dried oregano, crushed red pepper.
- Garnish — Chopped parsley and lemon slices to garnish.
- Optional – You can add a tablespoon of dijon mustard to the sauce.
How To Cook Salmon In The Oven?
Here are the instructions to make the best baked salmon recipe you will ever make! Believe me!
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Prepare the equipment and sauce
- Preheat oven to 400ºF. Line a baking sheet that is large enough to fold over and seal the fish.
- In a small bowl, add lemon juice, garlic, and melted butter or melted ghee and whisk until combined.
Prepare the salmon
- Place the salmon on the prepared baking sheet and then pour the butter mixture over the salmon, careful to keep as much as the butter mixture on the salmon.
- Season with salt, pepper, oregano, and red pepper flakes.
Bake the salmon
- Fold the sides of the foil over the salmon so that the salmon is fully sealed and the butter mixture cannot leak out.
- Place the sheet pan into the oven, and bake until cooked, about 12-16 minutes.
- Open the foil, and broil the fish for 2-3 minutes until the tops are golden. Be careful not to burn the fish by keeping a close eye on it.
- Remove the sheet pan from the oven. Then, using a spoon, pour some of the butter sauce left in the foil onto the salmon and garnish before serving.
Tip: Do not use parchment paper if you will boil your salmon.
Is Fresh Salmon Better Than Frozen For This Recipe?
You can make this easy baked salmon recipe using either fresh or frozen salmon. I normally use fresh salmon filets because they are easier to find at my local grocery store. I place my salmon in the fridge. When it’s time to cook I take my fillet out of the fridge and let it sit on the counter for about 15 minutes. Then, use a paper towel to pat the salmon dry and get rid of any excess moisture.
Most seafood is flash-frozen, meaning that it is frozen at its prime peak of freshness. Technically, the quality will be the same with fresh and frozen fish; there’s just the issue of whether or not to thaw frozen salmon.
You can cook frozen salmon in a pan, in the oven, and even on the grill, but you will need to add a few minutes to the cooking time.
Remember to pull the frozen fillets from the freezer in the morning and put them in the fridge to thaw. They’ll be perfect to use for making this baked salmon recipe at dinnertime.
Store And Reheat This Salmon Recipe?
Leftovers — Transfer leftover salmon to an airtight glass container and keep in the refrigerator for 3-4 days. Or, portion them out into meal prep containers to have for lunches throughout the week. Alternatively, see the recipes listed down below to see what you can make with leftover salmon before storing it!
Freezer — You can freeze cooked salmon by placing completely cooled salmon in an airtight freezer-friendly container or freezer bags. Keep in the freezer for up to 4 months. Thaw in the fridge overnight before reheating.
Reheating — You can heat the leftover salmon in the microwave. Add a splash of water if you’re worried it will dry out. You can also reheat this on the stovetop. Add some olive oil to a hot pan and add the salmon to it. Cook until heated through.
Frequently Asked Questions
I think salmon goes really well with almost any spice blend or fresh herbs for fish that you like to use. My favourite seasonings to use for this baked salmon recipe are minced garlic, salt, and black and red pepper. I also love to use paprika and thyme. If you want to switch things up, these seasonings are also delicious on fish: fresh parsley, fresh dill. oregano, tarragon and Italian seasoning.
It depends on the size and thickness of your salmon fillet. If your fillet is very thick, I would say about 15 minutes in the oven at 375ºF. But if it is a normal size, I would say about 12-13 minutes or until the salmon flakes easily with a fork.
Sometimes while salmon cooks, there might be a white liquid that will come out of the salmon fillets. It looks a little weird but it’s perfectly fine to eat. The white stuff is called “albumin” and it’s just protein that solidifies as salmon cooks. If it bothers you, you can scrape it off.
There’s no need to remove the skin before you cook it! The skin actually helps keep the moisture locked in when it is baking. If you’re not a fan of the skin, it comes right off once it’s been cooked.
This topic comes up for discussion a lot, especially when comparing the wild salmon fillets from Alaska and the farmed Atlantic salmon.
Farmed salmon is raised in fish farms, eats a diet of processed feed and contains Omega-3 fatty acids as well as Vitamins A and D.
Wild salmon is raised in a natural habitat, such as rivers and oceans, eats organisms and other food found in their natural environment and has a color that is more vibrant. If given the option, I would pick wild-caught salmon varieties such as coho salmon, sockeye, pink salmon or King salmon or Chinook salmon. They are a little more expensive but I feel like the extra nutrition and health benefits that the fillets have is worth it.
The FDA states that once the baked salmon has reached an internal temperature of 145°F as its thickest part of the salmon, it is fully cooked. If you don’t have a meat thermometer, you can check when your salmon is fully cooked, by using a fork to check if the fillet flakes apart easily.
Side Dishes to serve with This salmon Recipe
When it comes to salmon, or any other type of fish, there are a lot of tasty options for vegetable side dishes such roasted potatoes, asparagus and broccoli. A few favorites of mine are:
- Garlic Parmesan Cauliflower Rice
- Mushroom Cauliflower “Rice” Skillet
- Roasted Vegetables
- Crispy Roasted Green Beans
- Parmesan Lemon Asparagus Skillet
Ways to use leftover salmon
If you have leftover salmon and want to change things up, here are some ways to enjoy the salmon:
- Salmon tacos: shred the salmon up and serve it in a taco
- Salmon pasta: roughly chop up the leftover salmon fillet and add it to a pasta
- Salmon salad: break up the salmon with a fork and toss it in a leafy salad or greek salad. This Salmon Chopped Salad is also really good.
- Salmon fried rice: break up the salmon or roughly chop it and toss it in some fried rice
- You can make salmon meal-prep for your lunch week since salmon stays go in the fridge for up 4 days.
- You can also make salmon patties. These patties are delicious and easy to make, give it a try this weekend!
Other salmon recipes to try:
- Low-Carb Salmon Burgers with Avocado Coleslaw recipe: A quick, healthy, and delicious meal that’s ready in 20 minutes! It’s also paleo, whole30, and gluten-free.
- Baked Lemon Dijon Salmon: A super-simple, easy, but flavourful salmon recipe for your busy weeknight family dinner.
- 4-Ingredient Pomegranate Glazed Salmon: It only requires four ingredients, and the glaze has no added sugar but has a delicious tangy flavor!
- Boiled Salmon recipe: In less than 15 minutes, this yummy salmon recipe will be ready.
- Air Fryer Salmon: Easy and super quick to make.
- For more recipes, please try these other 35 delicious salmon recipes.
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Garlic Butter Salmon in Foil
Ingredients
- 1¼ pounds salmon fillet
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 3 tablespoons melted butter or melted ghee
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- ¼ teaspoon dried oregano
- ¼ teaspoon crushed red pepper
- 1 tablespoon chopped parsley to garnish
- lemon slices to garnish
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375ºF. Line a baking sheet. The piece of foil should be large enough to fold over and seal the fish.
- In a small bowl, add lemon juice, garlic, and melted butter or melted ghee. Whisk everything together.
- Place the salmon on the prepared baking sheet. Pour the butter mixture over the salmon.
- Season with salt, pepper, oregano, and red pepper flakes.
- Fold the sides of the foil over the salmon. Make sure it is well sealed so that the sauce does not leak. Place the pan into the oven, and bake until cooked, about 12-16 minutes. The cooking time depends on the thickness of the fillet.*
- Open the foil, and broil the fish for 2-3 minutes. Be careful not to burn the fish!
- Remove from the oven. Using a spoon, pour some of the butter sauce left in the foil onto the salmon before serving. Then, garnish with fresh chopped parsley and lemon slices.
Tips
- Cook the salmon until it reaches an internal temperature of 145ºF.
- If you have salmon leftovers, make this Salmon Chopped Salad recipe. So good!!
- And if you love salmon recipes, try these delicious salmon recipes.
- Do not wrap the salmon too tightly as the tin foil can take off some of the salmon, making it less pretty when serving.
- To store: Put leftover salmon into an airtight glass container and keep for up to 3 days.
- To reheat: Reheat leftover salmon in the microwave or eat it chilled.
- To freeze: Freeze in a freezer-safe bag once the salmon has reached room temperature. Freeze for up to 4 months.
Video
Nutrition Information
Nutrition information is calculated using an ingredient database and should be considered an estimate.
You can also watch the Web Stories about How to Cook Salmon in the Oven.
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debby ward says
this is a keeper. haven’t eaten salmon in awhile but now I will eat salmon again. Both my husband and myself thought the seasoning was perfect and the salmon was so tender. thank you
Olivia says
You’re very welcome! I’m so thrilled to hear you and your husband love this recipe.
Jules says
Literally reviewing this as I eat it! It is so delicious. I’ve never made salmon before and this was absolutely fantastic! I can’t wait to make this for my boyfriend so he thinks I can cook. LOL!!! Thank you for sharing this recipe! The flavor is delicious and the salmon was tender. DON’T DELAY- MAKE TODAY!
Olivia says
I am so excited to hear this! Thank you so much for trying the recipe and taking time to leave your positive review.
Nikki says
Boyfriend and roommate said it was soo good! Boyfriend hates fish gives it 8/10 thumbs up!
MUST TRY
Olivia says
That’s awesome to hear!
jimmy jackson says
i’ve made this recipe several times love it, but you need to be careful when you broil.
Olivia says
Absolutely! You need to be careful.
Christine says
Just beautiful mouth watering salmon
Olivia says
Indeed!
Jeff says
I made this recipe tonight with a couple of changes. I didn’t have any crushed red pepper flakes so I used a dash of cayenne pepper and a sprinkle of anise in with the garlic butter. I cooked as directed and probably too conservative under the broiler. I just didn’t want to burn the salmon and ruin the entire dish. It could have stayed under the broiler for 3 minutes, I only have it 2. It was delicious! Served with green beans. I was going to make roasted potatoes but this recipe goes so fast I didn’t have time for the potatoes. I do have leftovers and will make the potatoes before reheating the salmon.
Kim says
Simple to make and delicious.
Olivia says
Oh yes!