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 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 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 demonstrate how to simplify cleanup with this baked salmon recipe by encasing the fish fillets in foil packs and baking them in the oven!
Ingredients To Make This Baked Salmon
- Salmon — 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, you’ll love this recipe!
Prepare the equipment and sauce
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- Preheat the oven to 400ºF. Prepare a baking sheet that’s large enough to fold over and seal the fish. You won’t need a rimmed baking sheet for this, as you’ll be folding the salmon with foil.
- 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 salmon until cooked, about 12-16 minutes.
- Open the foil, and broil salmon 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 baked salmon and garnish before serving.
Tip: Do not use parchment paper if you will broil your salmon.
Is Fresh Salmon Better Than Frozen For This Salmon 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 Baked Salmon
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 salmon 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 this salmon recipe 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 your baked salmon recipe 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 recipe 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 recipes, there are a lot of tasty options for vegetable side dishes such roasted potatoes, roasted asparagus and broccoli. A few favorites of mine are:
Ways to use leftover salmon
If you have leftover salmon and want to change things up, here are some ways to enjoy a salmon recipe:
- Salmon tacos: shred the salmon up and serve it in a taco and salad.
- 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 baked 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!
- Broiled 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 Baked 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 400ºF. 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.
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You can also watch the Web Stories about How to Cook Salmon in the Oven.
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Tami says
Yassssssss!!
Janet Fitzwater says
I saw nowhere how much of each ingredient did one use and way too much useless stuff. Just give me simple
Olivia says
The recipe card is located at the bottom of the post. If you prefer not to read the entire post, simply click on the “Jump to Recipe” button at the top or below the recipe title. This will take you directly to the recipe card where you can find the ingredient measurements and instructions. Thank you!
Wilson moreau says
I love all your recipes it is a nice site always watch it once in awhile or print some of it
Olivia says
Awww thank you! It’s always so good to hear that. Hope you can keep visit our site 😉
John M says
The article presents a mouthwatering recipe for Garlic Butter Salmon in Foil, complete with step-by-step instructions and helpful tips. It allows me to create a flavorful and perfectly cooked dish.
Olivia says
happy you liked it!
Lois Stager says
It was absolutely delicious my husband loved it!!!Lois
Olivia says
That’s great to hear! This recipe is incredibly delicious. Even those who don’t typically enjoy salmon seem to enjoy this one.
mjg says
Very quick and easy to prepare. It disappear of the serving dish. Highly recommend for quick meal
Olivia says
Thank you! SO glad you enjoyed this recipe 😉
Kirstie L Weaver says
I tried it without the pepper & it was delicious
Olivia says
Happy you liked it 😉
Nellie Mendez says
Can’t wait to make this.
Olivia says
I’m sure you will love it!
Sue K says
Fantastic!! Super easy, incredibly tasty, and wildly enjoyed by my whole family. I am an adventurous cook, willing to try almost any recipe… but only a select few get saved, repeated, and even shared. This is definitely one of those keepers. Thank you!
Olivia says
Aww thank you so much! Your comment made my day. I appreciate it a lot 😉
Jennifer says
I was searching for some recipes to go with my latest soup post, and I was excited to find your recipe. Salmon has always been one of my favorites, but I struggle making it. This definitely looks easy to make!
Olivia says
It’s very easy. I hope you give is a try!