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Want dinner ideas? These easy salmon recipes are some of the best ways to include this tender fish on your table!

Salmon recipes
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Looking for salmon dinner ideas? This fish is a popular choice when it comes to meals, but it’s notoriously tricky to cook it right. Here at A Couple Cooks, we’ve become salmon experts by testing out all the best salmon recipes to make dinnertime delicious! Try it seared, baked, or grilled, with a butter sauce or smothered in a sticky glaze. Or think outside the fillet with burgers, tacos, salad and more!

Looking for salmon basics? Try it pan seared, marinated, grilled, baked or broiled. Learn how to know when salmon is done, and browse ideas for leftover salmon.

And now…our top salmon recipes!

Tips for buying good salmon

When buying salmon for these salmon recipes, there’s one rule to keep in mind: get the best quality fish you can find and afford! Low quality salmon can taste very fishy and have a mushy texture or ooze that white stuff once it’s cooked. The quality of the fish can make or break your salmon recipe! Here’s what to look for:

  • Look for wild-caught salmon. Fish that is wild caught in your country is usually a sustainable choice. (There are also quality options in well-regulated farms; see Seafood Watch Consumer Guide.)
  • Tend toward fresh salmon. Buying salmon fresh from the fish counter usually has the best flavor. Frozen can work too, just try to find high-quality frozen salmon and not a big economy-sized bag.
  • Know your types of salmon. Coho salmon has a nice mild flavor: it’s a good middle of the road option in terms of price. King salmon is incredible, but on the expensive end. Atlantic salmon is often farmed, but can be a sustainable option. We find it’s better when purchased from a fresh counter (versus frozen). Ask about its source at the fish counter.

Main methods for cooking salmon

There are five main ways to cook salmon: pan fried, baked, broiled, grilled, and poached. The best way to assess doneness is with a food thermometer. Salmon is done when the internal temperature measures 125 to 130°F at the thickest point for medium cooked salmon (medium rare is 120°F). The fish will continue to cook after you remove it from the heat. To ensure full safety, the FDA recommended temperature for seafood is 145°F or well done.

Salmon Cooking MethodCook Time (depends on thickness)
Pan Seared Salmon4 to 8 minutes on medium high heat
(2 to 3 minutes skin side up to sear, then flip)
Baked Salmon10 to 16 minutes at 400°F
Broiled Salmon5 minutes (thin) or 7 to 10 minutes (1-inch thick salmon)
Grilled Salmon5 to 10 minutes on medium high heat (375 to 450°F)
(3 to 5 minutes skin side up until grill marks appear, then flip)
Poached Salmon
7 to 10 minutes

The white stuff: albumin

Ever noticed that gooey white stuff that sometimes appears on the surface of the fish after it’s cooked? It’s coagulated protein that seeps to the surface while cooking, called albuminIt’s safe to eat, but it does look less than appetizing on top of a beautiful fillet. The amount of albumin varies greatly depending on the piece of fish you buy, so it’s not something you can fully control.

To reduce the albumin, experiment with different types at different grocers to find those with less white stuff. It also helps to brine the salmon in a salt and water solution before baking:

  • In a large shallow dish, whisk together 4 cups room temperature water and 3 tablespoons kosher salt until dissolved.
  • Place the salmon in the water and wait for 15 minutes.

More with salmon

There are so many ways to enjoy this tasty, tender fish! Here are a few more ideas:

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Easy Baked Salmon

Baked Salmon
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5 from 2 reviews

This is the very best oven baked salmon recipe, seasoned perfectly with a crispy top! Here’s how to bake salmon: you’ll never need another way.

  • Author: Sonja Overhiser
  • Prep Time: 5 minutes
  • Cook Time: 15 minutes
  • Total Time: 20 minutes
  • Yield: 4 1x
  • Category: Main dish
  • Method: Baked
  • Cuisine: Seafood
  • Diet: Gluten Free

Ingredients

Scale
  • 1 1/2 pounds or 4 (6-ounce) salmon fillets, wild caught if possible
  • Olive oil
  • 1 teaspoon kosher salt
  • ½ tablespoon brown sugar
  • 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
  • 1 teaspoon garlic powder
  • ½ teaspoon onion powder
  • ½ teaspoon dried thyme
  • ¼ teaspoon cumin

Instructions

  1. Preheat the oven to 400°F. Allow the salmon to come to room temperature (or brine it in Step 2). 
  2. Brine the salmon (optional): While the oven preheats, in a shallow dish mix together 4 cups room temperature water and 3 tablespoons kosher salt. Place the salmon in the water and wait for 15 minutes (this should be about the time it takes to preheat).
  3. Place a large sheet of aluminum foil on a baking sheet and brush it with olive oil. Pat each piece of salmon dry and place it on the foil skin side down. Brush with olive oil. Sprinkle the salmon with the kosher salt evenly divided among the fillets.
  4. In a medium bowl, mix together the brown sugar, paprika, garlic powder, onion powder, thyme, and cumin. Sprinkle the mixture evenly on top of the fillets. 
  5. Bake the salmon for 10 to 16 minutes, depending on thickness, until just tender and pink at the center (the internal temperature should be between 125 to 130°F in the center). A 1-inch thick fillet should cook in about 15 minutes total. For a crispy top, when the salmon is at 115°F, broil for about 2 minutes (about the last 2 minutes of the cook time).

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About the authors

Alex & Sonja

Hi! We’re Alex & Sonja Overhiser, authors of the acclaimed cookbooks A Couple Cooks and Pretty Simple Cooking—and a real life couple who cooks together. We founded the A Couple Cooks website in 2010 to share seasonal recipes and the joy of home cooking. Now, we’ve got over 3,000 well-tested recipes, including Mediterranean diet, vegan, vegetarian, pescatarian, smoothies, cocktails, and more!

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2 Comments

  1. Jayashree says:

    Wow! I love Salmon.
    Thanks for sharing your collection of salmon recipes.
    I would definitely try it out






  2. Sonja Overhiser says:

    Let us know if you have any questions!