Tangy, bright, buttery salmon, prepared indoors? It’s like bringing a lakeside summer evening to your dinner table, any time of the year. This Lemon Butter Side of Salmon was inspired by the incredible grilled side of salmon my aunt makes for the family on summer nights at Lake Erie. Luckily, its just as quick and easy to prepare inside, on any night! The bright flavors and silky salmon add flair to any weeknight dinner, not to mention it comes together in just about 30 minutes! Serve with lemon and picture that lakeside sunset…
Finding a big, beautiful side of salmon at the grocery store is always exciting. This way of cooking salmon makes it easy to prepare for a crowd, a dinner party, or just in bulk to save for salads and sandwiches later. Once its cooked, its easy to flake into beautiful portions to use however you’d like. Plus, cooking it whole keeps it moist and juicy all the way through.
This particular recipe combined all of my favorite bold seafood pairings to elevate the salmon as the star of any dish. Earthy herbs plus lemon and garlic butter bring out the natural sweetness of the salmon. layering all the flavor atop the salmon creates a fantastic crust during cooking. This salmon is delicious on its own, over a salad, with pasta, or made into a salmon sandwich!
I hope you love this Lemon Butter Side of Salmon as much as I do! If you make this recipe, leave a comment and let me know what you thought or feel free to ask a question! I’d also love to see what you made! Tag me in your food pics #fortheperfectbite on Instagram.
Lemon Butter Side of Salmon
Ingredients
- 1 whole side of salmon (4-5 lbs)
- 1 lemon, zest and juice
- 4 cloves garlic finely chopped
- ½ cup dry white wine (optional)
- 4 tbsp salted butter
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 tsp paprika
- 1 ½ tsp dried dill
- 1 tsp black pepper freshly cracked
- kosher salt
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425 °F.
- Melt the butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. When melted and starting to bubble, add the chopped garlic.
- Cook the garlic until fragrant, 2-3 minutes, then add the white wine and zest from the lemon. Allow the butter-white wine sauce to simmer over low heat while you prepare the salmon.
- Lightly drizzle the bottom of a large sheet pan with olive oil. Lay the side of salmon onto the sheet pan (skin side down, if your salmon is skin-on).
- Press your fingers along the salmon to feel for any remaining pin bones, and remove these.
- Next, lightly drizzle about 1 tbsp olive oil over the salmon. Evenly season the salmon with the paprika, dried dill, black pepper, and kosher salt.
- Gently drizzle the lemon-butter sauce over the side of salmon. Lastly, squeeze the juice from the lemon over the fish.
- Bake the salmon on the middle rack of the preheated oven for 15 minutes, then move the salmon to the top rack and broil the surface for an additional 1-2 minutes.
- When the internal temperature of the salmon reaches 130 degrees, it is ready to be removed from the oven, as it will continue to cook for a few minutes while resting. Loosely cover the salmon with foil and allow it to rest for 5 minutes.
- Serve warm, with lemon wedges on the side.
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