Honesty, I’ve never been particularly fond of seafood or fish recipes. There was a time when I could barely manage to eat salmon, and that was the extent of it. However, when I met my husband, who loves fish, I gradually began to explore the world of seafood. At one point, I gathered my courage and started cooking salmon. Now, salmon has been a regular feature of our dinner recipes for several years, and I love this healthy meal.

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Is Baking Salmon Easy?

I believe that salmon is the most popular fish for a reason – it’s challenging to ruin this dish. It’s so easy to make and you don’t have to visit a fancy restaurant to have delightful pink salmon! Another great aspect is that the baking time of the salmon is only about fifteen minutes, making it a quick and effortless meal. And this one here is a super easy baked salmon recipe!

How to Season Salmon?

Baked salmon is a staple in our family at least a couple of times a month. Since I bake salmon quite often, I’ve had the opportunity to season it in various ways. Citrus fruits like lemon, lime, and orange pair exceptionally well with this type of fish, and seasoning with citruses is one of the easiest ways to bake salmon. My husband, Teodor, loves salmon covered with a thick layer of mayonnaise, while I prefer salmon cooked in a rich cream sauce. Fresh dill or other fresh herbs are also a great seasoning for salmon. The options are endless, and in the end, anything made with heart turns out good! However, my husband recently recalled a time when he went a bit overboard with the flavors while making salmon for us, creating an exotic “tropical salmon” with pineapple and practically every spice on my shelf. Hence, since my husband is a perfect example of a man who can’t cook, taking on the responsibility of cooking for the family mostly falls on me.

Cleaning the Fish

Cleaning fish is one of the few kitchen tasks I don’t enjoy, so Teodor usually takes care of it. A great guide for cleaning fish can be found here. However, we often buy pre-filleted fish from the store, so we only need to remove the bones.

I usually don’t remove the scales from the salmon fillet because we don’t eat salmon skin. However, if you want to eat the skin, make sure to remove the scales.

Removing Bones

Usually, filleted salmon is sold with bones, so I’ll explain how to remove them. Removing bones is not necessary, but since I like to pamper my family, I always pick out the bones, as it makes eating much more comfortable. I bought special fish tweezers for bone removal, as pulling out bones with fingers can be quite tedious.

The bone strip is located approximately in the middle of the fish, with bones spaced about 0,5 cm apart. There are no bones in the tail of the salmon. I believe the best way is to run a finger along the bone strip and, when you feel a bone, use tweezers to pull it out. Salmon is very convenient to debone because the bones are regular and not oddly shaped.

What You Need for Classic Oven-baked Salmon

• Salmon
• Lemon
• Salt – I always use fine salt because kosher salt might not fully dissolve on the fish.
• Black pepper – or anything spicier, like red pepper flakes. 
• Butter

Check the recipe card below for ingredient quantities and nutritional information!

How to Make Oven-baked Salmon

1. Prepare the salmon. Remove the bones if necessary, and if desired, you can even remove the skin.
2. Grease a baking sheet or baking dish with butter and place salmon fillets on it, skin side down to be ready for the next steps.
3. First, add black pepper and salt to the fish. 
4. Slice the lemons and cover the fish tightly with lemon slices. Any lemon slices that don’t fit on the fish can simply be squeezed to release their juice onto the fish. Fresh lemon juice is a great marinade and adds loads of flavor. 
5. Let the fish marinate for a few hours if you want a stronger lemon flavor. However, you can also put the fish in the oven right away for a less intense taste.
6. Before putting it in the oven, add small butter cubes between the lemon slices. Melted butter adds juiciness and great flavor to the fish.
7. Preheat the oven to 200°C (400°F) and place the fish in. Salmon cooking time is about fifteen minutes. I’ve never measured the internal temperature of the fish while baking, but following these steps always results in perfectly cooked salmon filets. If you have an extremely huge salmon fillet, you should probably increase the minutes of cooking. A few extra minutes should be fine!
8. If you still want to be sure that your fish is cooked, use an instant read thermometer or meat thermometer and measure the temperature from the thickest part of the salmon. The best temperature is at least 145°F (63°C).
9. Take the fish out of the oven and serve!

Storing Salmon in the Refrigerator and Freezer

If there’s leftover salmon, it will be kept in an airtight container in the refrigerator for several days, and reheating it in the oven at around 150°C (300°F) is very easy. However, an already-baked piece of salmon doesn’t preserve well in the freezer. I tried it once, and the taste was so unpleasant that no one wanted to eat it.

You can freeze raw salmon, though. Since salmon is often sold in large quantities, a small family may not want to cook the entire fillet at once. In that case, I recommend removing the bones from the salmon fillet, cutting it into appropriate portions, and freezing it. Raw, uncooked salmon can last for several months in the freezer without any issues. In our region, salmon is relatively expensive, so when there’s a sale at the store, we buy it in larger quantities and freeze it. This not only helps save money but is also convenient for a busy weeknight when you can quickly take out frozen salmon from the freezer and prepare an easy dinner for the family.

When baking frozen salmon, be sure to consider a longer cooking time. The oven temperature should still be around 200°C (400°F), but the cooking time is at least half an hour, if not longer. Nevertheless, fresh salmon tastes better than frozen salmon, so I would prefer that!

Ideas and Tips

• Since the fish is baked with bones, it’s advisable to lift a tailpiece for a small child, as there are no bones in the tail.
• A great addition to salmon is chili powder, but since children generally don’t appreciate spicy flavors, I tend not to make spicy dishes at home.
• If you wish to add a little zing, you can grate the thoroughly washed lemon zest over the fish.
• Don’t overcook the fish! Best baked salmon is very tender, delicate, and extremely juicy. If the fish is overcooked, it becomes dry and chewy and doesn’t taste nearly as good.
• Butter can be replaced by olive oil. 
• I never use aluminum foil when baking fish because, although scientists may not fully agree, there’s a risk that using foil can be harmful to health due to excessive aluminum leaching. I also avoid using parchment paper as it is treated with silicone, and I simply don’t want to prepare meals for my family with such substances. Therefore, I always use butter to grease the sheet pan, and it works better than any foil or parchment paper!
• Marinade idea: lime and brown sugar or honey! 
• My favorite way to make salmon: use a rimmed baking sheet and pour the heavy cream over the salmon! That’s insanely delicious! 
• Salmon pairs well with creamy dill sauce (using only sour cream and mayonnaise) and potatoes or rice, but there are more side dishes to try!

Continue to Content

A Healthy Oven-Baked Salmon (Quick and Easy Recipe)

Yield: 4

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cook Time: 15 minutes

Additional Time: 2 hours

Total Time: 2 hours 35 minutes

At some point, I gathered my courage and started baking salmon myself, and now salmon has been a constant part of our menu for several years.

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Ingredients

• 1 salmon fillet
• 2 lemons
• 2 tsp. of salt
• Black pepper or other spice
• About 25-50g of butter

Instructions

1. Prepare the salmon. Remove the bones if necessary, and if desired, you can even remove the skin.
2. Grease a baking sheet or baking dish with butter and place salmon fillets on it, skin side down to be ready for the next steps.
3. First, add black pepper and salt to the fish.
4. Slice the lemons and cover the fish tightly with lemon slices. Any lemon slices that don't fit on the fish can simply be squeezed to release their juice onto the fish. Fresh lemon juice is a great marinade and adds loads of flavor.
5. Let the fish marinate for a few hours if you want a stronger lemon flavor. However, you can also put the fish in the oven right away for a less intense taste.
6. Before putting it in the oven, add small butter cubes between the lemon slices. Melted butter adds juiciness and great flavor to the fish.
7. Preheat the oven to 200°C (400°F) and place the fish in. Salmon cooking time is about fifteen minutes. I've never measured the internal temperature of the fish while baking, but following these steps always results in perfectly cooked salmon filets. If you have an extremely huge salmon fillet, you should probably increase the minutes of cooking. A few extra minutes should be fine!
8. If you still want to be sure that your fish is cooked, use an instant read thermometer or meat thermometer and measure the temperature from the thickest part of the salmon. The best temperature is at least 145°F (63°C).
9. Take the fish out of the oven and serve it.

Nutrition Information:

Yield: 4 Serving Size: 1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 2374Total Fat: 261gSaturated Fat: 162gTrans Fat: 10gUnsaturated Fat: 80gCholesterol: 708mgSodium: 3208mgCarbohydrates: 6gFiber: 2gSugar: 1gProtein: 16g