Our Baked Salmon Recipe is the best and simplest salmon fillets recipe you will find that is seasoned to perfection with pantry ingredients, fresh lemon juice, and freshly chopped parsley. Great for when you are craving a delicious seafood recipe.
When you use fresh herbs to season salmon it is the best way to get those flavor profiles across especially in fresh salmon while still keeping this a healthy dinner recipe.
The best part of this dish is that you can place the salmon recipe in the oven for an easy dinner recipe and make all of your favorite side dishes while the oven does the rest of the work.
Recipe Ingredient Notes
To make our baked salmon, you need the following ingredients:
- Salmon fillets: You will want these to be either fresh or thawed to be able to rub them with the seasonings.
- Olive oil: Extra virgin is my preference, you can also use avocado oil as well.
- Salt: I love using sea salt when making fish!
- Ground black pepper: ground makes for a better rub than the cracked pepper containers you can get from the grocery store.
- Garlic powder: Minced garlic can be used in place if you do not have garlic powder.
- Lemon juice: Fresh lemon juice is preferred. Especially if you want to be able to use the lemon zest to add even more fresh flavors.
- Parsley: Use chopped fresh parsley for the topping.
Equipment Needed
For this recipe, you only need a few simple kitchen tools. We recommend using the following equipment:
How To Make This Baked Salmon
- Prep. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Season the salmon. Gently rub the salmon with olive oil, salt, pepper, and garlic powder.
- Bake. Arrange the salmon filets in a single layer on the prepared baking sheet and squeeze half of the lemon over them. Bake salmon for 12-15 minutes or until the flesh of the salmon is flaky but still slightly glassy when pulled apart with a fork. I recommend you check the filets after 12 minutes and give them more time if needed.
- Finish it off. Squeeze the second half of the lemon over the salmon filets and sprinkle with parsley.
Storage Suggestions
- Fridge: Store the leftover salmon in an airtight container and store it in the refrigerator for 4-5 days.
- Freezer: After the salmon has reached room temperature, store in a freezer-safe ziplock baked and store in the freezer for up to 3 months.
Recipe Notes
Types of salmon to use: When preparing to make salmon for dinner, make sure that your wild salmon can hold up to oven cooking. King salmon or Sockeye salmon cooks great in an oven and will not be dried out nearly as easily.
Internal temperature: When making wild-caught salmon or cooking fish you will want to make note of the internal temperature of the fish. Ideally, the thickest part of the fish will be 145 degrees when you use an instant read thermometer. Using an instant read thermometer will also help you avoid overcooked salmon.
Ways to bump up the flavor: The best way to add flavor to salmon is by either brushing on melted butter, cooking the salmon on lemon slices, or adding some more fresh herbs like fresh dill, or lemon zest are all great options.
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Baked Salmon
Ingredients
- 2 salmon filets, (about 6 oz each)
- 1 Tablespoon olive oil
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon ground black pepper
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- juice of 1 lemon, divided
- 2 Tablespoon fresh chopped parsley
Instructions
- Prep. Preheat the oven to 400°F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Season the salmon. Gently rub the salmon with olive oil, salt, pepper, and garlic powder.
- Bake. Arrange the salmon filets in a single layer on the prepared baking sheet and squeeze half of the lemon over them. Bake for 12-15 minutes or until the flesh of the salmon is flaky but still slightly glassy when pulled apart with a fork. I recommend you check the filets after 12 minutes and give them more time if needed.
- Finish it off. Squeeze the second half of the lemon over the salmon filets and sprinkle with parsley.
Notes
Nutrition
Did You Make This Recipe?We’d love to hear your thoughts! Leave a review or a question in the comment section below the post.
Could you do other veggies and cook the same way? Maybe baby carrots or fingerling potatoes since they are small and wouldn’t take long to cook?
I have done both potatoes and green beans and it worked out great! I’m sure you could do carrots too!
Awesome good to know and thanks so much. We have some picky eaters who would not touch asparagus or brussel spouts with a 10ft pole!
Thanks again 🙂
You can cook all kinds of your favorite veggies with this salmon!
Made this tonight, really tasty! Only bummer was that mine didn’t look quite as pretty as yours. It looked more steamed than baked. Regardless, the flavor was great and I will make this again 🙂 Thanks!
This looks delicious. I am going to make it for family Valentine’s dinner, but with green beans instead of asparagus so my girls will eat it. Thanks for the recipe.
My salmon has been missing something until now. For some reason, I never thought to use garlic salt… my kids loved it! Thank you
I can’t wait to try this at home! Thanks for sharing!
Could you use another — thinner — fish, like tilapia?
It should work fine. If it’s thinner, watch closely during the cooking time. It may not take as long.
Going to try this over the weekend! Does it make your veggies taste fishy?
The veggies didn’t taste fishy! This works great!
Would I have to do anything different if I am not using frozen brussel sprouts?
You are fine to substitute another veggie in place of brussel sprouts.
Do you bake this covered or uncovered? Thank you! I’m always looking for new ways to cook salmon.
Hi Jenny, you bake this salmon uncovered.
What is fish seasoning? Hope to make tonight. Thanks
There is seafood seasoning you can purchase, and Old Bay Seasoning works well too.
Oh my gosh! I have never been able to get baked salmon just right, but I sure did using this recipe! It is a no-fail recipe for perfection. The salmon was absolutely scrumptious, perfectly seasoned and, with the butter, just delicious! Everyone loved it. Of course, I had to tell them that the recipe was yours and how easy it was to make. I had bought a large filet of wild-caught salmon from Costco and, with your recipe, it was cooked through yet still moist and flaky. I baked it at 400* for 23 minutes. This will be my go-to salmon recipe from now on. Thank you so much!!!
Yah!!! Thanks Kathryn for letting us know that you loved the salmon. It’s so good when you get it just right and it’s moist and flaky. Have a great week. Thanks for using our recipe.
Okay this was such a simple recipe but it turned out so well! We loved it!
Did this recipe change? I want the original!!!
The original recipe called for: Ingredients
Seafood
• 2 Salmon filets
Produce
• 1/2 tsp Garlic powder
• 1 Lemon, juice of
• 2 tbsp Parsley, fresh
Baking & Spices
• 1/2 tsp Black pepper, ground
• 1 tsp Salt
Oils & Vinegars
• 1 tbsp Olive oil