- Recipes
- What To Make With
- Salmon
Kelli Foster
Kelli FosterSenior Contributing Food Editor
Kelli is a Senior Contributing Food Editor for Kitchn. She's a graduate of the French Culinary Institute and author of the cookbooks, Plant-Based Buddha Bowls, The Probiotic Kitchen, Buddha Bowls, and Everyday Freekeh Meals. She lives in New Jersey.
updated Jan 3, 2024
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If you’ve been saving salmon for special occasions, it’s time you know that it makes an incredibly weeknight friendly dinner. Depending on how you cook it, you can get a salmon dinner on the table in less than 10 minutes and with just a few ingredients — without it tasting dry or overcooked. Really.
Why Salmon Is a Weeknight Dinner Hero
If you’re new to cooking with salmon, you might feel intimidated. Don’t be! Not only is it easy to pull off, it’s also super-versatile and doesn’t need a lot of extra ingredients or prep work to shine. Here’s why it’s a weeknight dinner hero:
- There are a lot of ways you can cook salmon: It can be baked, broiled (one of my favorites!), or slow-roasted (my other favorite!); it can be pan-seared, poached, or grilled; it can be made in the slow cooker and the air-fryer.
- You can cook salmon straight from frozen. This works best when you’re baking it, so we still recommend planning ahead and defrosting the frozen salmon overnight in the fridge most of the time.
- Did we mention it’s easy? You don’t need a lot of extra ingredients or prep work to turn a couple salmon fillets into a really good dinner. It could be as simple as some garlic, butter, fresh herbs, or mustard. If you’re feeling ambitious, consider stirring together a simple marinade to soak the fish while the oven heats up or you gather the rest of the ingredients for dinner.
Ready to get cooking? Here are 50 easy salmon recipes you can cook any night of the week.
In This Article
- Why Salmon Is a Weeknight Dinner Hero
- Stovetop Salmon Recipes
- Baked Salmon Recipes
- Broiled Salmon Recipes
- Grilled Salmon Recipes
- Recipes with Smoked Salmon and Canned Salmon
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Stovetop Salmon Recipes
If you’re going for a saucy salmon dinner or love crispy-skinned fish, you’ll want to stick with cooking it on the stovetop.
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Honey Garlic Salmon
Five ingredients and 20 minutes are all you need to make incredibly tender, flaky salmon fillets coated in a super-flavorful, sweet-and-savory sauce.
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Salmon Piccata
Salmon fillets are cooked in a butter lemon-caper sauce in this easy-yet-elevated skillet dinner.
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Lemon-Soy Glazed Salmon
Lemony, umami-packed salmon is prepared in under 20 minutes, making a perfect weeknight dinner.
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Tuscan Salmon
Serve this easy salmon dinner over creamy polenta, mashed potatoes, or orzo to catch every drop of the creamy spinach and sun-dried tomato sauce.
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Harissa Orange Glazed Salmon
A mix of orange zest, harissa, and honey make this glazed salmon super flavorful.
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Blackened Salmon
In just 10 minutes, you’ll be rewarded with mouthwatering pan-seared salmon that boasts a ridiculously crispy skin and spicy, smoky flavor.
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Crispy Skillet Salmon with Mustardy Cabbage
Crispy-skinned salmon fillets sit on top of a bed of savory sautéed cabbage in this easy skillet dinner.
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One-Pan Firecracker Salmon
Firecracker salmon is coated with a sweet and spicy sauce, which is such a great partner to the richness of the fish.
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Garlic Butter Pan-Seared Salmon
Once you try this buttery method, you'll never pan sear plain salmon again.
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Saucy Skillet Salmon
Cooked in a fresh tomato-based sauce that’s punched up with garlic, balsamic, and a hint of fresh thyme, salmon picks up sweet, tangy flavor.
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15-Minute Chile-Lime Salmon Tacos
The salmon is kissed with a punchy chile-lime coating, and stuffed in a warm tortilla with lime-tinged avocado, crunchy shredded cabbage, and a sprinkle of fresh cilantro leaves
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Honey-Glazed Salmon
If you, like me, pick up fillets at the store without actually knowing how you’re going to prepare them, this recipe — made entirely out of pantry staples — is for you.
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Easy 5-Ingredient Teriyaki Salmon
Just 15 minutes stands between you and a plate of pan-seared salmon fillets cooked in a simple teriyaki sauce.
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Seared Salmon with Soy, Scallions, and GingerGo to Recipe
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Ottolenghi's Bridget Jones' Pan-Fried Salmon with Pine Nut Salsa
While the bold, salty-sweet flavors of this chunky salsa might overwhelm a piece of mild white fish, full-flavored, fatty salmon is the perfect partner.
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Simple Pan Seared Salmon
Simply seasoned, the salmon is pan fried until the exterior is super crispy while the interior remains buttery soft.
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Buttermilk-Poached Salmon
The sharp tang of buttermilk makes it the perfect poaching liquid for salmon.
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Baked Salmon Recipes
There’s no shortage of ways to cook up salmon in the oven. If you feel a little intimidated about cooking salmon, try one of our recipes for slow-roasted salmon – they’re foolproof.
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Oven-Baked Salmon
This is your template for cooking perfectly tender salmon in the oven.
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Slow Roasted Green Goddess Salmon
Trader Joe’s Green Goddess Seasoning blend is the key to the best low-effort, high-reward salmon dinner.
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Lemon Pepper Salmon
All you need is one baking dish, 10 minutes to mix a marinade, and 20 minutes of bake time to make satisfying and flaky lemon pepper salmon.
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Cilantro-Lime Salmon
A mix of tart lime juice, plenty of garlic, and fresh cilantro pack this weeknight-friendly dinner with tons of flavor.
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Miso Salmon
Slow roasted miso salmon isn't just big on flavor and irresistibly tender, it's also foolproof and nearly impossible to overcook.
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Sheet Pan Mustard Maple Salmon
This whole meal of mustard-glazed salmon, crispy potatoes, and asparagus cooks on a single sheet pan.
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How To Cook Frozen Salmon in the Oven
This is the fastest, smartest — most delicious way to cook frozen salmon filets for dinner without thawing.
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Brown Sugar Glazed Salmon
This sweet-and-savory salmon steams inside a foil packet, resulting in flaky, juicy fish with minimal cleanup.
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Panko-Crusted Salmon with Dill and Lemon
This classic salmon dinner comes together in 20 minutes with just a handful of ingredients.
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Blanketed with fresh herbs, shallot, and olive oil, this is the most foolproof salmon recipe you'll make.
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All it takes is three ingredients from Trader Joe's and a sheet pan to pull off this salmon and mixed vegetable dinner.
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Air Fryer Miso-Ginger Salmon
An easy miso ginger marinade adds a ton of flavor to your weeknight salmon dinner.
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Suya Spiced Slow Roasted Salmon
This recipe pairs the Nigerian Suya spice mix with slow roasted salmon for a delicious combination of flavors and textures.
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Broiled Salmon Recipes
When you’re short on time, go ahead and cook your salmon under the broiler. You’ll have dinner on the table in less than no time.
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Broiled Saffron, Lemon, Honey, and Garlic Salmon
Crispy-meets-tender salmon marinated in saffron, lemon, garlic, and honey.
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Broiled Salmon with Lemon, Herbs and Mustard
A simple of Dijon mustard and fresh chopped herbs give this 15-minute meal a fancy twist.
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Broiled Salmon with Spiced Baharat Butter
A pat of aromatic spiced butter gives this quick weeknight dinner a fast and fancy twist.
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Sheet Pan Crispy Salmon and Potatoes
This sheet pan supper will show you just how quick and simple it can be to get a salmon dinner on the table any night of the week.
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Honey Mustard Salmon and Shredded Brussels Sprouts
This 5-ingredient broiled sheet pan dinner cooks in about 20 minutes.
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Grilled Salmon Recipes
Don’t forget about cooking salmon on the grill. You can cook it right on the grates to get impressive grill marks, wrap it in a foil packet for an impossibly tender fillet, or cook it on a cedar plank.
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Grilled Salmon
It’s no secret that grilled salmon looks impressive (those caramelized grill marks, that juicy, rosy interior!), but did you know that grilled salmon is stunningly fast and easy, too?
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Grilled Salmon Caesar Recipe
Every component of this leveled-up Caesar salad is cooked on the grill – from the romaine and salmon to the lemon and croutons.
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Easy Grilled Salmon with Plum-Basil Relish
A simple fruit relish gives grilled salmon a pop of bright, fresh flavor.
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Garlic Butter Salmon in Foil
A side of salmon cooked in a foil packet with garlic butter is the easiest way to serve salmon for a crowd. Cook this one on the grill or in the oven.
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Salmon Grilled on a Cedar Plank
This is such a simple and elegant technique for cooking salmon. The fish steams gently in the heat of the grill, staying incredibly tender and moist. It also picks up smoky flavors from the grill and woodsy flavors from the cedar, along with whatever was used to soak the planks.
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Recipes with Smoked Salmon and Canned Salmon
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Salmon Benedict
If you love eggs benedict and salmon, you will love how this classic brunch dish gives you the best of both worlds: rich hollandaise sauce, luscious lox, and a runny egg.
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Smoked Salmon Egg BoatsGo to Recipe
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Smoked Salmon and Crème Fraîche Kettle Chips
Top potato chips with smoked salmon and suddenly they're a classy co*cktail snack.
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Crème Fraîche Scrambled Egg and Smoked Salmon Sandwiches
A blanket of smoked salmon and some crème fraîche is the tastiest way to upgrade your scrambled eggs and English muffin.
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Smoked Salmon Soba Noodle Salad
A few piece of silky smoked salmon instantly jazz up even the most basic noodle salad.
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Salmon Rillettes
Salmon rillettes are creamy but light, flavorful without being overpowering. Think of it as salmon’s answer to paté.
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Spicy Salmon Black Bean Salad
This spicy, smoky bean salad packs a whole lot more flavor into it than you’d expect of something that takes all of six minutes to make.
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Spicy Canned Salmon Cakes
These salmon cakes start with canned salmon and use a breading method similar to the best crab cakes for an easy-fancy weeknight dinner.
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Salmon Cakes with Creamy Garlic Sauce
Fish cakes are quite possibly the best way to give leftover salmon a second lease on life.
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Salmon and Kale Caesar Wraps
Everything you expect in a Caesar wrap, with a twist.
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easy
Ingredient
Recipe Roundup
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