Who’s looking for a delicious baked salmon dinner? This is the right place for you! Find out how to bake a side of salmon that is juicy and delicious, served with rice and green beans.
It can be tricky to cook fish. It dries out pretty easily. I find that this can happen with salmon, especially if it is of uneven thickness. One end turns out dry while the other is moist.
I encountered this problem with boneless skinless chicken breasts and the solution was to pound them to an even thickness. Unfortunately, you can’t pound salmon. It would fall apart and turn to mush.
Tricks To Baking Great Salmon
The solution I’ve come up with is two-fold. First, I bake a whole side of salmon at once, not salmon that has been cut into portions or fillets. This allows for a longer cooking time so that things can even out a bit.
Then, I cook the salmon but not at high heat for the entire time. What you do is to put the side of salmon onto a baking sheet (best if lined with foil and lightly oil it so the salmon doesn’t stick). It goes into the oven at 450°F. Let it cook for 10 minutes and then turn off the oven. Let it continue to bake in the slowly cooling oven until it flakes in the middle, about 20 more minutes.
How to Bake Salmon Fillets: If your salmon is already cut into individual fillet portions, do 5 minutes at 450°F and then turn off the oven and let the salmon cook until it flakes in the middle, an additional 10-13 minutes. Honestly though, I prefer pan-frying salmon fillets. The skin gets so crispy that way. Here’s the best way to cook salmon.
Making A Meal Of Baked Salmon
The side of salmon takes about 30 minutes to bake. That is, conveniently, exactly the amount of time that it takes to cook oven rice, and also to roast green beans. So, to turn this recipe into a full dinner here’s what you do.
- Put 12 ounces of trimmed green beans into a medium bowl with 1 teaspoon of olive oil, and some salt and pepper (a good pinch of each will do). Toss to coat. Arrange beans around the salmon on the pan.
- Put a kettle of water on to boil. Measure 1 cup of long-grain rice into a small oven-safe pot that has a tight fitting lid. Season lightly with salt, about 1/4 teaspoon will do. Add 2 cups of boiling water to the rice. Give it a quick stir and then cover the pot. Put the covered pot into the oven. Oven rice takes 30 minutes at 350°F. Using the method for baking a side of salmon above, it comes out perfectly as well.
More Delicious Salmon Recipes
Best Baked Salmon Recipe
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 30 minutes
- Total Time: 35 minutes
- Yield: 4 servings 1x
- Category: Entrée
- Method: Baked
- Cuisine: American
DESCRIPTION
Who’s looking for a delicious salmon recipe? This is the right place for you!
Ingredients
- 1 tsp. olive oil
- 2 lb. side of salmon
- 1 tsp. coarse sea salt or kosher salt
- 1/2 tsp. coarse black pepper
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 450°F.
- Line a 9″x13″ baking sheet with foil. Rub olive oil on foil.
- Place the salmon on the oiled foil, skin side up. Season skin with half of the salt and half the black pepper. Flip the salmon over. Sprinkle top with remaining salt and pepper.
- Put the salmon into the hot oven. Bake 10 minutes. Turn oven off and leave salmon in oven until cooked through and flaky in the middle, 15-20 minutes more.
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This post originally appeared in 2011 and was revised and republished in June 2021.