GARLIC BUTTER. I mean, if that’s not convincing enough to make this recipe, let me also mention that my garlic butter baked salmon takes roughly 25 minutes to make from start to finish and requires just a few simple pantry staple ingredients. When I tell you this recipe is simple, I mean it is really the simplest. If you can combine a few ingredients in a small saucepan and then baste your fish (salmon in our case), you can make today’s recipe. The lemon garlic butter sauce is so delicious; you’re going to want to put on every kind of protein you can think of. And guess what? Clean up is a breeze because we’re wrapping the salmon in foil and tossing it in the oven or the grill! As a bonus, it’s keto-friendly, gluten-free, paleo-friendly, and so it’s ideal for when you’re serving guests that may have different dietary restrictions. Making salmon at home doesn’t have to be complicated. It’s one of the easiest things to cook if you bake salmon in foil. This recipe is adapted from one that my mom and I came up with together. We’ve been making it for almost two decades now, and the only thing I did differently here is to mix the lemon and butter and make a sauce beforehand. Before, my mom and I used to brush the salmon with a little oil and drizzle the lemon juice and then sprinkle the remaining ingredients on top. Though it tasted delicious, I find that making the garlic butter sauce and allowing the garlic to simmer with the lemon juice makes a more flavorful and slightly thicker sauce that won’t run down the sides as much as the drizzle-on-top sauce does. Also, in the summertime, we just place the salmon in foil on a hot grill that’s at around 375ºF. And it’ll cook up in about the same time, give or take a minute or two. Barbecued garlic butter salmon is sooo good.
What do you need to make the garlic butter sauce for the garlic butter baked salmon?
The best part is, this whole recipe calls for less than ten ingredients! Here’s what you’ll need to make the sauce:
lemon juiceminced garlicbutterseasonings (red pepper flakes + Italian seasoning)salt + pepper
How to make the best garlic butter sauce:
If you’ve made this recipe before you may notice it has changed slightly. In the past, I suggested sprinkling the Italian seasoning, red pepper flakes, salt, and pepper on top. But after making this recipe countless times since then, I just find it easier to just toss it into the sauce and pour it on top of the salmon!
What do you need to make the garlic butter baked salmon?
salmonchopped parsley, for serving
What do I do once the sauce is ready?
Can I use garlic butter sauce on other types of fish?
Sure, you can! You can marinate raw shrimp in this sauce for 10 minutes and then cook the shrimp in a hot skillet. You could also use this with tilapia, cod, or mahi mahi. Just remember that the baking time for various types of fish will vary depending on the fish and the thickness of the filet!
What kind of salmon works best for this garlic butter baked salmon recipe?
My biggest tip for this baked salmon in foil recipe is to use good quality salmon. I find wild-caught salmon works best. Pink salmon or ‘farm-raised salmon’ sometimes leaves the fish wet and gross, because, let’s face it, we’re steaming it in foil. I encourage you to use Sockeye or Coho salmon if you can find it. This baked salmon recipe is straightforward to make and perfect for those that might be at a beginner level for cooking fish. There’s so flipping, sautéing, or any other fancy techniques required. It also happens to be the perfect 20-minute meal for when you need dinner on the table in a heartbeat. These are the type of recipes I’d email to my husband, for when I just need him to cook dinner. I encourage you to do the same with your SO. Whether you make this yourself or have someone make it for you, either way, you need to get some garlic butter sauce lovin’ in your life.
Baking time may vary slightly due to thickness of fish. Feel for firmness on the thickest part of the filet to make sure your fish is cooked through.I suggest using a good quality salmon for this recipe. Try to avoid using ‘pink salmon’ as this type of salmon is quite watery and will release lots of water in the baking process causing the fish to be wet and not flakey.The salmon can also be wrapped in foil and barbecued at 375º-400ºF for about the same amount of time give or take a minute or two. Allow the salmon to ‘broil’ the same way you would in the oven, by opening the foil and allow the fish to dry out for just 1-2 minutes.
