How to Season Salmon: 8 Easy Salmon Recipes

Salmon is a firm, flaky fish with a mild taste that takes on other flavors well. Seasoning salmon with spices, herbs, and marinades can enhance the flavor of the fish and help it retain moisture and firmness while cooking. Brining salmon with seasonings can protect its pink color by preventing the release of albumin, a white semi-solid protein that can develop while the fish cooks.

Try various flavor combinations to make savory, tangy, or sweet salmon recipes. Popular flavorings for all types of salmon include parsley, tarragon, lemon juice, balsamic vinegar, and miso sauce.

The best seasoning for salmon depends on your preparation method. Consider the following seasoning options:

• Herbs: Coat a piece of salmon with fresh or dried herbs like rosemary, thyme, oregano, or dill before pan-frying or baking it. You can also use dry rubs or premade mixes, like Italian seasoning.
• Glazes: A glaze is a sauce you can apply while the salmon cooks, such as a brown sugar glaze, a lemon glaze, a garlic and honey glaze, or a mustard glaze.
• Marinades: Try soaking salmon in a marinade before cooking it to infuse the fish with flavor. Soy sauce, honey, lemon juice, and pesto are popular ingredients for different salmon marinades that add extra flavor.
• Sauces: Apply dressings after cooking the salmon to add texture and flavor. You can serve salmon with barbecue sauce, hollandaise sauce, or beurre blanc sauce.
• Spices: Dried spices, such as onion powder, garlic powder, and cumin, can add depth of flavor to salmon. Smoked paprika or sweet paprika can add smokiness to the salmon. To add heat, try chili powder, cayenne pepper, jerk seasoning, Cajun seasoning, or Chinese five-spice powder. Mix your own combinations and store them in an airtight container.

Whether you’re marinating, glazing, or simply adding salt and pepper to your fish, consider the following seasoning tips:

1. 1. Add salt just before cooking the salmon. It is essential to salt salmon right before cooking it. Salting the fish too early can draw too much moisture from the fish.
2. 2. Brush the salmon with butter or olive oil. Apply melted butter or olive oil to the flesh side of the salmon, then coat the fish with herbs and spices. The fat will help the seasoning adhere to the fish and prevent the salmon from sticking to the pan.
3. 3. Cut the salmon skin. Season both sides of the salmon. Before applying a dry rub or mixture of spices, pierce the salmon skin and rub seasoning inside to boost the flavor.
4. 4. Elect an oil-based marinade. It can be challenging to crisp the salmon skin if the marinade has excess water. Use an oil-based marinade to keep the salmon tender on the inside and crispy on the outside.
5. 5. Limit the marinating time. If you’re using a marinade with vinegar or citrus, marinate the salmon for up to half an hour. The acid can break down the salmon, resulting in mushy fish.
6. 6. Measure the seasonings. In general, use one tablespoon of seasoning per half a pound of salmon. Mix the seasonings together in a small bowl to distribute them evenly.

Salmon is an easy weeknight meal. Try serving the fish alongside rice or vegetable side dishes, such as roasted brussels sprouts or sautéed green beans. Consider the following easy recipes with various seasoning combinations:

1. 1. Baked salmon: This easy baked salmon recipe involves seasoning the salmon with lemon slices and fresh herbs such as fresh parsley, dill, chives, or thyme.
2. 2. Lemon salmon: This easy baked lemon salmon recipe involves using the broil setting in the oven to cook the salmon on a sheet pan or baking sheet. Make the lemon garlic butter with room-temperature butter, parsley, Parmesan cheese, minced garlic, lemon zest, and lemon juice.
3. 3. Maple salmon: This sweet-and-savory dish involves coating salmon filets in a thick, flavorful glaze consisting of pure maple syrup and savory pantry staples and then roasting them. The seasoning for maple salmon combines maple syrup, soy sauce, sesame oil, rice vinegar, grated garlic, grated ginger, white pepper, and red pepper flakes.
4. 4. Miso salmon: Marinate salmon in saikyo miso (sweet white miso from Kyoto), mirin, sugar, and sake to make miso salmon.
5. 5. Pan-seared salmon: Salt and pepper are the only seasonings you need for this simple pan-seared salmon recipe which requires five minutes of prep time and about fifteen minutes total from start to finish.
6. 6. Pesto salmon: Coat salmon in fresh basil pesto and bake it until it’s just cooked through to make pesto salmon. The basil pesto flavors the salmon, and its high oil content keeps it moist while it bakes.
7. 7. Salmon tacos: Give salmon a Mexican-inspired twist by making salmon tacos. Season the salmon with salt, garlic powder, onion powder, chili powder, and black pepper.
8. 8. Teriyaki salmon: You can use store-bought or homemade teriyaki sauce to make teriyaki salmon, a savory Japanese main course consisting of grilled or roasted salmon filets glazed in teriyaki sauce. This recipe includes soy sauce, sugar, mirin, sake, sesame oil, cornstarch, ginger, and minced garlic.

Learning how to cook salmon is easy. It’s possible to cook salmon several ways, including pan-frying it, baking it, or cooking it en papillote (inside folded parchment paper or aluminum foil). When preparing salmon, consider the following tips:

1. 1. Choose the proper cut of salmon. Salmon is typically sold as fillets, steaks, or whole. A salmon fillet is a small, meaty section of the side of the salmon with very few bones. A salmon steak is a cross-section of the salmon with larger bones.
2. 2. Determine your seasonings with care. Salmon does not need much seasoning to be flavorful. You can season it with just salt and black pepper or with a combination of lemon juice, fresh herbs, balsamic vinegar, Dijon mustard, butter, minced garlic, and any other flavors you desire.
3. 3. Dry the salmon to ensure crispy skin. You can purchase skinless salmon, but salmon skin can be delicious when you cook it properly. It is easy to get crispy salmon skin. First, thoroughly dry the skin-on salmon with paper towels while your pan preheats. Then sear the salmon skin-side down over high heat in a pan, such as a cast-iron skillet or a nonstick pan. Alternatively, you could broil the salmon in the broiler or make oven-baked salmon with the skin side up to get crispy skin.
4. 4. Ensure your salmon cooks thoroughly. Salmon has a short cooking time, and you can consume it even when it’s slightly rare in the middle, although the USDA recommends salmon reach an internal temperature of 145 degrees Fahrenheit. Invest in a good instant-read thermometer if you want to adhere to the USDA’s guidelines. Otherwise, check for doneness by gently poking the top of the flesh with a finger—it should flake apart easily. Alternatively, slide a sharp knife into the thickest part of the fillet to observe the color: light pink, opaque salmon is adequately cooked, while darker pink, more translucent salmon is still somewhat rare. To avoid damaging the flesh, insert a metal cake tester or thin skewer into the thickest part of the fillet, then touch the side of the tester to the area between your lower lip and chin. If it feels hot, the fish is cooked through. If it’s cold, it’s rare in the middle.
5. 5. Know the source of the fish. Wild salmon is different from farm salmon. Fresh salmon from the ocean has a darker color, while farm salmon is lighter. Farm salmon is fattier than fresh salmon, and it is usually less expensive.

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