Fantastic Baked Salmon

Easy, absolutely delicious and always a hit at our house. The secret to the lush, tender, juicy flakes is all in the baking method. Read carefully and you won’t be disappointed!

Salmon is probably my husband’s favorite food hands down. Fancy smoked salmon has become the go-to family Christmas present to him and we have fresh salmon weekly at our house. It has taken me years to perfect my salmon cooking method, I’ve tried cooking it plank grilled on cedar, smoking it, pan frying and sautéing. Nothing has come close to the fantastic flavor and simple preparation of this recipe. There is a trick to it, don’t skip ahead! (I have no idea how I came up with it but it works magic.) Follow the steps and I promise you won’t be disappointed!

Select your Salmon

First- buy a nice sized filet of salmon. Its my great preference to buy fresh if available. I find it to be the lightest and most moist. I don’t mind buying farm raised in order to get fresh either. My Mother-in-law swears by wild-caught, which where I live is almost exclusively frozen. Still absolutely delicious, but I find that frozen salmon has a denser texture and doesn’t flake as nicely as buying a fresh filet.

I typically plan on about 6 ounces of salmon per person. By this rule of thumb, I 1.5 pound salmon filet would be needed to feed 4 people.

Select your Seasoning

We have tried so many different seasonings and I don’t think I have found one that I didn’t like! Simply salt and pepper works fine. Add a lemon for a little bit of a tang. Herbs de Provence is tasty on a late summer evening. Lemon pepper, oregano, and a little bit of garlic powder. Try your favorite!

My family’s current favorite is a Cajun seasoning that adds a lively, but not overstated, pizzazz to our salmon. I’ve included the recipe for this seasoning blend with the recipe below.

So what’s the secret?

Here it is: bake the salmon in 2 steps.

1. Salmon and seasoning, bake. DO NOT ADD OIL!
2. Drizzle with oil and broil for a few minutes.

Dry cooking the salmon opens the fibers and pulls the drizzle of oil into the layers, the final blast of heat helps to finalize the moistening process. The end result is an absolutely delicious baked salmon, flaky, juicy, and moist. The best part is, since it is baked there is very little active cooking time when preparing this meal!

Makes for an impressive dinner entrée, my guests are always asking me for my recipe. I have a hard time telling them how very easy it was!