Slow Cooked Salmon with Citrus- Butter & Baggage

Name: Baked Lemon Salmon Recipe
Prep time: 5 min
Cook time: 20 min
Ingredients: 1 lb salmon; salt and pepepr; 1 lemons (up to 2, sliced thin); 1 oranges (up to 2, sliced thin); 6 sprigs fresh thyme; 1 sprigs rosemary (up to 2); 1 sprigs oregano (up to 2); 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes (up to 2 tsp); ¾ cups olive oil

Slow cooked salmon with citrus uses olive oil as a fail-safe way to have perfect salmon every time. Lemons and oranges plus hot pepper flakes come together for an easy healthy dinner that takes no time to prepare. Great for dinner parties or a weeknight dinner.

A white casserole dish with slow cooked salmon.

During the week it’s always hard to come up with something quick and easy for dinner. Try slow cooked salmon with citrus one night and you’ll have a delicious salmon dinner without any fuss. With this base recipe for cooking salmon you can prepare a fabulous dinner without a recipe and you’ll have perfectly cooked salmon every time.

No more dry tasteless salmon for me. I love a meal that I can turn around quickly during the week! It feels like a loads been lifted. If you’re not in the mood for citrus salmon, this sheet pan meal of, Pork Chops with Peaches also fits the bill for a healthier meal done quickly along with Queso Chicken.

I discovered this technique for cooking salmon in Alison Romans’ cookbook, Dining In. Normally I cook salmon in anchovy butter for about 10 minutes. With this recipe you’ll cook it slow at a lower temperature for 20 minutes. It stays moist from the bath of olive oil and it’s so much easier to get it to just the right temperature without overcooking.

Why you’ll love it

Foolproof way to cook salmon.
Oranges and lemons combine for a great citrus flavor.
Dinner will be ready in just 30 minutes!
This simple recipe has a wow factor

What you’ll need

Salmon – skin or no skin, you won’t need the skin to protect it from high temperatures but you don’t have to remove it. You can make enough to feed a crowd or enough for one or two, just adjust the other ingredients.
Lemon & orange -you can use all of one or a combination.
Fresh herbs -thyme, rosemary and oregano.
Red pepper flakes– these add just a little spice without making it spicy.
Olive oil– you will cook them in a layer of olive oil.

How to make slow cooked salmon

You won’t believe how easy this is to prepare.

Step 1:

Salt and pepper the fish and lay it in a pan not much bigger than your fish.

Oranges and lemon slices next to a mandolin.

Step 2:

Pour olive oil into the pan so that it comes up the side of the fish but not so much that it covers it. Then place whatever citrus you like on top of the fish and in the olive oil.

Olive oil being pured over a baking dish of salmon.

Step 3:

Add whatever herbs you have on hand along with some red pepper flakes.

Seriously, this will take you 5 minutes.

Step 4:

Bake at a low temperature for 20-30 minutes depending on how thick your fish is. Aim for 145º with a meat thermometer depending on how rare you like your fish.

Baked salmon in a dish next to a bowl of lemon slices.

This is great if you’re having friends over. You can have it ready to go in the oven before they arrive and all you do is bake it. If you’re cooking for 1 or a smaller group, adjust the size of your pan so that it’s just slightly larger than your piece of fish. With this recipe you can serve fish with confidence that it won’t be overcooked.

FAQs and tips

What temperature should you bake salmon?

Salmon is cooked through without being dry at 145º.

How do you ensure salmon doesn’t dry out?

The olive oil in this recipe holds in the moisture so that it doesn’t dry out.

Can you eat salmon raw?

Yes you can eat salmon raw.

MORE seafood recipes

Adapted from Alison Roman, Dining In

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Slow Cooked Salmon with Citrus

Why you’ll love it

What you’ll need