Oven Roasted Salmon
Oven Roasted Salmon is an easy, wonderful one-pan salmon meal. Slow roasting salmon yields fall-apart tender salmon paired with sautéed carrots and onions for the extra flavor. You will enjoy every bite of it!
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If you want an easy but fancy pan meal, it doesn’t get better than roasting salmon fillet. It can be a holiday, an event or simply a midweek dinner – salmon will rise to any occasion. All you need is a 5-qt glass baking dish, prepared salmon and foil. This meal will simply replace main course or any side dish.
Slow Roasting Salmon
This is probably the easiest salmon recipe I’ve ever made. Slow roasting slowly melts fat between the flesh and prevents the fish from overcooking or drying out. Instead, makes an evenly cooked, tender and not-one-bit dry fish meal. Reaching at least 165°F mark, is what makes this salmon fall-apart, flavorful, rich and literally melt in your mouth.
Serve it warm or cold?
The oven roasted salmon can be served warm or cold. If you’re like me, you’ll enjoy it warm. You can re-heat the whole fillet in an oven at low temperature for the guests or simply microwave a slice of it for 30-40 seconds to enjoy the next day. Most family members prefer it cold, which makes a perfect prep-ahead meal that can be made the day before and served next without any additional needed preparation.
The general idea of the oven roasted salmon is to serve as main course. On a side, you can do any cabbage or cucumber fresh salad: Cabbage Pepper Salad, Cabbage Carrot Pepper Salad, Green Cabbage Cucumber Salad, or Cucumber Radish Salad. Potatoes are also a delicious combination; try Mashed Potatoes, Potato Wedges, or Quick Oven Roasted Potatoes.
This recipe came from my mom. I remember every time someone would give us fish, whether it’s salmon, white fish or halibut, mom would always prepare it this way. A lot of times fish comes with little pin bones and slow-roasting completely softens those little bones, making them eatable. Other times she would cut into slices, dip into egg and flour and fry. I’ve always loved the oven-roasted version and I would simply enjoy it with a slice of bread. Overall, I love fish!!
Ingredients for the Oven Roasted Salmon Recipe
Buy the best salmon you can find and afford. I am using a 2.5 lbs skinless wild-caught salmon from Costco. You can use any thick fillet, swordfish, halibut or any salmon you caught yourself. All good choices and all will work great. Use skinless fillet or if it comes with skin – remove it. You want the fillet to completely absorb the remaining ingredients and the skin will prevent it. If the fish comes with little pin bones, they will become soft enough to chew. Use regular onion rather than sweet as the carrots already bring a bit of sweetness to this meal. The amount of salt brings a wonderful slightly salty finish to this dish and not bland at all.
How to Make Oven Roasted Salmon:
- Saute onions and julienned orange carrots
- Spread mayo on fillet
- Sprinkle salt and pepper
- Cover with sautéed carrots and onions
- Cook salmon for couple hours
- Garnish with fresh fill or parsley and serve
Gently slide cooked salmon onto a serving platter. It will be easy to break apart, therefore be extra gentle. This would be a good time to use more than 2 hands. Garnish with fresh dill or parsley before serving. Enjoy warm or cold, today or tomorrow. Refrigerate salmon once cooled if serving next day.
More Main Course Recipes to Explore:
- Pork Plov (Pork Rice Pilaf with Cranberries)
- Rice Stuffed Chicken Thighs
- Ukrainian Oven Roasted Cabbage with Pork
Oven Roasted Salmon
Ingredients
- 1 2.5 lb skinless boneless salmon fillet
- 1 large yellow onion – finely chopped
- 2 large carrots – julienned
- 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 4 tablespoons mayo
- 4 teaspoons fine salt, or to taste
- 1 teaspoon ground black pepper, or to taste
- dill or parsley for garnish – optional
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to a 350°F. Prepare a 5-qt glass baking dish and set aside. (You do not need to oil it).
- Wash 1 (2.5 lb) salmon fillet in cold water. Pat the fish dry with a paper towel. Set on large cutting board lined with paper towels while you prepare next step.
- In a large skillet, saute 1 large yellow onion in 3 tbsp vegetable oil over medium heat until golden (about 5 mins). Add 2 large julienned carrots and saute additional 3-4 minutes, stirring often until soft and golden.
- Spread 2 tbsp mayo onto the skin side of salmon and sprinkle 2 tsp fine salt and 1/2 tsp ground black pepper. Spread about 1/3 of the sautéed onion and carrots into a glass baking dish. Transfer the salmon into the baking dish, placing seasoned side onto the sautéed vegetables. Now season the top of the fillet. Spread 2 tbsps mayo and sprinkle with 2 tsp fine salt and 1/2 tsp ground black pepper. Spread remaining sautéed onion and carrots onto the fish. Cover the dish with foil.
- Place into the preheated oven and bake for 30 minutes. Reduce the oven temperature down to 300°F and continue cooking for 1 hour and 40 minutes. Salmon should be minimum 165°F.
- Gently slide cooked salmon onto a serving platter. It will be easy to break apart, therefore be extra gentle. This would be a good time to use more than 2 hands. Garnish with fresh dill or parsley before serving. Enjoy warm or cold, today or tomorrow. Refrigerate salmon once cooled if serving next day.
Roshanna Taylor says:
DELICIOUS ! I made this for my husband and he loved it. I followed the recipe exactly as you have it. We loved it and will be making it again and again and again. Wish I could have uploaded a picture of it because I took plenty of them.
Olga in the Kitchen says:
Happy to hear the great feedback! Feel free to share some photos on Instagram and tag olgainthekitchen so others can see them and get inspired too!
H. Oliveira says:
I have tried a few salmon recipes, but this is by far the best one yet!!! It takes a while to cook, but well worth the wait. My husband must have said “thank you” 5 times, even though he initially wasn’t very happy about having to wait for the dish to be done… It smelled wonderful while cooking and the carrots gave it a tiny bit of sweetness that was quite enjoyable. This will certainly become a family favorite..
Thanks for sharing!
Olga in the Kitchen says:
Thank you for the wonderful review! I’m so happy to hear you and your husband enjoyed this recipe! 🙂
Pauline says:
We had been enjoying this baked salmon recipe quite often lately. I like it warm but the rest of the family likes to eat it cold, like an appetizer. This is an incredibly delicious dish and definitely in my recipe book!!
Olga in the Kitchen says:
That’s wonderful, Pauline! Thank you for sharing that with us!
Svetlana says:
Your salmon in oven became our dinner staple. Some of us like it warm but most prefer cold, which makes it a great dish to prep ahead. Thank you!
Olga in the Kitchen says:
Thank you Svetlana, don’t we all love prep-ahead meals 🙂
Alhina says:
This was incredibly good and so easy to make! Love it!
Olga in the Kitchen says:
Thank you Alhina for beautiful review! 🙂
Yulya says:
This meal turned out soooo good and so tender. My parents loved it so much they asked me to make it for Sunday again. Thank you for the recipe!
Olga in the Kitchen says:
I’m so happy your family enjoyed this dish 🙂
Alexandra says:
Olga – I love this recipe a lot! It’s so easy and such common ingredients. Thank you for sharing it with my family!
Olga in the Kitchen says:
You’re very welcome Alexandra! 🙂
Brandon says:
I love this recipe, especially the carrots and onions top and bottom. Such a delicious combo in this dish. Thank you for the recipe !
Olga in the Kitchen says:
You’re welcome Brandon, I’m so glad you liked this dish 🙂
Joanna Smith says:
This turned out so good! I cooked for long like the recipe says and it turned out mouth-watering. I liked it a lot better than the salmon recipes that need to be baked for half hr at high heat. This is a keeper!!
Olga in the Kitchen says:
Thanks Joanna, I’m glad you like it so much! 🙂
jessica says:
Made this recipe today, i would use less salt next time as it was too salty for me and i cooked 40 min instead of 1 hour and 40 min after 30 min of 350F. Thank you for the recipe:)
Olga in the Kitchen says:
Thanks Jessica! I actually do make it a slightly salty because if it’s not, it tastes too bland. In my family, we like the salmon either saltier or spicier, but with kids spicy isn’t an option! You can always twist to your liking 🙂 The main thing is for salmon to really cook in so it’s tender!