I like to serve fish for dinner at least once a week and this is a recipe I often use to ensure we have clean plates all-round. Tender, juicy salmon fillets, all served up with veggies and sauce in 15 minutes! The salmon does most of the cooking in the sauce, which means it will be lovely and tender, and it’s actually quite difficult to overcook, so you haven’t got to worry about dry salmon! The sauce, although very simple, is quite rich and decadent, so it works really well with potatoes and green veg to soak it all up.
Cook the salmon fillets for 2 minutes, skin-side-down over a high heat with a little oil. Flip, cook for 2 further minutes until lightly browned, then flip again.Add garlic, white wine, stock, cream, salt, pepper and parmesan. Simmer until slightly thickened, the sprinkle on lemon zest and a little freshly chopped parsley before serving.
Skin-on or skinless fillets
I would always suggest going for skin-on salmon fillets as the skin helps to protect the salmon from overcooking and drying out. Once the salmon is cooked, you can easily remove the skin if you prefer. It will peel right off.
Baby new potatoes (steamed/boiled for 20 minutes)Creamy Mashed Potatoes or crispy Roasted PotatoesTender Green Beans with ParmesanSimple steamed broccoliThe best Potato Dauphinoise
Replace with other fish
This recipe works great with most types of fish fillets.
Cook as per this recipe with skin-on trout, sea bass or sea bream For firm-fleshed, skinless, white fish fillets - such as cod, haddock and pollack, it’s a good idea to season them with a pinch of salt and pepper first for extra flavour. These types of white fish are usually thicker, but since they’re skinless, they should cook in about the same amount of time as the salmon.
Tips to pan-fry salmon with a sauce:
It’s a good idea to take the salmon out of the fridge 15-20 minutes before frying them. This takes the chill off the middle so they’ll cook more evenly. Make sure the pan and the oil is very hot, and add the salmon to the pan skin-side down first. If you’re finishing off the cooking process in a sauce (like this recipe), you only need to cook the salmon for a couple of minutes on each side before adding the sauce. Just enough to brown the salmon slightly. The salmon will continue to cook in the sauce. Once you’ve added the sauce ingredients, the salmon should only need a few minutes more - enough time for the sauce to simmer and reduce. This will ensure the salmon is lovely and juicy. The sauce helps to keep the salmon moist, so if you do cook it for a few minutes longer than the recipe suggests, it’ll still be perfect.
Watch how to make it
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More fantastic salmon recipes
Honey Garlic Butter Baked SalmonGarlic Bread Crusted SalmonSalmon Sushi BowlPan Fried Salmon and Spaghetti with Lemon Cream Sauce
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