This quick and easy, Baked Salmon in Foil can be prepped in only 5 minutes and will be ready to devour in about 30 minutes! It is simple enough for a quick weeknight meal, but fancy-looking enough that you could also serve it to impress a crowd.
An Easy & Healthy Baked Salmon In Foil
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We have spent years feeling a bit intimidated about making salmon. It just seemed like it could be a bit tricky, but once we started making it like this… there was no turning back! This method is fool proof. We first started cooking salmon using this method, only with parchment paper, in our blog favorite recipe – Simple Salmon en Papillote. You can keep it simple with about 5 basic ingredients or jazz it up with some more herbs, spices, or lemon. This recipe is perfect for looking fancy with minimal effort!
What You Will Need
- large salmon fillet – we like to purchase a fresh fillet on the day we plan to cook it to ensure freshness!
- olive or avocado oil – used to rub down the salmon to help keep it nice and moist.
- kosher salt – the perfect simple seasoning when cooking any fish.
- ghee or butter – make sure you are generous with the one you use, so you can pour the extra over your fully cooked fillets before eating – it’s a must!
- fresh thyme – a few sprigs really provide a lot of great flavor that goes so well with the salmon.
- (optional) lemon slices: feel free to throw some on there if you want!
Why Bake Salmon In Foil
Once you have your salmon fillet all prepared in the aluminum foil, you will want to wrap it up nice and tight around fillet so that little to no air can escape. This seal will help infuse the salmon with all the great flavors inside, plus provide a lovely little heat pocket for cooking the fillet perfectly every time. If you prefer to not use aluminum foil, you could also use parchment paper as shown in this post.
Skin On Or Skin Off
Typically, the salmon fillets that we buy come with the skin on and we leave it on for cooking. It is easier to remove the salmon from the skin once it has cooked. You could actually eat the salmon skin, if you want to, but it tends to stay a bit rubbery when you cook it this way so we recommend eating it out of the skin after being cooked.
How Long To Bake Salmon In Foil At 400 Degrees
Your foil-wrapped salmon fillet can be baked in the middle rack of the oven at 400 degrees for about 20-30 minutes. The exact amount of time will depend on how thick your salmon fillet is. It is best to start checking your salmon at 20 minutes and if it isn’t done, check it every 5 minutes until it is done.
When Is Salmon Done Baking
You will know when salmon is done baking by the color and flakiness. Salmon will turn more of a light pink color when it is done and you should be able to easily flake apart the meat with a fork. You can also use a meat thermometer to check the internal temp, which should be around 145 degrees F.
Tips For Recipe Variations
We kept this salmon recipe simple with olive oil, salt, butter, and fresh thyme, but you could easily level up your salmon with some garlic, lemon, dill, or another herb that sounds good to you!
What To Serve With Baked Salmon
You could serve this salmon with just about any side dish! A few of our favorites are Parmesan Broccoli, Easy Herbed Potatoes, or Garlic Green Beans.
And if you are looking for a great dill sauce for salmon this Salmon Dill Sauce is SO GOOD! We generally use it on this Blackened Salmon, but it works with any salmon!
How To Bake Salmon In Foil
Place your salmon fillet in a large piece of aluminum foil on a baking sheet. Pat it dry and then rub it down with olive oil.
Next, sprinkle a generous amount of salt on top and then some butter and fresh thyme.
Wrap up the foil very tightly so that little to no air can escape and bake at 400 degrees F for 20-30 minutes.
Check your salmon to make sure it is done and enjoy!
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Made this recipe and loved it?! We would love it if you would take a minute and leave a star rating and review – it is also helpful if you made any substitutions or changes to the recipe to share that as well. THANK YOU!
Other Salmon Recipes You Might Like
Blackened Salmon
Teriyaki Salmon Bowl
Grilled Salmon Salad
Salmon Poke Bowl
Baked Salmon in Foil
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 25 minutes
- Total Time: 30 minutes
- Yield: 6 servings 1x
- Category: Dinner/Entree
- Method: Oven
- Cuisine: American
Description
Baked Salmon in Foil – an easy and delicious recipe for baked salmon in foil that is perfect for easy weeknight dinners!
Ingredients
- Approx. 2lb salmon fillet (half of a salmon)
- 2 tablespoons avocado oil or olive oil
- 1–2 teaspoons kosher salt (more or less as desired)
- 3–4 tablespoons ghee or butter
- 4–6 fresh thyme sprigs
- (optional) 2-3 fresh lemon slices
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
- Place a large piece of heavy duty foil on a large baking sheet.
- Lay the salmon down angling it between two corners.
- Pat the salmon dry with a clean paper towel.
- Drizzle oil and rub all over the salmon.
- Generously sprinkle the salt all over.
- Place 3-4 (or more) chunks of ghee or butter along the salmon. Top with fresh sprigs of thyme.
- Bring up the edges of the foil to wrap up the salmon and pinch so that little to no air can escape.
- Keeping the wrapped salmon on the baking sheet, place in the oven (middle rack) and let cook 20-30 minutes, check after 20 minutes and continue cooking longer if needed. You know it is done when the meat easily flakes apart and is a light pink color. How long you ultimately need to cook it will depend how thick your salmon is.
- Serve immediately and, if possible, pour a little of the extra melted butter/ghee that settles in the foil over your plated salmon portions.
Notes
- Salmon: I highly recommend using fresh fish purchased the day you plan on cooking it for best results. You can use frozen, but just ensure it is fully thawed and you pat it dry so there isn’t any extra liquid, otherwise it won’t turn out how it should. Feel free to use wild caught or whatever works best for you.
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