Lemon Butter Side of Salmon
Sweet, buttery salmon enhanced with bright lemon and savory herbs. Cooking a whole side of salmon keeps it moist and juicy - while making cooking salmon for a crowd easy!
Ingredients
- 1 whole side of salmon (4-5 lbs)
- 1 lemon, zest and juice
- 4 cloves garlic finely chopped
- ½ cup dry white wine (optional)
- 4 tbsp salted butter
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 tsp paprika
- 1 ½ tsp dried dill
- 1 tsp black pepper freshly cracked
- kosher salt
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425 °F.
- Melt the butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. When melted and starting to bubble, add the chopped garlic.
- Cook the garlic until fragrant, 2-3 minutes, then add the white wine and zest from the lemon. Allow the butter-white wine sauce to simmer over low heat while you prepare the salmon.
- Lightly drizzle the bottom of a large sheet pan with olive oil. Lay the side of salmon onto the sheet pan (skin side down, if your salmon is skin-on).
- Press your fingers along the salmon to feel for any remaining pin bones, and remove these.
- Next, lightly drizzle about 1 tbsp olive oil over the salmon. Evenly season the salmon with the paprika, dried dill, black pepper, and kosher salt.
- Gently drizzle the lemon-butter sauce over the side of salmon. Lastly, squeeze the juice from the lemon over the fish.
- Bake the salmon on the middle rack of the preheated oven for 15 minutes, then move the salmon to the top rack and broil the surface for an additional 1-2 minutes.
- When the internal temperature of the salmon reaches 130 degrees, it is ready to be removed from the oven, as it will continue to cook for a few minutes while resting. Loosely cover the salmon with foil and allow it to rest for 5 minutes.
- Serve warm, with lemon wedges on the side.