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This lemon butter baked salmon is flaky and buttery with a lightly browned top and plenty of bright lemon garlic flavor. The salmon cooks right in the sauce, so you get that flavor in every bite instead of simply spooning butter over the fish at the end.
This baked salmon with lemon butter sauce is easy enough for a weeknight but also works when you want something a little more special without extra work. For a complete meal, serve it with lemon orzo pasta and baked asparagus, or browse my oven recipes for more dinner ideas.
Why Make This Baked Salmon
- Easy oven dinner: This recipe uses just three main ingredients and requires very little prep, making it an easy salmon dinner for busy weeknights.
- Bakes in lemon butter sauce: Instead of adding sauce after cooking, the salmon bakes right in the lemon butter sauce. You get plenty of buttery lemon flavor throughout the fish, plus extra sauce to spoon over it when serving.
- Lots of lemon garlic flavor: The lemon garlic butter sauce gives you the bright, garlicky flavor people expect from lemon garlic butter salmon. Add a squeeze of fresh lemon before serving if you want an even brighter finish.
Ingredients Needed
- Salmon: I use thick Atlantic salmon fillets. Skin-on or skinless fillets both work.
- Cajun seasoning: This adds savory flavor and a little heat. I use my homemade Cajun seasoning, but your favorite seafood seasoning will also work.
- Lemon garlic butter sauce: My lemon garlic butter sauce gives this baked salmon its buttery lemon and garlic flavor. Make the sauce before starting the salmon so it’s ready to pour over the fish.
How to Make Lemon Butter Baked Salmon
Start with dry, evenly sized salmon
Pat the salmon dry and check for any pin bones before placing it skin-side down in your baking dish. Fillets that are close in thickness will finish cooking at about the same time.
Season the entire surface
Coat the top and sides with Cajun seasoning rather than seasoning only the center. This gives you seasoned salmon all the way to the edges.
Bake the salmon in the lemon butter sauce
Pour the lemon garlic butter over the fish and let the extra sauce collect around the salmon. You’ll have plenty of warm lemon butter in the baking dish to spoon over the fillets when serving.
Look for the salmon to become opaque
As the salmon cooks, the flesh will change from translucent to opaque and begin to separate into flakes. Thinner pieces can reach this point sooner, so don’t rely on the clock alone.
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Finish under the broiler
The short broiler finish gives the surface more color without requiring a separate pan-searing step. Stay close to the oven during this part. You’re looking for a lightly browned top without overcooking the center.
Tips for the Best Lemon Butter Salmon
- Adjust for thickness: I usually make this with thick Atlantic salmon. Sockeye and other wild salmon are often thinner and leaner, so start checking them sooner.
- Use a broiler-safe dish: The salmon moves directly from baking to broiling, so make sure your baking dish can handle both.
- Save the sauce: Spoon the warm lemon garlic butter from the bottom of the baking dish over the salmon when serving.
Make It a Complete Dinner
If you don’t want to think about what else to make, serve this salmon with lemon orzo pasta and baked asparagus. The orzo is especially good with some of the extra lemon butter from the baking dish spooned over it.
If you’d rather keep the oven focused on the salmon, make air fryer green beans while the fish bakes.
For a more comfort-food-style dinner, add baked macaroni and cheese and a green vegetable.
Storage & Reheating
- Store: Keep leftover salmon with some of the lemon butter sauce in an airtight container in the refrigerator.
- Reheat gently: Warm the salmon only until heated through since high heat can quickly dry out previously cooked fish.
- Keep the sauce: Spoon some of the reserved lemon butter over the salmon before reheating.
More Easy Seafood Dinners
If you don’t want to use the oven next time, try my air fryer salmon or pan-seared salmon. And, when you forget to thaw dinner, my air fryer frozen salmon cooks straight from frozen.
If you like the lemon garlic butter flavor in this recipe, try my oven baked shrimp next. It gives you a similar buttery seafood dinner using shrimp instead of salmon. You can also browse my salmon recipes when you want more salmon dinner ideas.
FAQs
Yes. For a milder option, use my salmon seasoning or lemon pepper seasoning. For a bolder flavor, Creole seasoning works well, while my Old Bay seasoning gives the salmon a more classic seafood-style flavor. For blends from store, especially, check whether the blend you use contains salt before adding any extra.
No. You can leave it in the oven until it reaches your preferred doneness. I use the broiler because it gives the top some color without requiring another pan or cooking method.
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Lemon Butter Baked Salmon
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Ingredients
- 1 ½ lb Salmon, I used center cut Atlantic Salmon filets with the skin on
- 1 tsp Cajun seasoning, click for the recipe
- ½ cup Lemon Butter Garlic Sauce, click for the recipe, I used one half of the recipe and saved the other half for baked shrimp. You can also use a full recipe and use the extra sauce for topping vegetables, noodles, or another side dish.
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400°F.
- Pat the salmon dry with paper towels. Place the fillets skin-side down in a broiler-safe baking dish.
- Sprinkle the Cajun seasoning evenly over the top and sides of the salmon.
- Pour the lemon garlic butter sauce over the salmon, allowing some of the sauce to collect around the fillets.
- Bake uncovered for 10 minutes.
- Turn the broiler to low. Broil for up to 5 minutes, watching closely, until the salmon is lightly browned on top and cooked to your preferred doneness.
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Recipe Notes
- Salmon: I use thick Atlantic salmon fillets. Thinner fillets, including sockeye, may cook faster.
- Cooking time: Start checking thinner pieces before the full cooking time since thickness affects how quickly the salmon cooks.
- Broiling: Watch closely since broiler strength varies by oven. The salmon may need less than 5 minutes.
- Seasoning: Use salmon seasoning, lemon pepper seasoning, Creole seasoning, or Old Bay seasoning instead of Cajun seasoning.
- Serving: Spoon the lemon garlic butter from the baking dish over the salmon before serving.
Nutrition Details
The nutrition facts come from entering the recipe ingredients into a database of food ingredients. They may vary for any recipe based on the exact product used.
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