How to Cook Salmon: Maple-Lime Baked Salmon

How to cook Salmon video – scroll down for recipe

There’s probably a bajillion ways to cook salmon, but for ease and fool-proof-ness, “in the oven” is the best way to do, it in my opinion. You might know by now, I didn’t grow up eating a lot of seafood (daddy didn’t care for the fruits of the sea, or the lake) so I learned how to cook salmon from my friend Shannon (who also taught me how to fry catfish, incidentally). She just bakes it simply with lemon pepper and lemon juice, maybe some olive oil. I love it like that, but wanted something a little more unusual for you, my sweets.

But here’s the deal: with the oven-baked method you can basically put anything you want to on your salmon and it will turn out fine, even delicious. I’ve got some maple syrup and lime going on, but you could try the lemon pepper I mentioned, or you could do some orange and parsley combo, or garlic and lemon, or lime and mint, or just olive oil and salt’n’peppa! Seriously, dudes, any one of those simple combos would be awesome.

This oven-baked salmon recipe works with both boneless salmon portions (usually about 6 ounces weight) and whole boneless fillets (cut to about any size you like, but for the two of us, I usually ask for 1/2 a pound). I’m sure you could do it with salmon “steaks”, those cross-cut slices, though I haven’t tried it and actually rarely even see that cut in stores. With whatever you use, inspect the salmon first visually and even by running (clean) hands over the fleshy side to feel for any pin-bones that the fishmonger may have missed. They are tiny, 1-2 inches long, white-almost-translucent. They can be a nuisance when you’re eating and bite into one. Use tweezers or small pliers to pull them out before cooking.

One you have your salmon all inspected, you’re ready to apply this recipe!

Maple-Lime Baked Salmon Recipe

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How to Cook Salmon: Maple-Lime Baked Salmon

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5 from 7 reviews

  • Author: Hilah Johnson
  • Cook Time: 15 mins
  • Total Time: 15 minutes
  • Yield: 2 1x

Ingredients

Scale
  • 3/4 pound salmon fillet (about 1 inch thick)
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon maple syrup
  • 1 lime
  • Sprinkle of salt and pepper

Instructions

  1. Check the salmon for pinbones and set your oven to 450ºF.
  2. Get out a baking sheet or pie pan or something to hold your salmon
  3. Sprinkle half the salt over the bottom of the pan and set the salmon in, skin down.
  4. Drizzle the meat with the maple syrup. Zest about 1 teaspoon lime zest over that. Sprinkle with remaining salt.
  5. Bake for 10-15 minutes (depending on thickness; rule of thumb is 10 minutes per inch) or until salmon is opaque.
  6. Remove and squeeze lime juice over salmon before serving.

Notes

Other seasoning ideas:
lemon, orange, or grapefruit zest
olive oil
minced garlic
herbs like parsley, dill, tarragon
crushed red pepper
soy sauce
ginger

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baked-salmon

15 Comments

  1. Adriene on February 12, 2013 at 4:18 pm

    Maple Lime sounds great! About 5 years ago I was having dreams of eating salmon. I took that as sign! Now I make salmon every Christmas. And splurge at Whole Foods sometimes when I am having fish dreams.
    That sounds weird.

    I will give this a try. Sounds great! Love you!

    • Hilah on February 12, 2013 at 5:14 pm

      Haha! Hope you try this next time you have fish dreams. Love you, too!

  2. Hombre de Queso on February 12, 2013 at 5:09 pm

    When you’re done eating the meat, take that salmon skin and stick in the the fridge. In the morning, take it out, lay it flat and sprinkle it with a little salt n’ peppa (push it real good). Stick it under the broiler for, and this is crucial, I don’t know how long. But, it’s a very precise moment. You want it crispy, not rubbery, but not so crispy it gets burned. I usually pull mine out when it’s starting to brown and is all bubbly. Maybe 7 minutes? Smoke will pour out of the oven, and the house will smell like fish, but man oh man, when it’s just right you can feast on what I like to call “Salmon Skin Bacon.” Delish.






    • Hilah on February 12, 2013 at 5:13 pm

      I have heard tale of this “salmon skin bacon”, Queso Man! Now I am convinced it must be delicious. Why else would a person tolerate smoke and fish smell throughout the house!? 😀

  3. Hombre de Queso on February 12, 2013 at 5:17 pm

    He won’t eat it, but next time we make it I’ll see if I can get my son to make his “fish taco face” next to the plate o’ salmon bacon and we’ll post it on Facebook Hilah. 🙂






  4. Amber Boegly on February 12, 2013 at 9:08 pm

    Oh YES! A recipe I’ve been waiting for for a long time! I tried broiling salmon once, but I think I used a tad too much olive oil and it (briefly) caught fire. I’ve never really broiled before, and haven’t since. It’s put me off cooking raw salmon (other than frying salmon patties), but I definitely wanna try this!






  5. Yana Maranan on February 13, 2013 at 3:50 am

    Can I also use other fish instead of salmon?






    • Hilah on February 13, 2013 at 9:00 am

      I imagine so! Just remember that thinner fillets and less oily fish will cook faster (fish like flounder, catfish, trout).

  6. Bonnie on March 14, 2013 at 12:55 pm

    Hi Hilah, I’m really trying to eat more healthy and am trying salmon for dinner. Do you have any ideas on what yummy side dish would go good with this recipe, or any other salmon recipe. hehehe Thanks Hilah your awesome!






  7. Drew on March 18, 2013 at 8:14 pm

    Finally got around to giving this a shot. I may have drowned the salmon in a little too much maple syrup (is that possible? Too much maple syrup?) but the lime really made the dish sing. I’m a fish newbie and noticed that there was a thin muddy brown layer between the skin and the pink meat. Is this normal (or edible)? I wasn’t sure so I just flaked it off.






  8. Larry on August 14, 2013 at 11:38 am

    Thank’s H… I like the Maple /Lime idea… 😉






    • Hilah on August 15, 2013 at 7:16 am

      It’s so good, Larry! You must try it. I would not lead you astray. 🙂

  9. HI, on August 15, 2013 at 5:35 am

    hi,
    your recipe is very sweet…… thanks…..many thank……thanks…..

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