This Lemon Garlic Butter Salmon falls firmly into the category of requiring very little effort.
You put one big salmon fillet on a sheet pan, pour a buttery lemon-garlic sauce all over it, wrap it up in foil and let the oven handle most of the work.
That’s already enough to get my attention.
But what really makes this one good is what happens at the end.
After the salmon has gently baked inside the foil, you open it up and give it a few minutes under the broiler. Suddenly that pale piece of salmon gets those lightly golden edges and a beautiful glossy top, while the inside stays tender and juicy.
And underneath?
All that melted butter, lemon, honey, garlic and salmon juice has turned into a sauce that I absolutely intend to spoon back over my plate.
The whole thing takes around 30 minutes, which makes it completely reasonable for a weeknight.
Although once you put that big golden salmon fillet in the middle of the table, nobody needs to know how easy dinner actually was.
Let them be impressed.
Ingredients You’ll Need
For this recipe, you’ll need:
- 1.5 to 1.75 pounds skin-on salmon fillet
- 1 lemon, sliced into thin rounds
- ½ cup unsalted butter, melted
- 3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
- 2 to 3 tablespoons honey
- 5 garlic cloves, finely minced or pressed
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 2 teaspoons finely chopped fresh parsley, optional for garnishing
That’s the recipe.
Just a very straightforward lemon-honey-garlic butter sauce doing most of the flavor work.
7 Steps to Make Lemon Garlic Butter Salmon
Step 1: Get the Oven and Sheet Pan Ready
Start by preheating your oven to:
375°F.
Line a sheet pan with a large piece of foil.
You’ll want enough foil to eventually fold over the salmon and create a sealed packet.
Arrange your thin lemon rounds on the foil and place the salmon over them skin-side down.
Keep the edges of the foil raised about 2 inches around the salmon.
There’s going to be plenty of melted butter involved shortly.
We would prefer that butter around the salmon rather than running across the sheet pan.
Step 2: Make the Lemon Garlic Butter
In a microwave-safe measuring cup or bowl, melt:
½ cup unsalted butter.
Then stir in:
3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
2–3 tablespoons honey
and
5 finely minced or pressed garlic cloves.
Stir everything together.
That’s your sauce.
Nothing needs to simmer.
Nothing needs to reduce.
Nothing needs to be whisked for seventeen minutes while questioning your dinner choices.
Melt and stir.Done.
Step 3: Pour the Sauce Over the Salmon
Pour approximately three-quarters of the butter mixture evenly over the salmon.
Don’t use all of it yet.
Reserve the remaining mixture because you may want it later when the salmon goes underneath the broiler.
Now season the salmon evenly with:
1 teaspoon kosher salt
and
½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper.
At this point, you’ve got salmon sitting over lemon slices and covered in garlic, honey, lemon juice and melted butter.
Things are going well.
Step 4: Seal the Foil
Bring the foil up and over the salmon.
Pinch or fold the edges together to create a sealed foil packet.
The idea is to trap the heat and moisture around the salmon while it bakes.
If you have some extra time, the original recipe notes that you can let the salmon sit in the buttery mixture for about 10–15 minutes before baking.
It’s optional.
So if everyone is already asking when dinner will be ready, you can keep moving.
Step 5: Bake the Salmon
Place the foil-wrapped salmon into your 375°F oven.
Bake for approximately:
17 minutes.
At this stage we’re focusing on gently cooking the fish.
Don’t worry if you open the foil afterward and think:
“Well… that doesn’t look very golden.”
It isn’t supposed to yet.
That’s what our next step is for.
Step 6: Open the Foil and Broil
Carefully open the foil so the top of the salmon is completely exposed.
If you’d like, spoon some of that reserved lemon-garlic butter mixture over the salmon.
Now switch your oven to:
High Broil.
Broil the salmon for approximately 5–10 minutes, or until it reaches the level of golden color and doneness you prefer.
And this is one step where I wouldn’t wander away from the kitchen.
Broilers have two moods:
“Nothing is happening.”
and
“Why is everything suddenly brown?”
Keep an eye on the salmon, particularly during those final few minutes.
Step 7: Finish and Serve
Once the salmon is cooked and lightly golden on top, remove it from the oven.
If you’re using it, sprinkle over:
2 teaspoons finely chopped fresh parsley.
And don’t forget what’s sitting around the salmon.
All those buttery juices.
Spoon them over the fish before serving.
That’s not something we’re leaving behind on a piece of foil.
Dinner is ready.