Easy Lemon Salmon with Dill
This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure policy.
This moist and flaky lemon salmon recipe with dill is ready in less than 30 minutes! It’s an easy and flavorful salmon dish that’s perfect for weeknight dinners.
Recipe Overview
Why you’ll love it: This lemon salmon tastes all sorts of fancy, but the oven method keeps this recipe fool-proof. Easy to clean-up, too!
How long it takes: 25 minutes
Equipment you’ll need: sheet pan, oven
Servings: 3
- 1 Recipe Overview
- 2 The Best Lemon Salmon With Dill
- 3 Why You’ll Love This Lemon Salmon Recipe
- 4 What You’ll Need
- 5 How To Make Lemon Salmon
- 6 Tips for Success
- 7 FAQs
- 8 Make This Lemon Salmon Recipe Your Own
- 9 What to Serve With Lemon Salmon
- 10 How to Store and Reheat Leftovers
- 11 Leftover Love
- 12 Free Meal Plan
- 13 More Salmon Recipes
- 14 Get the Recipe: Lemon Salmon Recipe
The Best Lemon Salmon With Dill
We never run short of ways to cook salmon. Whether it’s grilled salmon in foil or stovetop-friendly recipes like this pan-seared salmon with spinach cream sauce, salmon is super versatile and so tasty! Baked lemon salmon with dill is hands down my go-to dinner when time is short and the family is hungry, though. This easy lemon salmon is moist, flaky, and foolproof. Dried dill adds savoriness while fresh lemon brightens everything up, for a delicious and easy salmon dinner. The best part? It’s ready in just 30 minutes!
Why You’ll Love This Lemon Salmon Recipe
- Easy ingredients. If you have dill and fresh lemons on hand already, you can make this salmon recipe. These ingredients are also easy to come by!
- Flavorful. Make this recipe with fresh or dried dill. Savory dill sings next to the freshness of this lemon salmon.
- Quick. My method for baking salmon takes about five minutes to prep and less than 20 minutes in the oven.
- Diet-friendly. This lemon salmon is Whole30 compliant (check out my collection of Whole30 dinner recipes). This recipe is also dairy-free, gluten-free, paleo, and low-carb.
What You’ll Need
I’ll do a quick run-through of the recipe here with extra tips and information. You’ll find the printable recipe card at the bottom of the post.
- Fresh Salmon – This recipe can easily be doubled or even tripled, depending on how many people you’re serving and how much salmon you like for each serving. A serving can range from 3 oz. to 8 oz. If you’re serving a lot of side dishes, go with the smaller amount.
- Dill – Use either fresh or dried. If using fresh dill, you’ll use a bit more. If you love dill, go ahead and add lots more!
- Lemon – A thick slice of lemon is roasted on top of each salmon fillet. Don’t discard that lemon after the salmon is baked! Squeeze the juice on top for even more zesty flavor.
- Salt and Pepper – Season the salmon according to your taste.
How To Make Lemon Salmon
Here’s a quick step-by-step to show you how to make this easy lemon salmon recipe. Scroll down to the recipe card for printable instructions.
- Prep the salmon. Rinse salmon with cold water and pat dry with a paper towel. Place the salmon on a sheet pan. I like to line it with parchment for easy clean-up and to prevent the salmon from sticking.
- Season the salmon. Sprinkle the fillet(s) with salt and pepper and then a good coating of dill. We like a LOT of dill but you can use as much, or as little, as you like. Finally, top with lemon slices.
- Bake. Bake at 400°F for 18 minutes. Your salmon is done cooking when it flakes easily with a fork.
- Serve. Enjoy immediately. If you’d like, give the salmon a squeeze of leftover lemon and top your fish with a dollop of sour cream before digging in!
Tips for Success
These are my tips for the best lemon salmon with dill:
- Pat the salmon dry. This way, the seasonings stay put.
- Cut the salmon into fillets. If desired, cut larger pieces of salmon into fillets so that they’re easier to serve. This is easiest to do before baking.
- How to tell when salmon is cooked: Salmon is done when it’s flaky, or you can check the internal temperature with a thermometer (my Thermapen is my right-hand man in the kitchen). I like to cook salmon to an internal temperature of 140-145°F.
FAQs
In cooking, lemon is used to brighten flavors, and the acidity helps balance the briny, saltiness of seafood. This makes salmon and lemon a perfect pair!
If you’re looking to dress up this lemon salmon even further, try topping your finished salmon with homemade tartar sauce or yogurt tzatziki sauce.
Make This Lemon Salmon Recipe Your Own
Lemon salmon is one of those recipes that’s wonderfully simple and delicious as-is, and also easy to customize. Try these variation ideas:
- Scale the recipe. You can double or triple this salmon recipe to feed as many people as you need.
- Add seasonings. Give your salmon even more flavor and rub the fillets with salmon seasoning before adding the dill.
- Different flavors. Salmon has a fairly assertive flavor so you can be bold with flavors and seasonings. Lemon and dill are a popular combination. Asian flavors such as soy sauce, ginger, garlic, and honey are great with salmon, too, like teriyaki salmon or orange glazed salmon.
- Make it a sheet pan dinner. I often throw some asparagus onto the pan in the last ten minutes of baking for an easy meal. See my salmon and asparagus sheet pan dinner for tips. The creamy lemon dill sauce is also so good!
What to Serve With Lemon Salmon
I love to pair zesty lemon salmon with an easy Caesar salad (complete with homemade Caesar croutons) and quick sautéed sugar snap peas, followed by a ridiculously easy chocolate tart for dessert. Dinner, done and dusted!
If you’re more into pasta as a side, try my favorite pink pasta with fresh tomato cream sauce. This one-pan creamy lemon orzo with greens is another easy choice.
How to Store and Reheat Leftovers
- Fridge. Store leftover salmon airtight in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. Reheat in the microwave in 30-second increments or until heated through. Leftover salmon is good cold, too, see below!
- Freeze. Cooked salmon freezes well. Let the lemon salmon cool completely, and then store it in a freezer-safe container. You can freeze it for up to 3 months. Defrost the salmon in the fridge before reheating.
Leftover Love
Try leftover lemon salmon flaked on top of a Mediterranean green bean salad or substitute it for the shrimp in shrimp salad with mango and avocado. Keep it classic with a simple arugula salad or add this salmon to a quinoa bowl.
Did you make this? Be sure to leave a review below and tag me @rachelcooksblog on Facebook, Instagram, or Pinterest!
Ingredients
- 12 oz. salmon fillet (see note)
- ½ teaspoon dried dill weed ( or 1 ½ teaspoons fresh dill)
- â…› teaspoon kosher salt, more to taste
- black pepper, to taste
- ½ lemon, sliced into 3 slices (discard ends of lemon)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400°F. Line a sheet pan or baking dish with parchment for easy clean-up or spray lightly with cooking spray.
- Rinse salmon with cold water and pat dry with paper towel. If desired, cut salmon into fillets.
- Sprinkle evenly with dill, salt and pepper. Place lemon slices on top of salmon.
- Bake for 18 minutes or until internal temperature reaches 145°F. (insert instant read thermometer into thickest part of salmon). It should flake easily.
- Enjoy immediately. Squeeze the roasted lemon slices on it, if desired.
- If serving on a salad, flake salmon with fork and add to salad.
Notes
- Recipe is easily doubled or tripled.
- Cooking time varies depending on thickness of fillet, and whether you roast the fillet whole or cut into serving size portions before roasting.
- Some folks prefer salmon served medium rare, which is 120°F.
Nutrition Information
This website provides approximate nutrition information for convenience and as a courtesy only. Nutrition data is gathered primarily from the USDA Food Composition Database, whenever available, or otherwise other online calculators.
Aimee Burnett says
The blog says to bake at 400, but your instructions say to preheat oven to 425. I’m just wondering which is the correct temperature?
Rachel Gurk says
Good catch – sorry about that! I appreciate you pointing it out. I like to cook salmon at 400 typically – I updated the recipe to reflect that.
Claudia Hallstrom says
c.hallstrom2015@gmail.com
Wonderful. For something light and cool I also
made a serving sauce of:
fresh dill and cucumber (chopped finely),
mixed into sour cream.
Rachel Gurk says
Yum! Sounds so good – it would be great with plain yogurt, too!
Renee E says
5 stars!
Renee E says
This was so easy and so tasty! Â I love dill!
Rachel Gurk says
I love dill too! So glad you liked this!
Zainab says
Perfect for busy weeknights!!