Easy Lemon Salmon with Dill

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!

This baked lemon salmon with dill is hands down my go-to dinner when time is short and the family is hungry. It’s 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!

More About This Salmon Recipe

Easy ingredients. If you have dried dill in the pantry and fresh lemons on hand , you can make this salmon recipe. These ingredients are easy to come by!

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.

Ingredient Notes

• 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 as much as I do, 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 and ingredient amounts.

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 or when the internal temperature reaches 145°F (use an instant read thermometer).

Serve. Enjoy immediately. If you’d like, squeeze the roasted lemon slices over the salmon. Top your fish with a dollop of sour cream before digging in! We also like to top the salmon with creamy tzatziki sauce or homemade tartar sauce.

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.

Recipe Variations

Lemon salmon is one of those recipes that’s wonderfully simple and delicious, 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!

Serving Suggestions

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. Dill pickle pasta salad or dill potato salad go well, too.

Storage & Reheating

Refrigerate. 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. Try it on a salad.

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.