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Baked in the oven, this marinated salmon is tender and delicious and is topped with an amazing mustard dill sauce.
Baked Salmon
This is the recipe that made me a salmon lover. My husband has always loved salmon and if it’s on the menu that is what he orders. A friend shared some salmon her husband had caught in Alaska along with this recipe so I gave it a try and after tasting it I discovered I am a salmon lover too!
My husband loved it and after serving it at a party I had my guests tell me it was the BEST salmon they had ever eaten. The flavor the marinade and the sauce is amazing!
Marinade Ingredients
- Brown Sugar
- Salt and Pepper
- Gin or Apple Juice. I substituted apple juice for the gin and it worked great.
- Dill. The recipe calls for fresh dill which I used, if you need to use dry dill use 1 tsp.
How to Make Marinated Salmon
- Combine marinade ingredients.
- Place salmon in a baking dish and cover with marinade.
- Cover with plastic wrap and marinate in the refrigerator for at least four hours.
- Pour off excess marinade and place on a baking sheet.
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees F and bake for 15 – 20 minutes or until cooked through and light and flaky.
Salmon Sauce Ingredients
While the salmon is baking mix up the marinade.
- Brown Sugar
- Dijon Mustard. You can use your favorite kind of mustard.
- Lemon Juice
- Dill. Fresh if possible
- Vegetable Oil
- Leftover Marinade
- Whipping Cream
Combine all the ingredients together and keep refrigerated until ready to use.
The sauce can be served poured over the salmon or served on the side as a dipping sauce. This sauce adds amazing flavor!
Can I Grill It Instead of Bake?
I have only baked this particular recipe but it should grill fine. Be sure to use salmon with the skin on when grilling. The skin helps hold the salmon together when you turn it on the grill.
To grill the salmon cover your grill with foil and place salmon over a medium high heat. It will cook for about 6 minutes on each side. Time will vary depending on the thickness of your salmon and heat of grill.
How Do I Know When Marinated Salmon Is Done?
Use a meat thermometer. Salmon is done when it reaches a temperature of 125-130 F which is medium doneness. It will continue to cook for a few minutes after removing it from the heat. Put your thermometer into the thickest part of your salmon.
Flake with a Fork. Cook until the salmon just begins to flake or separate when poked with a fork.
Do not overcook your marinated salmon. There is nothing worse than a piece of overcooked fish!
Some of our other favorite seafood recipes include:
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Marinated Salmon and Sauce
Ingredients
- 2 lb salmon with skin on
- 6 Tbsp brown Sugar
- 1 Tbsp salt
- 1 tsp black pepper
- 2 Tbsp Gin or apple juice
- ¼ fresh dill chopped
Sauce:
- 2 Tbsp brown sugar
- ¼ cup Dijon mustard
- 1 Tbsp juice from marinade
- ½ lemon juice only
- ¼ bunch fresh chopped dill
- ¼ cup Vegetable oil
- Tabasco sauce to taste
- 5 Tbsp whipping cream
Instructions
- Place salmon skin side down in baking dish
- Mix ingredients in bowl and spread evenly over fish
- Marinate minimum of 4 hrs.
- Pour off excess juices and reserve for sauce
- Pre-heat oven to 400 and bake 15-20 min maximum
Sauce:
- Mix brown sugar and Dijon mustard in a bowl
- Slowly mix in veg. oil.
- Add remaining ingredients saving whipping cream for last
Tamara says
Yum! Yum! This is definitely one I will do soon as I have some salmon in the freezer right now. THANKS! Way to go Logan in impressing the girls with your cooking!!!!!!!!!
Leigh Anne says
Angela – your salmon recipe sounds wonderful!!
Laurie – yes I did use apple juice and so did Logan instead of gin. I used the sauce as a side condiment, I did not pour it over the top. Enjoy!
Laurie Reiff says
Hi Leigh Anne,
Question did you serve the sauce on the side or pour it over the top before you served it? Also, did you use the apple juice instead of the Gin. Is one better than the other. Thanks for sharing it sounds great!
Angela says
Leigh Anne,
Your story cracked me up!!! Now I’m going to watch my mormom friends’ grocery carts to make sure they aren’t hiding wine or booz! ha ha ha (just kidding!) Down here you can buy hard liquor at the grocery store!
We LOVE salmon & buy it whenever it’s on sale at our local grocery store. We only get the wild salmon from Alaska, never farm raised from the Atlantic, which usually has color added. We usually barbecue ours on cedar planks that Costco used to sell, but it’s easy to do on foil. We prefer to barbecue ours with the skin on as it helps to retain the natural oils in the fish. My husband has been sprinkling brown sugar on top of the salmon along with fresh basil from our plant & a few other spices. Delicious!
Angela
Melanie says
I’ll tell you this – no guy EVER made me salmon in college and I would have been super impressed if it had happened, so I’m sure your son has girls falling at his feet (as he should!).
I love salmon and am always looking for ways to prepare it. With your rave reviews, I’ll definitely be trying this!