My Baked Salmon With Mayo takes the sauce you might put on the side and slathers it all over the top, so that rich, creamy, decadent mayo-herb sauce can seep down into the fish, infusing it with flavor that is out of this world.
What do I love about baked salmon, let me count the ways.
Baked salmon is healthy. Salmon has enough Omega-3 fatty acids to meet your RDA for these important nutrients for the entire day. I try to eat salmon three times a week and, since I have, I notice my skin looks dewy, and more youthful, and that I have more energy and even sleep better. Plus, I can finish the whole crossword puzzle without a crossword dictionary now. It really is true. These are a transformative nutrient and the whole family benefits from eating these important fish.
Baked salmon needs practically zero prep work and zero cooking work. Whether cooked in my sauce, as you do here, or with another easy-prep fix like a sprinkle of herbs and a drizzle of olive oil or grass-fed butter or simply lemon juice, for healthy, low-fat, low carb eating, you simply lay the fillets in a slightly greased, oven-safe baking dish, and bam! You’ve got a fast, healthy meal. Good salmon needs little to make it taste good, because it’s so good for you your whole body is like yum, yum! Tuck a few new potatoes, broccoli, and carrots around the fillet drizzled with grass-fed butter and you’ve got a main and sides in no time.
Baked salmon also means like zero clean-up. Cook the fillets on foil and you simply wad up the foil when finished eating and voila, your prep, cook, serve, and clean-up time is minimal, meaning you get to take the night off and bond with the family or do the you thing.
My Baked Salmon with Mayo pairs the delicious flavors of fresh salmon with a yummy dipping sauce for a moist, tender, flaky fish with succulent, decadent goodness. Each bite of this heavenly dish is a surprise and a pleasure.
The leftovers make a delicious Salmon Salad sandwich. Simply add a bit more mayo and some finely chopped celery or relish (both taste good in different ways!) and even a hard-boiled egg if you like, for a delicious lunch treat, especially if it’s served on soft brioche buns or flaky croissants. The rich flavor of the salmon salad pairs very nicely with this rich French breads and pastries.
If you enjoy this baked salmon, try my Dijon Baked Salmon or Asian Salmon for some variations on flavor that will keep you and your family enthralled with this healthy, delicious fish that we all need to eat several times a week.
The Secret to Perfectly Baked Salmon
You can bake salmon one of two ways. There’s the higher heat + after-cooking method or the low and slower method of cooking salmon I feature here. I use that lower-heat, slower cook method with this recipe because, with the mayo-sauce on there, you want to give the sauce time to seep down into the fish and penetrate its flesh with flavor. Plus, you cannot see the top of the fish clearly enough to use the faster-high-heat method.
If you’re doing a recipe where you can see the fish more clearly, like drizzled lemon juice or olive oil as a topping, then you can cook the salmon at 425 for just 12 to 14 minutes, leaving that line where it looks a little less done down the middle. But close your foil over top of the fish and let it rest five minutes. That five minutes of after-cooking will bring that salmon to its sweet, flaky perfection and seal in all the delicious flavors you’ve topped it with as well.
Ingredients
- 1 lb salmon fillet
- 1 cup mayonnaise
- 1 cup chopped fresh parsley
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 2 teaspoons seasoning salt
How to Make Baked Salmon with Mayo
Step 1: Preheat your oven to 350°F. Start by lining your baking pan with foil for an easy cleanup.
Step 2: In a small mixing bowl, whisk together the mayonnaise, fresh parsley, lemon juice, and seasoning salt until well combined.
Step 3: Lay the salmon fillet on the prepared pan. Gently spread the herbed mayo mixture over the salmon, covering it evenly.
Step 4: Bake in the preheated oven for 20-25 minutes. You’ll know it’s done when the salmon flakes easily with a fork.
Step 5: Remove the salmon from the oven, let it rest for a couple of minutes, and then it’s ready to serve. Enjoy your meal!
FAQs & Tips
It’s easy to make Baked Salmon with Mayo ahead a bit. Simply whip up the sauce the evening before and spread them over the salmon fillets and chill the whole baking dish in the fridge overnight. Those flavors will really seep down into these fillets and make them a wonderful lunch or dinner the next night. Also, you can store cooked salmon three days. But it’s usually gone by then because it’s so yummy.
Nothing complements the flavor of fish better than a sweet or dry white wine like a cheap sauv blanc or a little dry sherry with butter. Simply wine and butter alone make an excellent cooking sauce for virtually any fish, be it salmon, cod, or fresh tuna fillets.
If you like a slightly crispier crust on your fish, before adding the mayo sauce, toss the salmon fillets into very hot olive oil (just when it begins to pop) — don’t forget to stand back a bit. Then remove the pan from the heat and turn down the heat to medium-low. Then sizzle the fish over heat for a minute. The minute you see brown crusts begin to form around the fillets, turn them over. Then add the sauce, pop them in the oven at 350, and then cook them another 12 to 15 minutes, testing for flakiness at the 12 minute mark. Dee-licious!
If some of your family members don’t like mayo sauce, simply drizzle with olive oil or butter on both sides before baking, and serve the mayo sauce on the side.
Serving Suggestions
Salmon pairs nicely with so many things. Since the Baked Salmon with Mayo is cloaked in that decadent mayo-herb sauce, the recipe literally screams for some fresh, bright vegetables around it or a delicate pasta on the side, with perhaps angel hair or vermicelli as the base. I like to pair this Baked Salmon with Mayo with my Easy Bruschetta Pasta Recipe (Fresh Tomato Sauce) and my Roasted Beet Salad with Walnut and Blue Cheese. Talk about complementary flavors!
Baked Salmon with Herbed Mayo
Ingredients
- 1 lb salmon fillet
- 1 cup mayonnaise
- 1 cup chopped fresh parsley
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 2 teaspoons seasoning salt
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350°F. Start by lining your baking pan with foil for an easy cleanup.
- In a small mixing bowl, whisk together the mayonnaise, fresh parsley, lemon juice, and seasoning salt until well combined.
- Lay the salmon fillet on the prepared pan. Gently spread the herbed mayo mixture over the salmon, covering it evenly.
- Bake in the preheated oven for 20-25 minutes. You’ll know it’s done when the salmon flakes easily with a fork.
- Remove the salmon from the oven, let it rest for a couple of minutes, and then it’s ready to serve. Enjoy your meal!
Nutrition
