Salmon Recipes

Salmon earned the largest chapter in our recipe library for a simple reason: no other fish moves so gracefully between a Tuesday skillet and a holiday table. These are the seventeen preparations the original collection gathered, with working notes for each.

Over Fire

Barbecued salmon fillets — skin-side down over medium coals, basted with a brown-sugar and mustard glaze; the skin shields the flesh and crisps into a cook's treat. Grilled herbed salmon — olive oil, dill, thyme and lemon zest, grilled in a fish basket. Grilled salmon with ginger-orange mustard glaze — the collection's signature: orange juice reduced with fresh ginger and coarse mustard, brushed on in the final minutes so it lacquers rather than burns.

In the Oven

Salmon baked in filo — fillets wrapped with herbed butter in crisp pastry layers; dinner-party insurance, since the filo forgives a minute of inattention. Roast salmon with herb stuffing — a whole side dressed with a lemony crumb stuffing. Salmon bake with new potatoes and green onion — the one-dish supper. Salmon and watercress cream pie — an old-fashioned, deeply comforting deep-dish. Broiled salmon with dill — six minutes under a hot broiler with dill butter; the fastest good dinner in the book.

Gently Done

Poached salmon fillets with thyme — barely simmering court bouillon, ten minutes, silky results, splendid cold the next day. Steamed salmon with yogurt and dill — light, bright and honest. Salmon steaks with lime-cilantro butter — a compound butter melting over a thick steak. Scallopines of salmon with tomatoes — thin-cut salmon flashed in a hot pan with fresh tomato and basil. Marinated salmon with mushrooms and marinated salmon and scallops — citrus-cured, served cool, the latter pairing beautifully with bay scallops.

The Keepers

Salmon candy — strips of salmon cured in brown sugar and salt, then slow-smoked until glossy and chewy-sweet; the Pacific Northwest's gift to the snack jar. Latkes with smoked salmon — crisp potato pancakes under cool slices of smoked Atlantic salmon, crème fraîche and chives — the brunch that converts skeptics.

Wild Atlantic, Farmed, and the Honest Middle

The original catalog sold wild Atlantic salmon when it could be had, and the label still matters. Wild fish runs leaner, firmer and more seasonal; farmed salmon is richer, milder and always available, and modern responsible farms have narrowed the old gaps considerably. For the recipes above, fat is a friend to the grill and the broiler (farmed excels), while poaching and curing flatter the cleaner taste of wild fish. Whichever you buy, the freshness tests are identical — glossy flesh, clean sea smell, spring under the finger — and the skin should always go into the pan, because crisp salmon skin is the cook's private tax on dinner. Portion-wise, six ounces per person covers a weeknight; eight makes an occasion of it; and a whole side, roasted under herb stuffing for a crowd, remains the most impressive dish-per-minute-of-effort in the entire collection.

Sockeye, King, Coho: Which Salmon for Which Dish

"Salmon" covers a handful of distinct fish, and matching the species to the method is half the battle. King (chinook) is the richest and most forgiving — fatty enough to survive the grill or a long roast, and the one to reach for when the glaze is bold. Sockeye runs deep red, lean and firm, with a pronounced flavor that shines when poached, cured, or cooked quickly so its low fat does not dry out. Coho sits in the middle, an easygoing weeknight fish. Atlantic salmon at the counter is almost always farmed and reliably rich, which is why it takes so kindly to the broiler and the filo wrap. Chum and pink are the value tier, best smoked, canned, or folded into cakes and chowders where texture matters less than thrift.

Buying and Doneness

Everything starts with a good fillet — see Fresh Seafood & Fillets for what to look for at the counter. Salmon is at its best pulled at 125–130°F at the thickest point, when the center is just blushing; it will finish on the plate. Beyond flavor, salmon is one of the most heart-healthy proteins you can serve — the American Heart Association recommends fatty fish like salmon twice a week for its omega-3 fatty acids.