Lemon Dill Salmon and Asparagus
Lemon dill salmon and asparagus is where gourmet meets quick. Featuring flaky salmon, tender asparagus, and a lemon dill sauce, it’s a restaurant quality meal for any night of the week. Whether you are entertaining friends or cooking for a hungry family, this meal can be on the table in thirty minutes and will impress them all.
When it comes to busy weeknights, complex recipes with long lists of ingredients simply won’t cut it. On the other hand, I also don’t want to sacrifice flavor in the name of efficiency.
Instead, I often rely on the simplicity of a sheet pan supper like this one pan garlic pepper pork Or this Garlic herb chicken and winter vegetables. One pan suppers not only have more complex flavors, but you also get the benefit of making a meal that does not require a lot of hands on attention.
With a light, tangy butter sauce this lemon dill salmon and asparagus checks all those boxes and more. It comes together quickly, doesn’t require a lot of hands on attention, and it’s got lots of flavor.
Since I suggest to serve it over a bed of farro, couscous, or rice, it’s technically not a one pan supper, but it’s still fits my requirements for a busy night, so I’ll allow it.
Recipe Updates: From Oven Baked Lemon Dill Salmon to Lemon Dill Salmon and Asparagus
When this recipe first debuted, it was just a lemon dill salmon recipe with a link to my easy oven asparagus. While it was an accurate depiction of how I would make it then, as my cooking has evolved so has this recipe.
Instead of making two dishes and plating them together, I combined them to make a more complete meal. Not only does save dishes, it elevates all the flavors and gives the whole meal a more gourmet twist.
What really prompted me to update the recipe is the restaurant quality sauce. In the name of flavor I swapped olive oil for butter and added white wine. There should be just enough to drizzle over steamed grains like farro, rice, or quinoa.
Buying Salmon: Fresh or Frozen
Salmon is one of the most common types of fish found in American supermarkets. Depending on your location you may find fresh, previously frozen, fresh-frozen, or flash frozen salmon. While fresh salmon is excellent the same day it’s caught, if it’s not salmon season I’ll happily use frozen salmon.
If buying fresh, try to buy it the same day you plan to use it, which makes this meal a great option for grocery day. For frozen salmon, defrost it overnight in the fridge or see the directions on the packaging.
Preparing the Salmon
The first step to cooking with salmon is to make sure that all the tiny pin bones have been removed. While you can buy salmon without them, it’s always a good idea to check before you cook.
To check for bones: running your fingertips gently across the cut side of the salmon – not the skin side. If you find bones, grab each one firmly and gently pull straight out. A pair of inexpensive fish bone tweezers makes this job easy.
The recipe calls for placing the skin side up, which allows for flavor of the lemon dill sauce to bake into the fish and technically poaches the salmon. If your salmon came without the skin it doesn’t matter which side you place down.
While you can serve this dish with or without the salmon skin, it’s much easier to remove after you’ve baked it. Slip the edge of your spatula or fish slicer between the skin and the flesh to get it started and the rest of it should peel right off.
Buttery White Wine Lemon Dill Sauce
The sauce for this dish is not just a mouthful to say, it’s a flavor explosion as well. This restaurant quality homemade sauce comes together quickly on the stove top. Melt the butter, add the white wine, lemon juice and zest, and garlic.
There is just enough of this sauce to cover the bottom of a 10″ by 15″ baking dish. If you need to adjust pan sizes to accommodate your fish, you may want to add a smidge more butter (my mom would be so proud!) The amount of sauce will slightly increase while it cooks, as the lemons break down.
Where’s the dill? We toss it with the sauce after it comes out of the oven. Being a tender herb, the flavor of the dill diminishes when cooked. The residual heat will infuse the flavors of the dill into the sauce without compromising the fresh herbal notes.
Don’t like to cook with wine or don’t have any on hand? For this recipe it’s totally fine to omit it with no replacements. It adds another depth of flavor, but it’s not absolutely essential to putting a tasty dinner on the table. I often keep a bottle of dry sherry on hand, but any dry white will work, especially the one you are serving with dinner.
Tips for cooking with lemons:
- Zest the lemon using a microplane before you juice it.
- To extract more juice from your lemon, roll it between your palm and the countertop using firm pressure before slicing it open.
- Juice the lemon into a small mesh strainer. It will catch all the seeds and pulp, while letting the juice flow through.
Oven Roasted Asparagus
To prep your asparagus remove any woody ends and give them a thorough rinse. Asparagus is grown in sandy soil, which can have a tendency to cling to the little leaves at the top.
I typically chop off the bottom inch or two, to remove the dry woody section. I find that the snap trick – where you bend an asparagus stalk until it snaps and use only the top – isn’t accurate and leads to throwing away more than necessary.
Lemon Dill Salmon and Asparagus Recipe
Lemon dill salmon and asparagus is proof that you don’t have to sacrifice flavor in order to get a meal on the table quickly. In under 30 minutes you can serve up flaky salmon and tender asparagus, with a restaurant quality buttery lemon dill sauce. Serve with farro, quinoa, rice, or pasta for a complete meal.
For more salmon ideas try this Garam Masala Salmon or see all of my main dish recipe ideas.
If you like this recipe, please give it a FIVE-STAR rating, leave a comment, and share it on your favorite social channel!
Lemon Dill Salmon and Asparagus
Ingredients
- 1 – 1 /2 pounds salmon fillet
- salt
- pepper
- 2 whole lemons
- 6 tablespoon butter
- 2 cloves garlic
- 2 tablespoon dry white wine
- 1 tablespoon chopped fresh dill
- 1 bunch asparagus
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
- Remove any pin bones from the salmon and season the skinless side with salt and pepper.
- Thinly slice one lemon. Zest and juice the other lemon. Thinly slice garlic cloves. Chop the dill.
- In a small pan or microwave safe container melt the butter. Remove from heat, stir in garlic, lemon juice and zest, and wine.
- Pour sauce into the bottom of a 10' x 15" oven safe pan. Arrange lemon slices down the sides of the pan. Place the salmon skin side up in the center of the lemon slices. Divide the asparagus into four bunches and place around the edges of the salmon.
- Bake for 14 – 16 minutes, or until the internal temperature of the salmon reaches 145 degrees.
- Remove from the oven and peel off the salmon skin. Carefully transfer the salmon to a cutting board. Add the dill to the sauce and stir to combine and coat the asparagus. Slice the salmon into 4 equal parts and carefully return to the baking dish.
- Serve with your favorite rice, grains, or pasta.
We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. Check out my Amazon shop to see all of my recommended kitchen tools.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated and is for general information purposes only. For the most accurate information, calculate using your select brands and exact measurements.
Just got a call from one of my siblings on recipes for fish. I basically gave her this one! LOL
It’s been a good while since I made oven baked salmon. My recipe is similar to yours but I haven’t tried it with asparagus yet. Looks like it’s the highest time to do so! 🙂
I hope you try it! You can’t go wrong with salmon and asparagus.