Tender Salmon smothered in a mouthwatering creamy garlic and herb Dijon sauce. Low carb and Keto approved, the sauce alone is addictive to the extreme!
Deliciously seasoned, pan fried salmon with crisp edges and flaky centres make the perfect weeknight meal. Finished in a rich and creamy Dijon sauce, you won’t believe how easy, fast and simple this salmon recipe is — especially with the added veg in the pan. Everyone loves this one!
A great salmon recipe should be easy to make, using minimal and easy to find ingredients that compliment and enhance the natural flavours of fresh salmon.
HOW TO COOK SALMON
When buying salmon, look for filets with a bright colour and fresh sea smell. Fresh salmon should be firm to touch with a shiny appearance.
- You can use either skin on or skinless salmon fillets.
- Remove salmon from the refrigerator about 15 minutes before cooking to bring them close to room temperature.
- Pat dry with paper towel to allow the edges to crisp evenly while cooking.
- Heat oil and butter in a large pan or cast iron skillet before adding your fillets
- Make sure your pan is nice and HOT.
- Season salmon just before cooking to prevent drawing out moisture and drying out your fish.
- Fry your fillets flesh-side down first (skin-side up) and leave them untouched to get a perfect sear.
HOW LONG TO COOK SALMON
Notice the colour along the sides of the fillets slowly begin to change to a paler colour, from the bottom where the fish is touching the pan up to the centre. Once the colour has moved up ½ – ¾ of the way up, it’s time to flip! What you’ll get is a tender, juicy and crispy fillet.
HOW TO MAKE CREAMY GARLIC DIJON SAUCE
- Leave the juices in the pan after searing your fish…that’s where all of the flavour is!
- Melt the butter in those juices and cook your garlic until fragrant — only about one minute to prevent the garlic from burning.
- Pour in chicken stock or broth, scraping up all of those delicious browned bits from the bottom of the pan.
- Simmer and reduce to half, whisk in cream and Dijon mustard and cook until sauce has thickened.
- If using heavy cream, you won’t need to thicken your sauce. However, if using half and half or a reduced fat cream, you may need to whisk 1 teaspoon of cornstarch with 1 tablespoon water until free from lumps to create a slurry. Whisk mixture into the centre of the pan and stir through until the sauce has thickened to your desired consistency.
- Return salmon to the pan, serve and ENJOY!
VEGETABLES
Adding asparagus into the pan is optional. Substitute with green beans, broccoli, cauliflower or Brussels sprouts.
HOW TO STORE LEFTOVERS
Leftovers can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.
MORE SALMON RECIPES
Stuffed with Creamy Spinach Dip
Pan Fried with Honey Garlic Sauce
Baked with Garlic Butter Baked
Teriyaki Glazed Salmon
Salmon with a Creamy Sun Dried Tomato Sauce
Creamy Dijon Salmon
Ingredients
FOR SALMON:
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
- 21 ounces salmon filets skin on or off
- 1 pinch salt to taste
- 1 pinch cracked pepper to taste
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon mild paprika
FOR CREAMY DIJON SAUCE:
- 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
- 4 cloves garlic minced
- ¾ cup low-sodium chicken stock or broth
- 1 cup heavy cream or half and half
- 1 heaped tablespoon Dijon mustard adjust to your taste
- 2 tablespoons fresh parsley chopped
- 1 pound asparagus stalks woody ends trimmed
- 3 lemon wedges to serve
Instructions
- Pat salmon dry with paper towel. Season salmon all over with salt, pepper, garlic powder and paprika.
- Heat oil and butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat until hot. Sear flesh-side down first (skin-side up), for 5 minutes or until cooked halfway up. Flip and cook for a further 3-4 minutes or until cooked to your liking. (Cook in batches of two if needed to avoid overcrowding your pan.)
- Once cooked, remove salmon from the pan and set aside. KEEP all of the flavourful juices in the pan.
- Return pan to medium-high heat and melt the butter in the juices. Sauté garlic until fragrant (about 30 seconds), then pour in the stock. Allow liquid to reduce to half while scraping browned bits from the bottom of the pan.
- Reduce heat to low-medium heat. Whisk in the Dijon mustard, cream and parsley. Add the asparagus and bring to a gentle simmer, while stirring occasionally, until asparagus is cooked and sauce has thickened. Season with salt and pepper to your taste.
- Add the salmon back into the pan, sprinkle with parsley, taste test sauce and adjust salt and pepper, if needed.
- Serve.
Notes
- You can use either skin on or skinless fillets.
- Remove salmon from the refrigerator about 15 minutes before cooking to bring them close to room temperature.
- Pat dry with paper towel to allow the edges to crisp evenly while cooking.
- Heat oil in a large skillet before adding your fillets and make sure your pan is nice and hot.
- Season just before cooking to prevent drawing out moisture and drying out your fish.
- Pan fry your fillets -- UNTOUCHED -- flesh-side down first (skin-side up) until cooked about ½ - ¾ of the way up. Then, flip and continue cooking on the other side.
- Leftovers can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.
Linda says
This recipe is excellemt! Thank you for sharing it. No changes needed but I did pour the sauce over the salmon. Delish! ❤️
Karina says
Hi Linda, that sounds absolutely delicious! I”m very happy to hear that it worked out well for you.
Gary says
First timers! We loved it!
We made the salmon, asparagus and creamy sauce separately and combined on our plates. Not sure what we missed cause it was so gooood!
Tiffany says
This recipe was so delicious. The prep was not intimidating, but easy to follow. Excellent flavored sauce that was so easy to make and generously pour over/under the salmon. YUM! This is going in the rotation. Thank you!
Carolyn says
Amazing! This was such an easy and DELICIOUS meal to make. Definitely making this again, restaurant quality.