Slow Roasted Salmon

This slow-roasted salmon recipe is moist, flavorful, and easy to make. It's a quick and healthy meal that's perfect for weeknights but also celebratory enough for special occasions. It uses mostly pantry ingredients and it's ready in just 35 minutes!

Serve this slow-roasted salmon with a side of roasted mini potatoes and sautéed asparagus with garlic and parmesan for a deliciously easy meal.

This recipe was originally published in 2016. We've updated the post with some new photos and more information, but we've left the delicious recipe exactly the same.

Whether for weeknights or special occasions, we all need quick-win recipes like this one. This juicy, slow-roasted salmon comes together easily with a few ingredients; a bit of olive oil, the perfect mix of seasonings, some salt, and fresh dill.

We like to bake salmon low and slow like this because it retains more of its moisture and oils, resulting in that melt-in-your-mouth texture. It takes a little bit more time, but it's well worth it. Serve it up family-style for a casually elegant dish that pairs well with any vegetable, salad, or pasta dish. And don't forget about a glass of wine like a chardonnay or sauvignon blanc for a well-rounded dinner!

How to make slow-roasted salmon

This slow-roasted salmon is easy to make in a few simple steps:

1. Start by heating your oven and getting a baking sheet ready. If you prefer to remove the skin, do it now.
2. With the salmon laying face up on your prepared baking sheet, top it with the seasonings and drizzle it with olive oil. As you press everything into the fish it will make a bit of a paste.
3. Now you'll pop it in the oven and bake it low and slow, for a little longer than usual. You'll know it's done when the flesh feels a bit firm. That's it!

Full recipe instructions are in the recipe card below.

Slow-Roasted Salmon Ingredients

The list of ingredients might be small, but this slow-roasted salmon dishes up big flavor. It's made with mostly pantry ingredients, which keeps things simple, too. Here's everything you'll need:

• Salmon – fresh, wild-caught salmon is best. Or you could also use steelhead trout.
• Seasonings – chili powder and smoked paprika for mild smoky spice, and Italian seasoning for a rounded blend of herbs.
• Sea salt – enhances all the other flavors.
• Olive oil – for coating the fish, helping the spices to stick, and keeping things moist.
• Dill – fresh minced dill for its slightly citrus taste.

Should I remove the salmon skin?

Removing the salmon's skin is optional but we like to do it when slow roasting. With all the moisture, the skin never gets a chance to crisp up so it ends up being gummy in texture and unappetizing.

We prefer to remove the skin before because we find it's easier, but you could do it after as well and just discard it. To remove the skin, use a sharp knife with a blade that is longer than the width of the salmon filet, and cut at a downward angle as close to the skin as possible.

See our lemon salmon burgers post for detailed, step-by-step instructions on how to remove salmon skin.

Slow-Roasted Salmon: FAQS

How to serve slow-roasted salmon

This is a versatile salmon recipe that we make often. It's perfect for weeknights, but we also love serving it at dinner parties and special occasions, too. Here are some ways we love to enjoy this simple salmon baked low and slow:

• For a heartier meal, serve it family-style with some creamy roasted garlic mashed potatoes and a vegetable side like garlic butter asparagus or garlic parmesan zucchini.
• To add protein to a delicious salad like our spring mix salad or crispy kale salad with roasted beets.
• With some simple roasted root vegetables and pears.
• Tucked into some warm tortillas with shredded cabbage, and drizzled with our shrimp taco sauce.
• With a bowl of pasta smothered in our dreamy cauliflower alfredo sauce.
• Top it with different fresh herbs you have on hand like mint, chives, cilantro, thyme, or rosemary.

Popular salmon recipes

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Slow Roasted Salmon Recipe

Prep: 5 minutes mins

Cook: 25 minutes mins

Total: 30 minutes mins

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This slow-roasted salmon recipe is moist, flavorful, and easy to make. It's a quick and healthy meal that's perfect for weeknights but also celebratory enough for special occasions. It uses mostly pantry ingredients and it's ready in just 35 minutes!

4 servings

Ingredients

• ▢ 1 fillet salmon or steelhead trout (about 2 ½ lbs)
• ▢ 2 teaspoons chili powder
• ▢ 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
• ▢ 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
• ▢ ½ teaspoon sea salt
• ▢ 1 teaspoon olive oil
• ▢ Chopped fresh dill (to top)

Instructions 

• Preheat your oven to 300 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. If you'd like, remove the skin from the salmon. See notes.
  
• Lay the salmon on the baking sheet and sprinkle the top with chili powder, smoked paprika, Italian seasoning, and sea salt. Drizzle with the oil then pat the oil and spices so that they form a paste on top of the salmon.
  1 fillet salmon or steelhead trout, 2 teaspoons chili powder, 1 teaspoon smoked paprika, ½ teaspoon sea salt, 1 teaspoon olive oil, 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
  
• Bake in the oven for 25-30 minutes. When the salmon is done cooking, it will feel firm but still give a little when you press a finger into the top. If you have a meat thermometer, it should read 140 degrees Fahrenheit. Serve with the chopped fresh dill on top.
  Chopped fresh dill
  

Notes

To remove the skin from the salmon, lay the fish skin side down on a flat surface with the tail end (the small end) towards your dominant hand. Cut straight down through the flesh (but not the skin!) very close to the end then turn your knife on a 45-degree angle and slide it along the fish. It helps to use one hand to pull the skin taut while you slide the knife. It's a little tricky at first, but after you do it a few times it becomes pretty easy.
Also, make sure the knife you use is super sharp! For step-by-step photos, check out our lemon salmon burgers post. 

Nutrition

Serving: 1 serving = ¼ of the recipe, Calories: 416kcal (21%), Carbohydrates: 1g, Protein: 56g (112%), Fat: 19g (29%), Saturated Fat: 3g (19%), Polyunsaturated Fat: 7g, Monounsaturated Fat: 7g, Cholesterol: 156mg (52%), Sodium: 432mg (19%), Potassium: 1422mg (41%), Fiber: 1g (4%), Sugar: 1g (1%), Vitamin A: 672IU (13%), Vitamin C: 1mg (1%), Calcium: 39mg (4%), Iron: 3mg (17%)

© Author Kristen Stevens

We have thoroughly tested this recipe for accuracy. However, individual results may vary. See our full recipe disclosure here.