Pan Seared Lemon Garlic Salmon

This lemon garlic salmon recipe is the result of having leftover frozen salmon pieces from the Christmas Eve dinner I prepared for 17 people. In my Italian-American family, we make seafood on Christmas Eve, known as the “Feast of the Seven Fishes.” We do not always make all the seven fishes, but most years we try.

This year for Christmas Eve dinner I bought a box of frozen salmon pieces from Restaurant Depot and had a few pieces left in the freezer. So tonight, it was pan-seared salmon in a lemon butter garlic sauce.

For a tasty and tender piece of salmon, I like to pan-sear the fish for a few minutes on each side, then finish the salmon in the oven. For this, you will need an oven-safe skillet.

If you do not have an oven-safe skillet or you do not feel like using the oven that is okay. You can sear the salmon on both sides until the fish is done, just add a few more minutes per side.

How To Make Lemon Garlic Salmon

• Pre-heat the oven to 375 degrees

Preparing The Salmon:

• In a large oven-safe skillet add the butter and melt on high heat. Next, add the garlic and sauté until golden, about 1-2 minutes.
• Next, add the salmon pieces and pan-sear on both sides until golden brown, about 2 minutes per side.

• Finally, place the skillet into the oven and bake at 375 degrees for 10-12 minutes, or until the salmon reaches your desired firmness.

How To Serve Lemon Garlic Salmon:

• Serve the lemon garlic salmon with green vegetables and/or potatoes or your favorite grain.

Invent Your Recipe

For this lemon garlic salmon recipe, I am using butter to pan-sear the salmon. You could also use avocado, canola, or regular olive oil. If using butter or regular olive oil, make sure you are not heating the oil too hot as these two fats can burn at too high a temperature. If you use butter but are concerned about burning it, add a little canola or avocado oil to reduce the risk.

I am using frozen salmon pieces that I defrosted for this recipe. However, you could make this recipe with tuna steaks, shrimp, salmon, scallops, or fish fillet. The butter, lemon, and garlic sauce lends itself well to pan-searing seafood. For some additional flavor, you could add herbs, such as basil, thyme, oregano, or dill, or add some white wine or seafood stock to deglaze the pan.

I am serving this lemon garlic salmon with a side of broccoli that I tossed into the liquid after plating the salmon. You can serve this salmon with any vegetable you like, try green beans, asparagus, zucchini, eggplant, Brussels sprouts, or spinach. For a hearty meal add some potatoes, rice, quinoa, or couscous.

For more ideas like this lemon garlic salmon recipe, check out my seafood recipes.