Easy Baked Salmon with Mayo

This delicious and simple baked salmon with a spicy garlic-lemon mayo is ready in 15 minutes flat thanks to your broiler and a warm oven! It's an easy oven roasted salmon recipe that turns out perfectly every time.

Ok so did you know that "mayo on salmon" is like, a thing?

I didn't but apparently, it is.

I learned this while reading one of the best cooking guides about salmon here from New York Times Cooking.

I was researching salmon cooking techniques to perfect this recipe for my Baked Salmon and Mango Salsa.

And in the guide from NY Cooking, I read the "old trick" about putting mayo on salmon!

Who knew.

This is my spin on this "old trick" and the results are nothing short of delicious!

I hope you love it😄

Ingredients

Here's what you'll need to make this recipe:

• Salmon - raw or thawed from frozen; I like a large piece of salmon or you can use filets;
• Mayonnaise
• Sriracha
• Garlic
• Salt
• Lemon

See recipe card for quantities.

Instructions

Here's what you'll do to make this recipe:

• Pre-heat the broiler in your oven and line a sheet pan with foil
• Pat raw salmon filets dry with a paper towel
• Mix up mayonnaise, sriracha, garlic, salt and lemon in a small bowl
• Spread over top the salmon filets
• Broil in the oven for 3-5 minutes; shut oven off the broiler and set the oven to 400 degrees F.
• Put the sheet pan with salmon on the middle rack in the oven and let the salmon finish cooking for another 10-13 minutes

See full instructions and some tips below.

Broiling the salmon before you finish it by baking it gives the top a nice, bubbly look and locks in a lot of flavour.

Baking it in the oven after broiling helps to prevent the fish from drying out, which is easy to do when cooking salmon!

Don't want to use your broiler?

No problem! This salmon with mayo is still delicious baked in the oven.

Here's what you'd do without the broiling step:

• Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees F
• Place the salmon filets on to pieces of tinfoil on a baking tray
• Pat raw salmon filets dry with a paper towel
• Mix up mayonnaise, sriracha, garlic, salt and lemon in a small bowl
• Cover the top of the salmon with the mayo mixture
• Wrap up the tinfoil around the fish to create a little pouch
• Bake in the oven for 13 - 15 minutes or until fish flakes easily with a fork

Variations

Salmon is a great protein to cook with because it goes well with a lot of different and delicious flavour combinations.

Instead of having the baked salmon and mayo with sriracha, take out the sriracha and one of these add ins:

• Brown sugar
• Dill
• Honey
• Lemon
• Maple syrup
• Mustard (dijon)
• Parmesan cheese
• Soy sauce
• Teriyaki

These are a few of my favourite combinations for salmon with mayo:

• Mayo, garlic, lemon and dijon mustard
• Mayo, dill, lemon slices
• Mayo, parmesan cheese and lemon

Atlantic vs. Pacific Salmon

Generally speaking, farmed salmon is from the Atlantic Ocean and wild salmon is from the Pacific.

Check at the store where you purchase your salmon or if you're buying frozen, check the label on the packaging.

Wherever possible, choose "wild caught" salmon.

More on types of salmon here.

For this baked salmon recipe, I'm using wild Coho Salmon, which has a really nice, mild salmon flavour and the fish flakes well when cooked.

Equipment

A sheet pan is all you need for this recipe to baked the salmon.

And you'll need foil or parchment paper to cover the pan for easy clean up.

Storage

Keep any cooked salmon in the fridge. Leftovers are good for up to 1 day.

This recipe doesn't freeze well after cooking so eat it up when you make it😄

What to serve with salmon?

Try something green when you're serving salmon!

Here are a few ideas:

• Steamed green beans with a little olive oil and Parmesan cheese on top
• A salad like this Easy Butter Lettuce and Pomegranate Salad or this one: Simple Romaine Salad with Radish and Parmesan
• Make 2 side dishes in one with Simple Roasted Broccoli and Potatoes (one pan)!
• Can't go wrong with some lovely steamed basmati rice and this Yummy Mango Salsa

Top tips

Should salmon be baked in oven covered or not covered?

Whether or not you need to cover the salmon or not when you bake it in the oven depends on a few things.

For example, in this recipe, you're helping to lock in moisture by spreading the mayonnaise on top.

And you're also broiling the salmon first before baking it in the oven which cuts the baking time (and therefore time for drying out) significantly.

Broiling first helps to start the cooking process with the high, hot heat so you don't have to bake as long in the oven.

If you're working with smaller filets, I recommend covering salmon when you bake it if you don't broil it first.

Wrapping salmon in foil or parchment paper known as salmon "cooked en papillote", seals in moisture, acts as an easy clean up and you can even add veggies into the little package.

Don't overcook the salmon!

It can be easy to do, especially if your filets are small - say under 4 oz (around the size of a deck of cards.)

To prevent overcooking, watch the salmon carefully when it's under the broiler.

Once you put the salmon into the warm oven to finish baking, check it after 5 minutes.

If it's not done (see below for how to tell), put it back in and check it after another 3-4 minutes.

How to know when the salmon is done

To know when your salmon is done baking, you can either:

• Check the internal temperature with a good instant read thermometer. The salmon is done when it reads 145 degrees F. This has to be in the thickest part of the fish
• Or, you can test for doneness using the "fork method": when the salmon flakes easily with a fork, in the thickest part of the salmon, it's done

If you're using small filets, cook for about 5-8 additional minutes (after broiling) in the oven

If you use a large piece like the one in the photos (Coho salmon), cook for an additional 10-13 minutes in the oven.

Is salmon skin good for you?

We know that those omega 3 fatty acids that are soooo good for us swimming around (ha!) in the salmon flesh but what about the skin of the salmon?

Well, the healthy omega 3 fats are actually in the skin too. The skin on salmon is generally safe to eat and provides the omega 3 fats, B vitamins and selenium - the same nutrition that the salmon flesh provides.

The only time you would consider skipping the skin is when the salmon is farmed. Farmed salmon typically has higher than safe levels of pollutants stored in the skin. Avoid buying farmed salmon if you can. If you can't, don't eat the skin.

Otherwise, the skin on wild salmon is not only fine to eat, it's packed with nutrition so dig in!

Hope you enjoy this recipe!

If you do, please rate and comment below - I love hearing from you😄

~April