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If you’re looking for an easy, delicious and healthy dinner, this parchment baked salmon is the perfect recipe. Everything is cooked together in a parchment paper pouch creating an almost mess free dinner that’s not only easy, but yummy, and good for you too! Best part? It’s ready in just about thirty minutes.
Happy Wednesday! Is anyone else’s week just flying by? We’ve been working hard on new recipe videos since Saturday and we just wrapped up last night. We filmed twenty new videos in four days, so I’m just a little bit tired, but of course, still ready to take on the remainder of the week. Filming videos is so much work, but it can also be fun, since it’s not just me in the kitchen cooking all day long.
Today I’m back to working on the computer, but a day of screen time is needed after four full days in the kitchen.
Also needed? A very easy recipe for dinner.
Enter this parchment baked salmon that I’m seriously just so in love with. It has some of my favorite spring ingredients of the moment: potatoes, salmon, lemon, and so many fresh herbs. Loving herbs right now.
All week long we’ve been talking about recipes my mom would love. Well, today’s recipe is one my mom would not love. She’s not too into fish. Like at all. But it’s OK because I know the rest of us will enjoy this recipe as it’s delicious, healthy, quick, easy, and pretty too!
If you and your family enjoy salmon, I highly recommend giving this recipe a try. Again, did I mention the no mess thing? It’s probably my favorite part. I mean, aside from the delicious taste.
Of course.
So here’s the story. I was talking with my cookbook editor a few weeks back and she mentioned that I had never done any parchment paper, packet style, recipes before. When she said this, I couldn’t believe that I had never thought to share a recipe of this style before.
Sure, I use parchment paper all the time, but I had never actually baked an entire meal inside a parchment paper packet.
Once I realized all of this, I quickly moved along to creating my first “parchment paper packet” recipe.
And this is where this salmon comes in.
For those of you who are wondering what the heck I am talking about, a parchment paper packet is an Italian way of cooking fish. To put it simply, you’re creating a packet out of parchment paper for your food to cook inside of. Not only does this save on mess and dishes, but cooking your food in parchment steams the food and cooks everything in their own juices.
Cooking food this way preserves nutrients and creates and insane amount of flavor because all of the aromas are trapped inside the parchment paper. Meaning you can get away with using less ingredients, but still come away with a delicious dinner.
And…it’s cooks everything really fast too.
YES PLEASE.
I decided to do my salmon with some classic ingredients, potatoes, fresh dill, and lots of lemon. You’ll layer the potatoes, salmon, and lemon slices on a large piece of parchment paper, then pour over a little seasoned olive oil, and then add plenty of fresh dill. From here you’ll enclose everything in the parchment paper and transfer to the oven to bake.
You see? Easy.
A few tips for success.
- be sure to slice the potatoes extremely thin so that they cook up in the same amount of time as the salmon. I find it best to slice the potatoes thinly on a mandolin.
- I found that using skin off salmon worked best, as this cooked up nicely inside the parchment.
- if you wanted to add a layer of green veggies, I recommend thinly sliced zucchini or a handful of fresh spinach in-between the potatoes and salmon.
To serve alongside, I made a simple dill yogurt sauce that is the perfect complement to this lemony dish. I also topped the salmon with fresh arugula and basil for a nice pop of green color, plus added flavor.
This recipe is very mediterranean in flavor, very fresh, and will be great for both spring and summer nights!
If you make this parchment baked salmon and love it, please be sure to leave a comment and/or give this recipe a rating! I love, love, love hearing from you guys and always do my best to respond to each and every one of you. Oh, and of course, if you do make this salmon, don’t forget to also tag me on Instagram so I can see! I love looking at the photos of recipes you all have made. It makes my day!
Parchment Baked Lemon Salmon and Potatoes with Dill Yogurt
Servings: 4 servings
Calories Per Serving: 711 kcal
Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
- 2 cloves garlic, minced or grated
- 2 lemons
- 1 tablespoon chopped fresh dill
- 2 teaspoons smoked paprika
- 2 small potatoes, very thinly sliced using a mandolin
- 4 6-8 ounce salmon fillets, skinned
- kosher salt and pepper
- fresh arugula and basil, for serving
- 1 cup plain greek yogurt
Dill Yogurt
- 1 tablespoon chopped fresh dill
- juice of 1 lemon
- 1 pinch crushed red pepper flakes
Instructions
- 1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Fold 4 large pieces of parchment paper (about 15x16 inches) in half. Open, and lay on half flat. 2. In a small bowl, stir together the olive oil, garlic, juice of 1 lemon, dill, smoked paprika and a pinch of salt and pepper. 3. Working on one side of the creased parchment, layer the potatoes, and season with salt and pepper. Place the salmon over the potatoes and drizzle with the olive oil sauce, and top with 2 lemons slices. Repeat with the remaining ingredients to make 4 packets. 4. To close, fold the parchment over salmon, pinching to seal the open sides and create a half-moon-shaped packet. Place on a rimmed baking sheet. Transfer to the oven and bake until the potatoes are tender, about 18-20 minutes. 5. Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, stir together the yogurt, lemon juice, dill, and a pinch of crushed red pepper. 6. Serve the salmon topped with dill yogurt, arugula, and basil. Enjoy!
The crispy potatoes on the bottom? The best.
This recipe is delicious! Taking cues from some of the comments, I par cooked my potatoes in the oven, just until I could easily pierce them with a fork. I also tossed them with a little olive oil and salt and pepper first. That seemed to do the trick while also allowing me to slice them a little thicker. I then layered zucchini and yellow squash slices on top of the potatoes, sprinkled a few thinly sliced shallots on that, and then finished with your method; fish, sauce, lemons. It was delicious! All my guests said it was the best salmon they’ve ever eaten! This will go in my “guaranteed hit” file!
Hey Cathy,
Happy Friday!!? I am thrilled to hear this recipe was enjoyed, thanks a bunch for giving it a try! xxT
I had never used parchment either, but it made the sealed ingredients so intensely flavorful and succulent! I subbed orange roughy and asparagus from my garden but used the seasoning for the packets and the yummy dill yogurt sauce—I used almost double the dill because were fond of it. Perfect meal! We had a side of herby fingerling potatoes that were incredible with a dab of sauce as well! A hit for sure.
Hi Lucy,
Happy Friday!! I am thrilled to hear that this recipe was enjoyed, thanks a bunch for giving it a go! xxT
I tried this and was very excited about the recipe because it looked so good. I have to say that I had a similar problem other people had after I let it bake for 20 minutes, I had over-done salmon and underdone potatoes. I used the vegetable slicer on my food processor, so the potato slices were very thin max 1/8″. Also, potatoes are not forgiving when it comes to not using enough salt, so they were flat-tasting even with the sauce.
Also, while the greek yogurt did get creamy on the salmon, I couldn’t taste the dill, lemon juice and the red pepper flakes were pointless, I’m afraid. All I tasted was sour. It overwhelmed the greens and really didn’t do much for the salmon.
I would suggest people make the yogurt mix at least a day before in order to leech some of the dill flavor. Also, salt the potato slices. I saw people baked them first and I think I will do that next time. Otherwise I will go back to sour cream and mayo instead of the greek yogurt.
I still feel this recipe has merit and I think I will need to make some changes to really make it to mine and my guests tastes. The smoked paprika was a perfect flavor to add and the oil mixture overall was a deligtful flavor profile.
Hey Andy, I am sorry you have had trouble. I would try pre-cooking the potatoes by either pre-roasting them or throwing them in the microwave for a few minutes before baking. I think this will solve your issue of un-even cooking. And of course, if you need more salt, please do add! For the sauce, yes if you made a day ahead it will surely have even more flavor. Great tip!! Hope this helps you! xT
My husband & I enjoyed this. Based on some of the comments, I placed the potatoes in the oven while it was preheating, which helped to get them cooking, it did make it more difficult to fold the parchment. We did need extra pepper, but that may just be our personal preference.
Hi Judy,
Thanks a bunch for giving this recipe a try, I am so glad to hear that it was a hit!! xTieghan
Love love love this recipe! Super easy and is SO delicious. Thank you for sharing!
Hi Rachel,
Awesome!! Thanks a lot for trying this recipe out, I love to hear that it was enjoyed! xTieghan
I love this recipe and plan to make it for a dinner party this week. Do you have recommendations for a vegetarian substitute for my veg guests?
Hey Paige,
You could do cauliflower in place of the salmon. I hope you love the recipe, please let me know how it turns out! xTieghan
I have to admit I’ve never tried salmon looking forward to giving it a go..wish me luck.
I hope you love the recipe Don!! xTieghan
While the salmon looked fabulous, and I had high hopes, after 18 minutes the salmon was overdone and the potatoes were undercooked. I sliced bite- potatoes very thinly, and still they were undercooked.
Hey Nancy,
So sorry to hear this. I do find that the mandolin gets my potato slices thinner than I ever would using a knife. So the key here is extremely thin potatoes and then I would have done the 20 minutes. I hope this helps for next time! xTieghan
sometimes when I cook with lemon peel my dishes come out with a bitter taste. It happened with this dish too. I think from the whole lemon slices in the on the salmon. what am I doing that causes this. It doesnt always happen.
Hey Steven,
So sorry to hear this! You really want to make sure your lemon is caramelized so you can avoid that bitter flavor. xTieghan
This looks absolutely delicious and I’m really eager to make it for dinner tonight. All I have is frozen salmon. Should I let it thaw before using or cook from frozen and adjust the cooking time? Thanks!
Hey Ana,
I would let the salmon thaw first and then follow the instructions as is. I hope you love the recipe, please let me know how it turns out! xTieghan
I’m not a huge salmon fan, but my husband is, so I try to cook it pretty often. I LOVED this recipe and he did too! Thank you!
I made it today for my folks. I did not have any paprika so I used Cayenne Pepper – only 1/4 tsp. My mother who is usually very picky about fish recipes, liked it a lot. I will surely make it again.
Thank you for this delicious, easy and quick recipe.
Hey Sakura,
Thanks so much for making this recipe, it makes me so happy that it was enjoyed. Happy Friday! xTieghan
Great recipe! I had to cook it for 30 minutes. The potatoes and salmon came out tender and the flavor was great (smoked spanish paprika made it so tasty)! The yogurt sauce was perfect! Paired it all with some steamed broccoli. A wonderful, easy to make dinner!
Thanks for sharing this recipe!!
Hey Susan,
I am so glad you enjoyed the recipe, thanks so much for making it! xTieghan
If my salmon has skin on the bottom, can I still follow this recipe and put potatoes under it?
Looks delicious!
Hey Emily,
Yes, that will work just fine. I hope you love the recipe. Please let me know if you have any other questions! xTieghan
This was a huge fail. I followed the recipe and added in zucchini as well but nothing about this was good. No flavor at all. I’ve enjoyed the other salmon recipes but won’t bother with this one again.
Hi Shannon! I am really sorry to hear that! Is there anything that could have gone wrong? Or anything I can help with? Please let me know! xTieghan
My family and I absolutely loved this dish! It’s efficient, flavorful, and beautiful, with all the colors! It’s will be a go-to recipe for years to come!
Love that!! Thank you Judy! xTieghan