Lots of people love eating salmon but don’t cook it at home because firstly, they’re unsure how to cook salmon and secondly, they don’t know how to tell when the salmon is cooked. So we’re on a mission to remove those doubts and set the record straight on just how easily you CAN easily enjoy delicious salmon recipes at home.
Your guide on how to cook salmon
It’s important to preheat your oven or pan before adding your salmon (or any fish) to cook. Fish cooks quickly, so it’s important it cooks at an even temperature from start to finish.
Salmon fillets are incredibly family-friendly and readily available fresh or frozen from supermarkets and fishmongers. You will usually find it fillet portioned, boned and ready to cook. You can choose to cook your fillets with skin on or skin off, salmon skin is delicious when crispy, but not so great if it’s soggy, so consider your salmon recipe when choosing!
Don’t hold back on salmon recipes – you don’t need these Masterchef skills to cook fish! via GIPHY
Delicious and healthy salmon
Salmon is one of the best foods you can put on your plate! It’s full of heart-healthy Omega-3s and other vital vitamins and minerals and is an excellent choice for low-carb lifestyles as it contains no carbohydrates. Finally, Salmon is a great fish for kids because of its mild taste, it’s brilliant for pincer grip practice as a baby and toddler finger food too.
So what are you waiting for? Learn how easy it is to cook salmon and let’s get busy cooking tasty salmon!
How to cook salmon three ways
1. Air fryer salmon
Get your air fryer out (if it’s not already) because using this popular appliance is a quick and easy way to cook salmon. In just 10 minutes (and two steps) you can have perfectly cooked salmon that is seared on the outside and lovely and tender in the centre.
- Preheat the air fryer to 200°C for a few minutes while you season each side of the salmon fillets with salt and pepper. A sprinkle of paprika gives lovely colour with a hint of flavour too but not overpowering salmon recipes.
- Place the fish in a lightly oiled basket and cook for 7-10 minutes, depending on the thickness of your fillet. There’s no need to turn it as the hot air circulates around it. Serve while hot or let cool completely and add to salads.
2. Crispy fried skin salmon
If it’s a fillet of salmon with crispy skin you want, cooking in a frying pan is a perfect way to achieve it!
- Take the salmon fillet (or fillets) and pat their surface dry with some kitchen paper towel (this assures maximum crunch).
- Season the salmon with a sprinkle of salt.
- Over medium heat, heat enough olive oil to cover the base of a non-stick frying pan and place the salmon in the pan, skin side down. Using an egg flip spatula, apply pressure to the salmon for a few seconds so the skin sits flat on the frying pan surface.
- Cook for around five minutes before carefully turning it over. Cook for another two minutes or until cooked through. Serve skin side up.
3. Oven-baked salmon
Baking salmon in the oven is super easy, you can even bake it in the same dish or tray as vegetables to save on dishes. Winning!
- Preheat the oven to 180°C.
- Place salmon fillets on a lined baking tray or in a lightly oiled ovenproof dish.
- Season with salt and pepper and bake it in the oven for eight to 10 minutes.
- If you’re cooking a whole side of salmon, cook for 20 minutes per kilogram.
How do I know if my salmon is cooked?
No one wants to ruin a perfectly good piece of salmon by overcooking. On the other end of the scale, no one wants a whiff of salmonella either, so understanding when and how salmon cooks is important. And once you know, it’s easy to tell!
- If you press down on the piece of salmon and the flesh of the fish flakes or separates easily where the white lines are, it’s cooked. You can take it off the heat!
- Salmon will change from translucent and vivid in colour to an opaque light pink colour as it cooks. At the point of turning over the fillet in the pan, you can usually see that the fillet has cooked halfway through on one side.
- Overcooking your salmon won’t make you sick, but it will result in a dry and tough piece of fish.
- It’s worth noting also that when learning how to cook salmon, it will squeeze out a white substance – this is nothing nasty and perfectly edible. It’s salmon proteins called albumin, and the gentler you are with cooking the salmon, the less of this white substance will be pushed to the surface.
Salmon recipes for your week
Who will be adding a salmon recipe to the menu this week? For some amazing salmon recipes, be sure to check out Tassal, home to Tasmanian-grown Atlantic salmon for more than 35 years. One look at Tassal’s Instagram feed will have you planning your salmon recipes for the week in no time, YUM!
