How To Cook Salmon In The Oven With Foil

Making healthy food for family dinner does not need to be difficult. Learning how to cook salmon in the oven with foil is one of the easiest ways to make a healthy dinner.

This post is in collaboration with a few of my friends. Wendy, Barbra-Sue, Krista, and Hollyn are very talented and sweet friends. I know that you will enjoy their posts just as much as I do. I will link their posts at the end of this one so be sure to check them out.

Healthy Food For Family

Fresh salmon is a very popular fish as well as one of the most nutritious foods on the planet. Salmon is rich in omega-3 fatty acids, one of the most studied nutrients. Omega-3’s have been shown to fight depression, improve risk factors for heart disease, improve mental disorders, and so much more.

Omega-3’s are only one of the benefits that salmon has to offer. Salmon is high in B vitamins, an excellent source of protein, can help to combat inflammation, and is seriously delicious. 

Needless to say you can feel confident about learning how to cook salmon for your next healthy meal.

An Easy And Healthy Family Dinner

The first time that I made salmon for my family I was super intimidated. I grew up in the south and have been landlocked my entire life. The only kind of fish that I remember having as a child was fried catfish and even that was an extremely rare occurrence. 

My husband grew up in Bay Area California with ready access to fresh fish of all different varieties. He loves all types of seafood where I usually take more of a grit my teeth and bare it approach to all things fishy. I do however enjoy salmon so I wanted to learn how to cook it both because it is a healthy food for family dinner but also because I know how much my husband enjoys fish.

I may be biased but I think this is by far the best baked salmon recipe. And it is now one of my favorite recipes for a weeknight dinner.

Do You Cook Salmon In The Oven Covered Or Uncovered?

I have found that the best way to get a delicious and flavorful salmon is by creating a foil packet and cooking the salmon in the packet. The end result has so much flavor and the best texture.

I create the foil packet by placing the fish with the salmon skin down into the center of the foil. I like to use a heavy duty foil for this but any kind of aluminum foil should work just fine.

Ingredients For Baked Salmon In Foil

I purchase center cut salmon with the skin still on from my local grocery store. At my store I have the option to purchase one large piece of salmon or individual salmon fillets. I have always opted for the individual salmon but if that is not available in your local store you can easily portion out a large salmon fillet yourself at home. 

The full recipe instructions are included at the bottom of this post.

For this easy salmon recipe you will need:

• 4 salmon fillets
• Aluminum foil
• 1 lemon, sliced into lemon slices
• Fresh Dill 
• Fresh Rosemary
• Salt

Preparing Your Salmon

I like to start by laying out my sheets of foil and placing one fish fillet onto each piece of foil. This way when I am seasoning the salmon all of the mess is contained. This really is the perfect dish because it takes minimal prep and with the foil packs clean up is a breeze.

Next I will sprinkle each piece of salmon with the fresh herbs and salt.

Finally, I top each salmon piece with a slice of lemon. Then fold the foil up into a pocket around the salmon.

The Best Way To Freeze Salmon

At this point in the process you can place the tin foil wrapped salmon into gallon freezer bags and freeze it for a meal to have later on. Freezing the salmon now will have the best result rather than trying to freeze cooked salmon. If you think I was nervous just to be cooking salmon for my family let me tell you that I was very skeptical about using it as a freezer meal.

I have done this many times by now however and never had an issue. Pull the salmon out the day before you want to serve it. I put the bag with the frozen salmon in the fridge to thaw out, allowing about 24 hours for this to happen. Then I will cook it like normal. This really makes a great main dish because it takes almost no effort at all.

Regardless of if you decide to freeze your salmon or not the next part of the cooking process is the same. You will cook your salmon in the oven with foil either straight from you wrapping it up or after it has completely thawed in the fridge.

Cooking Your Salmon

Place the tin foil wrapped salmon onto a baking sheet and cook in the oven at 400°F for 15-20 minutes. The exact time you need to allot for baking time depends on the thickness of the thickest part of your salmon.

The salmon will change to a beautiful pink color and will flake, or separate along the white lines, when it is done cooking. Overcooked salmon becomes orange, crumbly, and frankly pretty yuck. To avoid overcooking your salmon check it first at 15 minutes and then again at 3 minute intervals until it has cooked through.

Don’t forget to check out these posts for a few more amazing posts about healthy living in the kitchen.

1. Wendy from Little House Simple Living
2. Barbra-Sue from Kowalski Mountain
3. Hollyn from Our Simple Graces
4. Krista from Hill Top In The Valley