Slow-Roasted Citrus Salmon With Herb Salad

By Alison Roman

Updated Feb. 10, 2020

Slow-Roasted Citrus Salmon With Herb Salad
Romulo Yanes for The New York Times
Total Time
35 minutes
Rating
4(4,293)
Comments
Read comments

This is truly the best way to cook salmon. Slowly roasting an already fatty fish in an even more luxurious fat (here, olive oil) makes it nearly impossible to overcook. Plus, you can flavor that oil with whatever you fancy — spices, herbs, citrus, chiles — which, in turn, will flavor the fish. It's a very simple method for cooking any large piece of fish (cod or halibut work well here, too). This makes it the ideal dinner party trick, sitting perfectly in the center of a Venn diagram where “looks impressive” and “not a ton of work” overlap. It also doubles beautifully. Store any leftover salmon in the remaining oil, which will keep it from drying out, and use it to elevate a salad or a bagel with cream cheese.

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Ingredients

Yield:4 to 6 servings
  • 1(1½-pound) piece skinless salmon fillet (or halibut or cod)
  • Kosher salt and black pepper
  • 2lemons, Meyer or regular, thinly sliced, plus 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
  • 1blood orange, mandarin orange or regular orange, thinly sliced
  • 6sprigs thyme, rosemary, oregano or marjoram (optional)
  • 1½cups olive oil
  • 2cups herbs, such as parsley, cilantro, dill and tarragon, roughly picked from the stem
  • Flaky sea salt, for serving
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (6 servings)

771 calories; 70 grams fat; 11 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 44 grams monounsaturated fat; 11 grams polyunsaturated fat; 12 grams carbohydrates; 2 grams dietary fiber; 2 grams sugars; 27 grams protein; 517 milligrams sodium

Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.

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Preparation

  1. Step 1

    Heat oven to 300 degrees. Season salmon with salt and pepper on both sides. Place in a large baking dish with sliced lemons, orange and thyme (or rosemary, oregano or marjoram), if using.

  2. Step 2

    Drizzle everything with olive oil and bake until salmon is just turning opaque at the edges and is nearly cooked through, 25 to 35 minutes.

  3. Step 3

    Toss fresh herbs with 1 tablespoon lemon juice and flaky salt. Serve alongside salmon.

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Ratings

4 out of 5
4,293 user ratings
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Comments

KTarr

As an Alaskan who practically (and joyfully!) subsists on wild Alaskan salmon, it's not necessary to remove the skin, unless making salmon patties, a salmon loaf, or a casserole. When baking or grilling, it's better to bake the fish skin side down to allow the skin, which is packed full of flavor, to add its nuance and oils to the dish. The salmon flakes right off the skin, once baked and/or grilled.

Jean/ Holland Ohio

I roast salmon ( or other fish) every week using a simplified variation of this recipe. For 1 1/2 lb of fish: In roasting skillet or casserole dish, add 1 cup of liquid: white wine, or combo of wine and citrus juice. Lemons, limes, oranges, even grapefruit work. (Zest citrus into a small bowl before squeezing the juice.) Add herbs—preferably fresh. (Tarragon and rosemary, yum. Experiment!) Add fish. Drizzle with olive oil. Top with pepper, salt and the citrus zest. Roast.

Christina

Ha ha Sometimes think I love the notes more than the recipes, thank you.

David Hardie

I use frozen concentrate orange when recipes call for orange juice plus the fresh slices of juice. Easy prep and will hold after cooking. Also I leave the skin on.

Ruth Domush

Has anyone used Cod with this recipe ?

melanie w

i found the sauce to be highly flavored with citrus, albeit slightly bitter, and had to spoon on top of salmon to taste it. I also didn’t understand the purpose of the blood oranges because I couldn’t really taste a distinctive flavor aside from citrus. Also, the recipe required a lot of expensive olive oil. I wouldn’t make this again all things considered, but the technique produced a moist salmon.

Richard X

Blood oranges have a distinctive taste and good olive oil is worth the splurge once in a while. You seem pleased with the results, but won't make this again. Do we need to know that?

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Credits

Adapted from “Dining In: Highly Cookable Recipes,” by Alison Roman

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