Baked salmon is one of the most foolproof meals you can make — and yet most people cook it too long at too low a temperature and end up with dry, chalky fish. The fix is simple: high heat, short time, garlic butter that bastes the fish as it bakes. This comes together in 20 minutes and tastes like something that took far longer.
Ingredients
The Garlic Butter
Melt butter and mix with garlic, lemon zest, thyme, salt, and pepper. This is your sauce and basting liquid in one. Make it ahead if you like — it keeps for a week in the fridge and works on almost any fish or chicken.
The Bake
Preheat oven to 400°F (200°C). Line a baking dish with foil, lightly spray. Place salmon skin-side down. Spoon garlic butter generously over each fillet.
- Bake for 12–15 minutes — thickness dependent
- Salmon is done when it flakes easily at the thickest point with a fork
- For a slightly caramelized top: broil for the final 2 minutes
- Squeeze lemon juice over immediately before serving
- Finish with fresh parsley
"Salmon overcooks faster than you expect. At 400°F, a 3cm thick fillet takes 13 minutes. Check at 12. The moment it flakes, it is done — every additional minute dries it out. Use a thermometer if uncertain: 125°F (52°C) is perfect."
Perfectly baked salmon should still be very slightly translucent in the very center when you pull it from the oven. Carryover heat finishes it in 2 minutes of resting. If it is fully opaque throughout when it comes out, it is already overdone.