I’m going to teach you about the magic of low ‘n slow salmon – once you try this method, you’ll never cook fish another way.
Low and slow is the ticket to most tender, succulent and true-to-flavor food, just like my number one favorite recipe in the whole wide world Baby Back Ribs with Asian Orange-Ginger Glaze 
proves.
The concept is simple
When you cook fish on high heat – the proteins immediately seize up – which is why it’s so easy to overcook fish, and end up with dry, chalky and tough piece of seafood. I mean, if you were set on a blazing hot bed of coals, you’d seize up too, screaming, “HOLY SHIT THAT’S HOT!”
Now…lets think sauna…jacuzzi…You see, gentle cooking breaks DOWN the meat, giving it a chance to relax…chill out…have a margherita….get a tan. For fish, low and slow creates the most dreamy, silky-smooth, melt in your mouth texture. And the surprise…the cooking is so gentle that the fully cooked salmon looks almost EXACTLY like it did before cooking.
Salmon before cooking….
Slow Cooked Salmon cooked 250F for 25 minutes….
A little peek at the inside – yes, it looks exactly like it does pre-cooked, but it’s cooked to a silky texture.
Slow Cooked Salmon
Ingredients
- 4 fresh salmon fillets or steaks
- spice blend of your choice
- 1 tbsp olive oil
Instructions
- Remove salmon from refrigerator and let sit on counter while your oven is pre-heating. Heat oven to 250F. Line baking sheet with parchment paper or tin foil.
- Bed of: Your choice! Scatter a bed of herbs, fennel or onions. Season salmon with salt, pepper and/or spice blend of your choice. Lay salmon on top of bed. Brush with: olive oil on top of salmon.
- Bake, uncovered, for 25 minutes. The salmon, fully cooked, will look very similar to uncooked salmon (so don't judge doneness by sight). Finish with chopped nuts or herbs.
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Is it safe to assume
that the texture and taste will be as delicious if I make this ahead and serve it cold for Easter buffet ?
Hi Lena – sorry for late reply, we were off on Easter and didn’t check messages! Well, for future reference, absolutely yes! I love this salmon room temperature on salads, and to put on crackers. I’d warm up the cold salmon just a tiny bit – maybe microwave on medium for 60 seconds.
Every time I google “slow cooked salmon” I keep coming back here… and I keep getting the right answer! Slow and low… so good. Thanks for posting, and I’m sure I’ll be back in a month or two for the proper temperature and time. Thanks Jaden!
Thanks so much Kyle! You’ll love the salmon – we just had it this past weekend.
I like my salmon to be cooked through. Will this method produce the results I’m looking for.
Hi there – the salmon is cooked through, but the texture may not be what you are used to. The texture is silky, buttery and melt in your mouth.
This is the most entertaining recipe I’ve read online ever 🙂 I loooove my salmon chilled out! Totally trying this recipe and following this blog – thank you! xxx
I tried it salmon I like your salmon
cooking way
OMG!!! I just did this! And for the first time in my life I have made the Salmon just the way I have always loved, but never could seem to make at home!!! THANK YOU AND BLESS YOU!!
HOW DO I RE-WARM THE FISH FOR THE DAY AFTER
Hi there – you can warm the fish in the microwave, set to medium power for 1 minute.
can you cook a whole sockeye salmon this way
Hi Diane – yes, just double the cooking time if cooking whole.
I am trying this for the first time but my filets are about 1 1/2 inches thick and no mention is made of thickness. I do like my salmon medium rare and am hoping this works out. Side note, in addition to medium rare I like the flavorlng of being grilled. So I am going to move this under a broiler to finish it off. I will let you know the results.
I love this cooking method and I’m so glad you perfected it for us. The same with grilling a steak. Thank you for doing the hard work and making my life easier with your delious recipes and cooking techniques.
Hi steamy kitchen,
i’m new in cooking. While the oven is preheated for 20 min, the salmon needs to sit in room temperature during this time. Before it sit in room temperature, could i ask if the salmon is from the freezer or fridge.
Hi Annabel – while the oven is preheating, just have the salmon at room temperature.
Thaw the salmon completely in the refrigerator  if frozen. Once thawed, from the refrigerator to stand at room temperature.
I never cook fish, but for a birthday request I used your recipe to cook salmon. I did two different pans: one with a bed of yellow onions and one with a bed of red onions. We both agreed the red onions gave it more flavor and topped with a papaya, red onion, mint salsa it was no-fail and great!
Oops, my fish cooked too much, it turned brown (I used tuna) instead of the beautiful raw fish color. What did I do wrong? Should it not have been sealed in foil? Thanks!
Hanni, I don’t believe there was mention of foil in the instructions. If there was I missed it.
I’m using this method tonight for the first time. I’m really looking forward to moist, silky salmon. I generally don’t order it in a restaurant because more often than not it’s overcooked.
Hi! If you place salmon on top of a bed of herbs, fennel, onion, etc., you don’t need foil — BUT — I love using foil for no-mess and easy clean up.
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Thanks for sharing. Really simple recipe. Bon Appetit!
I finally got this to work on a whole side on a Traeger by setting it to 180 and putting in a temperature probe.
According to my info it should be about 107-112 when finished and that’s when I pulled it out. Damn brilliant result.
It wasn’t piping hot but is perfect for a lazy summer afternoon barby. Cold is great the next day with a mustard-yogurt or horseradish mayo dressing.
We loved this recipe! Friends brought us fresh caught Columbia River salmon and I was looking for a new idea. Your recipe was PERFECT! I followed the option with the oranges and onions, substituting shallots for the onions because I was out of onions. You were right the fish came out perfectly done – I hate overcooked dry fish – eventhough some of the pieces were of unequal size.
Thank you so much. This is my new go to fish recipe. If I can cook prime rib at 250*, why not fish/
Hi Jayden! So here’s the thing. I’ve been following another recipe for slow-cooked salmon for months. I was looking for other variations, came across this article and I realised that you’ve been plagiarised!! The writer changed it up quite a bit but I think it’s still really obvious. I don’t know if anyone has pointed it out to you yet so I just thought I’d let you know. Here’s the recipe:
http://simplygluten-free.com/blog/2010/09/slow-roasted-salmon.html
Yours still looks much more pro though. I love the addition of flowers. Thanks for the recipe!
I like this idea.
I’m thinking that I could do it in a Traeger set to 250 but I was thinking of having it sit on a fennel bed. As I love whole fish I thought that I could simply cut steak widths almost down to the backbone leaving it intact.
That way when it’s cooked I could slide off a portion onto each person’s plate leaving most of the bones behind. Do you think that would work?
made this tonight with Mahi-Mahi. It was fantastic. Like other’s have said i’ll never cook fish any other way.
I followed the guidelines and cooked six salmon fillets in 250f oven for 30 minutes. The fish was a bit overlooked.
Anyhow, I think it’s the best way to cook salmon fillet.
You’re = your. 🙂 Auto correct struck.
Yum! I can’t wait to try this with cod tonight! I’m on a strict fitness model diet and I am so excited by your recipes! Not only do they look and sound amazing…. but you’re wit and hilarious sense of humor gives them even more flavor. 🙂 Thanks for making such an awesome blog! 🙂
I just made this tonight with the coriander. AMAZING! This recipe will be in my regular cooking cycle.
I like the idea of slow baked fish. I prefer tilapia as it has lower sodium than salmon. Place it on a bed of white onions. Delicious!
Hi Jaden, I googled “slow-cooked salmon” and found your page–LOVE! I do have a quick question–I wanted to make some salmon *tonight, but preferably in the slow cooker; can these recipes above apply in the crockpot? If so, how long would you recommend [both on low or high]? Thanks Jaden!
well you’re in luck!
I posted the Slow Cooker Salmon over at Bon Appetit
Do you recommend that the fish be cooked covered or uncovered? I tried either way to get the same coloration as you, but not getting the gorgeous rich color like in your pictures. It does taste delicious; I used a lemon-and-scallion-whites bed with a miso sake paste and it came out awesome. My grandparents now believe I can cook. Thanks!
I think the coloration depends on the color of the fish – my salmon was really bright, deep salmon colored. I like cooking it covered with the herbs/fruit, helps keep it moist.
How did I missed your blog? I love everything I see here.. gives me inspiration to cook more. Thanks!
Thank you! Nice to meet you.
Made this afor my lunch at work today in the toaster oven with some random pork seasoning I found in the kitchen–it’s FANTASTIC! I have always struggled with cooking salmon to the right texture, and this is pretty much fail-proof. I had mine on a bed of fresh mizuna, yummmm. Thanks so mych for sharing!
Juicy, soft and suble, i normally grill my Salmon so it is almost raw in the core, but this is a much better way of doing it. !
Trying your gucci prime steak today 🙂
Try the following soup recipet:
Blend 8 lbs of ripe tomatoes to a pulp.
using a cheese cloth let the juice drip from the pulp.
1 tsp. salt and suggar
on a grill skillet grill 2 scallops per serving turning the scallop 90 deg to get a nice pattern.
in each bowl place a small pile of tomato, celery and basil and place the the grilled scallops arround it.
Enjoy. the taste is fabolous.
Regards from Denmark
best regards
Peter
Jaden, I made your slow cooked salmon on the grill. It was delicious! Check out my version…It’s a bit different, but the friends and fam really enjoyed it. I posted it on my blog.. Thanks for the great technique.
Sweet Moses. I made this (on a bed of white onions, brushed with a mustard bbq sauce) last night for salmon tostadas, and I may never go back to any other way of cooking salmon. Thank you for sharing!
I stumbled on this method about a year ago, and I just wanted to tell you, this is the only way I cook salmon now. Low and slow just makes it so tender and silky. I feel spoiled. Thank you so much for sharing this.
Would this work for other types of fish?
Yes, though I really like thick, firm fish using this method. If the fish filet is thinner, cut the cooking time by a few minutes.
I made this tonight on a bed of onions w/ sprinked brown sugar. It was wonderful! I did, however, broil the fish for two minutes to firm up the top (personal preference).
yum – brown sugar on the onions! great idea to broil to crisp up the top. I guess you could pan fry one side til crispy and finish in oven low and slow too. ~jaden
I just saw this recipe and had to try it the same day! The results were FANTASTIC!! I did have the slight issue of that white gelatinous stuff oozing out of the salmon a little, but I scraped it off and it was fine. The taste was amazing, it looked beautiful, and it was very moist and tender. I made the meal 2 days ago and I’ve been dreaming about a repeat ever since. My whole family loved it! Thank you so much for the recipe/inspiration and I posted my whole dinner menu on my blog if youre interested!
I’m coming to the party late, as I just stumbled upon your site last week. I L-O-V-E salmon, and gave this a whirl tonight. I don’t have any “Jungle Boogie”, but I stumbled across a roasted red pepper and garlic seasoning from Sam’s Club so I figured I’d throw that on there. Three words:
NOM NOM NOM!
My kids, who normally don’t like any fish that doesn’t come in battered stick form, were intrigued enough by the smell to take a small flake to taste. I quickly found myself without enough to eat for dinner!
Thanks for your efforts here. You seem to put quite a lot of effort into your blog, and your humor shines through! Kudos!
I never wrote a comment about recipes before but I just felt compelled to do that today. I cooked this recipes yesterday, without the Jungle Boogie :), and it was fantastic. I never had such tasty salmon before. The colors are amazing and just looking the dish is enough to make you drool. Thanks for sharing such great recipe, this is very generous of you. I also cooked noodles and used the sauce from Citrus Fish recipe by you. I place the noodles, tropical salmon on top of each other and then drizzled the citrus sauce on top. I never had such a yummy salmon dish before even in best restaurants. And that is why I wanted to write this review. Thanks again!
Hello Jayden! Last night I did this recipe for my grandma’s b-day (she’s 82 now) I stressed looking for the jungle boogie seasoning so, I created a sort of rub with your ideas: tropical dried fruit (assorted), mango juice, orange juice, parsley, ginger (not a lot), and salt pepper and garlic powder. Put it in a food processor and their you go. The rest I just followed as you said and left it a little longer in the oven because of the rub and it turned out to be absolutely delish!! And with your tropical rice we truly had a wonderful tropical par-tay!!! Got to your site thru google and you got yourself another fan! thank you for sharing your recipes… p.s. please tell me where to find the jungle boogie season, not only jealosy and envy but having dreams about it (ha,ha) please e-mail me for help!!
Could I recieve a printer friendly version of above salmon recipe ?
This really sounds Good !!!!!
Thanks,
Thank you so much for this recipe! I made it twice last week with slight variations, but either way, I simply adore it! The salmon stays flavorful, and the texture is to die for. I posted my version (from your tips) at my blog:
http://www.tomatokumato.com/2008/03/03/slow-cooked-salmon/
Thanks again!
Hey Jaden I finnaly made the salmon (with some diet modifications) – it is everything you promised and delic even with out the salsa and other garnishes. Check out my diet version http://simplygluten-free.blogspot.com/2008/01/salmon-with-braised-leeks-and-spinach.html
Gorgeous, thanks for the suggestion to look this up. I am definately making this!
Jacqueline- I wish I could get Meyer Lemons here….
Jenn- I’m so happy that you loved the recipe! Fresh mango relish REALLY sounds good…I’ll have to try it with that next time.
Honest Ape- Oh good! I hope she’s not making Asparagus Fro-Yo!!
My wife, Alex, made this. It was the best! In fact, she’s been making me all kinds of good food from your blog. Next up is the Fro-Yo and the Asparagus. mmmmmm.
I just wanted to comment and say thank you for this great recipe. I stumbled upon your website yesterday and ran out to buy some salmon only hours later. I followed your recipe almost perfectly, but used the fresh mango relish and crushed macadamia nuts option as I couldn’t find any Jungle Boogie! OH WOW. It goes perfectly with your coconut rice as well! This will most definitely be a method that I use from now on for super tender baked fish. Not only that, but it’s beautiful as well!
OMG – It was a trip to a tropical island in my mouth…so tasty and succulent. I made it with Copper River Sockeye Salmon and Meyer Lemon. WOW!
Hey there,
Jungle Boogie sadly is not available outside of this area. I don’t even know if the company who made this is still in business. It was just some local person here that made the spice concoction.
🙠sad!
Jaden, this looks amazing! It will probably make it to my table tomorrow night! Did you ever find out about Jungle Boogie? The rest of us are dying to get some too!
This reminds me, I was trapped with tigerfish in her coco de nato island adventure hehe. I always wanted my salmon cooked like that, now I know !! wow..never thought of that , such simple method, thanks !! 🙂
I swear your pics look so PRO! Mmm this salmon dish looks so tasty! I would love to see a chocolate dessert on your blog….i will be going out on a dinner date tonight, i hope the food looks just as good! HA!
http://madebygirl.blogspot.com/
http://www.madebygirl.com
Hi Mrs. Wynne- I found Jungle Boogie in Sarasota Fl where I live. I did a search too and no results. I’m planning to stop by the store this week and ask the general manager how I can get in touch with that company. I’ll report back!
hello jayden,
i found your lovely site through tastespotting featuring this salmon recipe. can’t wait to try it.
btw, where can i find the jungle boogie spice? i searched online but couldn’t find one. you mentioned it was local, whereabouts though? i might have a friend or relative for all i know who can get me one!
thank you and kudos to your site!
cheers,
mrswynne
Oh. The light comes on. Orange on top of the salmon as well as the bottom. I was thinking the orange on top was just a garnsih. Thanks for the tip.
Meena-well one of us has to get rich so we can hop on a private jet every Monday morning for lunch!
Hi Jaden! Love the idea of putting food in a bag and lettin git cook on low for long hours. I recently ate Salmon made a similar way at a friends place, and it was divine! Now that my husband is leaving (again!!@#!) for a 2-week business trip this Friday, I’m pretty sure there’ll be more than a few lazy girl meals for moi! 🙂
And need I add, drool worthy pictures! 🙂 Wish you lived somewhere nearby, it would be fun to meet up and have lazy Monday mornings every week! 😉
Hi Alan – I think when I topped the fish with the thin slice of orange that might have kept it moist on top. Fresh herbs – Grow your own little tiny windowsill herb garden! Thanks for visiting.
I tried the cooking technique last night and, indeed, it was melt-in-the-mouth tender, and very tasty. I didn’t have the toppings, so just went with only S&P, and still delicious.
The top of the salmon was a bit, oh, dry, or slightly crusty, or anyway a bit more firm than the rest, so I might try spreading on a bit of olive oil to keep it moist.
I don’t cook enough (I’m single) that I keep keep a wide variety of fresh herbs around. The cost per use goes way up when the unused batch goes bad, so I appreciate the toppings based on items that keep longer around the kitchen.
Wonderful food, delightful photos. Thanks for the website.
Rasa Malaysia- Yes, they are. They are the flowers from a ginger mint plant. The leaves are beautiful too – small green/purple leaves.
Tropical island indeed…
I love those little purple flowers thingy…are they from your garden? 😉
merely looking at 25 minutes it’s kinda challenging my taste… that me! I love silky and melt-in-the-mouth feel. Got to try this wonderful slow-cook method! Jaden, your dish is divine!
Jaden, the wasabi-ginger mayo is incredibly simple. I just use about 4-5 Tbsp regular mayo (I use Japanese “Kewpie” mayo) and mix in about 1 Tbsp each of wasabi paste, freshly grated ginger, and rice wine vinegar. S&P to taste. Ming Tsai’s version is actually a from-scratch aioli which is not particularly difficult but a lot less lazy.
Good choise, Jaden, even a Prosecco match with this dish
bye
That looks fantastic! I just happen to have some salmon fillets in my fridge and was trying to figure out what to do with them! I can’t wait till dinner tonight!
Kalyn-I’m putting more info on the ginger mint & its flowers in the recipe to submit for WHB.
Ari-It just so happened that I went outside to pick some parsley and mint flowers really caught my eye. It really provided a nice contrast to the salmon pink.
Steve- Next time I do this I probably will cook for 30 minutes. I’ll look up that recipe for ginger wasabi and use that dressing to drizzle over the fillets!
Ady- with a glass of Pinot Grigio!
Tigerfish- yeah, it needs to come to room temp first – otherwise it spends half of its life in the oven just warming up. The reason why the salmon sits on a bed of onions and orange slices is to keep it elevated so the white stuff can drain away. Thank you for your compliments!
I made the mistake of not allowing my salmon to come to room temp the other time. And I did not roast it at a lower temp like 250 ? The salmon was still tasty…but it’s just did not appear pretty – with that “white” stuff (proteins) oozing out. No “dress” will save the salmon from looking…err…err…ugly. :O
Look at the the color of your salmon! It puts me to shame….your salmon is so beautifully cooked!
Jaden surely it’s a wild salmon, it has a wonderful color, and this dish has all the summer’s color, I image to eat it in a beautiful house on the beach in California! Compliments
I saw that article too, and I just cooked some salmon this way last week! It was unbelievable. What I actually did with it was make a version of a ginger-wasabi salmon salad that I saw on Ming Tsai’s site. It was almost a shame to break it up for the salad, but the result was just so moist, tender, and full of salmon flavor. I have been recommending this method to people ever since (I did 3 fillets at 225 for 30 minutes).
Jaden this is a gorgeous photo, the colors blew me away!
I hate fish that’s overcooked, so this looks perfect to me.
Thanks girls! The kids had fun saying “jungle boogie woogie” and shaking their skinny butts. The color of the fish was amazingly almost the same exact color of it raw!
I’ll have to call Jungle Boogie and see if they sell elsewhere other than my gourmet market here in town. I see that their phone number is local to my area…
I love salmon, and this dish – the color! – is doing its seductive best to make me try it for the weekend, but (and of course there is always a but), one look at Baby Back Ribs with Asian Orange-Ginger Glaze and I’m hooked! I’ve been looking for a way to use up some blood oranges and this is it.
Beautiful blog, glad to have stopped by!
Simply stunning! I’m guessing that this magical jungle boogie is something I can’t get over here in Australia…*sighs wistfully*
The colors are breathtaking! I’ve never heard of this technique but it sounds terrific, a definite must try for me. I hate overcooked salmon but I’m not so good with cooking it. Thanks Jaden!
Jungle Boogie is such a funny name. 😀
Absolutely beautiful! And I really want to find some Jungle Boogie!
That looks amazing. I am going to find Jungle Boogie and use it on oh, everything.
I wanted to ask about the color of the cooked salmon! Guess you read my mind. I am guessing the color did not change becos they were cooked at low heat? Anyways… looks like you had great fun boogie-ing with your salmon 🙂
Wow, the thinly sliced citrus and mint flowers really draw your attention to the beauty and color of the salmon. And I love the name, “Jungle Boogie!” (Did your children get to see that tin of spices? I would imagine they would have a hearty laugh about that name!) Although I have “Jungle Boogie” envy, I really appreciate all of the alternative “Jungle Boogie” options you provided!