A delicious pan seared salmon, with crispy edges, slathered in a sweet and savory butter sauce. This is such an easy recipe, only a handful of ingredient and a few minutes to make!
Why This Pan Seared Salmon Is So Good
- 5-ingredient salmon recipe
- Microwave: butter + your favorite fruit jam + balsamic vinegar = delicious!
- Use the sauce on shrimp, pork chops, fish or steamed vegetables
Ingredients
For The Magical Butter
- Butter
- Fruit preserves
- Balsamic vinegar
- Salt and pepper
- Minced herbs
For The Fish
- Salmon fillet
- Salt and pepper
- Cooking oil
How To Make Pan seared Salmon With Magical Butter Sauce – Step By Step
- Season the salmon with salt and pepper. Roll the salmon. Use kitchen twine to tie the salmon in 4 places, evenly spaced. Make sure you tie it tight! Cut between the twine to make 4 evenly sized pieces, about 1 1/4″ thick.
- Heat a large frying pan with some vegetable oil over high heat. When hot, add the salmon steaks. Cook for 2 minutes. Turn the salmon over. Cook an additional 1 minute. Turn heat to medium-low, then cover pan loosely with tin foil. Cook for 4-5 minutes, or until the salmon is cooked through. Remove salmon to clean plate.
- To the same pan on medium-low heat, add the Magical Butter ingredients. Cook until bubbly and butter is melted, about 30 seconds. Pour on top of the salmon.
How To Pan Sear Salmon
When I buy salmon fillet, I try to get the most even piece – meaning, even in thickness. But, it’s not always possible. Even when thickness is just a little different, it can cause parts of the salmon to overcook.
I like to just roll the salmon piece and tie with twine (skin or no skin it’s up to you.) This gives me a nice, even salmon “steak” that cooks evenly. With the piece of salmon that I have here, I removed the skin, then rolled the salmon. Tied twine in 2 or 3 different places. Then cut that roll in 2 or 3 pieces – so that I have several pieces of salmon steak, each about an 1 1/4-inches thick. The larger the salmon piece, the more steaks you can make.
Season with salt and pepper.
Heat a little oil in the pan, place salmon down in the pan. Sear for 2 minutes.
I have kitchen envy…these photos were taken 4 years ago, in my old house when I had a real gas stove.
Turn salmon over. See that nice crust? Cook for 1 minute.
Turn heat to medium-low, then cover loosely with tin foil.
The loose tin foil traps heat to cook the inside of the salmon – but it still lets steam escape, so that you don’t lose that nice crust you’ve created.
Alternatively, you can do this in the oven. But cooking this way on the stovetop saves you from having to heat up the oven.
What’s The Best Pan?
While it’s certainly not the only way, we prefer sticking with a large stainless steel or cast iron skillet when cooking pan-seared salmon; make sure it’s a pan that’s large and wide enough to accommodate the fillets without overcrowding. And because the best results happen when the fish is cooked on a super-hot surface, it’s best to skip the nonstick cookware this time around.
A Magical Butter Sauce!
This sauce is so good, you’ll want to put it on everything, from all the meat to all the veggies! It’s easy to make, just mix butter, your favorite fruit jam and balsamic vinegar. Then put it in the microwave.
It’s divine on asparagus! Magical butter sauce is the best.
Top Tips For This Pan Seared Salmon
- When cooking salmon in the oven or on the grill, one large piece of fish works well. But when pan-searing on the stovetop, opt for individual fillets.
- Very fresh salmon fillets do not benefit from a rinse, but salmon with a little, or a lot of age will benefit.
- If you’re buying multiple fillets, don’t be afraid to ask your fishmonger to portion them for you.
- While the salmon will cook on both sides, the process should always start by adding the fish to the pan skin-side down.
Check Out These Other Delicious Salmon Recipes
Have you tried this Pan Seared Salmon recipe? Feel free to leave a star rating and I’d love to hear from you in the comments below!
Salmon with Magical Butter Sauce Recipe
Ingredients
FOR THE MAGICAL BUTTER SAUCE
- 1/2 cup butter
- 3 tablespoons fruit preserves like apricot, mango-jalapeno, blackberry, etc.
- 1 1/2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
- salt and pepper
- 1 tablespoon minced herbs like parsley, cilantro, basil, chives
FOR THE FISH
- 1 piece skinless salmon fillet about 5-6 inches long
- salt and pepper
- Vegetable oil for cooking
Instructions
- Season the salmon with salt and pepper. Roll the salmon. Use kitchen twine to tie the salmon in 4 places, evenly spaced. Make sure you tie it tight! Cut between the twine to make 4 evenly sized pieces, about 1 1/4" thick.
- Heat a large frying pan with some vegetable oil over high heat. When hot, add the salmon steaks. Cook for 2 minutes. Turn the salmon over. Cook an additional 1 minute. Turn heat to medium-low, then cover pan loosely with tin foil. Cook for 4-5 minutes, or until the salmon is cooked through. Remove salmon to clean plate.
- To the same pan on medium-low heat, add the Magical Butter ingredients. Cook until bubbly and butter is melted, about 30 seconds. Pour on top of the salmon.
Nutrition
