Roasted salmon with easy stovetop side dishes make an effortless dinner

Easy roasted salmon is the perfect 15-minute dinner. Add a couple of quick stovetop sides to make a perfect busy night meal.

I was never a big fan of seafood growing up. When we got married, we moved to Providence, Rhode Island for a couple of years. Being surrounded by some of the very best seafood in the country during that time finally won me over.

But there’s a big difference between eating fish in a restaurant and attempting to make it yourself at home. As a new cook, I was super nervous to try cooking fish in our little apartment but I knew it was such a healthy dinner option for us.

One of the very first recipes I ever tried, an easy roasted salmon, made its way permanently into our dinner rotation. I’ve made it several times a year for the last nearly 20 years.

This salmon recipe is the very best because:

• It includes just the salmon and two additional ingredients.
• It is finished in 15 minutes (maybe 20 if your salmon is extra thick.)
• Even newbie cooks can nail it right from the first try.
• It is very kid-friendly, my daughters call this “pink fish” and love when it hits the rotation.

Fun Fact: We’re going to be cooking an entire week of meals LIVE from the rental kitchen at our beach condo in North Myrtle Beach next month. This roasted salmon with simple side dishes is just one of 6 easy dinners I’ll be demonstrating to inspire you to do a little cooking of your own this summer.

Get all the details on the week of beach house recipes here.

How to turn this roasted salmon into a practically no-cook dinner:

Even if you don’t enjoy cooking, you can serve your family this fresh roasted salmon for dinner and look like a total rock star. 

The salmon takes less than a minute to prepare. While it roasts in the oven, you can switch your attention to simple stovetop side dishes to finish the meal. We’ve switched up our favorites over the years, but each of these side dishes are the perfect easy dinner solution and taste great with the salmon seasonings:

1. Simple packaged rice mix: My kids swoon over chicken-flavored Rice-A-Roni but Uncle Ben’s wild rice is fantastic, too. Don’t have those on hand? Just make whatever rice you love. Most cook in 15 minutes or less. 
2. Packaged pearl couscous: NearEast makes a package of pearled couscous in an olive oil and garlic flavor my husband LOVES. Even if you don’t think you like couscous, I’d highly recommend trying it. The grains are much larger than regular couscous and the seasoning in this package is very savory. This cooks in 5 minutes or so.
3. Frozen potato pierogis: You can find frozen potato and onion pierogis at your grocery store. I melt a few tablespoons of butter with 1 – 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a large skillet and simply brown up the pierogis on both sides over medium heat. Just flip them over, back and forth until they are nice and golden brown. This takes about 15 minutes.
4. Bagged salad mix: For your veggies, just toss together your favorite bagged salad.
5. Frozen vegetables: Another veggie option is to pop a bag of peas, mixed veggies, asparagus, or broccoli in the microwave.
6. Salsa corn: A fun way to mix up the veggies is to microwave a bag of yellow sweet corn and stir in fresh pico de gallo or a bit of prepared fresh salsa. 

Extra tips for this easy roasted salmon:

This simple roasted salmon is made with melted butter and our favorite seasoning blend. The butter gives the fish lovely crispy edges and is what we love most about the dish.

The seasoning blend we have used for all these years is Chef Prudhomme’s Magic Salmon Seasoning. I’ve found it in every state we’ve lived in from New England, to the midwest, to the south. If you can’t find it at your local grocery store, you can order it on Amazon right here.

The reason we love this particular blend so much is:

• It has just a bit of sugar in the mix that helps to caramelize the top of the fish with the butter.
• It has just a smattering of mustard seeds in the mix that give a delicious crunch. (Even my kid that doesn’t like mustard still likes it, so don’t worry there.)
• It’s savory but not spicy at all. Just a tiny hint of sweetness with the seasonings. It truly is “magic.”

You can substitute any seasoning you prefer on top of your salmon. If you prefer to make your seasoning blends from scratch, I have a homemade blend that mimics the Chef Prudhomme’s flavor in my cookbook The Ultimate Kids’ Cookbook.

Yep! This recipe is so easy, I included it in a cookbook for kids. I hope you love it like we do.

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roasted salmon

Yield: 4 - 6 servings

Prep Time: 3 minutes

Cook Time: 15 minutes

Total Time: 18 minutes

This simple roasted salmon is perfect for beginner cooks or for a busy weeknight. Just 3 ingredients and 15 minutes to a delicious and healthy dinner.

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Ingredients

• 4 - 6 salmon fillets with skin removed
• 2 - 3 tbsp butter
• 2 - 3 tbsp of Chef Paul Prudhomme's Magic Salmon Seasoning

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees.
2. Spray a 9 x 13 dish with cooking spray and lay the salmon evenly in the dish. Be sure to leave room between each piece so the sides can brown up properly.
3. Put the butter in a microwave-safe bowl and melt on HIGH for 20 seconds. Brush the melted butter all over the tops and sides of each piece of salmon. Pour any remaining butter over the top.
4. Sprinkle the Magic Salmon Seasoning heavily over the top of each piece of fish. You'll use about 2 - 3 tbsp of the seasoning in total.
5. Cook for 15 minutes or until the fish easily flakes with a fork at the thickest part of the fish.

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  Magic Salmon Seasoning