This Baked Parmesan Crusted Salmon is a stunning show stopper that’s very easy to make. The parmesan crust is insanely delicious and the Lemon Cream Sauce for the salmon is the essential finishing touch. A spectacular salmon for Christmas dinner or other special occasions, and yet so fast you could make it midweek. Plus you can prepare everything ahead- even the sauce!
Food that tastes like a million dollars and yet is simple to make and made with every day ingredients. That is the absolute essence of the food I love and share here on RecipeTin Eats.
This Parmesan Crusted Salmon is pretty much me on a plate. Well, on a platter. A large platter. Because the best sort of food is food that is shared with family and friends! 🙂
Every year, I do a Thanksgiving and Christmas menu (see below recipe for list with links). It’s my mission to make you the most popular person at gatherings with finger food your friends will go mad over, and to make holiday feasting stress free with easy to make, mostly prepare ahead recipes. And insanely delicious of course. Taste first and foremost!
For this year, the centrepiece of my Christmas Menu is this Baked Parmesan Crusted Salmon, served with a heavenly Lemon Cream Sauce.
Please don’t skip the sauce! I know many people make similar recipes without a sauce. I really, really, really think that the Lemon Cream Sauce is necessary because this salmon is not marinated or glazed. Whole salmon fillets are quite thick and meaty so unless it is marinated or has lots of yummy glaze to use as the sauce, it lacks flavour inside.
Don’t get me wrong, the flavour of plain salmon is lovely. But the sauce just puts this over the top from tasty to exceptional. 🙂
Plus, look how the sauce clings onto that crunchy parmesan topping. Swoon….
I promised you this Baked Parmesan Crusted Salmon is easy to make and here are some prep photos to prove it! It starts with a very simple panko and parmesan topping. With one little trick. I like my crumb to be beautifully golden all over rather than splotches of burnt bits here and there which is what happens if you bake rather than fry crumbed things.
So my little trick that truly makes all the difference so your salmon comes out of the oven with a beautiful deep golden brown topping (without overcooking the salmon!) is to lightly toast the breadcrumbs on a baking tray. You can see a comparison of toasting vs not toasting the panko breadcrumbs in my Easy Baked Chicken Cordon Bleu. 🙂
Psst This is much easier, less effort and more even browning than toasting in a skillet. Plus less cleaning up because I use the same tray for the salmon. 🙌
My next trick – getting that beautiful parmesan topping to stick to the salmon. Easy fix – just spread Dijon mustard on the salmon like you’re buttering toast. Mustard is the perfect glue because it’s got a bit of tang (perfect match for rich salmon) plus flavour.
Bake it for 20 minutes in a fairly hot oven and this is what you get…..
So beautiful and tastes incredible, especially served with a simple Lemon Cream sauce. Yes the sauce has cream in it but I promise it doesn’t make this too rich! In fact, that’s a specific point my taste testers made. You hear the word “cream sauce” and assume it is very rich. But actually, this sauce is quite tangy from the lemon. It adds moisture to this dish as well as the zing cutting through the richness of the salmon.
And before I forget – yes I put my Christmas Menu up for critique by taste testers! As it so happens, all my friends have real life jobs and aren’t just hanging around on standby for taste testing sessions. 🤷🏻♀️Luckily, my mother has a group of willing friends who pop over to the local golf course for a round before dropping by for a taste testing session. 🙂
I love how honest they are with their feedback – trust me, they don’t hold back and I have actually held off posting a handful of recipes until I improve them further!!
This Baked Parmesan Crusted Salmon received high praise. Woo hoo! – Nagi x
More fish recipes!
PS Don’t forget to scroll down to see a) 2016 Christmas Menu Preview b) Dozer sulking through Christmas
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Baked Parmesan Crusted Salmon with Lemon Cream Sauce
Ingredients
- 1 (1 - 1.4 kg / 2 - 2.8 lb) side of salmon (Note 1)
- 3- 4 tbsp Dijon mustard
Parmesan Crumb
- 1 cup panko breadcrumbs (50g) (Note 2)
- Oil spray
- 50g / 3 tbsp butter , melted
- 1/3 cup grated parmesan , store bought (1/2 cup fresh grated) (Note 3)
- 2 tbsp finely chopped fresh parsley
- 2 tbsp finely chopped fresh dill
- Zest of 1 lemon
- 1/2 tsp salt
- Pepper
Lemon Cream Sauce
- 30g / 2tbsp butter
- 1 eschallot / finely chopped (Note 4)
- 1 1/4 cups dry white wine (Note 5)
- 1 1/2 cups heavy cream / thickened cream
- 1 tbsp Dijon mustard
- 2 1/2 tbsp lemon juice (plus more to taste)
- 1/2 tsp sugar
- Salt and pepper
Serving
- Watercress
- Lemon wedges
- Fresh dill
Instructions
- Take salmon out of the fridge to bring to room temperature.
- Preheat oven to 200°C / 390°F (180°C fan).
- Spread panko on baking tray, spray generously with oil then bake for 3 to 5 minutes until light golden brown. (Note 6) Scrape into bowl immediately.
- Add butter and stir, then add remaining Parmesan Crumb ingredients.
- Line same tray with foil. Place salmon on foil.
- Spread Dijon on salmon using a butter knife. Just a thin coating - like buttering toast.
- Sprinkle Crumb all over.
- Bake for 20 minutes for just cooked juicy perfection, or to taste. (Note 7)
- Remove from oven. Loosen salmon from foil using egg flip or butter knife - skin will hopefully be stuck to foil.
- Plate watercress on serving platter.
- Use foil to lift salmon onto watercress on serving plate, then slide out the foil from under it (see video under recipe). Serve with Lemon Cream Sauce and lemon wedges on the side.
Lemon Cream Sauce
- Melt butter in a saucepan over medium high heat. Add eschalots and cook for 2 minutes. Add wine and bring to boil. Leave to boil rapidly for 5 minutes or until reduced by 3/4 or so.
- Turn heat down to medium. Add cream, sugar, salt and pepper. Stir, then add lemon juice and mustard. Stir again. Simmer for 2 to 3 minutes or until thickened (see video). Adjust salt, pepper and lemon to taste. Be generous with the salt - remember the salmon is not marinated, the only salt is in the topping.
- Optional: strain. I don't bother.
- Allow to cool for 10 minutes or so. It will thicken as it cools. It can be served warm or at room temperature.
Recipe Notes:
Nutrition Information:
WATCH HOW TO MAKE IT
Baked Parmesan Crusted Salmon recipe video!
LIFE OF DOZER
There’s always someone sulking during festive times…..
Christmas 2016 Menu Sneak Preview
Every year here on RecipeTin Eats, I share a Thanksgiving and Christmas menu. Always easy, always something a little bit special, lots of it make ahead. Here’s a little sneak preview of the 2016 Christmas Menu….coming soon! I’ll write up a full post with links through to all the recipes and how to prepare ahead etc. 🙂
Here are the previous Christmas / Thanksgiving Menus I have done:
-
2016 Thanksgiving – “Going South” A Southern Feast starring a One Roasting Pan Cajun Turkey Breast and Dressing and all the essential sides.
-
2015 Christmas – “Family Japanese Christmas” Starring a family recipe, my mother’s Miso Marinated Side of Salmon plus our favourite sides!
-
2015 Thanksgiving – “Dry Brining is Genius” A Genius Dry Brined Turkey Breast plus classic Thanksgiving sides
-
2014 Thanksgiving and Christmas – ” Easy Christmas” Making the festive season super easy with my Juicy Slow Cooker Turkey Breast with Gravy
And here’s a sneak peak at the 2016 Christmas Menu! Coming soon…..
Hi Nagi,
I made this dish today at our special dinner with a family friend and it was delicious. I followed your recipe closely except for extra ~5min of baking as my salmon is thicker. Thanks so much for an awesome recipe
I made this tonight for my family’s Christmas Eve dinner. It was absolutely delicious and so very easy! The sauce was perfection. Thanks for sharing this recipe. It was a huge hit!
Hi Nagi,
Our family love this salmon recipe, under stated and flavorful. 2021 will be our 4th Christmas lunch with it as the center piece. I’m looking for another seafood dish to complement it. Any suggestions?
This is a brilliant recipe. The sauce is devine, the crumb is delish and it’s all so easy to pull together. A real showstopper.
I am happy you liked it Anita! N x
This was incredible. My foodie friends couldn’t stop raving about it the entire evening! Thank you for another fantastic recipe Nagi!
This was amazing, my family kept on saying this was like eating at a restaurant. Keeping this for holidays and weekends. I didn’t add as much wine to the sauce subbed chicken broth and it was still delicious.
Very good! I’ve made a similar salmon using mayo instead of mustard to slather on the salmon but this version is less caloric. Until you add the cream sauce (but oh so yummy)!
Great dish!! My crumb got a little too brown so will shorten my timing in future but will definitely do it again.
Made this as a midweek meal. Amazing! The sauce and the crust are so simple yet add so much flavour. This recipe will definitely be repeated when I need to wow my guests. Thank you, Nagi!
Served this for Easter lunch.
It was sensational.Melt in the mouth salmon and sauce with it is a must.
This is truly restaurant quality.
Thank you so much..it will be a
Dinner/Lunch party favourite.
This salmon is to DIE for!!! I was browsing other Easter recipes when I happened upon this. It looked scrumptious, and I had some salmon in the fridge so I decided to give it a shot. I’ve made a few of your recipes before and none have let me down.
I was a bit daunted, but followed your recipe to the T and it came out ahhhmazing!! The salmon was surprisingly flavorful as it wasn’t marinated- the mustard is an excellent addition. It tasted fantastic plain, but the sauce took it to another level! Mine didn’t get as creamy as I would have liked but I’ll definitely be trying it again. The tang of the lemon and the crispy panko crust of the salmon were perfect together. My whole family gobbled this up and I’ll be making this many, many more times in the future.
I loved that you take the time to explain your process, give us little tips ( my husband thought I was crazy toasting the panko first), and make these recipes easy for folks to not only follow, but enjoy. Thank you!! I sincerely appreciate it!
Hi. I’m looking for seafood ,fish recipes for Easter. Can I use Greek yogurt instead of cream in the recipes? I have some guests that can’t or don’t like cream.
I have made this salmon several times and it is a huge hit every time. I was a bit anxious about transferring from the oven tray to the board, but your video explains it perfectly, and I’m delighted to say that mine looked every bit as good as yours. One of my guests commented that it was the best salmon he had ever had. Thanks Navi.
This is a delicious but fabulously easy show stopping main course. I have used this recipe several times and every time I get the same compliment – delicious! I served it with a decadent mashed potato and tender crisp green beans. I highly recommend. Thank you Nagi.
I made this on Christmas morning for lunch – followed your instructions Nagi, Everyone loved it, and I basked in the compliments. Can’t thank you enough for what you do with your recipe testing and your website. I am a frequent visitor and have tried many of your recipes – no fails yet. And I do love Dozer.
Made the salmon for xmas lunch, everyone loved it. Will be making this again. My lemon sauce was a bit thin, what thickens it? Thanks for your recipe.
Nagi, the salmon was the highlight of our Christmas lunch. I used keto-friendly crumbs with a hint of chili in them instead of panko and followed the rest of the recipe as well as adding a little melted butter to the crumbs as well. Also made your Prawn Cocktails, Ottolenghi cauliflower salad, bean and cherry tomato salad and sweet potato salad. All sensational! What wasn’t finished at the table went home in care packages with family members. Thank you for so generously sharing your recipes. I hope you and your family can share a lovely meal together soon.
I made the parmesan salmon, potato au gratin and apple salad for Christmas dinner last night and everything was absolutely delicious. Thank you for the great recipes.
This was a beautiful meal and so easy to prepare ahead. Thank you Nagi, it was terrific. Everyone loved it. Best wishes for this really silly season x
This looks delicious! I usually buy frozen salmon from Costco. Would this still turn out ok with frozen rather than fresh?