Dinner on the table in 15 minutes! Creamy Dill Sauce for salmon or trout is made with sour cream so it’s light and refreshing, and loaded with lovely fresh dill and lemon flavours.
Clocking in at just 397 calories per serving, and that’s with extra sauce for dipping your veggies in!
Everyone needs an arsenal of super quick meals in their back pocket. Fish with some kind of sauce is a great one because fish cooks so quickly.
Today I’m sharing a Creamy Dill Sauce which is no cook so it literally takes minutes to make. Just sour cream, mustard, lemon, garlic plus a good amount of fresh dill, and you have yourself a lovely fresh sauce. Delicious for dipping in bread and veggie sticks, and dolloping on salmon (or trout!).
Unlike many creamy sauces, Dill Sauce is not rich and heavy. It’s light and tangy so it goes really well with salmon and trout because they are both quite oily and rich.
Plus of course – dill. It’s one of the classic herb flavour pairings in this world. Tomato and basil. Rosemary and lamb. Salmon and dill. 👌🏼
I’d describe this Creamy Dill Sauce as a less tangy version of tzatziki. If you use yoghurt instead of sour cream, it would actually taste quite similar to tzatziki. I prefer to make this with sour cream because I find it smoother.
I alternate freely between salmon and trout in my cooking as I find them quite similar, though I think trout is slightly juicier (in Australia). I actually cooked 4 trouts, and I have no idea why I failed to take a single photo of all 4 of them. 🤦🏻♀️
Actually, maybe it was because my subconscious realised that if I only photographed 2 trouts, then I’d have half the sauce leftover to dunk bread into while I was shooting? 🤔
I served this with some bread and my lazy Zucchini Salad – I’ve popped the recipe in the notes. With these simple sides, this really is a complete meal you can get on the table in 15 minutes – without running around like a lunatic! – Nagi x
PS. More quick ways with salmon! Honey Garlic Salmon and Asian Glazed Salmon. Or for a variation of this creamy sauce, Salmon with Creamy Garlic & Herb Sauce. Then there’s this incredible Christmas Baked Salmon: Easy & Make-ahead, a super-easy and eye-catching Christmas (or anytime) centrepiece.
Also check out Japanese Salmon on my mother’s site, RecipeTin Japan. Don’t ask me to choose a favourite. I can’t!
PPS I made this Dill Sauce for salmon / trout, but it is also a fab dip for veggie sticks and bread. And you can thin it out more with lemon juice / milk, and use it as a salad dressing too!
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Creamy Dill Sauce with Salmon or Trout
Ingredients
Dill Sauce
- 3/4 cup sour cream (1)
- 2 tsp Dijon or hot English mustard (2)
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder or 1 small garlic clove , minced
- 2 1/2 tbsp fresh dill , finely chopped
- 1 tsp lemon zest
- 1 - 2 tbsp lemon juice
- 2 tbsp milk (or olive oil, for richness)
- 1/4 - 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp white sugar
Fish
- 1/2 - 1 tbsp oil
- 4 salmon or trout fillets (125g / 4oz each)
- Salt and pepper
Instructions
- Mix the Dill Sauce ingredients together (Mix well to loosen the sour cream). Adjust consistency with milk and tartness with lemon juice. Set aside for 10 minutes if you can - if using fresh garlic, set aside for 20 min.
- Pat fish dry with paper towel. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.
- Heat oil in skillet over medium high heat. Place fish in skillet skin side down. Cook for 2 minutes, then flip and cook the other side for 1 1/2 minutes.
- Remove from skillet onto serving plates. Serve with Dill Sauce on the side, garnished with fresh dill and lemon wedges if desired.
Recipe Notes:
Nutrition Information:
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LIFE OF DOZER
That’s not for YOU Dozer, that trout is for the homeless man!
where’s the zucchini salad recipe?? i don’t see it in notes!
Hi Cat – it’s there written in note 3. N x
This is delicious! Followed the recipe as directed except I left out the lemon zest. Served with rice pilaf and fresh, steamed green beans. Serve this fish, you will be beloved.
You may need to turn the oven up slightly – if it runs cool, the sauce will not caramelise and the meat stew slightly. N x
Delicious… I actually heated it up a bit… yummy either way!
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GREAT LAZY SALAD!! USED
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Made this today and had with salmon. This was delicious, definitely a keeper. Thanks
I made this recipe using Mayo instead of sour cream to go on top of Salmon burgers. Omitted the milk too, to keep it thicker like a mayo. Everyone LOVED it. Very good!
Traditionally I have chopped boiled eggs in this sauce recipe, it works well with the fish. P.S I have recommended recipetineatsn to so many people, the recipes are fabulous
Nagi, if I become homeless as well and live out of a car will you feed as well? 😉
Another lovely recipe – this is one of my go-to recipes now as I eat salmon more than any other meat.
There’s enough food for all!! N x
Sorry, forgot rating! 5 stars!
Thanks Dee!
Perfect accompaniment with fish. I made it with Greek yogurt. Thanks Nagi for yet another amazing recipe!
I’m so happy you enjoyed it!
Hello Nabi,
Thanks for the awesome recipe as usual. I have a question please, you said we can thin the sauce and used it as a salad dressing so what type of salad do you recommend will go with this dressing?
Used dried dill, and 2/3 sour cream 1/3 plain yoghurt, and half a lime (= what I had at hand), and it was great. Really, this sauce became my favourite part of the dinner. Thank you for posting it, Nagi!
Perfect with salmon or any fish. I will make it again!
Yes definitely Connie!
This was easy and delicious. I was looking for a sauce that didn’t have involve mayonnaise and this was the first recipe I came upon. Tonight I made it and it is a keeper. I left out the zest as I didn’t have any and I used the mustard I had on hand. No sugar, no milk, and that was it. Oh, I had to use dry dill, one teaspoon as I didn’t have fresh. Love this so much!
Thanks so much for the feedback Patricia!!
I just made the creamy dill sauce was beautiful his long can you keep it in the fridge for
Hi! I was wondering if you could freeze the sauce, I’ve got an abundance od dill from my garden..
Tried the recipe for family dinner this weekend. Everyone enjoyed it. My aunt could not stop eating the sauce. She even had the sauce with rice.
Loved this recipe! So quick, easy. and delicious. Great on potatoes too! I hit the finished sauce with my immersion blender for 30 seconds to really mince the dill and I found it helped give it a saucier consistency. One more dish to clean but worth a try in my opinion
That’s terrific Garth! Great tip with the immersion blender! N x
I’ve made loads of your salmon dishes but never this one and I really don’t know why. Some of the others I’ve made several times or more. Since I had frozen fresh dill I thought I’d give it a whirl. WOW! WOW! WOW!
It’s a must to make more than enough because it’s so darn good on steamed veges as well as salmon.
I slathered it on everything, it’s really very tasty.
Thanks Nagi.
I’m pleased to hear this was enjoyed Barb! Thank you for letting me know! N x
This is an amazing recipe! So wonderful. Just lovely and so delicious. I can’t say enough wonderful things.
Wonderful to hear Aimee! Thank you for letting me know you enjoyed this – N x