Fresh, light and easy, this lemon-pepper salmon recipe will make you want to eat fish all of the time!  Add some french fries and a side of veggies, dinner’s a go.

I love a good pan-seared salmon – this is not that, haha!  But, this is a fast and easy bake, and I love how the lemon-pepper crusts over the top, keeping the interior extra flaky.  Just be sure you get a fresh piece of salmon versus frozen. 

As you know, I am big into not spending too much time fussing over meals.  But I also care about everyone enjoying what I cook, and helping my family try new foods.  That’s why frozen french fries tend to be a great side for our salmon nights, since we aim to offer at least one food that everyone likes.  Over time, our kids have tried salmon and other fish and vegetables, simply because they also had the familiarity of at least one food at dinner.  More on that in another post.  

Per adult, I recommend about a half pound of salmon and a quarter pound per kid.  Grab at least 1-2 whole lemons, some olive oil and lemon-pepper.  You have options with this seasoning – for example, for those who want to go sodium-free, I recommend Mrs. Dash lemon pepper seasoning.  If you have a lemon-pepper without sodium, but want the extra kick, I recommend an optional add-on of sea salt at the very beginning after patting the salmon dry.  You can also crack a little sea salt at the very end before serving. 

When ready to prep, I can’t speak more highly of this two quart Pyrex Glass Oblong Baking Dish.  I also have the three quart Pyrex Glass Oblong Baking Dish – both have a red plastic lid so that you can prepare food ahead of time and store it until ready to bake.  

For this fish, I used my two quart (7×11) and added olive oil, lemon and half of the lemon pepper, followed by placing the salmon flesh-side down, so that it could marinate.  I recommend that the fish marinate for a minimum of 30 minutes.  Usually, I will marinate for a full 24 hours before baking, which makes it easy on the execution side when planning multiple back-to-back dinners.  

Also, I should mention that I am pretty lazy when it comes to squeezing lemons, and so don’t like pulling seeds out while I am preparing food. To avoid that, I use this citrus squeezer anytime a lemon is involved in my cooking life. 

Okay!  Now you’re ready to place your salmon into the dish, and store it away until ready to bake.  By the way – ask your fishmonger or clerk to filet the fish before they pack it up, otherwise, I’ve found myself doing it myself before letting it marinate, and that could take some time.

Here is our salmon with that red lid waiting to be cooked, right next door to our already done breakfast pancakes and muffins.

When ready to bake, get your salmon out and flip it to skin side down.  Preheat your oven to 375F.  At this point, I will also begin to think about the other sides going into the oven.  A good rule of thumb I like to follow is that if I am using the oven, I don’t want to also use a million other appliances in my kitchen, so I will purposefully find sides that can go into the oven at a similar temperature to have it all one-and-done.  Similarly, if I’m running a stovetop dinner, I will stick to the stove whenever possible.

As you can see, there isn’t a whole lot of lemon pepper on the front, given how much I put into the marinade. So I like to add a little more before it goes into the oven (about another ½ tsp):

Now that looks ready to rock!  

And now is a great time to mention that when you choose to consume fatty fish like salmon and/or plant based omega-3 fats, you are most definitely doing your heart a favor with all of the polyunsaturated protective fats.  I couldn’t NOT say something about omega-3’s and heart health in a salmon post. 

Okay, now back to it. Once your oven is preheated, pop this baby in, and get out your sides!  Because we are already using lemon and olive oil, I generally like to keep with that theme for my side-vegetables.  I chose a bunch of asparagus for our side and as you can see, we will season with 2 Tbsp olive oil and a dash of garlic powder and sea salt.  At the end, I will squeeze ½ a lemon after it is baked.  All it needs is 15 minutes in the oven at 375F, so it can be placed in at the very last 15 minutes of the salmon’s bake time. 

I like using this Warp Resistant sheet pan, as it has really served me well for years. Line the pan with some parchment paper for an easy stick free clean.

I season my vegetables directly into the pan using my hands. 

Pop the pan into the oven, and get out your frozen french fries (or if you’re feeling ambitious, halve petite potatoes and use the same olive oil, lemon and sea salt combo, adding them to either the same pan as the asparagus or a separate pan).  Potatoes or frozen french fries go nicely with this dinner to balance out the plate, and great for kids who may not eat the salmon or asparagus.

We use separate pans for each food group to maximize the vegetable caramelization effect.

Even if the frozen fries package says 425F, you can bake everything at 375 or 400 if the fries are on the top rack. I have one oven with three racks (boy, how I would love a two-oven kitchen!)  Because of this, I like putting the french fries at the very top so that they crisp faster at 375F and then I don’t have to adjust the heat or the time of the oven.  I like the set-it-and-forget-it model of the 90’s:

While that is cooking, I usually just put out a plate of fruit and raw veggies for the hangry kids and parents, then I make sure to walk away from the kitchen to do other things. 

25 minutes later and dinner’s done.  I just let it cool for a few on my stove top before dishing it out.  Using a silicone fish turner or spatula is my favorite way to dish out the salmon so it doesn’t scratch up the glass. 

And we have ourselves a meal.  Don’t forget the lemon wedges at the end for an extra lemony flavor. Bon Appetit! 

Have you tried baking salmon or another type of fish before?  What is your favorite way to prepare and eat fish?  Share it below!