Lemon, butter, and capers never disappoint when you need a quick pan sauce for fish. Wild salmon cooks very quickly, taking on a golden-brown exterior while staying soft inside due to the short time in the pan. Serve with a green salad or roasted asparagus for a simple yet elegant meal.
Can you make this with farmed salmon?
Yes, this recipe works with farmed salmon as well. Since farmed salmon tends to be thicker and have a higher fat content, it’ll need to cook 1 to 2 minutes longer per side in the pan.
What type of butter should you use?
For this dish, we prefer to use a European butter, such as Kerrygold or Plugrà, due to the slightly higher fat content. This leads to the silkiest, most luscious butter pan sauce.
Notes from the Food & Wine Test Kitchen
Starting with the salmon skin side up gives you time to brown the flesh while also allowing the fish to cook through a little more gently after flipping, since the skin provides a barrier between the pan and the flesh at that point.
Suggested pairing
Finish this classic marriage of flavors with a bright, citrusy Oregon white, like Ovum Big Salt White.
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