This Crispy Skin Salmon with mustardy garlic cream sauce is the perfect alternative to boring and bland salmon dinners. It’s SUPER FAST to make and impressive enough for guests but humble enough for a quick weeknight meal.
I don’t know what it is about me and salmon but 3 out of 4 times I have it planned out on a weekly menu, I find something else to make in place of it.
And it’s not that I’m trying to like salmon. I really do love it! It’s just that…sometimes it seems so boring.
It’s a super healthy fish so I always feel like I need to cook it in a super healthy way, like broiled with some herbs on top. And that doesn’t excite me very much.
But this pan-crisped salmon with a light garlicky Dijon cream sauce? This excites me!
It excites me so much so that I made it twice in two weeks, which is sort of a record around here for eating fish.
And overall, it’s a pretty healthy recipe. The salmon is cooked skin side-up in the pan so the top of the fish gets all crispy and lovely, and the sauce is made without flour, which is kind of a feat in and of itself for me.
The Dijon mustard (which I’m really starting to come around to), along with plenty of garlic, ramps up the sauce and you’ll want to pour it over everything on your plate. Seriously everything – I kid you not!
I foresee this salmon happening a lot in the future, especially since it’s such a quick weeknight meal for us when dinner isn’t happening these days until after 7pm.
Crispy Skin Salmon with Garlic Cream Sauce
- Prep Time: 10min
- Cook Time: 15min
- Yield: 2-4 servings
Ingredients
4 salmon fillets (about 4 oz each) – skin on
¼ tsp salt
¼ tsp pepper
2 tsp olive oil
1 tbsp unsalted butter
3 garlic cloves, minced or pressed
1 small shallot, diced
1 tsp fresh sage, chopped
1 ½ tbsp fresh thyme leaves
¼ cup dry white wine
¾ cup low-fat evaporated milk
1 ½ tablespoons Dijon mustard
Instructions
-
01
Remove bones from salmon, if necessary. Season the salmon with salt and pepper.
-
02
Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Place the salmon skin side-up in the pan. Cook for 8-10 minutes, until the fish is fairly firm to the touch and the sides are turning opaque/white in color. Remove the salmon from the pan and keep warm on a plate.
-
03
Turn the heat down to medium and melt the butter in the pan. Add the garlic, shallot, sage, and thyme and cook, stirring frequently for about 1 minute. Pour in the wine, scrape any bits off the bottom of the pan, and let the wine cook down for 2-3 minutes. Whisk in the evaporated milk and mustard. Simmer the sauce for another 1-2 minutes, until the sauce bubbles and thickens. Remove from the heat and pour over the salmon before serving.
adapted from How Sweet Eats
i’m obsessed with dijon mustard- esp. whole grain dijon- and so this is just up my alley! sounds amazing!!!
This sounds yummy, but when are you removing the skin? Before serving? The skin is often fishy to me-rather not have it on my plate.
We eat the salmon out of the skin on our plates but if you’re not into that, take the skin off before serving and then pour the sauce over the salmon.
This looks like such a perfect spring meal. It’s just lovely!
Just made this last night and it was delicious! One question though…I see where the olive oil is in the ingredients list but never did see where it’s used in the recipe. I’m assuming maybe in the pan with the salmon? (P.S. Posted your website on my Facebook page yesterday and told my friends that they really need to follow your blog, your recipes are so wonderful!)