Crisp-skinned salmon basted with foaming garlic butter — a 15-minute dinner that teaches pan control and butter-basting like a line cook.
What you need
Ingredients
Servings
2
2 fillets
🐟 salmon, skin on (150 g each) ›
2 tbsp
🧈 butter ›
2 cloves
🧄 garlic ›
smashed
1 tbsp
🫒 olive oil ›
1/2
🍋 lemon ›
2 sprigs
🌿 thyme ›
Add all to shopping list
Mise en place
Before you start
5m
Prep
12m
Cook
17m
Total
2
Serves
Equipment
Heavy skillet (stainless or cast iron)
Fish spatula
Spoon for basting
Prep checklist
garlic — smashed
5 steps
Method
1
Dry the salmon skin aggressively with paper towels and salt both sides. Let it sit 5 minutes while the pan heats.
💡
Wet skin steams and sticks; dry skin crisps and releases. This one habit fixes most fish frustration.
Learn the technique ›
2
Heat olive oil over medium-high until shimmering. Lay the fillets in skin-down, pressing gently with the spatula for 10 seconds so the skin stays flat.
Learn the technique ›
3
Cook skin-down without moving for 6–8 minutes — about 70% of the cooking happens on this side. You'll see the color change climbing up the sides.
💡
Trust the release: when the skin is properly crisp, the fish lets go of the pan on its own.
4
Flip, kill the heat to medium-low, and add butter, garlic, and thyme. As the butter foams, tilt the pan and spoon it over the fish continuously for 1–2 minutes.
💡
Basting cooks the top gently in aromatic fat — the technique behind every steakhouse steak, too.
5
Pull the salmon when its center reads 50–52°C (medium, translucent blush). Rest 2 minutes, then finish with lemon squeezed into the pan butter and poured over.
From the chef
Notes
Salmon is done sooner than fear tells you. A fillet that flakes into dry petals was ready five minutes earlier — chase the trembling middle.
No panic
Substitutions
Trout or arctic char for salmon (thinner — reduce time)
Ghee for butter (won't burn; dairy-light)
Capers for thyme, for a piccata mood
Afterwards
Keep, reheat & pair
Storage
Refrigerate 2 days; eat cold in a salad rather than reheating.
Freezing
Cooked salmon freezes acceptably for 1 month, but texture suffers. Better to freeze it raw.
Reheating
Reheat gently: covered in a 160°C oven for 15 minutes, or in a pan over medium-low with a splash of water or stock. The microwave works at 50% power in short bursts — full blast toughens proteins.
Make ahead
Most braises and sauces improve overnight. Sear-and-serve dishes: do every step up to the final cook, then finish fresh.
Wine pairing
Unoaked Chardonnay, dry Riesling, or a light Gamay served cool.
Beer pairing
Match intensity: lagers for delicate dishes, amber ales for roasted flavors, stouts for the rich and braised.