This Citrus Thyme Salmon uses minimal ingredients to highlight the wonderful, natural flavor of the salmon. The citrus and thyme combo of citrus and fresh herbs is incredible. Salmon will always be my go-to fish…it’s delicious and extremely versatile!
Why this Recipe Works
Using a high-quality, flavorful sockeye salmon is key. The quality of the ingredients easily mirrors the quality of the dish. Read more about choosing fish here.
The salmon is baked skin side up, helping lock in the moisture and providing an easy method for testing its doneness – if the skin peels easily, it’s done.
The beauty of this salmon dish is in its simplicity. It’s as easy as a good quality sockeye salmon filet, seasoned lightly with salt and pepper, then baked with citrus slices and lemon thyme on top. Another simple and delicious salmon is this lemony saffron herb salmon.
The lemon thyme adds a layer of citrus flavor that is different from the sweet orange and balances out the sweetness.
More About Choosing Salmon
Living in the Pacific Northwest, my go-to salmon is Copper River Salmon. Salmon is in high demand – fish in high demand tend to get overfished, leaving the ocean life out of balance. The oceans aren’t a limitless supply of food, and we need to be mindful about how and what we choose to eat.
Copper River wild salmon are protected, and there are great efforts and laws in place to make sure the salmon population remains strong in the Copper River.
Read more about how to choose fish at the grocery store.
How to Make this Recipe
Preheat your oven to 350°F. In the meantime, cut the orange into ¼ inch slices.
Season the salmon with salt and pepper. Cover with sprigs of lemon thyme. Top with the orange slices. Flip your salmon onto your baking sheet so it is skin-side up with the orange slices under the salmon. Trust me…this way all that delicious fat on the skin side runs into your salmon. Set aside until the oven is preheated.
Cook until the desired doneness or until the salmon easily flakes and the white albumin starts to form on the top. This can take anywhere from 10-20 minutes depending on the thickness of the salmon, which varies significantly from filet to filet. You can test doneness by peeling the skin of the salmon – if it peels easily, it’s done.
Keep in mind that the Copper River Sockeye and some other sockeye are so dark in color, that the color does not change as much as it does with regular salmon.
More Salmon Recipes to Enjoy
I love a delicious, easy fish recipe because it cooks so quickly! Here are some salmon recipes I make frequently at home.
I love hearing from you! You can also FOLLOW ME on INSTAGRAM, TIKTOK, and PINTEREST to see more delicious food and what I’m up to.
Citrus Thyme Salmon
Print Recipe SaveIngredients
Citrus Thyme Salmon
- 1.5 lb. sockeye salmon
- 1 orange sliced
- 1 bunch lemon thyme
- 3 chive flowers optional
- salt & pepper to taste
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350°F.
- In the meantime, cut your orange into ¼ inch slices.
- Season the salmon with salt and pepper. Top with the orange slices. Flip your salmon onto your baking sheet so it is skin side up with the orange slices under the salmon. Trust me…this way all that delicious fat on the skin side runs into your salmon. Set aside until the oven is preheated.
- Cook until desired doneness or until the salmon easily flakes and the white albumin starts to form on the top. This can take anywhere from 10-20 minutes depending on the thickness of the salmon. Because the copper river sockeye so dark in color, the color does not change as much as it does with regular salmon.