Delicious grilled salmon with crispy potatoes, cauliflower, and the most incredible life-changing lemon sauce on top. It’s restaurant bistro food!
Tender little broccoli with a little bit of crunch. There you go. There you go.
Grilled salmon, simply salt and pepper, brush with olive oil, and grill until perfectly flaky: Absolutely.
Add vanilla, cream, and lemon juice—yes, yes, and y-e-s. The rest is delicious, but it’s just a supporting role for this sauce.
This lemon sauce is fantastic—creamy, rich, and light at the same time. Starting with a red onion, then a few sprigs of fresh thyme, and finally sizzling with a bit of lemon juice, it feels like there should be more to explain, but really, that’s the beauty of it. It’s simple, it tastes beautiful, it’s mild, it tastes good.
Anyone can (and should) do this
Bjork, God bless him, never cooks. He’s only made dinner maybe twice in ten years. He’s done a lot for our family, but cooking is not one of them. But last month, Bjork started cooking grilled salmon for dinner. It’s headline news.
Bjork’s Dinner night = We have crispy buttered salmon, grilled broccoli, crisp potatoes, and a delicious lemon sauce.
And I = happy, happy, happy.
Suppose you can ignore the bibs and high chairs, the pauses in cutting broccoli, the endless toddler questions, the occasional baby giggle, and the multiple runs back to the fridge for an extra item. In that case, it feels like being in a fancy restaurant. Another glass of wine, we’ll all go out on deck, and I’m 95% sure I’ll eat at a nearby restaurant. More crunchy potatoes! And a piece of salmon. Pass me the lemon jam, please.
If you’re also new to salmon cooking, check out our how-to-cook salmon guide.
How to make the best-grilled salmon
If Bjork can do it, so can you! It’s straightforward.
First: Roast potatoes, broccoli, and salmon on a baking sheet. Each has a different cooking time, so we’ll add them at various intervals. NBD. Anyway, I like grilled salmon because I find it more even and predictable than on the stove, where I always wonder if it’s overdone or underdone.)
Secondly, and ideally, while things are roasting, since you’ll have a little time on your hands, get out a pan and make a quick but (have I mentioned) AMAZING lemon sauce.
The herbs, the shallots, the creaminess with the zip of lemon. UGH, I could cry. Try not to eat spoonfuls of it while waiting for your salmon. Or give in. It’s so good.
Finally, Stack the baked goods on a plate or in a shallow bowl and top with the sauce. Notice, I didn’t say drizzle. I said cover—the vocabulary problem.
The lemon sauce is mainly for the salmon, but let me tell you: the potatoes and broccoli soaked directly in the remaining sauce are more advanced.
This is me raising a glass to you as we eat lox with lemon sauce in our kitchen at home, eat crisp potatoes and broccoli, or pretend to go to a fancy restaurant together. It’s a real treat. I hope you’ll like it. Enjoy!
Grilled Salmon with Lemon Sauce: Frequently asked questions
I’m new to salmon. Can I eat the skin?
Salmon skin is technically edible, but I don’t eat it. I like to peel the skin off the fillets before serving them, as they fall off easily after baking.
How can I keep the salmon from drying out?
Overcooking salmon can cause it to dry out! Unfortunately, it doesn’t taste good. If you want to measure the temperature accurately, you can use a meat thermometer – but I usually don’t; I go by how it looks and feels. I often tear a piece apart to see how it looks before deciding if it’s done or needs to go in the oven for another minute or two, even if it slightly disrupts the presentation. Regardless of the fillet size or the change in the oven, 10-15 minutes is usually the right amount of time for my preferred level of doneness.
I have some extra sauce. Can I keep it for leftovers?
The sauce may thicken or separate as it goes, so it’s best if it’s fresh. However, reheating and stirring it together will still be delicious the next day, perhaps with water as needed. Eating leftover potatoes and eggs for breakfast works excellent!
Instructions
- For baked potatoes: Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Place the potatoes in a pan with olive oil, garlic powder, salt and pepper. Bake for 25 minutes, until lightly browned and delicious.
- Make life-changing delicious sauces: Make your sauce while the potatoes are baking. Melt the butter over medium-low heat (I usually start with six tablespoons and, if needed, add the last two tablespoons after the sauce is cooked). Add garlic, shallots, and thyme; Fry for 3-5 minutes until tender and fragrant. Add the soup and cream. Bring to a simmer. Place the sauce over low heat until it thickens enough to coat the back of a spoon. Remove the thyme. Add the lemon juice, stir the herbs, and season with salt and pepper. Have a taste. Yes, you are in heaven now.
- Grilled salmon and cauliflower: Add the cauliflower and salmon to the potato pan (leave the potatoes in the pan). Stir or brush with more oil, salt, and pepper. Bake for another 10-15 minutes until the salmon is cooked through – I like it to be “just” half-clear so it flakes easily but doesn’t dry out.
- You’re done: salmon, potatoes, and broccoli with a generous scoop of sauce, more herbs, and more lemon wedges. This is life. ♡
