20 Easy Salmon Recipes for Busy Weeknights

These easy salmon recipes will make salmon the star of your dinner table, even when time and energy are in short supply. Whether grilled, pan-seared, or popped on a sheet pan, quick-cooking salmon is perfect for busy weeknights.

4-ingredient mediterranean salmon on a platter next to a bowl of lemon wedges and a glass of wine — Simply Recipes / Ciara Kehoe

Salmon is really quick and easy to prepare at home, making it a perfect choice for busy weeknights. It can be cooked in a skillet, roasted in the oven, air-fried, poached, grilled, or even served raw! Leftover salmon is easy to use up, too—try it in this easy salmon fried rice.

These 20 simple salmon recipes—that you can pair with a glass of wine if you'd like—are quick, easy, and delicious.

Easy Baked Salmon

Honey Garlic Butter Roasted Salmon topped with herbs and set on foil. — Simply Recipes / Kalisa Martin

Instead of buying individual fillets, pick up a whole side of salmon from the fishmongers at the market or seafood counter. A flavorful honey lemon butter sauce is poured over the fish before wrapping it in foil and baking in the oven. The foil keeps the moisture in and helps ensure the salmon doesn’t dry out.

Salmon Avocado Poke Bowl

avocado salmon poke bowl with chopsticks — Simply Recipes / Lisa Lin

"Make sure to buy only very high quality salmon since you'll be eating it raw. In Japanese supermarkets, fish is labeled "sashimi" when it's safe to eat raw. Otherwise, ask your fishmonger about the quality of the fish." —Lisa Lin, Recipe Developer

4-Ingredient Mediterranean Salmon

"This is a simple recipe with flavors that pair well with a countless number of other Mediterranean-inspired dishes. I like to serve it over orzo or rice and add a green vegetable like roasted broccoli or a simple green salad." —Sheela Prakash, Recipe Developer

Easy Grilled Salmon

Grilled salmon with a forkful taken out alongside asparagus and lemon on the plate. — Simply Recipes / Ciara Kehoe

Choose from a teriyaki, soy sauce, or yakitori marinade, and grill these fillets for a couple of minutes per side. Oiling the grill grates helps ensure that the fillets don’t stick.

3-Ingredient Lemon Pepper Salmon

3-ingredient salmon on a platter — Simply Recipes / Coco Morante

"I serve this three-ingredient salmon with a few side dishes for a fuss-free dinner. Boxed rice pilaf, steamed frozen veggies with butter and garlic salt—this is an easy dinner meant to be paired with easy sides." —Coco Morante, Recipe Developer

Salmon with Potatoes and Pesto

A sheetpan with salmon fillets topped with pesto, green beans, potatoes and basil — Simply Recipes / Photo by Julia Gartland / Food Styling by Pearl Jones

"I’ve made many sheet pan meals over the years, but my sheet pan salmon with potatoes and pesto is the simplest and most delicious. You just need four ingredients (plus oil and salt and pepper), one sheet pan, and about 30 minutes to make it." —Sara Haas, Recipe Developer

Air Fryer Salmon

"The worry with cooking salmon in an air fryer is that you might overcook it. Watch the timer on the air fryer and don’t blast the fish with too much heat as it can dry out quickly. However, it is one of the easiest and quickest ways to make very delicious salmon for dinner!" —Nick Evans, Recipe Developer

Poached Salmon

When it's too hot to turn on the oven, make poached salmon instead. White wine, dill, and onions make a flavorful poaching liquid for the salmon to cook in. Plus, it’s on the table in 15 minutes!

Sheet Pan Salmon with Feta Sauce

Overhead view of a sheet pan of salmon, vegetables and feta sauce with a bowl of sauce with a spoon — Simply Recipes / Ciara Kehoe

"Ease is the name of the game with this delectable salmon sheet pan dinner, where minimal prep and a tight ingredient list are key. You can get everything prepped and roasting in about 10 minutes, then just let the oven work its magic." —Theodora Kaloudis, Recipe Developer

Microwave Red Curry Poached Salmon

"For this recipe, we lean on the microwave to poach salmon fillets in a highly aromatic coconut red curry. The trick to getting the most flavor into the coconut milk is to sizzle aromatics in a little oil, and you can do that in the microwave too." —Liz Mervosh, Recipe Developer, and Myo Quinn, Contributor

Salmon Picatta

overhead view of platter of Salmon Piccata fillets — Simply Recipes / Ciara Kehoe

"This salmon piccata is indeed saucy, but not overly so. I love serving it over farro, orzo, or garlicky sautéed spinach, which catches extra sauce drippings but doesn’t steal any away from the fish itself." —Sheela Prakash, Recipe Developer

Panko-Crusted Baked Salmon

Panko-crusted Salmon — Simply Recipes / Elise Bauer

A panko breadcrumb topping adds a crunchy element to salmon and a seasoned honey mustard ties the dish together. Feel free to use Dijon mustard if that is all you have on hand.

Sheet Pan Salmon With Asparagus

sheet pan salmon topped with lemon and capers next to asparagus — Simply Recipes / Mihaela Kozaric Sebrek

"If asparagus isn’t in season, another thin, quick-cooking vegetable like skinny green beans or broccolini can be used instead." —Sheela Prakash, Recipe Developer

Salmon With Lemon Cream Sauce

A fresh lemon cream sauce comes together in 10 minutes on the stovetop. It tops salmon that you've pan fried in 10 minutes or less. Easy, quick, and delicious.

Smoked Salmon Pasta

"What I love about this recipe, other than the ingredients (smoked salmon, pine nuts, yum!) is that it can be pulled together so quickly and it's not particularly heavy, as so many cream sauce pastas can be." —Elise Bauer, Founder

Fresh Salmon Cakes with Spicy Mayo

Fresh salmon makes light and tender fish cakes. It’s a great way to try salmon for those unsure if they like it or not. Salmon cakes are also a great way to use up leftover salmon. Sautéed in a skillet, these patties are on the table in about 30 minutes.

Salmon With Fennel Baked in Parchment

Salmon and Fennel Baked in Parchment — Simply Recipes / Elise Bauer

Salmon with fennel baked in parchment is a classic French dish—saumon au fenouil en papillotte. But just because it's French doesn't mean the recipe is complex. Simply add individual servings of salmon and sliced fennel to parchment with some butter, lemon, and seasonings, fold the parchments into packets, and bake.

Salmon with Brown Sugar Glaze

With this quick and easy salmon recipe, dinner is ready in 25 minutes. A simple glaze of Dijon, honey, and brown sugar with a slight kick from red pepper flakes tops salmon before it goes in the oven. The result is a simple, delicious, healthy main dish for dinner.

Honey Mustard Baked Salmon

Baked Honey Mustard Salmon on a white platter — Simply Recipes / Elise Bauer

Six ingredients and 20 minutes are all you need to make this delicious honey mustard baked salmon. While the salmon is cooking, throw together a salad, and dinner is done!

Angel Hair Pasta with Salmon, Arugula, and Creamy Lemon-Parmesan Sauce

angel hair pasta in a sauce with arugula topped with salmon — Simply Recipes / Marta Rivera

While the pasta cooks, sear salmon on the stovetop. After the salmon cooks, make a simple lemon-Parmesan sauce in the same pan then add spicy arugula until it wilts. Combine the pasta, salmon, and sauce in one pot and serve.