How long does it take to bake salmon in oven at 400 degrees? Let’s find out the best recipe!
Whenever we talk about seafood the first thing that pops up in our mind is salmon fish. Salmon is, without doubt, the most popular fish and there is a reason for that, it is easily available, it tastes delicious and it is full of healthy nutrients such as Omega 3 and proteins.
The most incredible thing is you can easily pair it up with anything let it be different sauces or seasonings. It might look difficult to bake salmon at home but with the right technique and knowledge you can do that effortlessly at home and it would taste a lot better too.
There are so many questions that come to mind like what temperature it should be baked at? Or what seasoning to use? Which salmon to choose? As there are different types of salmon available in the market from wild to farm and from fresh to frozen.
If you had all these questions in mind then you are at the right place because I am about to solve all your problems related to salmon.
What is the best temperature to cook salmon?
Well, this has always remained a subject of debate at what temperature you should cook salmon. The answer to this is pretty simple it all depends on how the fish was raised.
Whenever buying salmon always keep in mind that what type of salmon species are you buying, don’t go for the wild ones these include Rock, sockeye, and cape salmon.
Some most common species which you can opt for are Norwegian or Alaskan salmon. Now as we know what salmon to use we can check out at what temperature we can cook that salmon.
As far as the FDA (Food and Drug Administration) is concerned they recommend you cook seafood at 145̊ F but after that, you will be left with a dry fish because each fish requires a different temperature to cook.
You may ask then what is the best temperature to cook salmon well after years of experience I can tell you the optimal temperature to cook salmon is 400 degrees F. however it may vary the thickness of the salmon, The amount of fat in it, and what is the size of the fillet.
How long it takes to bake salmon at 400 degrees in oven?
Now we do know that 400 degrees F is the optimal temperature to bake salmon but how long will it take to bake salmon? Well as I already told you it merely depends on the Size of the fillet, its thickness, and how much fat it contains.
So there is no exact time to follow but as a rule of thumb, we try to cook it for about 10-15 mins.
As some of you might be getting worried that how would you know is it cooked or not? If we go with the proper method you can use a thermometer and check the internal temperature of the salmon if it is 125-130 F then it is ready to eat.
That’s the proper approach to check if it is cooked or not but as most of you don’t have thermometers you can simply guess that by seeing if the skin is non-transparent and it easily flakes from the fillet.
Oven baked salmon recipe at 400 degrees
If you have been avoiding getting fish, I can totally understand that because a few years back I had the same thoughts. I used to think it’s a complicated procedure to cook a salmon or if somehow I gather the strength I might mess up while making this Beautiful fish.
But as the years passed I tried and failed a few times however eventually I came up with this simple yet delicious recipe. This hardly takes about 5-10 mins to get this salmon ready for baking. Just to boost up your confidence let me tell you that this was my 8th try with the salmon and guess what it turned out so well.
There are dozens of articles on how to make baked salmon and they make it sound so difficult that after reading those articles you just drop your idea of making baked salmon at home.
How Long to Bake Salmon at 400 in Oven
Ingredients
- Salmon fillets (cut into 4 pieces)
- Coarse grained salt
- Grounded Black pepper
Instructions
- Set the temperature of the oven to 400 F and pre-heat it.
- Take the salmon fillets put them in a non-stick pan or baking tray, always remember the skin side should be down.
- Season the salmon fillets with black pepper and coarse-grained salt.
- Now take the salmon and put it in the oven which you pre-heated at 400 F earlier.
- Bake salmon for at least 15 minutes and make sure it is cooked well, trust me you would not like the taste of raw salmon. So, cook it well.
- Take it out and serve with Toasted almond salad, Wait what salad? Hold your horses' guys that is the bonus salad that I was about to tell you guys.
Toasted Almond Salad (side dish)
This salad is an excellent accompaniment to salmon. It’s optional, but I recommend you do it. It is a simply delicious combination! I really believe that you will love it and that you will not regret doing it.
Ingredients for Toasted Almond salad:
- 1 tablespoon of red wine vinegar;
- 1 shallot;
- 2 tablespoons of rinsed capers;
- 1 cup fresh parsley;
- ½ cup toasted Almonds;
- Coarse Salt;
- Olive oil;
Instructions:
- Take shallot and mince it, use a small bowl to mix;
- Pour in that Red wine Vinegar over the minced shallot and add a pinch of salt now just let it sit there for about 30 mins;
- Meanwhile take the capers, Parsley and almonds chop them roughly;
- Add Roughly Chopped Parsley, cappers, and almonds to the shallot. Add olive to it and mix it well. Don’t forget to taste it beforehand if you feel like you can add more seasoning to it.
Should I bake salmon covered or uncovered?
It can be cooked covered in some cases but for this recipe specifically, the salmon is baked uncovered you just put some oil over it if you don’t have a non-stick available and put it in the oven.
Can I use frozen salmon?
Planning to make salmon for dinner? But forgot to pull out the salmon from the freezer, now what? You are just standing there looking at the hard-rocked salmon and thinking can I use it or not? Well, let me give you a sigh of relief yes you can use frozen salmon. Don’t worry about the taste it will taste exactly like the perfectly thawed salmon.
How to improve the recipe
As years of experience I have gathered a few tips which might come in handy while making baked salmon:
- Even if don’t like the skin of salmon I would highly suggest you get salmon with skin. There’s a good reason for that the skin doesn’t let the meat dry and there’s always an option that you can eat around the skin.
- Don’t use a lot of seasoning for a simple baked salmon use the minimum seasoning as I have mentioned in the recipe you can always try to serve it with fresh salad.
- If you have ever read my other recipes I always talk about the instant-read thermometer if want your salmon to be cooked perfectly from inside make sure you use a thermometer to measure if the temperature has reached the optimal point.
So, do you already know how long it take to bake salmon at 400 degrees in oven? I hope that’s what you’re looking for! Any questions you have, leave a comment on this article.
Similar recipes:
