You don’t have to go to a restaurant and pay a big price to enjoy the fine dining experience of a salmon entrée. I make my own at home all the time with this easy salmon recipe that uses the flavors of lemon, dill and capers and can be made in the microwave too.  It’s simple and delicious – no wonder it’s one of my favorite recipes!

I’ve been using this tasty salmon recipe for several years and as time has gone along I’ve made a few little tweaks here and there. Now it’s almost more of a cooking strategy than an actual recipe which adds to the simplicity of things too.

To get things started of course, you’ll need a piece of salmon.  I usually use a piece of about a 1 Lb size, but this salmon recipe can be easily adapted to larger or smaller amounts.  Lately I’ve been buying my salmon at Aldi, and I always feel the price is very reasonable too.

Place your salmon in your cooking dish. If I’m making this in the microwave, I use a round quiche dish because it fits and spins around perfectly in the microwave.  If I’m making it in the oven, I use a glass baking dish.

Next, I make the cooking liquid by combining some broth and lemon juice. I usually use vegetable broth but chicken broth works too. If I don’t have any ready-made broth, I use 1/4 cup of hot water and a 1/4 teaspoon of Vegetable Better Than Bouillon (again, the chicken flavor works too).   Once this mixture is combined I pour it over the piece of salmon in the dish.

Then I season the salmon. I don’t measure these ingredients anymore and just sprinkle on some salt, freshly ground pepper, and dried dill, and I’m very generous with the dried dill.   I finish up by adding some capers on top of the seasoned salmon fillet.

And then it’s time to cook!  If you’re making this in the microwave, it will be ready in about six to eight minutes. It usually depends on how thick your piece of salmon is. I usually start with 3 or 4 minutes, check it, and it usually needs another 2 or 3 minutes.  Salmon is fully cooked when it is light pink and flakes easily with a fork.

If I’m cooking this in the oven (which is the method I use if I’m making more pieces or larger pieces of salmon), I cook it for 20 minutes at 400 degrees. Sometimes a little extra cooking liquid is needed too when using the oven.

Either way, it doesn’t take long and before you know it you’ll be sitting down to enjoy your meal of homemade salmon. We usually make a couple side dishes to go along with it such as one of my easy ways to flavor rice, or a fresh vegetable.

I almost always use this recipe with salmon, but I’m sure other types of fish could be prepared using this method too. The flavors of lemon, dill, and capers pair well with fish fillets, and you would just need to adjust cooking times accordingly depending on how thick or thin your fish filets are. 

I did make this recipe one time using steelhead that was freshly caught by my son-in-law from our cold Michigan waters.  It was sooooo good.  It’s times like those when someone shows up at your door with freshly caught fish (or maybe that only happens in my neck of the woods), that I’m glad I know how to make my own!

More Home Cooking Ideas:

• How to make a crumb coating for fish
• How to make your own vegetable broth
• Quick Sloppy Joes