Description
This Christmas Baked Salmon recipe features a perfectly baked salmon side glazed with a rich honey butter sauce, topped with a creamy dill sauce, a festive holiday tapenade of dried cranberries and toasted almonds, and finished with pomegranate seeds and fresh herbs. It’s a vibrant, flavorful dish perfect for holiday celebrations, served slightly warm or at room temperature for best taste and texture.
Ingredients
Scale
Salmon
- 1.5 kg salmon side (skin on, bones removed)
- 2 1/4 tsp cooking/kosher salt
- 1 tsp black pepper
Honey Butter Glaze
- 150 g unsalted butter
- 1/2 cup honey
- 3 garlic cloves, finely minced
Creamy Dill Sauce
- 1 1/2 cups full fat sour cream
- 1/2 cup fresh dill, finely chopped
- 1/2 eschallot, finely grated
- 1 1/2 tbsp lemon zest
- 1/2 tsp cooking/kosher salt
Holiday Tapenade
- 1 cup dried cranberries
- 1 cup orange juice
- 1 cup slivered almonds, toasted
- 1/3 cup parsley, roughly chopped
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp black pepper
- 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
Finishing
- 1 pomegranate, seeds only
- 1/4 cup parsley, roughly chopped
- 3 tbsp lemon juice
- 2 lemons, cut into 6 pieces each (for serving)
Instructions
- Prepare Creamy Dill Sauce: In a bowl, combine sour cream, fresh dill, grated eschallot, lemon zest, and salt. Mix until smooth. Refrigerate until ready to use.
- Make Holiday Tapenade: Heat orange juice in a saucepan until hot but not boiling. Turn off the heat, add dried cranberries, cover, and let stand for 15 minutes to plump. Drain cranberries and let cool. In a bowl, mix cooled cranberries, toasted slivered almonds, chopped parsley, salt, pepper, and olive oil. Set aside at room temperature.
- Preheat Oven: Set oven to 180°C (350°F).
- Prepare Salmon for Baking: Place a double layer of foil on a tray and top with baking/parchment paper. Place the salmon skin-side down on the paper and fold up foil edges slightly to contain glaze.
- Make Honey Butter Glaze: In a saucepan over medium-high heat, melt butter with honey and minced garlic. When it starts foaming, reduce heat to medium and let foam for 2 minutes. Remove from heat and immediately pour over salmon evenly.
- Season Salmon: Sprinkle salt and pepper over the salmon, concentrating most salt on the thicker part.
- Wrap Salmon: Cover the salmon with a smaller piece of parchment paper, then foil. Fold and seal the edges to form a parcel, not necessarily airtight.
- Bake Salmon: Place the parcel in the preheated oven and bake for 15 minutes. Remove from oven.
- Uncover and Prepare for Broiling: Carefully remove foil and top parchment paper, folding sides down to expose the salmon surface and prevent paper from catching fire.
- Broil to Brown: Set oven to grill/broil on high. Place salmon on middle oven shelf and broil for 7 to 10 minutes until caramelized edges and lightly browned top are achieved. Ensure salmon is cooked by prying open the flesh or using a food thermometer (ideally 49°C/120°F for medium-rare to 54°C/130°F for medium).
- Transfer Salmon to Serving Platter: Use foil overhang to slide salmon onto plate immediately to prevent overcooking. Remove foil and paper underneath so juices pool on platter.
- Cool Salmon: Loosely cover with foil and allow to cool for at least 15 minutes and up to 1 hour before serving, preferably warm or at room temperature.
- Assemble and Serve: Spread a thick layer (~0.8 cm) of creamy dill sauce evenly over the salmon. Top with holiday tapenade, scatter pomegranate seeds, sprinkle remaining parsley, and drizzle lemon juice. Serve with extra lemon wedges. Cut into pieces using a cake cutter and enjoy with the flavorful honey butter sauce.
Notes
- Use a whole side of salmon with skin on for best cooking and handling; bones should be removed for ease of eating.
- Cooking/kosher salt has larger grains; reduce quantity by 25% if using table salt due to finer grain size.
- Toast almonds by stirring in a dry hot skillet over medium heat for about 2 minutes until fragrant and lightly browned; cool immediately to prevent burning.
- Check salmon doneness by prying open the flesh or using a thermometer; internal temps: 43°C for rare, 49°C for medium-rare, 54°C for medium.
- For salmon fillets or smaller sides (~600 g), reduce cooking times accordingly (10 minutes bake, 10 minutes broil for fillets).
- Substitutions: trout for salmon; ghee or margarine for butter; maple syrup for honey (reduce for 1 extra minute); spreadable cream cheese thinned with olive oil for sour cream; chives or green onions for dill; other nuts or seeds for toasted almonds; dried sour cherries or raisins for cranberries; apple juice for orange juice; chives or green onions for parsley; red grapes or cherries for pomegranate seeds.
- Dish is best served warm or room temperature, not piping hot, to maintain sauce texture; skin is edible but not crisp—can be removed if preferred.
- Make ahead: Tapenade and sauces can be prepared 24 hours in advance; salmon is best freshly baked but can be reheated gently.
- Store leftovers in fridge for 3-4 days, letting them come to room temperature naturally; avoid microwave or oven reheating to prevent sauce separation.
- Nutrition info assumes 12 servings based on 1.5 kg salmon with all toppings.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 serving
- Calories: 450 kcal
- Sugar: 12 g
- Sodium: 420 mg
- Fat: 30 g
- Saturated Fat: 12 g
- Unsaturated Fat: 15 g
- Trans Fat: 0 g
- Carbohydrates: 15 g
- Fiber: 2 g
- Protein: 35 g
- Cholesterol: 95 mg
