One of the (very) few good things to come out of all the quarantines/lockdowns we’ve had since 2020 is that I finally learned how to cook salmon. Pre-pandemic, I occasionally made tilapia or sole, but never salmon, and I’ve always thought I should be eating more of it for those valuable omega-3s.

With cooking so much at home over the past two years (and being bored of everything), I finally bought some salmon, and the first recipe I made was this Coconut Curry Salmon (recommended by Danielle) that is absolutely delicious. I then moved onto the Brown Sugar Chili Salmon from Oven to Table, which I also love (and will blog about soon). But then I realized I could take my go-to crispy fish recipe and sub in salmon, and a new obsession was born.

This is a legitimate 30 minute meal, that only uses a sheet pan and a small bowl, so it’s quick to prepare and fast to clean up. You season salmon with salt and pepper, spread on a delicious lemon dijon aioli, and sprinkle it with panko breadcrumbs. It bakes in about 8-10 minutes, and I always roast some veggies alongside of it so it’s a full meal.

This recipe is from my friends at How to Eat, who shut down their blog about a year ago. I live in constant fear of not being able to access the measurements for the aioli (even though it’s so simple), so I’m relieved to finally document it here!

Panko Crusted Baked Salmon

Source: How to Eat

Ingredients

  • 1/4 cup mayo
  • 1 tsp dijon mustard
  • juice of half a lemon (about 2 tbsp)
  • 1/2 cup panko
  • 2 pieces of salmon (or tilapia, cod, or any other type of fish)

Directions

  1. Preheat the oven to 425 and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. If you want to roast some veggies to go with your salmon, you can get them going on the baking sheet for about 10 minutes before you add the salmon.
  2. In a small bowl, whisk together the mayo, mustard and lemon juice.
  3. Place the salmon on the baking sheet and season with salt and pepper. Use a spoon to dollop two spoonfuls of the aioli on the fish and spread it overtop (set the rest of the aioli aside for dipping). Sprinkle the top of the fish liberally with panko.
  4. Bake for 8-10 minutes (this is the hardest part of cooking salmon…knowing when it’s done. I aim for 10 minutes, but the key is to not overbake).
  5. Serve with a squeeze of lemon and extra aioli for dipping.