Restaurant-Style Pan Seared Salmon
This post may contain affiliate links. Read my full disclosure policy.
Restaurant-quality pan seared salmon—crisp on top and just barely cooked in the center—is easy to make at home.
Golden and crisp on top and just barely cooked at the center, this pan seared salmon is one of my go-to recipes when I have to hit the kitchen running. Not only is it fast—15 minutes start to finish—it’s also elegant. In fact, it’s the way salmon is typically prepared in fine dining restaurants (the same method is often used for cooking steak and scallops). This is really more of a technique than a traditional recipe, and it’s simple to master at home.
The key to perfect pan-seared salmon lies in choosing the right size fillets, seasoning them well, and allowing them to cook undisturbed. This technique, especially leaving the salmon untouched in hot oil, ensures a beautiful, golden crust that elevates the dish to restaurant quality.
Table of Contents
“Supremely simple and delicious! I made this last night and must admit that the ingredients and cooking technique seemed ‘too simple.’ I went ahead and followed Jenn’s recipe exactly, and it was delicious! Don’t doubt it, just make it.”
What You’ll Need To Make Pan Seared Salmon
The ingredients are simple: olive oil, salt, pepper, and salmon. I recommend using 6-ounce salmon fillets; these are often sold already portioned and ready to cook at the fish counter. This size will ensure that the salmon cooks fully on the interior without overcooking on the exterior.
Step-by-Step Instructions
Begin by seasoning the salmon with salt and a few grinds of pepper. Don’t skimp on the salt—the biggest mistake most home cooks make is under-seasoning their food.
Heat the oil in a 12-inch nonstick skillet over medium-high heat until hot and shimmering. Cook the salmon, skin side up, until golden and crisp, about 4 minutes. Resist the urge to fiddle with the fillets as they cook. Letting the fish sear untouched in hot oil creates a lovely, flavorful, and golden crust.
Carefully flip the fillets and reduce the heat to medium. Continue cooking until done to your liking, 4 to 5 minutes more.
Transfer to a platter and serve. Enjoy!
Video Tutorial
More Salmon Recipes
Restaurant-Style Pan-Seared Salmon
Restaurant-quality pan seared salmon—crisp on top and just barely cooked in the center—is easy to make at home.
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- Freshly ground black pepper
- 4 (6-ounce) salmon fillets, 1¼ in thick (I have my fish monger remove the skin, but it's fine to leave it on if you like)
Instructions
- Season the salmon with the salt and a few grinds of pepper. Heat the oil in a 12-inch nonstick skillet over medium-high heat until hot and shimmering. Cook the salmon, without moving, skin side up, until golden and crisp, about 4 minutes. Carefully flip the fillets and reduce the heat to medium. Continue cooking until done to your liking, 4 to 5 minutes more. Transfer to a platter and serve.
Pair with
Nutrition Information
Powered by 
- Per serving (4 servings)
- Calories: 384
- Fat: 26 g
- Saturated fat: 6 g
- Carbohydrates: 0 g
- Sugar: 0 g
- Fiber: 0 g
- Protein: 35 g
- Sodium: 336 mg
- Cholesterol: 94 mg
This website is written and produced for informational purposes only. I am not a certified nutritionist and the nutritional data on this site has not been evaluated or approved by a nutritionist or the Food and Drug Administration. Nutritional information is offered as a courtesy and should not be construed as a guarantee. The data is calculated through an online nutritional calculator, Edamam.com. Although I do my best to provide accurate nutritional information, these figures should be considered estimates only. Varying factors such as product types or brands purchased, natural fluctuations in fresh produce, and the way ingredients are processed change the effective nutritional information in any given recipe. Furthermore, different online calculators provide different results depending on their own nutrition fact sources and algorithms. To obtain the most accurate nutritional information in a given recipe, you should calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients used in your recipe, using your preferred nutrition calculator.
See more recipes:
Comments
Add a Comment
This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.
Yum PERFECT!! Served with homemade pesto and rice! As always…thank you Jenn!!!
Perfect timing at 5 & 4. Great tip to turn down the heat at flipping time!
This was the best salmon I’ve ever made! Perfect crust and so easy. Truly tasted like it was from a restaurant. Only downside is that it smoked a lot and really stunk up my house. Next time (and there will be a next time) I’ll run the vent fan from the beginning—I turned it on halfway through
I am giving this recipe 5 stars because we just had a *delicious* dinner, but I did make a small change and now I have a question. My frying pan looked like the one in the photo, with a very thin lining of olive oil across the bottom of the large pan. However, I used MUCH more than a tablespoon (I’m embarrassed to say how much, and I was eyeballing it, but I would guess perhaps 1/2 cup or more?) Was this a bad mistake? While the fish was outstanding, I did note that it was on the “done” side of perfect, and probably could have gotten away with 3.5 / 3 minutes of cooking per side instead of 4 / 4 — now I’m thinking that might be because I used more oil than the recipe called for. Anyway, delicious. Thanks, Jenn!!
Hi G, glad you enjoyed this despite it being a bit overcooked. Yes, I think the amount of oil caused it to cook more quickly so next time, I’d cut back significantly and you’ll get better results. 🙂
So easy and so good!
I made this last night with wild caught Alaskan Coho salmon and tonight with wild caught Alaskan King salmon. Yum and yum! It’s nice enough to serve to company. I did cover the pan for a few minutes on each side while cooking just to keep the splattering down. Thanks for this easy method to cook one of our favorite fish.
I spread a balsamic glaze on the salmon before pan-searing, which gave it an extra crispy “shell” and tangy sweetness.
Hi Jenn,
It came out excellent, like you said crispy on the outside, moist on the inside. However I used butter instead of oil (the French debate about butter vs olive oil) it made the skin that much more tasty in the end, and sprinkled it with organic garlic powder and organic dill weed. Then topped it with a slice of lemon. I used fresh Atlantic salmon.
I was amazed! I made this recipe. I left the skin on the salmon but I goofed and put the skin side down. In a minute I turned it over and discovered the skin slid right off each piece easily so I removed it. I finished cooking 4 minutes on that side then 5 minutes on the other. It turned out beautiful and delicious! Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!
This is so good! Really easy and amazing. Do it exactly as Jenn says.
The best at-home salmon I’ve ever made! Thanks, Jenn.