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.
The one discrepancy between the written instructions and the video. Written it says start with skin side up. The video shows starting skin side down first. It matters because the skin side takes longer to heat because of the fat content. I’ve always started with skin side down so it gets crispy. Soggy fish skin is not appetizing.
Hi John. It may be a bit confusing because I use skinless salmon, so it’s hard to tell in the video which side is which. But it is in fact skin side up.
Great!
Finished with a lemon-dill-garlic butter. Let it melt for a couple of minutes.
Yum.
Very easy. Thank you.
So easy and delicious! Thanks for suggesting to really add the salt! Definitely a make again!
Great! I had to make a few tweaks. I’ve done this recipe twice now. I had wild caught salmon I had to cut in pieces myself. The first time I tried to do it exactly like the recipe said, but after I flipped it, it only needed 3 minutes and it was a little overcooked, but tasty.
I did it for the 2nd time tonight – I added a little bit of lemon pepper as well as salt. I just cooked it the first side for 3 minutes, then the other side about 2.5 minutes – it was perfect for us! I’ve saved this recipe and will do again, thank you!
Delicious! This is my go to recipe for salmon.
We are hosting a Valentines dinner party next week. One friend needs to avoid onions and garlic so this recipe will be great. I know the salmon tastes great all on its own but can you recommends a sauce that might work well to accompany it?
Hi Vicki, this would be nice with a lemon butter sauce or you could go with the sauce from my chicken piccata. Hope you enjoy whatever you choose!
Thanks for the idea! Would you recommend still using chicken broth or use a different broth since it’s going with salmon?
Either chicken or vegetable broth should be fine.
If you follow these instructions and do nothing else, the fish will stick to the pan and be ruined. When you unwrap salmon, most often it’s moist on the surface. If you don’t dry it before cooking, it will steam when it hits the hot oil in the pan. The vaporizing will displace the oil and your fish will stick. Pat dry with a paper towel before seasoning. Neglecting to mention that in this “recipe” is unforgivable.
I’ve made this several times according to this recipe. Salmon has come out perfect every time, just like recipe says. Beautiful sear on top, tender in the middle.
Oh yeah, forgot to note. I put a rub on flesh side instead of salt before searing. I let it rest for about 15 minutes. The rub is a seafood rub. It’s call Seadog Rub. This made it especially flavorful!
Thanks Jenn,
Came out perfectly!
I tried this method, it is easy and very delicious. However, I get the same results by baking the fillets at 425 for 9 minutes then turning the fillets and baking an additional nine. Use a baking sheet lined with parchment greased liberally with olive oil spray. Salmon tends to stick to whatever surface you cook it on if not oiled properly. I prefer my Salmon well done so cooked mine 3 minutes on each side longer than this recipe recommended…Bear in mind that if you like yours well done also then you will need to add more oil than this method calls for. You can’t go wrong with pan frying in a HEALTHY oil such as Olive Oil, although I prefer Coconut Oil for Searing Fish. My favorite way to enjoy Salmon is grilled with a blackening season. I like to switch it up now and then though and this recipe was a very pleasant change, and will be using this method again its simple but simple is best…Thank you for sharing.
Followed with salmon that I had delivered from Wild Alaskan Company. I cooked the two pieces about one minute more on second side as it was a bit larger than your recipe and I wanted to be sure it was completely cooked. Absolutely delicious.