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sockeye salmon recipe in a pan with lemon butter sauce and lemon slices cooked

Sockeye Salmon With Lemon Butter Sauce

Sockeye Salmon Recipe should be your weeknight thing! Sockeye Salmon is a rich flavored salmon that shines here with the lemon butter sauce.

Course Main Course, Main Dish
Cuisine American, French
Keyword butter sauce for seafood, garlic sauce for seafood, lemon butter sauce, salmon recipe, seafood recipe, sockeye salmon, sockeye salmon recipe
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 15 minutes
Servings 4
Calories 400 kcal
Author Mahy

Ingredients

Sockeye Salmon

  • 4 sockeye salmon fillet skin on or off to your taste
  • 1 teaspoon salt and pepper each
  • 1 teaspoon garlic powder
  • 2 tablespoons Unsalted butter or garlic butter

Lemon Butter Sauce

  • 3 Tablespoons unsalted butter or garlic butter
  • 1/2 teaspoon flour
  • 2 tablespoons lemon juice
  • 1 tablespoons fresh thyme leaves
  • 1/2 teaspoon lemon zest
  • 2-4 tablespoons stock or water depending on how thick you want the sauce t be
  • 1 tablespoon butter
  • 1/8 teaspoon salt and pepper
  • 1 lemon sliced

Instructions

  1. Pat dry your sockeye salmon and feel free to remove the skin like I did, or keep it on if you like skin on salmon.

    sockeye salmon fillets on a parchment paper
  2. Season the salmon with garlic powder, salt and pepper or both sides.

  3. Melt the garlic butter or regular butter in a skillet.

    a sauce pan with butter preheating
  4. Sear the salmon on both sides until golden and the salmon forms a crust.

    Sockeye salmon seasoned and placed in the buttered skillet to sear
  5. remove the salmon from the skillet and use the same skillet without washing to make the sauce.

    seared sockeye salmon golden and ready, now removing it from the pan to make the sauce
  6. Add in more butter to the skillet and flour. Whisk until smooth and thickened, at that point add in the lemon juice, thyme, zest and thin it out with stock or water to the desired consistency.

    lemon butter sauce in the pan whisked until smooth and ready
  7. Place the salmon back into the skillet and add in lemon slices. The salmon should simmer in the sauce for just 2 minutes and it's ready.

    sockeye salmon recipe in a pan with lemon butter sauce and lemon slices cooked
  8. Serve the salmon on a plate with extra lemon butter sauce.

    sockeye salmon on a plate and a hand drizzling the lemon butter sauce over the cooked sockeye salmon recipe
  9. Enjoy!!

Recipe Video

Recipe Notes

Tips On Cooking Sockeye Salmon

  1. Make sure to use enough butter to sear the salmon in. This will help to keep the salmon nice and moist and stop it from sticking to the pan.
  2. Keep your heat medium. Butter can easily burn if too much heat is applied - and lots of butter is used in this recipe.
  3. You can use an instant read thermometer to check the internal temperature of the salmon to make sure it is fully cooked throughout. If you don't have one, you can check if the salmon flakes with pressure to tell you if it's fully cooked before removing your salmon from the heat.

Sockeye vs Atlantic salmon?

This is the most asked question I get. Sockeye salmon is almost always wild-caught, whereas Atlantic salmon is generally farmed salmon.

With sockeye salmon, you will get a very deep red color given from its diet and sockeye salmon has very high levels of omega 3 fatty acids which are very good for your health. 

Generally, sockeye salmon is of better quality and tastes better with a firmer texture than farmed Atlantic salmon. If you want to make sure you eat only wild caught salmon King salmon is another option. 

Why is sockeye salmon more expensive?

Sockeye salmon is more expensive because it has to be wild caught rather than farmed. They also tend to be smaller. This increases its price on the market.

Can you grill sockeye salmon?

Yes absolutely. This salmon is very easily grilled and can taste very nice cooked this way. to keep your salmon moist you may want to cover your salmon with foil. If you prefer to grill your salmon with this recipe you can do that and make the sauce separately to pour-over.

Can you bake sockeye salmon?

Yes, baking the salmon fillet is another way to can easily cook salmon. If you prefer this method to you can adapt this recipe to it also. You could even bake your salmon in the lemon butter sauce to keep it lovely and moist and let the salmon really absorb the lemon butter sauce flavors.

Nutrition Facts
Sockeye Salmon With Lemon Butter Sauce
Amount Per Serving
Calories 400 Calories from Fat 252
% Daily Value*
Fat 28g43%
Saturated Fat 12g75%
Trans Fat 1g
Cholesterol 139mg46%
Sodium 757mg33%
Potassium 906mg26%
Carbohydrates 4g1%
Fiber 1g4%
Sugar 1g1%
Protein 34g68%
Vitamin A 775IU16%
Vitamin C 23mg28%
Calcium 49mg5%
Iron 2mg11%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.