Stovetop Poached Salmon
Vespasiano Jilg
Poached salmon with water, salt, and pepper is delicious, but I love using my favorite aromatic poaching liquid (shared below). Enjoy your salmon on salads, flaked over toast, with creamy grits, or serve with roasted veggies.
Poaching is one of the best ways to make salmon, especially if you want moist and tender results. The same is true for chicken breasts and shrimp! To poach salmon, place seasoned salmon fillets in a skillet on top of a bed of aromatics, such as lemon slices and shallots.
Poached salmon is fantastic on salads! Try it with broccoli slaw, kale salad, or a classic Caesar. I often serve it next to roasted veggies. I especially love this roasted zucchini with feta and crispy roasted potatoes. For a fresh veggie side, try cucumber (cucumber and salmon are amazing together). I love this creamy cucumber salad.
Poaching salmon is one of our favorite ways to cook salmon! Poached salmon cooks quickly and stays moist, flaky, and tender. The aromatics (lemon, shallot, fennel, and dill) are optional but add lots of delicious flavor. You can use water, broth, or a combination of water and white wine for the poaching liquid.
6Cook until an internal temperature thermometer reads between 125F to 130F or when you pierce the thickest part of the salmon with a fork, 5 to 12 minutes, depending on how thick the salmon fillets are. Serve.
2To reheat poached salmon, place it in an oven-safe dish. Add a splash of water or broth for extra moisture. Cover the dish with aluminum foil to prevent drying. Bake for about 15 minutes, or until the salmon reaches an internal temperature of 125F to 130F.
Additional seasonings or aromatics can be added to the water, such as peppercorns, sprigs of fresh herbs (dill and tarragon are very nice), sliced carrots, onions, celery, and so on. You can also sub in a cup or so of dry white wine for some of the water.
When the salmon has cooled a bit, transfer it to an airtight container and refrigerate until completely cooled, then serve chilled. You can keep the poached salmon in the fridge for up to 2 days before serving.
Poached salmon can be eaten warm, at room temperature, or chilled. Sauces like dill sauce or horseradish sauce are very popular accompaniments but also try other ideas like roasted tomato sauce, a tahini dressing, or a chimichurri sauce instead. (Honestly, there are few limits to what would pair up well with a beautiful piece of poached salmon.)
Katie Workman is a cook, a writer, a mother of two, an activist in hunger issues, and an enthusiastic advocate for family meals, which is the inspiration behind her two beloved cookbooks, Dinner Solved! and The Mom 100 Cookbook.
Good candidates include dry white wine, fish stock, milk, or simply water. After many experiments, my preferred liquid is white wine. I like the flavor it adds. But you should experiment and see what you like best.
As for side dishes, this dish is very versatile. It goes well with most vegetables. When I serve it cold, I often serve it with asparagus salad, cucumber salad, or broccoli salad. When I serve it warm, I accompany it with steamed broccoli, steamed asparagus, or steamed spinach.
I often make a quick salad of shredded lettuce and cherry tomatoes, add the poached salmon leftovers (flaked or cut into small pieces), and drizzle the salad with ranch dressing, as shown in the photo:
In Absolute Best Tests, Ella Quittner destroys the sanctity of her home kitchen in the name of the truth. She's boiled dozens of eggs, mashed a concerning number of potatoes, and seared more Porterhouse steaks than she cares to recall. Today, she tackles salmon.
For all 12 tests, I used boneless, skin-on, center-cut salmon salmon fillets, which were roughly six ounces apiece. I seasoned with salt and white pepper. For some methods, I used olive oil. For others that involved high heat, I used avocado oil.
Ease of Method: The main drawback was the tricky business of determining whether the salmon had finished cooking, since it lurked beneath an opaque layer of parchment. (I used a finger to press the center of the packet and judged by feel.)
Ease of Method: I would recommend this method only to a home cook with an instant-read thermometer. Otherwise, determining when the oil has reached 180 degrees Fahrenheit is at best confusing, and at worst, could result in a lot of oil past its smoke point.
Ease of Method: Slow-roasting salmon was incredibly easy, and took only about 45 minutes when all was said and done. Placing the fish skin-side down on a parchment-lined sheet pan made for easy clean-up.
Steaming salmon turned out to be a very solid, minimally finicky method that retained more flavor than the cold-poached fillet (more on that later). I set the seasoned salmon in a steamer basket, which I placed above a saucepan of boiling water, and let it cook through, eight to 10 minutes.
I had high hopes for the skillet-to-oven method, which begins like the stovetop sear, but has you finish your fillet still skin down in a 350 degrees Fahrenheit oven, rather than flipping it and finishing in the pan.
I need to poach salmon on the stovetop for someone who can't have any oil (hence the poaching.) I've tried it a few times, and the flavor is good, but the fish turns very stiff and hard. The salmon I use has been previously frozen, if that makes a difference. (Of course, I thaw it before cooking.) Has anyone had this problem? What am I doing wrong?
This recipe puts the most basic ingredients to great use. Because this recipe is all about the salmon, try to purchase it fresh, if possible. I usually ask my fishmonger to cut the salmon into four equal sized pieces, ensuring they all cook evenly.
Make sure to click our video link at the top of this post to see how we present this poached salmon with herbed mayonnaise. I like serving a meal like this where the main is served on a platter and guests help themselves. It looks so appetizing and inviting.Although I served this meal hot, you can also enjoy it chilled, making it a nice luncheon or brunch option. Hot or cold is up to you, but either way, open a bottle of prosecco or champers to enjoy with it. Sparkling wine is the perfect accompaniment with poached salmon.
Nice post John - so thorough! We love, love, love poached Salmon - especially the Chinook. We are lucky to live in Seattle and have access to some of the freshest available. A simple poach really highlights this beautiful fish!
I love fresh salmon, I have always stuck to baking it. Though you have just encouraged me to give poaching ago. I look forward to getting the recipe for the cucumbers, I think that they would go really well with the salmon. Its a combo I would never of thought of. YUM
Hi Charlie, although salmon is wonderful any time of the flavor, it always screams summer to me. Probably because that's when we get the really decent wild salmon in our markets. Thanks for the comment.
Yep, I agree you can't go wrong with salmon- nice rich, meaty taste. The Hollandaise would certainly put on a crowning touch, but I always find it a bit too much trouble with all the whisking in of the butter towards the end- I find 'beurre blanc' easier because no egg yolks are required. I'm not sure where our salmon comes from here in Australia- I'll have to ask next time!
Hi Fran, beurre blanc would be an excellent choice too. I actually find either one about the same difficulty (and if I'm lazy, I'll make Hollandaise in the blender - practically foolproof!). Thanks for the comment.
Thank you for the love story! Anyone who feels they are a foodie surely has this as one of their top six . . . I'll have the wild one rather than the farmed, I'll use white wine and dill and feel I am lucky to be alive . . . one of the most perfect [tautology, I know!] dishes I know . . . I may share with your permission . . .
Hi Amy, white fleshed fish is wonderful poached! I usually use a court bouillon with them - they can benefit from the extra flavor. You really should try it with salmon - so delish! Thanks for the comment.
King, sockeye, and coho salmons are my fave! I only eat wild salmon and eat it at least 2 times a week year round. I have a good market near my house that stocks amazing fresh salmon in the summer and frozen in the winter. I have always wanted to try it poached but it seemed a little intimidating. you have made it seem so simple and I can't wait to try it. Would it be okay to remove the skin prior to cooking? I love salmon skin and would like to bake it separately.
Hi Laura, you could try removing the skin, although it does help hold the flesh of the fillet together. It might be worth trying to poach it with the skin, then when you remove the fillets, remove the skin and pan fry it quickly to crisp it up (it's pretty flabby from poaching). Thanks for the comment.
This is a great post, John. I've never poached any fish and have a recipe for fish poached in olive oil I've wanted to try. First, though, I think I'll give your recipe a try. It sounds delicious, especially with a bit of Hollandaise on top. That would make a great dinner whether alone or serving guests. Thanks for writing such a thorough how-to post.
There was a time when the DNR stocked the creek behind my family's property with coho fry every year. It was an amazing thing to live in the Midwest and have access to freshly caught salmon. The stocking program was stopped in the 80's, a victim of budget cuts.
Hi John, I've eaten fish poached in olive oil. Quite good, but I'm never made it - I want to someday. Too bad about the stocking being stopped! Freshly caught salmon must have been quite a treat. Thanks for the comment.
Hi Carolyn, fresh salmon is almost always a splurge, but I agree it's so worth it. And salmon is so flavorful, you really don't need to dress it up much (if any) in order to have a treat. Thanks for the comment.
I couldn't agree more: wild caught fresh Salmon is the best.
Love the idea of poaching the Salmon-it's so much lighter that way.
The colors are gorgeous.
Is this cucumber you serve together with the Salmon and the Hollandaise? Excellent choice!