Description
This Christmas Baked Salmon recipe offers a festive, flavorful main course featuring a tender salmon side glazed with honey butter, topped with a creamy dill sauce, a vibrant holiday tapenade, and fresh pomegranate seeds. Perfect for holiday celebrations, it combines sweet, savory, and tangy elements with a beautifully caramelized finish.
Ingredients
Scale
Salmon
- 1.5 kg salmon side (skin on, bones removed)
- 2 1/4 tsp cooking/kosher salt
- 1 tsp black pepper
Honey Butter Glaze
- 150 g unsalted butter
- 1/2 cup honey
- 3 garlic cloves, finely minced
Creamy Dill Sauce
- 1 1/2 cups full fat sour cream
- 1/2 cup fresh dill, finely chopped
- 1/2 eschallot (French onion), finely grated
- 1 1/2 tbsp lemon zest
- 1/2 tsp cooking/kosher salt
Holiday Tapenade
- 1 cup dried cranberries
- 1 cup orange juice
- 1 cup slivered almonds, toasted
- 1/3 cup parsley, roughly chopped
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp black pepper
- 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
Finishing
- 1 pomegranate, seeded
- 1/4 cup parsley, roughly chopped
- 3 tbsp lemon juice
- 2 lemons, cut into 6 pieces each, for serving
Instructions
- Creamy Dill Sauce: In a bowl, mix sour cream, fresh dill, grated eschallot, lemon zest, and salt until smooth. Refrigerate until needed.
- Holiday Tapenade: Heat orange juice in a saucepan over high heat until hot, then turn off heat. Add dried cranberries, cover, and let stand for 15 minutes. Drain cranberries in a colander and allow to cool. In a bowl, combine drained cranberries, toasted almonds, parsley, salt, pepper, and olive oil. Mix well and bring to room temperature before serving.
- Prepare Oven: Preheat oven to 180°C/350°F.
- Prepare Salmon: Line a baking tray with a large sheet of foil (double layer recommended) followed by baking paper. Place the salmon side skin-down on the paper. Fold foil edges up slightly to contain glaze.
- Make Honey Butter Glaze: In a saucepan over medium-high heat, melt butter and add honey and garlic. Once it begins foaming, reduce to medium heat and let it foam for 2 minutes. Remove from heat and pour glaze evenly over the salmon.
- Season Salmon: Sprinkle salt and pepper over the salmon, concentrating most of the salt on the thicker part.
- Wrap and Bake: Cover salmon with a smaller piece of baking paper and then foil. Seal the sides loosely to form a parcel. Bake in the preheated oven for 15 minutes.
- Uncover and Prepare for Broiling: Remove salmon from oven, unfold and remove the foil and paper cover carefully, folding down the edges to expose the salmon surface.
- Broil for Caramelization: Turn the oven to the grill/broiler setting on high. Place salmon on the middle shelf and broil for 7 to 10 minutes until caramelized on edges and lightly browned on top. Monitor to avoid burning or paper ignition.
- Check Doneness and Transfer: Confirm salmon is cooked by prying flesh open or using a probe (ideal internal temp 54°C/130°F for medium). Using foil overhang, transfer salmon to serving platter, sliding out foil and paper underneath to allow juices to pool.
- Cool Salmon: Loosely cover with foil and let salmon cool for at least 15 minutes or up to 1 hour at room temperature before assembly.
- Assemble: Spread the creamy dill sauce over the salmon in a thick layer (~0.8 cm). Top with holiday tapenade and scatter pomegranate seeds and remaining parsley evenly. Drizzle with lemon juice.
- Serve: Serve with extra lemon wedges. Cut into portions using a cake cutter and encourage guests to enjoy the honey-butter sauce mixed with the creamy dill topping. Best served warm or at room temperature.
Notes
- Use a whole side of salmon with skin on and bones removed for best handling and presentation.
- Cooking/kosher salt is recommended; if only table salt is available, reduce amount by 25%.
- Toast almonds in a dry skillet over medium heat for 2 minutes until fragrant and lightly browned.
- For doneness, salmon internal temp ranges: 43°C rare, 49°C medium-rare, 54°C medium.
- Substitute trout or salmon fillets as alternatives with adjusted cooking times.
- For a dairy-free option, use ghee or margarine for butter, and hummus instead of sour cream.
- Make components such as tapenade and creamy dill sauce up to 24 hours in advance to save time.
- Store leftovers refrigerated up to 3–4 days; reheat gently and avoid microwave to prevent sour cream melting.
- Serve this dish warm or at room temperature for best flavor and texture.
- Adding extra lemon wedges is essential for brightening the dish when serving.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 serving
- Calories: 360 kcal
- Sugar: 7 g
- Sodium: 420 mg
- Fat: 22 g
- Saturated Fat: 9 g
- Unsaturated Fat: 11 g
- Trans Fat: 0 g
- Carbohydrates: 14 g
- Fiber: 2 g
- Protein: 32 g
- Cholesterol: 85 mg
