Tender, fall-apart pan-fried salmon in rich, creamy, white wine and garlic sauce. All cooked in one pan, this dish has a few little extras to make the sauce over-the-top tasty.
On the table in 15 minutes, it's a great meal when you need dinner fast, but you want something special.
I like to serve fish for dinner at least once a week and this is a recipe I often use to ensure we have clean plates all-round.
Tender, juicy salmon fillets, all served up with veggies and sauce in 15 minutes!
The salmon does most of the cooking in the sauce, which means it will be lovely and tender, and it's actually quite difficult to overcook, so you haven't got to worry about dry salmon!
The sauce, although very simple, is quite rich and decadent, so it works really well with potatoes and green veg to soak it all up.
What do we need?
- Boneless salmon fillets, with the skin on (this helps to keep the salmon tender) - you can use the thinner fillets as I have in the image above, or you can use the more square-shaped tail fillets.
- Base sauce ingredients - white wine, a splash of stock cream, parmesan
- Aromatics/seasonings - garlic, salt, pepper, lemon zest
How to make this pan fried salmon
Full recipe with detailed steps in the recipe card at the end of this post.
- Cook the salmon fillets for 2 minutes, skin-side-down over a high heat with a little oil.
- Flip, cook for 2 further minutes until lightly browned, then flip again.
- Add garlic, white wine, stock, cream, salt, pepper and parmesan.
- Simmer until slightly thickened, the sprinkle on lemon zest and a little freshly chopped parsley before serving.
The stock and parmesan in the sauce really helps to add extra flavour to the cream and white wine sauce. It works so well with the salmon, but you could also use if for chicken, steak and juicy king prawns too!
What to serve it with
You can serve this pan fried salmon with:
- Baby new potatoes (steamed/boiled for 20 minutes)
- Creamy Mashed Potatoes or crispy Roasted Potatoes
- Tender Green Beans with Parmesan
- Simple steamed broccoli
- The best Potato Dauphinoise
Skin-on or skinless fillets
I would always suggest going for skin-on salmon fillets as the skin helps to protect the salmon from overcooking and drying out.
Once the salmon is cooked, you can easily remove the skin if you prefer. It will peel right off.
Replace with other fish
This recipe works great with most types of fish fillets.
- Cook as per this recipe with skin-on trout, sea bass or sea bream
- For firm-fleshed, skinless, white fish fillets - such as cod, haddock and pollack, it's a good idea to season them with a pinch of salt and pepper first for extra flavour. These types of white fish are usually thicker, but since they're skinless, they should cook in about the same amount of time as the salmon.
Tips to pan-fry salmon with a sauce:
- It's a good idea to take the salmon out of the fridge 15-20 minutes before frying them. This takes the chill off the middle so they'll cook more evenly.
- Make sure the pan and the oil is very hot, and add the salmon to the pan skin-side down first.
- If you're finishing off the cooking process in a sauce (like this recipe), you only need to cook the salmon for a couple of minutes on each side before adding the sauce. Just enough to brown the salmon slightly. The salmon will continue to cook in the sauce.
- Once you've added the sauce ingredients, the salmon should only need a few minutes more - enough time for the sauce to simmer and reduce. This will ensure the salmon is lovely and juicy.
- The sauce helps to keep the salmon moist, so if you do cook it for a few minutes longer than the recipe suggests, it'll still be perfect.
Don't want to use wine?
You can replace the white wine with the same amount of chicken stock plus 1 tsp of Worcestershire sauce or 1 tsp fresh lemon juice.
More fantastic salmon recipes
- Honey Garlic Butter Baked Salmon
- Garlic Bread Crusted Salmon
- Salmon Sushi Bowl
- Pan Fried Salmon and Spaghetti with Lemon Cream Sauce
Watch how to make it
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Salmon with Creamy White Wine Sauce
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp vegetable oil
- 2 salmon fillets - boneless, skin-on
- 1 clove garlic - peeled and minced
- ¼ cup (60 ml) white wine
- ¼ cup (60ml) strong chicken stock - (I use 1 stock cube crumbled into ¼ cup/60ml hot water)
- ¾ cup (180ml) double (heavy) cream
- ¼ tsp salt
- ¼ tsp pepper
- 3 tbsp grated parmesan
- zest of 1 lemon
INSTRUCTIONS
- Heat the oil over a high heat in a frying pan (skillet).
- Add the salmon, skin-side down and cook for 2 minutes.
- Turn the salmon and cook for a further 2 minutes, until lightly browned, then turn back over so it's skin-side down again.
- Turn the heat down to medium and add the garlic, stir for 30 seconds (no longer or the garlic may burn), then add in the white wine.
- Bring to the boil and allow to bubble for a minute, then add in the chicken stock. Allow to bubble for a further minute.
- Add in the cream, salt, pepper and parmesan and bring back to the boil. Simmer gently for a further 3-4 minutes until slightly thickened.
- Stir in the lemon zest then serve the salmon topped with a sprinkling of fresh parsley. I love to serve mine with baby new potatoes and broccoli too.
Video
✎ Notes
You can replace with the square-ish sizes tail-end fillets if you prefer. The tail end fillets, although wider, are usually thinner. They cook in about the same amount of time (the last bit of cooking in the sauce will help to keep them juicy too). Can I replace with other fish? Yes! This recipe works great with most types of fish fillets
- Cook as per this recipe with skin-on trout, sea bass or sea bream
- For firm-fleshed, skinless, white fish fillets - such as cod, haddock and pollack, it's a good idea to season them with a pinch of salt and pepper first for extra flavour. These types of white fish are usually thicker, but since they're skinless, they should cook in about the same amount of time as the salmon.
Nutrition
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Paul says
My turn to cook salmon, broccoli and potatoes tonight. Panic! So I searched online for a ‘creamy salmon recipe’. Saw this recipe and sighed with relief. Absolutely first class. Quick to prepare, basically one pot and easy to follow recipe. Delicious. My wife was impressed and wants this dish again. Compliments all round I’d say. Glad the wife is pleased with your great recipe and hopefully my cooking.
Thank you for comprehensive details, instructions, etc.
Will use the site again soon.
Mark says
Very nice and easy to do.
Lucy says
Hi I have a pot of creme fraiche to use up but no cream, could I use this instead? Thanks
Nicky Corbishley says
Hi Lucy, yes, creme fraiche should be fine 🙂
Nigel Peter Day says
Simple to make - the timings and quantities are perfect. We really loved this.
Rick Roy says
Amazing flavor and so easy.
Larry says
Great recipe, very easy, adaptable, and simple ingredients that are found in the average pantry. Another hit. Thanks again!
Shari Richart says
This was delish! I was cooking for a crowd so tripled the recipe. I had to cook the sauce a bit longer. It was a tad thin but very tasty. Would be perfect on pasta!
Nancy D Heyman says
This salmon was delicious! The sauce was smooth and so satisfying. We also served it with broccoli and the sauce went great. My husband said this was the best broccoli he ever had. I forwarded this recipe to my friends.
Foodgoggle says
Love this great dinner idea that too in just 15 minutes,,bookmarked on to our site..
Christine says
Quick, easy & so tasty thank you.
Margaret says
This recipe was so easy to cook, but it felt like a special occasion! All the flavours complimented each other and the finished meal was divine.
Chris Corbishley says
Thanks Margaret, So happy that you enjoyed the recipe.
Thanks again
Chris & Nicky
karin says
omg this is amazing my other half does'nt eat any fish but he loved this one.
5 star restaurant quality
Kay Riley says
Wow we had this last night. Another definite winning recipe and so quick and easy
Chris Corbishley says
Thanks Kay,
Woo-hoo so happy you enjoyed it.
Thanks
Chris & Nicky