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 Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp neutral oil (I use avocado oil)
- 2 salmon fillets boneless, skin-on
- 1 clove garlic peeled and minced
- 60 ml (1/4 cup) white wine
- 60 ml (1/4 cup) strong chicken stock (chicken broth) (I use 1 stock cube crumbled into 1/4 cup/60ml hot water)
- 180 ml (3/4 cup) double cream (heavy cream)
- ¼ tsp salt
- ¼ tsp pepper
- 3 tbsp grated parmesan cheese
- zest of 1 lemon
Instructions
- Heat the oil over a high heat in a frying pan (skillet).1 tbsp neutral oil
- Add the salmon, skin-side down and cook for 2 minutes.2 salmon fillets
- 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.1 clove garlic, 60 ml (1/4 cup) 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.60 ml (1/4 cup) strong chicken stock (chicken broth)
- 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.180 ml (3/4 cup) double cream (heavy cream), 1/4 tsp salt, 1/4 tsp pepper, 3 tbsp grated parmesan cheese
- Stir in the lemon zest.zest of 1 lemon
- 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
Can I make it ahead and/or freeze?
No, I don’t recommend making this one ahead. The salmon is best when freshly cooked, and the sauce is flavoured in part by the juices from frying the salmon.What size salmon fillets?
I use regular salmon fillet portions that are about 2 inches wide and thick (at the the thickest part) and 6-7 inches long.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
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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Only changes I do is I make my salmon in the oven with a garlic herb seasoning. Then I make the sauce on the stovetop with a little butter while cooking the garlic. Drizzle it all over my salmon and broccoli. This sauce is delicious!!!
Delicious and the directions were clear, detailed and easy to follow. A delightful meal with mashed potatoes and carrots and baby broccoli.
Really tasty & easy to make.
Made this for my elderly parents and we all loved it. Would definitely make again.
Loved this recipe soooo tasty 😋 I had some mushrooms to use up and finely diced and added with the wine. Will definitely be using this recipe again and again.
Can I substitute the white wine with either vermouth or ouzo?