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GET IT NOWMy Oven Baked Salmon In Foil Is A Meal In A Packet
There are so many reasons that this flaky oven baked salmon in foil has stayed on my rotation for so many years. Here’s why this is one of my go-to healthy dinner recipes:
- Flaky, moist salmon with tender vegetables, lemon, garlic, and fresh herbs – My foolproof foil method steams the fish gently, so it’s a lot more tender than regular baked salmon. And the burst of lemon, garlic, and herbs is amazing on both the fish and the veggies.
- Light, simple ingredients – You probably have the simple staples you need for this foil baked salmon, and it’s easy to customize with any vegetables you’ve got. It leaves me feeling light, not heavy, although you can certainly add some rice or potatoes to make it more filling.
- One-pan meal with easy cleanup – I love this on busy weeknights. Unlike baking or pan searing salmon, these salmon foil packets leave no dirty pots or pans behind. Each pouch has a full meal, all in less than half an hour.
This method has been a game changer and I can’t think of an easier way to cook fish. It’s less work, less mess, and your entire dinner cooks in one pan. Make it with me!
Ingredients & Substitutions
Here I explain the best ingredients for making salmon foil packets, what each one does in the recipe, and substitution options. For measurements, see the recipe card.
- Salmon – You can use frozen or fresh salmon. I prefer fresh, because I can skip defrosting it, and usually find great deals at warehouse clubs. If frozen, thaw it first.
- Vegetables – I used asparagus, zucchini, and grape tomatoes (technically a fruit) as my veggies, because they cook quickly and pair well with oven baked salmon in foil. You could use other veggies such as broccoli, cauliflower, green beans, mushrooms, or bell peppers. Keep in mind that salmon cooks faster than roasting most veggies, so see my tips below to ensure that they cook through.
- Olive Oil – This is my go-to oil since I always have some on hand, but you could also use avocado oil. Even melted butter would work, since the foil packets and relatively short cook time should prevent burning it.
- Lemon – Grab a fresh lemon, as you will need both the juice and the zest.
- Garlic – You could substitute fresh garlic for 1 teaspoon of jarred minced garlic, but trust me, fresh gives the best flavor!
- Fresh Herbs – For a classic herby taste that pairs well with fish, I recommend fresh parsley and dill. Chives would also make a nice addition. If you opt for dried herbs, use one third the amount, because they are more concentrated.
- Sea Salt & Black Pepper
Seasoning variations:
Of course, you can season your fish and veggies any way you like. A couple of my favorite variations are using lemon garlic butter sauce (I make it with lemon, garlic powder, and butter) or my sweet maple salmon marinade.
How To Bake Salmon In Foil
I have step-by-step photos here to help you visualize the recipe. For full instructions with amounts and temperatures, see the recipe card.
- Assemble the salmon foil packets. Place one salmon fillet onto a 12×12″ foil square. Evenly distribute the veggies around the salmon.
- Add the seasonings. Whisk together the olive oil, sea salt, black pepper, lemon juice, lemon zest, minced garlic, parsley and dill. Brush the salmon with half the oil mix, getting most of the garlic onto the salmon. Drizzle the remaining oil over the veggies. Season everything with extra salt and pepper.
- Seal the foil. Fold the foil over and seal shut to form packets. Place them on a baking sheet (this is my favorite).
- Let the oven do its thing. Place the pan in the oven. Bake salmon in foil until it flakes easily with a fork or is done to your liking. (See tips below!) I like to garnish with lemon slices or wedges at the end, but sometimes I place them in the packets before baking.
My Recipe Tips
- Consider the cook time of your vegetables. Since fish cooks so quickly, it can be tricky to get the veggies to cook through by the time it’s done. The key is to use ones that cook fast, and cut them into small or thin pieces. If you’re using the same vegetables I did, be sure to slice the zucchini super thin, choose skinnier asparagus stalks, and cut the tomatoes in half if you want them softer. For other veggies, such as broccoli, cut them very small. Avoid hard vegetables that take a long time to roast, like brussels sprouts or root veggies, unless you partially pre-cook them first.
- Get most of the garlic on the salmon. The veggies will need less of it. Putting more garlic on the fish tastes best.
- Feel free to use parchment paper. If you want to avoid foil touching your food, you can place parchment paper over the foil and place the fish and veggies on top. Parchment paper alone also works, but is a bit harder to seal, so see my salmon en papillote for tips on that.
- Be careful not to overcook. Salmon baked in foil stays moist more easily than cooking it in other ways, but it’s still possible to overcook it — which will make it dry. That’s why I recommend focusing on the doneness of the fish over the veggies. I prefer to cook my fish to an internal temperature of 135-140 degrees F for a juicy, flaky result. I highly recommend this probe meat thermometer as a foolproof method to achieve this — it lets you set the temp and beeps when ready.
- Want to grill salmon in foil instead? I often do this in the summer. Just preheat the grill to medium and prepare the packets as usual. Grill, covered, for 13-18 minutes. No need to flip!
Oven Baked Salmon In Foil
Oven baked salmon in foil is so flavorful garlic, lemon, and fresh herbs. Make these packets with vegetables for an easy meal in 25 minutes!
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Instructions
Tap on the times in the instructions to start a kitchen timer.
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Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F (204 degrees C)
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Lay out 4 large squares of foil (at least 12×12 inches (30×30 cm)). Place a salmon fillet in the center of each piece of foil. Divide the veggies evenly among the foil around the salmon.
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In a small bowl, whisk together the olive oil, sea salt, black pepper, lemon juice, lemon zest, minced garlic, parsley and dill.
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Use about half of the oil mixture to brush the salmon, getting most of the garlic onto the salmon. Pour the remaining oil mixture evenly over the veggies. Lightly sprinkle more salt and pepper over the salmon and veggies.
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Fold the foil over and seal shut to form packets. Place onto a baking sheet.
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Bake for about 15-20 minutes, until the salmon flakes easily with a fork or is done to your liking.
LAST STEP: Leave a rating to help other readers, or tag me @wholesomeyum on Instagram. I’d love to hear from you!
Maya’s Recipe Notes
Serving size: 1 packet
- Tips: Check out my recipe tips above to help you get flaky, tender salmon that isn’t overcooked, ensure your veggies are evenly cooked as well, an alternative to foil if you’d rather avoid it, and a variation to grill this recipe instead of baking.
- Storage: Store the cooked packets in the fridge for up to 3-4 days.
- Meal prep: Cut the veggies and prepare the packets the day before. Brush with the oil mixture just before cooking. I don’t recommend brushing ahead of time, because the acid in the lemon juice will start to “cook” the fish, similar to ceviche.
- Reheat: I always bake the salmon in foil again, since it’s already “built in” and keeps the moisture inside so well. Just reseal the packets and pop in the oven at 300 degrees F for 15 minutes. I prefer this lower heat to avoid drying out the fish.
- Freeze: You can freeze foil baked salmon in vacuum-sealed or air-tight freezer bags. I keep them in their foil for easy reheating. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator.
I provide nutrition facts as a courtesy. Have questions about calculations or why you got a different result? Please see my nutrition policy.
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Baked Salmon In Foil
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If you liked the flakiness of baking salmon in foil, try some of my other super easy and flaky salmon recipes:
42 Comments
Andrea
0I’ve made this a few times, always perfect! (I double the “sauce” so everything gets a healthy dousing.) Thanks for the great recipe!
Jenn
0This was delicious! I love foil pack meals they are so easy to customize, I used asparagus in mine and zucchini in my hubby’s and he loved it.
Jane
0The lemon and herbs really elevate the flavor of the salmon, and cooking it in foil kept it moist and tender. Plus, the veggies cooked perfectly alongside the fish. Love how easy it was to prepare and clean up afterward.
Daisy
0The salmon comes out so tender on this and the dill isn’t over powering, even the kids loved it!
Meghan
0This is officially my new favorite way to cook salmon! I can’t believe how easy it is and how perfectly flaky it turned out. Delish!
Iya
0The salmon was perfectly flaky and the veggies were tender-crisp. I used green beans instead of asparagus and it cooked perfectly. Such an easy and healthy meal!
Andie
0I love how easy this recipe makes cooking salmon! Seriously so easy and very little clean up. Love it!
Allyson Zea
0I love this method! Such a tasty and easy recipe! Thank you for this!
Kristyn
0Wow!! I will be making salmon like this from now on!! So flavorful, flaky, & tender!! Salmon is my favorite & I like it even more baked like this!
Linda
0Sounds like a great recipe. Love salmon. Only thing is with due respect, you would have to cook asparagus and zucchini and tomatoes a little first, otherwise the salmon would be cooked well before the veg my opinion.
Maya | Wholesome Yum
0Hi Linda, It can be tricky, but no, you don’t have to if you follow my tips above.
JK
0This recipe sounds amazing. I need to prep some meals for my Mom. Can I put these together in the foil packets, without cooking them and she can pop in the oven when she’s ready to eat them? If not, what would you suggest? Thank you.
Wholesome Yum D
0Hi Jk, Yes, I think that would work out great!
Karen T
0So you can make up the packets, FREEZE them and then bake later???
Wholesome Yum D
0Hi Karen, I don’t recommend freezing before baking. However, you can freeze baked salmon foil packets.
Barbara A Hanan
0This is such a great site for ideas. Thank you so much; I feel like you are on my journey with me!
Judy
0I thought that this was delicious. I like the different flavors.
I didn’t add the vegetables to the salmon, because I was using fresh green beans. I started to pre-cook the green beans, and then just finished cooking them in the sauté pan. I figured as long as I started cooking them in the sauté pan, I’m already going to wash ithe pan
The fish was moist and delicious. I will add it to our regular rotation. Thanks Maya, this is a great help to me since going dairy free
Caitlyn
0This recipe was quick, simple, and YUMMY! My husband loved it and he usually doesn’t like veggies lol. It’s super easy to reheat later and enjoy the next day as well! Definitely going to be using this recipe regularly! Seriously don’t skimp on the garlic.
Paulette
0Very easy to make and delicious! Thank you for such a great recipe.
Mandy
0Is it the same cook time if you’re making a single serving? I’m the only one in my family that likes salmon. XD
Wholesome Yum M
0Hi Mandy, Yes, the cook time and temp will remain the same.
Karen Teeling
0Help. I make meals for my mother so she can take them out of the freezer and bake/nuke when she’s ready to use them. I really want to make a salmon foil pack, but not sure if I cook it all first, cool it and the freeze it for her to thaw and heat in a slow oven for 15 minutes when she’s ready OR do I make them up, freeze them so she can oven bake them from either frozen or thawed state later. Any thoughts???
Wholesome Yum A
0Hi Karen, you can cook, freeze, and reheat salmon, but the flavor and texture will most certainly not be as good. If anything, I would suggest cooking 3-4 of these at once, cooling, and re-heating one from the fridge every day.
Kim
0The best way to cook salmon is slow cooked submerged in olive oil.
Katie
0I love meals that are so simple, and all done in a packet like that. Plus salmon on the grill with veggies is so delicious!
Megan Stevens
0Nice with the veggies and herbs in there, super appealing!
Jules Shepard
0What a GREAT meal! Easy – delicious – crowd pleasing and healthy. Easily one of my favorites!
Joni Gomes
0This is my kind of cooking! I ran out of foil so used parchment paper and it turned out great!
George E. Sampedro
0Duh…Why did I not think of that? Well you are the scientist with a background, so you get the points!
Thank you for your response. I think that it was a great work-around to an old problem of using foil for cooking.
Sharon
0These salmon packets are so good! The perfect healthy meal for dinner any night of the week.
Jean
0Love healthy and easy meals like this one! Definitely going to making it on the grill.
George E. Sampedro
0Good morning,
I have come to rely heavily upon your website, tips, and recipes. My comment that I would like to make has to do with the use of aluminum foil in cooking baking. In particular the salmon in the foil packet. I would like to suggest the possibility of an alternative which I believe might be more healthful. I would attempt this using parchment paper. This may or not work, but sealed stainless containers of some sort my work as well, but aluminum I consider a not-so-good choice for food preparation. Thank you so much for all that you do for us out here. God bless you, Ms Maya!!
Maya | Wholesome Yum
1Thank you, George! You can line the foil in parchment paper if you’d like so that the foil doesn’t touch the food.
Doreen
0Delicious!! And so easy!!
Marie-Charlotte Chatelain
0Baking fish in foil is my favorite kitchen hack! Love how moist it stays and that I can get the sides cooked along with my main by just tossing some veggies into the packs! The fish turned out PERFECT – for me, the ideal light dinner on a warm summer day! BEAUTY!
Katie Crenshaw
0What a beautiful healthy easy meal!! I have been trying to incorporate more fish into my diet. The lemon dressing isso scrumptious. I love that making it in the foil made clean up a breeze!
Sue
0This is my FAVORITE way to cook fish of all kinds, it comes out so moist and juicy ~ love your photos!
Marie
0Delicious and healthy! I’ve never tried grilling salmon with veggies in foil before seeing this. It turned out amazing!
Trang
0This recipe is so quick and easy, clean up is also a breeze. Nothing beats a healthful meal that doesn’t take a lot of effort after a long day. Thank you for such a great recipe!
Jenn
0These will be on repeat all spring and summer long – delicious! Such an easy and delicious dish!
Toni
0It was a huge hit! A new favorite meal in our house!
Toni
0This was so good! a new favorite meal in our house!