Name: Dill Garlic Butter Salmon
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 5 min
Total time: 15 min
Ingredients: 1.5 lbs fresh salmon (4-5 salmon fillets); 1 tsp salt; 1/2 tsp black pepper; ~1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil; 3 tbsp salted butter (softened); 1-2 cloves garlic (minced); 1 tsp fresh dill (chopped); a pinch of salt

Dill Garlic Butter Salmon is my favorite way to cook fresh salmon on the stovetop. A simple preparation that tastes amazing, yet only takes about 10 minutes!

Pan seared salmon seasoned with salt and black pepper is topped with a generous dollop of Garlic Dill Butter Compound. This further complement the flavors of our salmon, coating it with scrumptious buttery goodness.

A fillet of seared salmon topped with garlic dill butter compound

Table of Contents

Skillet Salmon with Dill Garlic Butter

If you love delicious yet straight forward salmon recipes such as my Salmon Sushi Cups and Panko Crusted Salmon, this Garlic Dill Butter Salmon is going to be a winner for you.

Here’s what you can expect. Seasonings on the fresh salmon fillets are seared into the fish for maximum flavors. On the outside, salmon has a beautiful crispy exterior texture. Inside, salmon is moist and flaky, with a juicy bite.

The dill garlic butter compound is a beautiful combination of herbs and spice that is crafted to perfectly compliment the flavors of the salmon.

You are going to taste a hint of dill and garlic combined together in a bed of soft creamy butter.

This Garlic Dill Butter Salmon is my go-to dinner for busy nights. With salmon cooking under 5 minutes, I don’t even have to be by the stove for long to make a healthy and delicious meal!

We cook this meal alongside veggies and rice or quinoa for a complete meal under 15 minutes. I highly recommend a side that will be able to soak up that extra dill garlic butter because its too delicious to let it go to waste!

Ingredients

To make our skillet seared garlic dill butter salmon, you will need just a few ingredients!

Salmon: we are using ~4 fillets. You can definitely use a whole fillet, just cut it into serving sizes before pan frying. I typically use skinless salmon, but skin-on salmon works as well.
Butter: use salted butter for the compound. Or you can use unsalted butter and add more salt.
Garlic cloves: the sharp flavor of minced garlic is a perfect contrast to the rich butter, while also adding pungent punch to the mix. Avoid using garlic powder for best flavor.
Fresh dill: use fresh dill for best flavor. Dried dill can be used in a pinch.
Salt: used in the garlic dill butter compound, and also to season the salmon fillets.
Black pepper: used to season the fish fillets before pan frying.
Extra virgin olive oil: we’ll use some olive oil to pan sear the salmon

Using a gold fork to cut into a piece of salmon fillet

How to pan sear salmon

When a large salmon meal is cooked on a stovetop, to save time, we like to cut the salmon into smaller pieces (you can definitely leave it as a whole fillet if preferred, but that’s just harder to manage when searing), and then pan sear each one of the salmon sides.

Alternatively, if you rather not handle the raw salmon, get the fishmonger to chop the salmon into smaller pieces for you instead!

Before searing salmon, season fillets on both side with salt and black pepper – this will help bring flavor to the salmon.

Heat up some olive oil in a large skillet on the stovetop. Once oil is hot, pan sear salmon (if using salmon with skin on, sear it skin side up first) for ~1-2 minutes or until golden brown.

Flip and pan sear the other side, and then cover skillet and continue to cook until salmon is cooked to your liking.

Searing salmon fillets on a non stick skillet

Our salmon pieces are about 2″ wide, 1″ thick. Salmon cooking time is mostly determined by its thickness, so if you’re cutting your own salmon into smaller pieces that are much larger or smaller than our measurements, make sure to adjust your cooking times!

Typically, salmon is cooked through when its internal temperature reaches 145℉ measured using a meat thermometer. If you don’t have a meat thermometer, you can check by flaking it gently with a fork. The salmon should be opaque and flake easily.

Dill Garlic Butter Compound

This creamy dill garlic butter compound takes very little effort to make and really takes the flavor profile of these salmon fillets to a whole new level.

Just a dollop of the dill garlic butter will bring flavors of fresh dill and garlic, along with extra creaminess to each of our salmon pieces.

Simply bring together softened butter, chopped fresh dill and minced garlic.

Garlic dill compound is soft and should melt onto the salmon as soon as you place it on top.

If you like you garlic dill butter to be more “liquidy”, you can microwave it for ~10 seconds or so to help it melt more.

Top down view of a round plate of three salmon fillets topped with dill garlic butter compound

Serve your garlic dill butter salmon along with a grain and some veggies – I find that the garlicky dill butter adds a beautiful savory touch, combining perfectly the rich sweetness of the salmon.

Tips and Tricks

Choosing fresh, high quality salmon: The higher quality and fresher the salmon, the better tasting your dish will turn out. When it comes to seafood, no amount of seasoning can really hide the lack of freshness. Fresh salmon is always better than frozen salmon for best taste.
Cut salmon into smaller pieces: I typically cut a long 1.5 pound salmon fillet into 4-5 pieces along the length to make it easier to sear them in the skillet. This way, each piece is smaller and can be pan seared on all sides easily. You can also ask your fishmonger to chop it up for you!
Salmon prior to cooking: prior to searing, salmon needs to be completely defrosted, pat dry, and no longer frozen. In fact, if you can bring salmon to room temperature for 10-15 minutes before cooking, that’s even better as this will help salmon cook more evenly.
Avoid overcooking salmon: Use a meat thermometer to know when to remove salmon from skillet to avoid overcooking it. Once salmon cooked to 145℉ (or close to it), the internal part of the salmon will slightly raw and THAT is the BEST (not overcooked) way to eat salmon. Caution: salmon cooks quickly. Overcooked salmon will be dry and bland, and no longer moist and juicy.

Storage/reheating

Storage: I highly recommend to store the salmon separately from the garlic dill butter in an air tight container to prevent the garlic dill butter from solidifying and being stuck to the side of the salmon.

Garlic dill butter can be stored in room temperature for up to 3 days.

Salmon should be stored in in the fridge, and consume within 3 days. To store longer, freeze salmon in freezer for up to a month. Garlic dill butter can be stored in the freezer for a month as well.

Reheating: microwave salmon until it is heated through. Then top with garlic dill butter

Slices of salmon pan seared and topped dollops of with dill butter

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