This lemon pepper salmon is so quick and easy to make. Uses healthy real food ingredients, and one pan for super-fast clean-up. Plus, it’s kid-friendly so the whole family can enjoy. My kids actually request this for salmon for dinner! Enjoy with lemon butter asparagus.
There are busy days, and then there are BUSY days.
BUSY days are so full you know you can’t possibly throw anything together at the last minute, so you rely on staple recipes like slow cooker beef pot roast or carnitas or slow cooker chicken thighs.
Busy days are still full, but you have a bit of breathing room. They’re perfect for dinners that take 30 minutes or less, like 30 minutes cashew chicken or Instant Pot chicken tinga or even Instant Pot BBQ chicken.
That’s why I love my Sheet Pan Lemon Pepper Salmon recipe. It’s a spin off my original 10 minute blackened salmon, except it has a delicious lemon pepper flavor that’s just so fun!
Sheet Pan Lemon Salmon
Aside from being DELICIOUS, this Sheet Pan Lemon Salmon recipe is also:
- Easy Peasy Lemon Squeezy (even new cooks can pull this off!)
- FAST! Only 10 minutes in the oven and dinner is ready.
- Kid-friendly – my kids actually REQUEST this salmon for dinner!
- One Pan – less dishes and super fast clean-up.
- Real Ingredients – we’re not using store-bought lemon pepper seasoning, which often has monosodium glutamate (and many people who are sensitive to gluten react to MSG)
Ingredients for Salmon Lemon Pepper
The ingredients for Salmon Lemon Pepper are pretty straight forward:
- Salmon filets (wild-caught preferably)
- Lemon juice
- Salt
- Pepper
You can certainly substitute lemon pepper seasoning from the store if you have it, but I like that I can make this recipe with what I already have at home.
There are a few ways to make this extra lemony too, using lemon essential oil, lemon extract, and/or lemon zest. See the “tips” section below!
How to Make My Lemon Pepper Salmon Recipe
Are you ready to make the easiest dinner on your meal plan? Here’s how it goes:
Step 1: Preheat the oven to 400F. Line a small baking sheet with aluminum foil. (I like to use baking sheets that have rims for this recipe to catch any extra juices.)
Step 2: Place the salmon filets on the prepared baking sheet, skin side down. Pour about 1 teaspoon of lemon juice onto each filet, rubbing the juice gently into the meat of the fish. Season with salt and pepper as desired.
Step 3: Bake the salmon for 9 minutes. Remove the salmon from the oven and pour another ½ to 1 teaspoon of lemon juice on top of each filet. Serve warm and enjoy!
Tips for Perfect Baked Lemon Pepper Salmon Recipe
Make it Extra Lemony – You can beef up the lemon flavor by using lemon essential oil, lemon extract, or lemon zest. I like to use lemon essential oil, but they’ll all work. Add just a drop or two of the oil or extract to each filet. Remember you can always add more after cooking for more lemon flavor!
Try Making it Orange or Lime – The same method will work with oranges (with orange juice) and limes (with lime juice). I haven’t personally tried orange, but lime was delicious and I have no doubt orange would be really good too!
Make Extras for Leftovers – Generally speaking, leftover fish isn’t that great. HOWEVER, I like to make a couple extra lemon pepper salmon filets specifically for salmon fish tacos. I serve them with cilantro lime coleslaw, a bit of lime crema, maybe some coconut lime rice, and all the citrusy flavors just taste so good together!
Note: If you don’t have access to these stores OR your local stores don’t carry high-quality salmon, I recommend Butcher Box, and my post on how to make Butcher Box worth the cost! You can read my honest review of their products here!
Common Questions About Easy Lemon Pepper Baked Salmon
Any citrus goes really well with salmon, as does a strong spicy flavor, like blacked seasoning. I’ve found that herb spices like Italian seasoning are a little too plain for me.
Absolutely! That’s what I use to make my recipe simply because I normally don’t have lemons on hand.
Wild-caught salmon will always taste better than farmed salmon (in my opinion), so that’s a good place to start. Don’t forget to season with salt and pepper, and then be liberal with your other seasonings!
I like to bake salmon at 400F and it’s perfect at exactly 9 minutes, but if you wanted to baked at 350F you’d want to bake it for a few minutes longer.
What to serve with Sheet Pan Lemon Pepper Salmon
Sheet Pan Lemon Pepper Salmon is GREAT with any vegetables that have the same cook time as salmon, or even winter squash if you slice it thin or cut it into smaller cubes.
If you want to keep your salmon separate, lemon butter asaparagus and pan roasted broccoli and kale Caesar salad make excellent side dishes!
Fight Inflation Workshop
Sign up for my FREE Fight Inflation Workshop and learn simple strategies to save money, even with rising food costs!Sheet Pan Lemon Pepper Salmon
This lemon pepper salmon is so quick and easy to make. Uses healthy real food ingredients, and one pan for super-fast clean-up. Plus, it’s kid-friendly so the whole family can enjoy. My kids actually request this for salmon for dinner! Enjoy with lemon butter asparagus.
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 9 minutes
- Total Time: 19 minutes
- Yield: serves 4
- Category: main meals
- Method: bake
- Cuisine: American
Ingredients
- 4 salmon filets
- 6–8 tsp lemon juice
- ½ – 1 tsp salt
- ½ – 1 tsp pepper
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400F. Line a small baking sheet with aluminum foil. (I like to use baking sheets that have rims for this recipe to catch any extra juices.)
- Place the salmon filets on the prepared baking sheet, skin side down. Pour about 1 teaspoon of lemon juice onto each filet, rubbing the juice gently into the meat of the fish. Season with salt and pepper as desired.
- Bake the salmon for 9 minutes. Remove the salmon from the oven and pour another ½ to 1 teaspoon of lemon juice on top of each filet. Serve warm and enjoy!
Notes
Make it Extra Lemony – You can beef up the lemon flavor by using lemon essential oil, lemon extract, or lemon zest. I like to use lemon essential oil, but they’ll all work. Add just a drop or two of the oil or extract to each filet. Remember you can always add more after cooking for more lemon flavor!
Try Making it Orange or Lime – The same method will work with oranges (with orange juice) and limes (with lime juice). I haven’t personally tried orange, but lime was delicious and I have no doubt orange would be really good too!
Make Extras for Leftovers – Generally speaking, leftover fish isn’t that great. HOWEVER, I like to make a couple extra lemon pepper salmon filets specifically for salmon fish tacos. I serve them with cilantro lime coleslaw, a bit of lime crema, maybe some coconut lime rice, and all the citrusy flavors just taste so good together!
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1
- Calories: 285
Cooking acidic foods with aluminum foil is a bad idea. According to an article at “The Conversation,” “Aluminium is significantly more likely to leach into food, and at higher levels, in acidic and liquid food solutions like lemon and tomato juice than in those containing alcohol or salt. Leaching levels climb even more when spice is added to food that’s cooked in aluminium foil. Anything acidic sparks a particularly aggressive process that dissolves layers of aluminium into food.” There is a growing body of scientific evidence that too much aluminum is harmful to human health.
Keith,
Thanks for sharing. You can always use parchment paper, if you like. Hope this helps! 🙂