This easy pan seared salmon with creamy dill sauce is bursting with flavor! You will love how perfectly the sour cream and dill dressing complements the mild and tender salmon. There are very few ingredients, which makes this a great recipe whenever you are short on time.
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Fish is great because it is a quick meal option that is also healthy!
Although salmon doesn’t cook quite as fast as a white, flaky fished like I used in my Oven Baked Rockfish with Lemon Butter recipe, it still cooks quickly.
And the pan searing adds a nice level of crispiness to the outer parts of the fish.
What Does Pan Seared Mean?
Pan searing is the process of cooking food over very high heat until a thin, outer crust forms.
When pan searing fish, the high temperature creates a crispness to the skin and outer parts of the fish.
This technique may also produce some level of carmelization to meat that is pan seared.
You can really notice the brownish crust near the top of the leftmost fillet in the photo above.
I purposely pan seared the fillet on the left, longer, to demonstrate how this cooking technique creates the light, brownish crust due to the high heat.
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How To Keep Salmon From Sticking To Pan Or Skillet?
The secret to preventing salmon (or any fish) from sticking to the pan is a combination of high heat and keeping your fish dry.
Just think, “Hot Pan, Dry Fish!”
When fish that has been frozen, thaws, there is condensation that develops in the package, which results in moisture on the outer parts of the fish.
So, before you cook your fish, blot each side with a highly absorbent paper towel and then dry it again before placing it on a VERY hot skillet.
How To Know When Pan Seared Salmon Is Done
Once the outer parts of the fish turn a light brownish color and the salmon fillet flakes easily with a fork, you can be pretty certain your fish is done cooking.
An additional check I like to do is to also inspect the inside of each filet, which should now be light pink and more opaque.
Pan Seared Salmon with Creamy Dill Sauce – The Ingredients
One of the things I strive to do on SeasonalCookbook.com is to share healthy, seasonally-inspired recipes that require very FEW ingredients.
This Pan Seared Salmon with Creamy Dill Sauce dish in no exception.
Here is a list of the ingredients (Amazon affiliate links provided in case you prefer to order your ingredients online, like me)
- Salmon Fillets
- Sour Cream
- Dry Dill (Dill Weed)
- Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- Sea Salt
- Black Pepper
- Fresh Lemon (Optional ingredient, but I highly recommend using)
I never want you to feel overwhelmed by my recipes because they require too many ingredients.
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Pan Seared Salmon with Creamy Dill Sauce – Recipe Equipment Needed
You won’t need a ton of fancy cookware to make this Pan Seared Salmon with Creamy Dill Sauce, either!
The most important piece of recipe equipment is the skillet.
If you look closely at the photo above, you may notice that I am using my Lodge Skillet again – it has become an essential kitchen tool!
You will need:
- Lodge Skillet (or any heavy cast iron skillet)
- Small Mixing Bowl
- Spoon
- Knife
- Oven Mitt – Skillets get hot! (check out this cute pair of oven mitts (#ad)
This is the same skillet that I recently used for my Texas Roadhouse Herb Crusted Chicken Copycat Recipe and it’s essential for this recipe.
When pan searing fish or meat, it’s very important to use cookware that retains and transmits heat well.
And a heavy, cast iron skillet is the perfect piece of cookware for the job!
That’s how we achieve that wonderful, pan seared crust on these salmon fillets!
But the medium you use to pan sear your food may be anything from a hot skillet to an outdoor grill.
Making The Creamy Dill Sauce
This creamy dill sauce is nothing more than sour cream, dry dill, and a few squeezes of lemon juice all mixed together.
The fresh lemon could be considered an optional ingredient and is certainly not necessary if you happen to dislike lemon or have an allergy.
But I think the added citrus from the lemon juice adds a nice bit of acid to this mainly, basic, dill and sour cream dressing.
Another thing I like to do is prepare the lemon and dill dressing before pan-searing my salmon.
That way, I can add it to my fillets while they are still hot!
Enjoy the recipe and let me know what you think in the Comments Section below!
Pan Seared Salmon With Creamy Dill Sauce
2
servings6
minutes14
minutes165
kcalThis Pan Seared Salmon with Creamy Dill Sauce is a quick and easy recipe that also tastes delicious. The sour cream, lemon and dill dressing pairs perfectly with the salmon and the high temperature of the skillet creates an appetizing, thin outer crust on each fillet that locks in the flavor!
I’ve added Amazon links to each of the ingredients below so that you can order the ingredients for this recipe online.
Ingredients
2 whole Salmon Fillets (1 per serving)
6 oz Sour Cream
5-7 pinches Dry Dill (Dill Weed)
1/2 Fresh Lemon (Squeezed)
2 tbsp Extra-Virgin Olive Oil
3-4 pinches Sea Salt
3-4 pinches Black Pepper
Directions
- Start by adding 6 ounces of sour cream to a small mixing bowl and then add 5-7 pinches of dry dill weed to the sour cream.
- Stir the sour cream and dill together, thoroughly, with a small spoon until the dill is evenly distributed throughout (you can add 3-4 more pinches if you like a lot of dill flavor).
- (OPTIONAL) Cut a whole lemon in half and squeeze the juice from half a lemon into the sour cream and dill sauce mixture. Stir thoroughly.
- Set the bowl of creamy dill sauce with lemon aside for later.
- Place your Lodge Skillet or other heavy cast-iron skillet on the stove top over HIGH heat.
- Drizzle 2 tablespoons of extra-virgin olive onto the cooking surface of the skillet and allow to warm for 3 minutes until VERY HOT.
- Place your salmon fillets onto the (what should now be) very hot skillet skin-sides down and begin to cook. Do not move or press down on the fish.
- Add 3-4 pinches of Sea Salt and 3-4 pinches of Black Pepper to each salmon fillet.
- Continue to cook the fish in this manner for 6 minutes.
- Once 6 minutes has passed, turn each fillet over (the skin side that was down should now have formed a thin, brown, outer crust due to the pan-searing). Continue to cook each fillet for another 6 minutes.
- ***EXPERT TIP: If you are using thicker fillets like I did, next turn each fillet on its side (if you are able to). Cook each salmon fillet side for another 1 minute per side (2 minutes total). This will pan sear both sides of each salmon fillet, as well, and give the entire outer part of the fish that nice, pan-seared crust!
- Reduce the heat to Low (just to keep warm) and make sure you have the creamy dill sauce and any serving plates ready.
- Gently remove each pan seared salmon fillet from the hot, cast-iron skillet, place on a plate, and use a small spoon to drizzle some of the creamy dill sauce on top of each fillet.
- Enjoy!
Notes
- For pan searing fish (or meat) make sure to use a cast iron skillet like my Lodge Skillet or any other pan that heats up quickly and retains and transmits heat well.
- Make sure to allow your skillet time to get very hot and pat your salmon fillets dry before placing them in the skillet. The combination of a hot cooking surface and dry fish fillets will prevent your salmon from sticking!
- Make sure to use a skillet with a plastic silicone handle and at least one oven mitt whenever you are transferring or moving the skillet. They are heavy AND hot!
- The lemon juice is an optional ingredient but I think it adds a nice citrus flavor to the sour cream and dill mixture and I can’t make this recipe without lemon anymore!
- As with any online recipes, feel free to add more or less of each ingredient as it suits your tastes. In this recipe, I tend to go overboard with the dry dill, not only adding it to the dressing, but also adding dill to the salmon fillets while they are cooking.
- I provided Amazon links above in the Ingredients Section so that you could order the ingredients for this recipe online, but please click here if you prefer to have quick and easy recipes and their ingredients shipped directly to your door!
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What To Serve With Pan Seared Salmon With Creamy Dill Sauce?
My favorite side to serve with any salmon dish, whether it is pan-seared, baked or poached is grilled asparagus.
Kathy shares an excellent grilled asparagus recipe on her Lemon Blossoms site!
My favorite appetizer to serve with pan seared salmon is Din Tai Fung Cucumber Salad, which is light and perfectly pairs with salmon.
What To Do With Leftover Pan Seared Salmon With Creamy Dill Sauce
My favorite way to eat leftover pan seared salmon with creamy dill sauce is to serve it cold!
That’s right, I love to add cold salmon to salads to make them more interesting and enjoyable.
I even have an upcoming recipe for a winter mushroom soup with salmon – I know it sounds a bit weird, but it is sooo delicious!
You’ll have to wait for winter for that recipe, though!
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Try Campo Grande’s Wild Seafood Kit – It’s an assortment of freshly caught fish immediately flash-frozen and shipped directly to you!
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How To Store Leftover Pan Seared Salmon with Creamy Dill Sauce
It’s rare that I ever have leftover salmon because this fish is so light and flaky you will probably finish all that you make!
But, the best way to keep leftover salmon fresh is to simply refrigerate any you are not planning to eat, immediately, in air-tight food storage containers like these.
As for the creamy dill sauce – all I do is place plastic wrap or Saran Wrap tightly over the bowl in which I prepared the dill dressing and refrigerate.
How Long Will Leftover Salmon With Creamy Dill Sauce Last In The Refrigerator?
If stored in air-tight plastic food containers like these, your salmon should last 3-4 days in the refrigerator.
The creamy dill sauce will also last about 3-4 days if sealed tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerated immediately after using.
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What Do You Think Of This Pan Seared Salmon With Creamy Dill Sauce Recipe?
I would love to hear what you think of this recipe!
Have you tried it?
Did you change it in any way?
Please let me know your thoughts in the COMMENTS SECTION below!
Perfect. My husband and I devoured this salmon. Didn’t change a thing.
Thanks for commenting, Becky!
I am so glad that you and your husband enjoyed my recipe – please stop by again. I am always happy to receive compliments – LOL!
Bill
It was so good
Hi Patricia!
I am so glad that you liked this recipe. If you are looking for another fish recipe on SeasonalCookbook.com, I highly recommend my Blackened Swordfish recipe here: https://www.seasonalcookbook.com/blackened-swordfish-oven-recipe/
Thank you so much and please visit again,
Bill