Mediterranean Citrus Roasted Salmon with Olive Relish is a bold 30-minute meal made with tender roasted salmon and briny citrus olive relish. The perfect combo of fresh and savory that's easy enough for weeknights but also a banger to have in your back pocket for entertaining.
As a chef, I know sheet pan salmon salmon cooks quickly and works wonders on weeknights when you're busy or just flat out tired and lazy. A few of my other quick, back-pocket recipes besides this easy salmon recipe are this bold and herby Chimichurri Salmon recipe and Cast Iron Salmon with Creamy Schug.
A Quick Glance At Mediterranean Roasted Salmon Recipe
- ✅Done in: 30 minutes
- 🛒Ingredients: 20, including salt and pepper.
- 🍽️Serves: 6 servings
- 💪Difficulty: Easy - It's quick and can even feed a crowd.
- 👩🍳Cook Method: Roast
- ⏰Make Ahead Friendly: Yes + No. This dish is best served fresh + hot for an entree but leftovers make great meal prep or salad additions.
How To Cook Salmon Perfectly
- Cook at 425°F for high heat quick cooking to keep salmon juicy.
- White beads of moisture will come to the surface as the salmon is ready.
- Temp the salmon in the center of the thickest part of the fillet.
- Look for a temperature of 120°F - it will carry over cook to 125°F leaving you with the perfect buttery, flaky, and juicy roasted salmon.
- Cooking time will vary depending on weight and height of salmon fillet, as well as oven temperature. The salmon fillets I buy are always around 3lbs, and ½ inch - ¾ inch thick.
- If you buy a smaller salmon, temp it at 10 minutes. Better to temp early rather than wait and have it overcooked.
- Calibrate your oven by placing an oven thermometer inside to see if the oven temperature matches what's on the thermometer. You can adjust your oven temp from there to cook properly.
Why You'll Love This Recipe
- Ready in 30-minutes.
- Complete meal in one recipe, just like Marry Me Chicken Tortellini.
- Elevated but very approachable.
- Great for meal prep.
- Healthy Mediterranean dinner.
Jump to:
- A Quick Glance At Mediterranean Roasted Salmon Recipe
- How To Cook Salmon Perfectly
- Why You'll Love This Recipe
- Recipe Ingredients
- Substitutions & Variations
- How To Make Mediterranean Citrus Roasted Salmon
- Why This Recipe Works
- Where Do I Buy Fresh Salmon?
- Expert Cooking Tips
- What Many People Do Wrong When Cooking Salmon
- How To Skin A Side Of Salmon
- Mediterranean Citrus Roasted Salmon Recipe FAQs
- More Mediterranean Inspired Recipes You'll Love
- 📖Recipe
- Mediterranean Citrus Roasted Salmon With Olive Relish
Recipe Ingredients
- Salmon: Wild Atlantic Salmon, Steelhead or King salmon can all be used for roasted salmon. Wild Atlantic Salmon had the most mild flavor and is typically the easiest to find.
- Fennel: Fresh fennel has an aromatic anise flavor, so fresh and crunchy.
- Garlic: Fresh garlic cloves for this recipe. Pro tip: buy the bag or plastic jar of fresh peeled garlic cloves, dump into a food processor and allow it to do the mincing for you. Store the minced garlic back in the bag or jar it came in for optimal freshness and odor control in your fridge.
- Potatoes: Fingerling potatoes are fun and have a variety of colors to choose from. They can typically be found at your local grocer.
- Olives: We will make a relish with a combination of green, castelvetrano, and Kalamata. Buy them pre-pitted to save labor and time. This combo pairs well on this Mediterranean hummus.
- Citrus: Both lemons and oranges are used for a quick hit of acid to boost flavor.
- Fresh herbs: Using fresh herbs like I use in this strawberry arugula salad adds freshness into this Mediterranean salmon recipe. Dried herbs don't add the same flavor.
See recipe card below for a full list of ingredients and measurements.
Substitutions & Variations
- Baby Yukon potatoes or baby red potatoes can be used in place of fingerling potatoes. Larger red or yukons can also be used if you cut them into smaller pieces.
- Potatoes can also be omitted. Serve the Mediterranean salmon with a fresh easy side like Mediterranean Cucumber Salad, or on its own for a healthy Mediterranean dinner.
This recipe has not been tested with other substitutions or variations. If you replace or add any ingredients, please let us know how it turned out in the comments below!
How To Make Mediterranean Citrus Roasted Salmon
Step 1: Thinly slice fennel and combine with shallots, garlic, olive oil, salt and pepper.
Step 2: Top salmon with fennel mixture, reserving a small amount for potatoes.
Step 3: Toss potatoes with remaining fennel mix then roast fingerling potatoes on a separate sheet.
Step 4: Roast salmon until the center reaches 145°F. If you prefer a faster method, try my air fryer salmon.
Step 5: Blend olive relish ingredients in food processor.
Step 6: Serve relish over salmon and potatoes. A side of Mediterranean harissa hummus makes a nice accompaniment.
Why This Recipe Works
- Citrus + sweetness balance richness, like the flavor balance in peach burrata salad.
- Briny olives + capers add bursts of flavor to each bite.
- No babysitting it on the stove, throw sheet pan salmon in the oven and let it cook.
Where Do I Buy Fresh Salmon?
People ask me this question a lot, and rightfully so! If you live in the Midwest like I do, or another landlocked destination, you probably wonder where to get the freshest seafood.
These are a few of my local favorites that are easily accessible to ordinary folks, no business license or chef experience needed.
- Supreme Lobster - Supreme Lobster is a wholesale seafood distributor to a large amount of restaurants in Chicago and the surrounding area. As a chef, I know this, but the secret is they actually have a retail storefront as well with high quality products where you could easily find this side of salmon.
- Lawrence Fish Market - Lawrence Fish Market is a sushi restaurant in Chicago that also sells fish by the pound. It's more of a specialty shop with only a few varieties available for by the pound but the quality is exceptional and salmon is available.
- Jewel - Lastly is Jewel grocery store. Jewel has a butcher counter where you can purchase fish and often has sides of salmon. It's easy, it's extremely accessible and it will work just fine.
Don't be afraid to ask the person selling you the fish if you can smell the fish, have a closer look so you can look for firmness and bright color as well as asking about responsible sourcing.
Expert Cooking Tips
- The potatoes and salmon cook for different lengths of time so make sure and place them on separate sheet pans.
- Keep an eye on the temperature of the salmon, it's easy to overcook. Overcooked salmon will be dry. 125°F is the temperature you're aiming for in the center of the salmon. It's the same temp whether it's roasted sheet pan salmon or cooked in an air fryer like this quick Asian Air Fryer Salmon for weeknights.
- Line your pans with parchment paper for easy cleanup.
- Smash the garlic by placing the side of the knife over the clove then smashing down on the knife with the opposite palm before adding to the food processor.
What Many People Do Wrong When Cooking Salmon
- Cook it too long.
- They don't use a digital thermometer to check temperature.
- They check the temperature on the end of the salmon or in a thin part rather than the middle of the thickest part.
- Don't let the salmon rest 10 minutes before digging in.
- They don't balance the flavors properly. Recipes like these salmon potato pancakes combine smokey salmon with briny capers, fresh herbs and tangy cream cheese.
- They use a different type of salt than what the recipe calls for.
How To Skin A Side Of Salmon
Skinning a side of salmon is easier than you think. This technique will blow your mind!
- Step 1: Cut the belly portion off the salmon and either discard or save to make salmon burgers.
- Step 2: Start at the tail. Using an extremely sharp filet knife or chef knife, slice downward through the flesh but not through the skin.
- Step 3: Once you've sliced through the skin, position your knife sideways and glide it sideways while pulling downward to slice the flesh away from the skin. Once you have 2-3 inches of flesh pulled away from the skin set your knife to the side.
- Step 4: Grab a kitchen towel or paper towel and put it on the tail where the flesh is cut away. Using your hand, palm facing down, put it under the salmon that's been cut away from the skin. Press down and out away from you, running your hand along the salmon separating the skin from the flesh.
Mediterranean Citrus Roasted Salmon Recipe FAQs
Store leftover roasted salmon for up to 3 days in the fridge. Reheat if desired but it tastes great directly from the fridge or room temp, especially on top of a salad or in a grain bowl.
Like with steak, a meat thermometer is key. While I offer a range of 15-17 minutes, I recommend checking the temp of your salmon after the first 10 minutes. We are aiming for around 125°F in the thickest part of the salmon. Keep in mind it will carryover cook about an additional 5 degrees after being removed from the oven, when it is resting for 10 minutes.
Serve this roasted salmon alongside this bright watermelon basil salad for a summer dinner spread, glazed shallots, in a rice bowl, Mediterranean cucumber salad, air fryer sweet potato fries, or on a bed of romaine with feta cheese.
This easy salmon recipe can be repurposed all week into different dishes.
Ways to use it cold: Add it to your favorite salad, put it in a grain bowl with feta, tomatoes and cucumber, make salmon gyros by adding it to a pita with feta, tzatziki, tomatoes and onions, make salmon salad by adding mayo, parsley, and crushed red pepper, or add it to cold pasta along with red wine vinaigrette and tomatoes for a pasta salad.
Ways to use leftover salmon hot: Add it to your scrambled eggs, in a rice bowl with cucumber, avocado and tahini dressing, smash it up with raw egg and form into salmon patties to cook in a skillet, make hot pasta with garlic butter sauce.
More Mediterranean Inspired Recipes You'll Love
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📖Recipe
Mediterranean Citrus Roasted Salmon With Olive Relish
Equipment
Ingredients
Salmon
- 3 lbs side of salmon wild Atlantic, trimmed, skin off
- 4 oz shallots fine dice
- 6 cloves garlic minced
- 1 bulb fennel shaved thin
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt Diamond Crystal
- ½ teaspoon black pepper coarse ground
- 2 tablespoon olive oil
- 1½ lbs fingerling potatoes optional
- 1½ teaspoon kosher salt Diamond Crystal (only needed if roasting fingerlings)
Olive Relish
- 4½ oz green olives pitted
- 4 oz castelvetrano olives pitted
- 4 oz kalamata olives pitted
- 1 clove garlic smashed
- 1 oz capers
- 2 tablespoon lemon juice fresh
- zest of 1 lemon
- 1 tablespoon orange juice fresh
- 1 tablespoon white wine vinegar
- 1 tbsp fresh thyme stemmed
- 2 tablespoon fresh dill rough chop
- 1 cup fresh parsley rough chop
- ¼ cup olive oil extra virgin
- 1 pinch kosher salt Diamond Crystal
- 1 pinch black pepper coarse ground
Instructions
Salmon
- Preheat oven to 425°F, place fingerling potatoes into a medium sized pot of salted water over medium-high heat, then trim belly and skin off salmon
- Boil potatoes 10 minutes until fork tender, drain and set aside
- Sprinkle salmon with salt and pepper
- Mix shallot, garlic, fennel, salt, pepper, and olive oil in a bowl then top the salmon with the mixture, reserving a small amount (¼ cup) to add to potatoes, if you choose to roast fingerling potatoes. Roast salmon 15-17 minutes until salmon is 125°F in the center. Allow to rest 5 minutes before topping with olive relish and serving
- Toss fingerling potatoes in remaining fennel mixture along with a drizzle of olive oil, 1 ½ teaspoon of kosher salt and a pinch of pepper. Transfer potatoes to a parchment lined sheet tray and roast 25 minutes.
Olive Relish
- Add all olive relish ingredients to a food processor then blend on low until combined, about 5 seconds
- Top salmon with olive relish, cut into desired portion sizes and serve hot alongside fingerling potatoes
Tammy
It was super quick and easy to make. Big portions were a huge bonus and made meal prep for the week so much easier. I love that it’s convenient but still packed with delicious flavor. Everything came together perfectly and the flavors were amazing. This is definitely going into my regular rotation!
Zach
Great way to level up your salmon. Amazing!
Krista Stechman
This is a go-to salmon recipe for holidays and meal prep Sundays. It's easy, quick and super flavorful with layers of richness, briny olives and sweet fennel. It's easy to serve a crowd and leftovers make a great protein addition to salads and bowls.