Crispy Skin Salmon with Easy Pan Sauce (best method!)

You’re going to feel like a restaurant chef with this one. Knowing how to nail a great crispy skinned fish is such a great home cooking skill. This Crispy Skin Salmon recipe couldn’t be simpler to prepare, and the payoff is huge. You’ll get salty, crispy, almost potato chip like skin and the most buttery, tender flesh ever. To me, this is the very best method for preparing salmon, and I’d go so far as to claim that it’s almost fool-proof.

Read on to learn just a little more about this recipe, or simply jump on ahead to the main event. Up to you! While you’re here, though, I definitely suggest checking out our other salmon recipes. It’s my favorite seafood of all time, and we’ve got some solid gold salmon recipe here for you.

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Is Salmon Skin Healthy?

Yes! Salmon is so very good for you, and there are tons of nutrients packed into both the skin AND the flesh. The fatty acids (Omega 3’s y’all) are fantastic for your heart and brain health, and there is a lot of goodness going on in the skin. So, finding ways to really make the most of it – to maximize its deliciousness – is not only good eats, but it’s also good for you. Win, win.

The Trick To Getting Crispy Salmon Skin

There isn’t a whole lot going on in this recipe, so far as its ingredients list goes. No, it’s pretty minimal, all told. This recipe is so much more about the HOW of it, than the what’s of it all. How we treat the fish, how we cook it – that’s what’s important here today.

It’s all very simple and uncomplicated. This recipe is almost impossible to screw up, so long as you just follow along accordingly. If I had to list three crucial things to keep in mind as you cook this salmon, here’s what they would be:

1. Make sure that the salmon is very dry before you season and then cook it. If it’s wet, it won’t get as brown and crispy for you. The moisture will impede the effect we’re going for here. So, just use a paper towel or something comparable, and you’ll be good to go.
2. Use enough oil to fully coat the pan and salmon skin to ensure even cooking and easy remove/turning once it’s cooked.
3. Don’t move it once it hits the pan!
4. Take it off the heat just a little early, as the fish will continue to cook a little bit even after the direct heat is no longer going. This will help keep things from over-cooking and drying out on us.

The best pan and other miscellany

For this recipe, a simple, good quality large non-stick frying pan will be your best bet. Now, I am a huge advocate of the cast iron pan, of course, I adore mine like I adore my children. But I think for people who are just getting their feet wet when it comes to certain recipes or methods, like crisping up fish skin, a nonstick pan will virtually eliminate any chances that your fish will stick or tear.

The pan will work with you the whole time, ensuring that everything with the fish cooking goes swimmingly (ha) and that you don’t have extra potential issues to think about. It’s just a nice peace of mind thing, really.

I also suggest you pick up a simple splatter screen when you’re next at the store, as they really do save a lot of greasy clean up time.

The best cooking oil

Any high-heat, high smoke point oil will be just fine here. I like olive oil (not extra virgin) or grapeseed oil. But vegetable or canola oils are also great. You can also use ghee, if that’s what you’ve got. Just avoid oils or cooking fats that can’t handle the heat. This means butter, extra virgin olive oil, avocado oil, etc.

My all-time favorite kitchen tool

Ah yes. The time has come, once again, for me to sing the praises of the fish spatula. This is the most versatile, useful tool in all the land (Kitchen Land), and I cannot say enough good things about this tool.

I like to keep a stainless one as well as a plastic one at the ready, so I can use the appropriate one for whatever pan I’m cooking with. The plastic one is for nonstick pan cooking (won’t scratch!), and the stainless one is for my iron skillets and the like.

What do you serve with Crispy Skin Salmon?

The short answer to this fine question is: anything! That’s the beauty of simple main course recipes like this one – they’re incredibly flexible and they play well with others. The sauce here is deeply flavorful and rich, so if I had to offer some pairing ideas for side dishes with this, here’s the direction I typically go:

Perfect crispy roasted potato wedges

Simply sautéed zucchini

Honey buttered carrots

Garlicky Lemon Pepper Roasted Asparagus

Don’t forget the bread!

Again, I sort of can’t say too many good things about this sauce. How much do we love a pan sauce, y’all? Oh so very much. This one is simple and really just builds on the salty, savory goodness left in the pan after crisping up the fish. Some stock concentrate (a favorite Kitchen Little trick of mine), punchy Dijon mustard, sour cream, and butter. That’s it. Thin things out with some water, let it bubble away, and you’re good to go. Feel free to double the amounts here so you have TONS of it.

It’s basically imperative that you have something good and carby to help sop up that sauce. Don’t worry, I’ve got you more than covered in that department.

Giant Salted Maple Butter Parker House Rolls

Best Ever Sweet Potato Rolls

Garlic Bread

Best Angel Biscuits

What you’ll need to make this Crispy Skin Salmon Recipe

There are only a few ingredients necessary to whip up this incredibly delicious recipe – we love this! The star of the show is the salmon, and really the most important thing is to select fish that is 1) sustainable 2) skin on and fresh looking.

On Sustainable Salmon

Always seek out the freshest, best quality seafood you can (a good rule of thumb) and with salmon, it is important to really make sure you’re purchasing sustainably sourced, wild salmon. If you’re interested in learning a little more about how to ethically and responsibly shop for wild caught salmon, you might want to check this article out.

There are plenty of other great references online for this as well, and I highly suggest taking the time to educate yourself about not only the best practices for sustainable salmon shopping, but that for all animal-based proteins as well – from chicken, to beef, to shrimp, and pork. We cover all of these grounds here on My Kitchen Little, and we try our best to responsibly shop for as much as we can.

It’s not always possible do shop this way – you don’t have to be a “perfect shopper.” But trying your best when and where you can is great. It counts so much and shows you’re doing your part. With that, let’s check out our ingredients for this super easy, minimalist salmon recipe, shall we?

INGREDIENTS

4 skin-on salmon fillets (any size)

1 tablespoon olive oil (or cooking oil of your preference)

Salt and pepper to taste

2 tablespoons chicken or vegetable stock concentrate

2 tablespoons Dijon mustard

¼ cup sour cream

2 tablespoons butter

How to Make Crispy Skin Salmon

This method is SO simple, it’s kind of an, “if you blink you’ll miss it sort of thing.” The most important thing to remember here, as you’re cooking your way through the recipe, is to not mess with the (very dry) salmon at all once you’ve set it in the pan. Any time you move it will compromise the crisping and browning just a little bit. So we’ll adhere to the old “set it and forget it” mindset. That is, until we’re ready to flip.

This is just a good rule to apply to most stovetop protein cookery. We’re almost always aiming for crispy, browned surfaces, yes? Yes. The best way to achieve that, almost every single time, is to just leave the thing alone as soon as you set it down in the pan. An easy and seemingly small thing, but very important.

Anyway, here’s the what-for on this salmon situation:

DIRECTIONS

1. Add enough oil to a large nonstick skillet (over med-heat) to just cover the entire surface.  
2. Pat the salmon totally dry with a paper towel or something comparable, ensuring it is moisture-free (as best you can). Season each fillet liberally with salt and pepper on both sides. When the oil shimmers, place the salmon filets skin-side down in the pan and leave them alone to cook undisturbed for 6 to 7 minutes, or until the skin is deeply golden brown and crispy. 
3. Carefully flip and cook the fish for another 1.5 to 2 minutes, depending on the size and thickness of your fish. Just don’t overdo it! You want the flesh just cooked through, as it will continue to cook a bit after you’ve taken it off of the heat. Transfer the salmon to a plate for now, and drain all but about 2 tablespoons of the oil/drippings. 
4. Reduce the heat to medium-low/medium and add the stock concentrate to  the pan. Add ½ cup water, and the Dijon and let the sauce simmer and thicken for 2 to 3 minutes. Season lightly with salt and pepper. Turn off the heat, add the sour cream and butter and serve under/alongside the crispy skin salmon. (Want more sauce? Just add more of each ingredient until you have as much as you like.)

If you like the looks of this Crispy Skin Salmon, you might also want to check out:

Pan Roasted Salmon with Gnocchi, Tomatoes, and Mozzarella Fondue

Tuscan Garlic Butter Salmon and Shrimp

Simple Roasted Salmon with Veggies and Whipped Brown Butter Vinaigrette

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