Lemon butter salmon with potatoes and asparagus (sheet pan dinner)
on May 14, 2017, Updated Feb 01, 2022
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Salmon makes a quick and easy weekday meal, but how do you make it interesting? This lemon butter salmon with potatoes and asparagus is certainly that. What a delicious, healthy meal perfect any time of year – and you’ll only have one pan to wash!
Table of Contents
- A simple and delicious easy salmon dinner
- Ingredients for lemon butter salmon
- A really quick and easy meal
- Butter and tomatoes are a match made in heaven!
- How to serve your salmon and veggies
- But you can’t make this meal ahead… can you?
- More easy fish recipes
- More sheet pan dinners
- Lemon butter salmon with potatoes and asparagus (sheet pan dinner) Recipe
A simple and delicious easy salmon dinner
One of our go-to easy weekday meals is simple baked salmon and roasted vegetables, but I decided to switch things up a bit and make a slightly fancier springtime variation.
So how exactly is this baked salmon fancier? Well, lemon butter sauce for one thing. Asparagus for another. Lovely lightly crispy potatoes for yet another.
Is your mouth watering yet?
Ingredients for lemon butter salmon
Lemon butter sauce is a perfect sauce for salmon, and it’s so simple you’ve possibly got all the ingredients for it already.
The asparagus you’ll most likely need to make a trip to the shops for, but how can you not make the most of this seasonal little beauty?
All you need is:
- small potatoes (leave the skin on for minimum effort)
- garlic and butter (of course), lemon juice and sweet chili sauce for the delicious ‘sauce’
- asparagus
- cherry tomatoes
- salmon!
Asparagus is so delicious pan fried or baked, and hardly takes any time to cook, which makes it a perfect addition to this salmon sheet pan dinner!
Combine butter, lemon juice, garlic and parsley for the perfect light dressing for your salmon and veggies!
A really quick and easy meal
The beauty of this meal is that all of the ingredients take an equal amount of time to cook – just ten minutes! Think about it – salmon (roughly ten minutes), asparagus (bake for ten minutes), mini tomatoes (beautiful roasted after just ten minutes).
The only part of this that takes a little longer is the roasted potatoes. And we take care of this by popping them into the oven with a little olive oil for about 25 minutes before adding everything else to the sheet pan (that’s a baking tray if you’re in the UK or Australia!).
Butter and tomatoes are a match made in heaven!
You might be quaking at the knees already at the sound of that delicious lemon butter sauce. But it’s even more delicious after the sweet and juicy tomatoes have mingled with it.
Have you ever tried butter with tomatoes? Trust me, it’s delicious (and I’m not even a fan of butter!).
How to serve your salmon and veggies
I find the best way to eat this salmon sheet pan dinner is with some lovely fresh crusty bread to mop up the scrumptious juices.
But you can’t make this meal ahead… can you?
Yes, you can!
Just in case you have a demanding young child like I do and need to prepare dinner whenever you can, I discovered that you can make this ahead.
Simply reheat it by covering with aluminium foil and popping in the oven at 325F/140C for 20 minutes. I wasn’t sure how cooked fish would turn out reheated, but it wasn’t at all dry or overcooked.
More easy fish recipes
- These basic crispy salmon fishcakes are easy crowd pleasers the whole family will love.
- You have to try this baked panko cod with lemon butter sauce. It’s a restaurant quality meal that’s ready in just 45 minutes. You could call it ‘posh fish and chips’!
- No one will believe this salmon with yogurt dill sauce took you just 10 minutes to make.
- For a healthy Mediterranean style dinner twist, try this Greek oven baked fish.
More sheet pan dinners
- Amazing sheet pan chicken tikka
- ‘Everything’ sheet pan frittata (great if you have leftover veggies in the fridge)
- Chicken and brussel sprouts with with honey balsamic sauce
- Or see all my one pan easy meals
Lemon butter salmon with potatoes and asparagus (sheet pan dinner)
Ingredients
- 10 ounces potatoes , small with skin on, scrubbed and chopped in half or thirds (or more depending on size of potatoes)
- 1¾ ounces butter, (3 heaped tablespoons)
- 2 garlic cloves, crushed
- ½ lemons, (juice only)
- 1 tablespoon sweet chili sauce
- 2 tablespoons parsley, chopped
- 3½ ounces asparagus, (about 14 stems) woody parts removed
- 7 ounces cherry tomatoes
- 7 ounces salmon, (2 fillets)
- salt and pepper
to serve
- fresh crusty bread, optional
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 355F / 180C.
- Roast the potatoes in a little olive oil on a sheet pan / baking tray for 25 minutes.
- Meanwhile, melt the butter in a small saucepan, then add the garlic. Cook for a couple of minutes.
- Add the lemon, sweet chili sauce and chopped parsley and stir. Remove from the heat and set aside.
- Remove the sheet pan with the potatoes on from the oven and add the asparagus and tomatoes.
- Tuck the salmon in amongst the vegetables, then drizzle the lemon butter sauce over the salmon. Grind plenty of salt and pepper over the whole pan.
- Bake for 10 minutes until the salmon is just cooked and the potatoes are tender.
- Serve drizzled with the lovely sauce and with fresh crusty bread.
I forgot to as Helen in my previous question. You say 180 degrees to cook in the oven for this recipe. Is that 180 in a fan oven??? Thank you Helen
Hello Helen! Yes, that is fine! The cook time is so short that there is no difference in a fan oven or other. Enjoy! 😉
Hi Helen, really looking forward to trying this recipe!!!! I was just wondering what I could replace the asparagus with as it’s not my favourite vegetable.? Keep posting your fabulous recipes as you have inspired me to be a better cook!!!! Thank you Helen
Hello again Helen – aw, thank you so much for the big compliment. I love that so much!! You can most definitely replace the asparagus with something else. How about baby broccoli, zucchini, green peppers, or sugar snap peas or similar? All of these should cook on the sheet pan in roughly the same amount of time as asparagus. Enjoy!
Thank you!!!! I think I’ll try green peppers as I love peppers roasted!!! Hopefully you’ll bring a recipe book out soon!!!!😁😁😁
I’m working on an e-book, Helen – it’s just a bit slow going! 😉
Such a simple but tasty recipe…great for last minute or friends/ family dropping in for a meal…..it’s a great way to promote a fish meal!
Thanks Helen
Hello Christina! So happy you like this recipe! I love how easy-but-impressive it is, too. My favorite kind of meal! Thanks so much for the feedback!
Hi Helen, I was just wondering if there was anyway I could swap the salmon for chicken breasts? I just love your recipes I’ve tried many of them !!!! My family think I’m an amazing cook now which is all down to your tasty easy to follow recipes!!!! Many thanks!!!!
Hello Helen! I’m so happy you’re enjoying the recipes – that is such a compliment! And of course your family are not wrong – you ARE an amazing cook and that’s all down to you 😉 I do think you could make this with chicken. What I’d do is bake the chicken (thighs?) for around 20 minutes on their own at the start, then I’d add in everything else for the last part of cooking. Since chicken takes longer to cook than salmon. Let me know how you get on because this is a great idea which I might try myself! 🙂
Hello Helen,
What a find ! To find a delicious recipe for salmon and a great source of new recipes in
Scrummy Lane! I shall visit regularly.
The salmon and lemon butter recipe is great its so easy and good to eat. I added some courgette and red pepper. I cooked them for about 10 minutes with the potatoes but they could probably be added with the salmon.
So thank you Helen, I look forward to trying more of your recipes.
Hello Lynda! Welcome to the blog, and thank you so much for your feedback on this recipe. It’s one of our family favourites (even our 4-year-old will eat this!). I love your idea of adding even more veggies that also cook quickly – I think you might be able to get away with adding them with the salmon, too. I really hope you find some more recipes that you enjoy as much. 🙂
I came across this recipe i think in 2018 and I have made it several times and its always a favourite with my family and guests, today I tripled the recipe for a bigger party and amazing! Its my go to salmon recipe and its so easy to follow. Thank you
Hello Michelle! Thank you SO much for taking the time to leave your lovely feedback. I’m so flattered that you’ve made this a few times and enjoyed it so much. It’s really helpful to hear that it worked well for guests, too. It’s my favourite sort of recipe – one that you can make for yourselves midweek or that feels impressive enough to serve for guests. Best wishes and have a great week!
I have been vegetarian for over 30 years although the rest of my family aren’t. I do cook meat for them but never fish. This was my first ever attempt at cooking salmon and they absolutely loved it. I will definitely be making it again. Thank you.
Hi Debbie! This is very tasty, isn’t it? I’m so glad your family enjoyed it with it being the first time you cooked salmon for them. Thanks so much for the feedback!
Hi Helen
I have just done the recipe you send and another great success.
I have only started cooking again due to the lockdown in the UK and finding Scrummy Lane has been fantastic.
My wife ( also a Helen) is a great cook so I tend to avoid cooking.
She is so happy now that I say I will cook, and I know I have already selected something from your website,
Best wishes
Hi Clive! Aw, this message has truly made my day! Thank you so much for letting me know how you’re getting on with the recipes. I’m so happy that you’ve started to enjoy cooking. I bet your wife loves to have a break every now and again, even if she does love cooking herself. Please do let me know if you ever need any help with any of the recipes, or if you have any special requests. Thanks again, Clive! Best wishes to you both.
This is so tasty, quick and easy.
Scrummy Lane is now my first choice to find new recipes.
Thanks Clive! That’s such an encouraging comment to read first thing on a Monday morning. I hope you find more recipes you enjoy as much. Definitely try the Greek chicken and potatoes and the sheet pan chicken tikka which are also easy one pan dinners.
This has become a family staple…easy to make and absolutely delicious. Highly recommended it Often substitute broccoli for asparagus and it is just as good
Hello Karen! So glad you enjoy this, and great reminder that you can sub broccoli. Thank you for the great feedback! 🙂