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Sheet-Pan Cajun Salmon
![Sheet-Pan Cajun Salmon](https://static01.nyt.com/images/2021/03/21/dining/mp-cajun-salmon/mp-cajun-salmon-articleLarge.jpg?width=1280&quality=75&auto=webp)
- Total Time
- 30 minutes
- Rating
- Notes
- Read community notes
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Ingredients
- 4(8-ounce) skin-on salmon fillets, pin bones removed
- 4tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- 1teaspoon Cajun seasoning
- 1teaspoon smoked paprika
- Kosher salt (such as Diamond Crystal) and black pepper
- 1pound baby potatoes
- 1pound thick asparagus stalks, trimmed (see Tip)
- 2garlic cloves, chopped
Preparation
- Step 1
Heat oven to 425 degrees. Place salmon on a plate, skin side up. Using a sharp knife, make a cut into the skin about ⅛-inch deep, in 3 different places, making sure not to cut all the way through the flesh. In a medium bowl, mix together 2 tablespoons olive oil with the Cajun seasoning, paprika and 1 teaspoon salt. Pour over the salmon to coat it on both sides and set aside to marinate while you prepare the rest of the dish.
- Step 2
To a rimmed sheet pan, add potatoes, 1 tablespoon olive oil, 1 teaspoon salt and pepper to taste. Toss to coat and roast for about 15 minutes until tender. (Larger potatoes may take longer.)
- Step 3
As potatoes roast, toss the asparagus with the garlic, the remaining 1 tablespoon oil, 1 teaspoon salt and pepper to taste.
- Step 4
Move the potatoes to one end of the pan and place salmon skin side up next to them. Add asparagus in an even layer to the other end of the pan, and roast everything together for 10 to 13 minutes, until the asparagus is tender and the salmon is cooked to taste. If you’d like the skin to be crispy, you can transfer the vegetables from the pan to a serving platter and pop the fish under the broiler for 1 to 2 minutes. Serve hot.
- The thicker the asparagus, the better, as the steam from the fish can make thinner asparagus soggy.
Private Notes
Cooking Notes
If you parboil the potatoes in 1 t salt and 1/2 t baking soda they will come out extra crispy.
To make your own Creole seasoning, combine 1 tablespoon smoked paprika, 1 tablespoon chile powder, 1 teaspoon onion powder, 1 teaspoon garlic powder, 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper (or less, if desired), 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt and 1/2 teaspoon black pepper in a small bowl and stir together. Store in an airtight container in a cool, dry place.
This was good. Did NOT use the whole tablespoon of salt that the recipe calls for. That would have rendered the dish inedible.
8 oz pieces of salmon? That's double the recommended size of protein and abot $40 CAD. How about cooking times for 4 oz pieces of salmon?
Two questions. 1. What oven temperature? 2. Since salmon can be uneven in thickness (goes from very thick at one end to very thin at the other), do you average the thickness or use the thickest part as the measurement?
Would the Creole seasoning in the tip in the Shrimp Etouffee recipe on this web site work? https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1021848-shrimp-etouffee
Reduce salt by at least half
Made this tonight. Potatoes seemed to me an odd choice of starch for a Cajun dish. I made long-grain rice instead (USA grown) and just roasted the asparagus with the salmon. I, too, used less salt (1 tsp total). Next time I’ll use more Cajun seasoning. The flavor was rather mild but still yummy.
I agree with Joy. Even though I can go pull Alaska salmon out of the river all summer long, 8 oz. is too much for one serving, unless you are a teenage boy, in which case there will be no leftovers regardless of portion sizes of the entire recipe, or even what it tastes like. When cooking salmon, or any kind of fish the best way of determining doneness is watching for when it just loses its opacity and when the flesh can be separated into “flakes” down to the skin. Gotta pay attention.
Terrific recipe. I made it exactly as written except I had 6 oz salmon portions and cooked a bit longer (like my salmon cooked through). Taste was amazing. Potatoes with the spicy pan juices delicious. Fast easy for a weeknight dinner.
Excellent- made half the recipe exactly as written except for having skinless fillets. So easy, simple yet elegant.
Salmon at 425 for 13 minutes will be dry as shoe leather. Try 325.
I cooked the potatoes a few minutes longer and the salmon as well since my filets were very thick, almost 2" so I cooked them for 20 minutes. I also lightly coated the asparagus with olive oil before adding it. The broiling at the end for just a minute was key for the skin crisping. my family loved this dish!
This was delicious and relatively easy to prepare. I wound up using two sheet pans because everything wouldn't fit on one. I roasted the potatoes in the bottom third of the oven and the salmon and asparagus in the top third. I also removed all the vegetables while I broiled the salmon to crisp the skin.
So simple, barely any chopping, and super delicious. Would cut the salt in the salmon marinade in half.
Excellent although much less salt is to my taste.
Re: amount of salt. Recipe clearly indicates “to taste.” I do not find 1 teaspoon of kosher salt to be at all excessive, and I’ve made the recipe at least 5 times.
I had a beautiful trout filet instead of salmon and it was great!!
Great weeknight dinner. Nothing fancy but delish and healthy.
As a Cajun person from south Louisiana, this is exactly the way we always made it. We just called it “salmon”.
Used half the salt, given the comments
Would cut salt in half.
I was very disappointed with this recipe. I found it to be very bland. Would not make it again.
Potatoes, par boiled before baked, was best part. Salmon had no flavor despite Cajun seasoning and marinating for at least 30 minutes.
Recommendations for other types of fish? I dislike salmon
Cajun seasoning? Details please.
All 3 foods cooked nicely but the salmon needed more flavor. Not sure if more seasoning would have been the thing to make the difference or if something more was needed but the flavor was somewhat bland. As a cooking method, this was great - the salmon was moist, potatoes and asparagus were just right.
Salmon at 425 for 13 minutes will be dry as shoe leather. Try 325.
Very nice salmon. It was ready in 8 minutes.
This was pretty good but I might try modifying the seasoning some to make it spicier and cooking the potatoes and salmon crisper. The asparagus came out fine by putting it on later as it was medium-thin.
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