Some nights, we’re in the mood to let the night revolve around cooking. Others, we want a dinner that practically makes itself. For those set-and-forget nights, we bring you the speediest way to cook frozen salmon. Shout out to our friends at The Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute who clued us into the very clever technique.
First, don't worry about thawing your salmon. Yep, there’s no need to move it to the fridge the night before, then realize it’s not completely thawed when you want to cook it, then panic and try to speed-thaw it so it’ll be ready in time. Simply leave it in the freezer until you’re ready to cook it.
What Kinds of Salmon Can I Cook from Frozen?
The techniques detailed in this story work well for all varieties of salmon fillets but not larger pieces of salmon, which take much longer to thaw. Often, you can buy vacuum-sealed frozen fillets from the supermarket. These are a great option for the cook-from-frozen technique because flash freezing minimizes large ice crystals (which destroy the structure of the cell walls and cause mushy thawed salmon).
How to Pan Fry Salmon from Frozen
Cook salmon in a skillet like you normally would — with a couple important tweaks.
How to Bake Salmon from Frozen
Baking frozen salmon is an easy hands-off technique that makes for tender, juicy results. Want to try out the technique? Check out our Lemon-Butter Baked Frozen Salmon.
How to Grill Salmon from Frozen
The secret to grilling salmon from frozen? Brushing the fillets in a marinade and then wrapping them up in grape leaves, which prevent them from sticking to the grates (and are totally edible). Discover how to cook salmon fillets from frozen so that they come out moist, tender, and delicious every time! You’ll never have to worry about remembering to defrost again! I used to think I was such a dummy when it happened, even though I know it happens to all of us every once in a while. What am I talking about? Forgetting to defrost something in time for dinner! But I don’t worry about that any more. Why? Because I’ve learned that many things I have stashed in my freezer can be cooked from frozen. Chicken can be cooked from frozen. Shrimp can be cooked from frozen. Even steak can be cooked from frozen. And today, I’m going to share how to cook one of my favorite types of seafood—salmon—from frozen.
From Freezer to Oven
I originally learned this method from Alaska Seafood—they have a lot of great information about buying, storing, and cooking seafood on their website.
Basically, all you have to do is give your frozen salmon a quick rinse to get rid of any ice crystals, then pop it in a hot oven for 12-17 minutes. So simple, right?
But don’t stop at salmon. This method works for any kind of fish fillet (here’s a post about that).
In other words, you also don’t have to worry about defrosting cod, halibut, tuna, swordfish—all your favorites. As long as the pieces are no more than about 1 inch thick, this method will work.
And THAT means you can stock up on your favorites whenever they’re in season, stash them in your freezer, then cook them whenever you want—no foresight required!
Seasoning Your Salmon
When your salmon goes into the oven, you can add any spices and seasonings that you want to. If they include any type of sugar, though—for example, a spice rub with brown sugar—bake the salmon loosely covered with foil so the sugar won’t burn.
And if you have any sauces you’d like to add—for example, teriyaki sauce or barbecue sauce—just add them after 4-5 minutes cooking time. If your sauce is getting more browned than you’d like it to, again just cover the salmon loosely with foil.
The way I figure it, we’ve all got enough to worry about. Isn’t it nice that defrosting no longer has to be one of them?
Enjoy :)
Christine
How to Cook Salmon from Frozen
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5 from 7 reviews
- Author: Jill Hough
- Prep Time: 2 minutes
- Cook Time: 12 minutes
- Total Time: 14 minutes
- Yield: 4 servings 1x
- Category: Entree
- Method: Bake
- Cuisine: American
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Discover how to cook salmon fillets from frozen so that they come out moist, tender, and delicious every time! You’ll never have to worry about remembering to defrost again!
Listen to me explain briefly about how to make this salmon, with some great tips along the way, by clicking the play button below: