Name: Marinated Lemon Garlic Salmon
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 15 min
Total time: 55 min
Ingredients: 3 tablespoons lemon juice (1 large lemon (use for zest as well)); 3 cloves garlic (minced); 3 tablespoons olive oil (or avocado oil); ½ teaspoon lemon zest; 1 tablespoon minced parsley; 1 pinch salt and pepper (or more/less, as desired); 12 ounces salmon fillets (two skin-on fillets, about 6 ounces each)

Lemon Garlic Salmon is a delicious, high protein dinner that’s full of heart-healthy fats. This recipe uses an easy 4-ingredient lemon garlic marinade to add a burst of citrus flavor to the fish.

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A plate with baked salmon topped with a lemon slice and lemon zest, roasted baby potatoes, and asparagus.

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Lemon Garlic Salmon

Fish is a healthy protein and so simple to make! Certain oily varieties, like salmon, are rich in heart-healthy, Omega-3 fats. For the nutritional benefits alone, it’s a great choice to include as part of a healthy meal.

This citrus-based marinade is just one of several salmon marinade recipes that you can use to add flavor to any seafood. It tastes great on chicken, too!

Thanks to the garlic and lemon, this particular marinade has a zippy Mediterranean flavor. Those flavors pair well with healthy sides like air fryer zucchini and Italian cannellini bean salad.

Great Reasons to Make This Recipe

High protein, heart-healthy meal – It takes less than 30 minutes for the lemon garlic marinade to transfer flavor into the salmon.
You only need 5 ingredients – And, they’re budget-friendly ingredients!
Easy weeknight meal. It takes less than 30 minutes for the lemon garlic marinade to transfer flavor into fish. Even better, salmon filets only need 20 minutes to bake in the oven!

If you like the Mediterranean flavors of garlic and lemon, be sure to try my Greek salmon marinade, too!

Ingredients and Substitutions

There are only 4 ingredients in the marinade for the fish. It doesn’t get much simpler than this!

Lemon Garlic Marinade

olive oil – This oil is a staple in Mediterranean dishes. If you want to use a substitute, avocado oil is a healthy option.
lemon – All you’ll need is 1 large lemon, for a couple of tablespoons of juice, and a little bit of fresh lemon zest. For a different flavor, swap the lemon for a lime or orange. Actually, this Soy Ginger Salmon Marinade recipe includes lime juice and orange juice.
minced garlic – For the best flavor, I suggest mincing fresh cloves of garlic. But, to save a little time, feel free to substitute with the ready-to-use minced garlic.
fresh parsley – Nothing from the spice aisle will match the flavor of fresh herbs! This being said, you can use dried parsley if you want. If you do, keep in mind that the flavor of dry herbs and spices is concentrated, so use half the amount of dried for fresh.

Best Salmon for Marinating

When you go to the store to buy the fish, look for fresh, wild-caught, skin-on salmon filets. If you need to use frozen salmon, that’s fine – just be sure they’re completely thaw before you marinate them.

Ingredients for a marinade for fish including lemon juice, oil, lemon zest, parsley, and garlic. The mixture is blended and used to marinate salmon in a resealable bag.

Notes for Making and Using the Lemon Garlic Marinade

To make the marinade, whisk the ingredients together in a nonreactive bowl.

What does nonreactive mean?

It just means, use a bowl made of materials that won’t react and corrode when they come in contact with acidic foods (like lemon juice). Any stainless steel, ceramic, or glass bowl or container is perfect to use.

How Long to Marinate Fish

Unlike beef and pork, fish doesn’t have any fibrous connective tissue to break down. So, fish marinades are really only used for adding flavor. Unless it’s a thick and meaty filet, like tuna steak, the fish only needs 15-30 minutes to absorb the marinade.

In fact, if you marinate salmon for too long, it can become mushy.

Not only that, but there are acidic ingredients in the lemon garlic marinade. If you let the salmon marinate for much longer than 30 minutes, the acids in the citrus juice will begin to cook the fish, similar to how ceviche is made.

Baked salmon topped with a lemon slice and zest, served on a plate with baby potatoes and asparagus spears.

How to Make Baked Lemon Garlic Salmon

Preheat your oven to 400°F (204°C). While the oven is preheating, transfer your salmon filets from the marinade to a foil-lined baking dish. (The aluminum foil does a great job of creating crispy skin on the fish.)
Place the filets skin side down on the foil, then spoon a couple of tablespoons of the lemon garlic marinade over the salmon.
Remember to throw away any additional marinade, because the USDA advises that it isn’t safe to reuse marinades without first boiling them for several minutes.

How long to bake the salmon depends on how thick your filets are. On average, it takes about 15 minutes for salmon to cook all the way through to a food-safe internal temperature of 145°F. *per USDA- source

To test fish to see if it's cooked through, use a fork to gently pull away a piece of the fish. If it flakes away easily, it’s ready to pull out of the oven.

If you'd rather not use your oven to cook the lemon garlic salmon, you can make this recipe in your air fryer! Just follow the cooking instructions in my Air Fryer Tilapia recipe.

A plate of lemon garlic marinated salmon garnished with a slice of lemon, served with a green vegetable.

Other High Protein Dinner Ideas

Marinated Lemon Garlic Salmon

Lemon Garlic Salmon is a delicious, high protein dinner with heart-healthy fats. This recipe uses an easy 4-ingredient lemon garlic marinade.

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Prep Time: 10

Cook Time: 15

Marinating Time: 30

Total Time: 55

Servings:

Author: Madison Wetherill

Ingredients

3 tablespoons lemon juice 1 large lemon (use for zest as well)
3 cloves garlic minced
3 tablespoons olive oil or avocado oil
½ teaspoon lemon zest
1 tablespoon minced parsley
1 pinch salt and pepper or more/less, as desired
12 ounces salmon fillets two skin-on fillets, about 6 ounces each

Instructions

Add all marinade ingredients to a small nonreactive bowl (see Note 1) Whisk well to combine.
Note: You can do this up to a day in advance. Cover and store the marinade in the refrigerator until you're ready to use it.

To Marinate Fish

Use paper towels to pat the salmon fillets dry. Transfer fish to a glass baking dish or heavy-duty zip top storage bag.
Pour the marinade over the filets, turning them over so there's a nice coating on both sides.
Marinate in the container at room temperature for 30 minutes, or set the covered or sealed container in the refrigerator to marinate for up to an hour.
Alternatively, you can seal the bag or container and freeze the fish in the marinade for 3-4 months.

Cooking Instructions

Oven Cooking Instructions: Preheat the oven to 400°F (204°C). Set the salmon skin side down in a foil-lined rimmed baking dish.
Pour a little of the marinade over the fish (this will help to keep it moist as it cooks). Discard remaining marinade, as it is not safe to reuse. *See Notes
Set the baking dish in the preheated oven and cook for 13-15 minutes, or until the fish is cooked through and flakes easily when pierced with a fork.

Notes

A nonreactive bowl is made from a material that won't react with acidic foods like citrus juice and tomatoes. Nonreactive materials include stainless steel, ceramic, or glass. Acids will corrode and cause damage to reactive materials.
Reusing this fish marinade is not recommended. Uncooked fish, meat, and poultry contain bacteria that transfer to the marinade. Per USDA recommendations, it is not considered safe to reuse for any purpose.