Sautéed Salmon With Brown Butter Cucumbers

Name: Sautéed Salmon With Brown Butter Cucumbers
Total time: 20 min
Yield: 2 servings
Ingredients: 2 tablespoons unsalted butter; 2 thick, wild salmon fillets (6 to 8 ounces each); Kosher salt or freshly ground black pepper; 2 Kirby cucumbers, peeled and diced into 1/4-inch cubes; 2 garlic cloves, minced; 2 tablespoons chopped fresh dill or cilantro; 1 to 2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice, more to taste

By Melissa Clark

Updated Nov. 14, 2022

Sautéed Salmon With Brown Butter Cucumbers — Andrew Scrivani for The New York Times

Total Time: 20 minutes
Rating: 5(693)
Comments: Read comments

A gorgeous salmon fillet needs little more than a sprinkling of salt and pepper and a few minutes of gentle sautéeing in melted butter. You could stop there and serve the fish with salad and a crusty piece of bread. Or you could go one quick step further and add minced garlic, chopped cucumber and dill to the pan. The cucumber turns nutty in the pan’s brown butter, with a tender exterior that remains crunchy in the middle — a nice contrast to the silky salmon. Wild salmon, which is costlier than farmed fish, is worth the price for its sweet, smooth texture and brilliant color. Be sure not to overcook the fillets, which should be soft and barely opaque.

Featured in: A New Number for Salmon

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Ingredients

Yield:2 servings

2tablespoons unsalted butter
2thick, wild salmon fillets (6 to 8 ounces each)
Kosher salt or freshly ground black pepper
2Kirby cucumbers, peeled and diced into ¼-inch cubes
2garlic cloves, minced
2tablespoons chopped fresh dill or cilantro
1 to 2teaspoons fresh lemon juice, more to taste

Ingredient Substitution Guide

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Preparation

Step 1
In a large skillet, melt butter over medium high heat and cook until foam subsides and turns deep gold in color, about 3 minutes.
Step 2
Season salmon with salt and pepper and add to pan, skin side up. Cook without turning for 3 minutes. Add cucumbers and a pinch of salt to pan around salmon and stir to coat with butter. Continue to cook, stirring cucumbers around in pan, until fish turns deep brown, about 3 minutes longer. Flip fish (move cucumbers to the side to assure fish skin makes contact with pan). Add garlic to cucumbers and stir. Cook fish until done to taste, 2 to 4 minutes longer.
Step 3
Transfer salmon to plates. Stir dill and lemon juice into cucumbers in pan and cook for 20 seconds longer. Taste and add more salt, pepper and lemon juice if necessary. Serve cucumbers and butter sauce over fish.

Ratings

5 out of 5

693 user ratings

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Comments

Gerry7 years ago

A 20 minute no-brainer! Moist salmon, crunchy cucumbers and that delicious brown butter/lemon sauce. It's going to be a regular. Presentation looks a little bland so suggest brightening up with some asparagus spears or as we did last night - lightly steamed edamame beans.

Paula E.7 years ago

This recipe sounded odd, but it turned out to be super-flavorful. I used the small Japanese cucumbers instead of Kirbys, and parsley instead of dill or cilantro.

Carol Arnold7 years ago

This is one of my favorite salmon recipes. I have made yet over and over, and it is always great. The combination of ingredients seems a little odd, but we love the results.

Stella11 months ago

This is a total winner! It should be re-highlighted! I had hothouse small cucumbers and left the skins on and added a fresh corn off the cob (microwaved in damp paper towel for 1 minute). We loved this and the dill and lemon pulled it together beautifully. Wish I had leftovers!

Heidi1 year ago

I am the outlier, I found the cucumbers weird and off-putting. Not a repeat in my house.

Shannon2 years ago

This is amazing! Tasty and simple, this updates salmon to a dinner party worthy level.

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