This salmon meuniere recipe is a classique take on the French staple.
Salmon can be prepared in many ways, but if you want a fancy meal done in minutes and with simple steps, make salmon meuniere. We’ll help you make moist fillets in a flour coating, drenched in an extra tasty sauce.
This will be served with well-seasoned, tender potatoes cooked in under 10 minutes. We’ll be using a microwave — a really impressive cooking tool we often neglect.
So, to get straight to the “how-to” section, click “jump to recipe” to get there in seconds. Or, if you’ve got a few spare minutes, learn more about:
- Why it’s called “meuniere”;
- What “salmon meuniere Botw” is;
- Why our version is healthy;
- Tips on how to prepare it;
- What to serve with it.
What Is “Meuniere”?
You have probably seen salmon meuniere before — salmon fillets with a crisp flour coating in a glossy sauce. “Meuniere” or “Meunière” means “a miller’s wife”, which explains the flour and how the dish got its name.
After being dredged in flour and fried, the fillet is served with meuniere sauce, which is a mixture of lightly browned butter, parsley, and lemon juice. The light coating and fragrant sauce preserve the flavors of salmon, which makes for a truly high-end delicacy.
Is Salmon Meuniere Healthy?
Salmon is the richest source of DHA — omega-3, a good fat that is rare in nature. By having a slice of salmon once in a while, you are doing the heart a great favor.
However, that’s not to say the dish itself is always healthy.
When it comes to dishes prepared with butter (salmon meuniere included), the amount of butter should be carefully monitored. Butter is more than 50% saturated fat in mass, which is alarming because saturated fat is bad for the heart.
Many salmon meuniere recipes online don’t hold back on the butter, but we do. Each serving of our recipe only yields 9 grams of saturated fat, 30-38.7% of what the USDA recommends daily.
But don’t worry, this won’t diminish your enjoyment of the dish. We guarantee that the sauce is really tasty. After all, making healthy food taste awesome is our motto.
Is Salmon High in Cholesterol?
There is 51mg of cholesterol per 100g of salmon. We couldn’t tell if this is high or low, so we looked it up and it’s somewhat an open question.
We began by turning to the USDA’s dietary guidelines, on which we base our own guidelines, and saw no cholesterol recommendations. We then searched the American Heart Association’s website, which doesn't offer any official guidance either.
Turns out, the theory that “dietary cholesterol does the body harm” lacks solid evidence, and is still being researched. Blood cholesterol levels are far more complicated than a simple “you eat, you gain” kind of equation.
While that’s up for debate, we know for sure that salmon is high in omega-3, which is proven to aid in balancing cholesterol levels. Plus, it has much less saturated fat compared to pork or beef, something that the USDA’s guidelines recommend us eating less of.
The bottom line is that, while containing cholesterol (whose health impact debatable), salmon is high in omega-3, a substance that is heart-healthy. So it should not be feared, but rather, consumed in moderation.
How to Prepare
First, we give the fillets an even flour coating on all sides. Then, we heat a neutral oil (like canola) in a skillet, and fry both sides of the fillets until golden brown.
Some people choose to cook salmon in butter, since butter is the base of the sauce anyway. Butter has a low burning point, and we don’t want to run the risk of burning the sauce, so we’re going to use oil instead.
Next, we make the signature meuniere sauce.
Sauce
In the same skillet, we add butter and minced garlic and cook over a medium heat. We want to stir everything to mix the excess flour with the melted butter to form a thick sauce.
As the sauce thickens, we add squeezed lemon juice and then turn off the heat to preserve the freshness. We sprinkle some scallions on top of the sauce and leave it to cook in the residual heat.
Tips for Making
It’s a simple recipe really, but we’ve got some tricks up our sleeves to make it even easier:
- When you flour, make sure to shake the fillets vigorously to get a really thin coating. We don’t want excess flour to burn in the pan and darken the sauce.
- Right before you microwave the potatoes, put some oil in the skillet, place it on the stove, and turn it on. This means that by the time you finish coating the fillets, the oil will be hot and ready to fry.
- Use a timer so you don’t need to supervise the pan.
What to Serve with
We’ve got the proteins, good fats, and carbohydrates from the added potatoes, so it’s only natural to get some salad. We recommend a Greek salad and a drink:
Altogether, they make a complete meal with complementary components: savory, tangy, creamy, and sweet. You can go for other salads as well, as long as they’re fresh.
How Long Does It Last?
Cooked fish lasts for a maximum of 4 days in the fridge, and 2 months in the freezer, according to the USDA. To store leftovers, we encourage you to cover it with plastic wrap/put it in an airtight container before refrigerating.
As it’s super quick to do, we recommend having freshly cooked salmon rather than heated leftovers. You can prep ingredients beforehand (make potato salads, cut up herbs, etc.) to save even more time whipping up the dish.
What Else to Make With Salmon?
How would you like the idea of stuffed salmon? It’s like spinach stuffed chicken breasts but done with salmon filets, and the creamy filling just doesn’t disappoint ever.
We also love this salmon avocado as well. It’s salmon grilled inside a grill pan, and served with a fresh avocado salad—super quick to whip up.
For more ideas, check out our pan fried salmon recipes.
Salmon Meuniere Recipe
Here is our recipe for salmon meuniere, super easy and quick. You only need a bowl, a pair of tongs, and a skillet in terms of equipment.
- cook TIME 20 mins
- prep TIME 5 mins
- total TIME 25 mins
- COURSE Main Course
- CUISINE Global
- SERVINGS servings
- CALORIES 485 kcal
INGREDIENTS
- 24 oz boneless salmon (thawed)
- 20 oz baby potatoes (quartered and peeled)
- 4 tbsp unsalted butter (divided into 2)
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 tbsp dill (finely chopped)
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1/2 tsp salt (divided in 2)
- 1 tsp ground black pepper (divided in 2)
- 1 tsp garlic (minced)
- 2 tbsp scallion (finely chopped)
- 4 lemon (sliced, for garnish)
INSTRUCTIONS
Place 20 oz potatoes in a bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and microwave for 7 minutes.
Carefully take the potatoes out and remove the plastic wrap (it’s hot). Melt 2 tbsp of butter in a skillet. Add the potatoes, 1/4 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp pepper, and 1 tbsp dill. Stir well and cook for 8 minutes.
Rub 24 oz salmon fillets with 1/4 tsp salt and 1/2 tsp black pepper. Place 1/4 cup flour in a large dish. Use your hands to coat all sides of the fillets in flour. Shake to remove excess flour.
Add 1 tbsp olive oil to the skillet and turn the heat to medium. When it’s hot (it sizzles when you drop in some flour), gently place the fillets into the skillet to cook. If you feel like you’re crowding the pan, do this in batches. They need 3 minutes on both sides (6 minutes in total).
Add 2 tbsp of butter, 1 tbsp of lemon juice, 1 tsp garlic, 2 tbsp scallions, and stir to cook for 2 minutes.
Serve: place one fillet on each serving dish, and divide the potatoes evenly across the dishes. Garnish with more dill, lemon sliced if desired.
NUTRITION
Tuyet Pham
Head Chef, Culinary ConsultantLuna Regina
Writer, AuthorLizzie Streit, MS, RDN, LD
Nutrition Reviewer- Evelyn Carman
The salmon look really good, but I’ve never enjoyed Greek salad. Could you give me another option? Thanks!
- Luna Regina
Hi …! Yes we could, and thank you for choosing us. We have plenty of other options, and here are several ones we think you’d enjoy:
– Butternut Squash Casserole: It’s a hearty casserole with tender squash, chewy mushrooms, and topped with melted cheese. It adds a healthy amount of carbs to the meal, really making it more wholesome.
– Spinach Artichoke Dip: The dip is originally made by baking steamed spinach with tons of cheese, but we did a low-fat take and it’s awesome. The spinach is soft, coated in a creamy sauce and topped with golden, melty mozzarella that you can scoop with chips, bread sticks, or anything you fancy.
– Roasted Beet: Or if you fancy something easy and simple, this recipe is for you. Beetroots, carrots, sweet potatoes, onions coated in spices and roasted to perfection.
These dishes yield the similar calories to the salad, so you don’t have to worry about whether you’re gaining extra calories or not.
We hope you’ll enjoy one of these recipes!