Flaky and succulent, this Salmon Piccata is a twist on a classic Italian-American recipe. The buttery lemon-caper sauce is the perfect compliment for the salmon.
I love the buttery sauce for this salmon, which is rich and slightly lemony with capers, garlic, and finished with a heap of fresh parsley. You’ll love having the extra sauce for spooning over the fish.
Recipe highlights
This recipe comes together quickly. The salmon is seared to perfection and the buttery caper sauce takes less than 10 minutes to make.
I highly recommend prepping all your ingredients ahead of time. The sauce needs cooks quickly and you will want to have everything ready to go.
Salmon piccata is a perfect weeknight meal; easy enough to make during the busy weekdays and delicious enough that it is worthy of having guests over for dinner.
I personally love the buttery lemony sauce swirled into a side of creamy mashed potatoes.
Recipe Ingredients
Salmon: I like to cut my salmon filet into individual portions for this recipe so it cooks evenly and quickly. I'm using Sockeye salmon which is a leaner variety that cooks very fast.
Capers: Piccata sauce is zesty because of the combination of briny capers with lemon juice. I recommend rinsing the capers to remove some saltiness and have a more balanced sauce.
Garlic: Using fresh garlic in this recipe is my preferred way to infuse the sauce with aroma and flavor. Garlic cooks quickly and can easily burn so when you add the garlic to the sauce you need to keep a watchful eye on it.
Butter: This sauce is all about technique and buttery is the key ingredient to achieving a sauce that is glossy and slightly creamy without the need to use any cream.
Lemon: In this recipe fresh lemon juice is a non negotiable. No bottled juice here. We will use lemons to add flavor, color and as final touches to the dish. I like to use the zest and juice in this recipe.
White wine: Using a dry white wine adds another layer of flavor and acidity to the sauce.
How to make this recipe
Achieving the glossy caper sauce is all about technique. You will need to move quickly so having your ingredients ready to go is key.
We start with cooking the salmon over high heat to get a beautiful sear on the fish. We cook it on one side without turning it over.
In the same pan we cook the fish, we start our Piccata sauce with some oil and butter to fry the garlic so it releases its flavor and aroma.
After the garlic is lightly cooked, we start adding the capers, lemon juice, white wine, flour and butter to create the glossy caper sauce.
Return the salmon to the pan with the sauce and reduce it for a couple of minutes. Spoon the sauce over the salmon.
Add lemon slices and fresh parsley for serving.
Serving suggestions
This salmon piccata dish goes great with simple vegetable side dishes or starchy ones.
One of my favorite ways to eat this dish is pairing the salmon with mashed potatoes and green beans or peas. The piccata sauce is lovely drizzled over the potatoes.
Storage and reheating
Refrigerate leftover salmon with the sauce in an airtight container for up to 2 days.
To reheat gently warm the salmon and caper sauce over medium heat in a skillet.
Salmon Piccata
Ingredients
- 1 lb Salmon 4 fillets
- 2 Tablespoons Avocado oil
- 3 Garlic cloves minced
- 2 Tablespoons Capers
- 1 Lemon Zest and juice
- 5 Tablespoons Butter Cold
- 2 teaspoons Flour
- 1 Cup Dry white wine
Instructions
- In a sauté pan, add 2 tablespoons of avocado oil and heat over medium heat.
- Pat the salmon fillets dry and season with salt and pepper.
- Add the salmon flesh side down and cook for 2-3 minutes until the fish forms a crust.
- Remove from the heat and set aside.
- In the same pan, add more oil if needed and sauté the minced garlic for 1 minute.
- Add the flour, wine, capers and lemon juice and whisk to combine.
- Increase heat to medium-high and simmer the sauce until reduced by half.
- Remove pan from the heat and add the butter one tablespoon at a time whisking until the butter is fully incorporated.
- Carefully transfer the salmon back to the warm sauce and allow to simmer for 3-4 minutes, basting with a spoon until salmon is fully cooked.
- Serve with lemon wedges and your favorite side dishes.
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