This easy Oven Baked Salmon with rice is an absolutely show stopper, yet simple enough for a weekday dinner. It takes just 30 minutes to prep and cook, and yields a beautiful one pot dish with tender rice that’s flavored with any fresh herbs you have needing to be used up and flaky, melt-in-your-mouth salmon. A dream!
The flavor profile is bright, herbaceous, and lemony, with just a hint of sweetness from honey. You could pair this with practically any roasted vegetable for a complete meal.
Be sure to read our tips below to ensure that the rice is fully cooked. If you skip steps in the instructions, you may end up with undercooked rice and overcooked salmon — nobody wants that.
If you like this recipe, be sure to try our Tender, Slow Baked Salmon with Compound Butter, 20-Minute Tandoori Salmon Rice Bowls, or Quick & Simple Roasted Salmon next. Or check out all of our easy seafood recipes for weeknight dinner inspiration!
Ingredient Notes
- For the rice, we recommend Basmati or Jasmine rice (though of course a short grain white rice is also fine). Do not use brown rice or wild rice, as those require a longer cook time. The salmon would be overcooked by the time the rice was tender.
- To season the rice: lots of fresh herbs! Dill, parsley, and cilantro. You’ll also need lemon zest, lemon juice, Kosher salt and of course water.
- The star of the show is the salmon fillet. This gets a simple marinade brushed on top made with extra virgin olive oil, parsley, garlic, honey, and Kosher salt.
- For serving: sliced almonds, lemon wedges, and flaky sea salt!
How To Make Oven Baked Salmon & Rice
- Rinse rice, then place in a large baking dish with a little olive oil on the bottom. Add a generous amount of freshly chopped herbs, lemon zest, and garlic, then pour boiling water or stock on top. Give it a really good stir.
- Place a large salmon filet on top, season with Kosher salt, then make the quick herb marinade.
- Whisk together olive oil, chopped parsley, lots of grated garlic, honey, and Kosher salt, then pour or brush this on top of the salmon. Cover tightly with aluminum foil.
- Bake in an oven preheated to 400F. The baking dish must be covered tightly for everything to cook through properly! Bake for 20-24 minutes, depending on the thickness of the salmon. The rice should be tender and fluffy. It will continue to absorb liquid as it rests.
Just before serving, I like to squeeze lemon wedges on top of the salmon, then garnish with sliced almonds. Give it a sprinkle of flaky sea salt, then enjoy immediately!
FAQs
The internal temperature of the salmon should reach 120F. The fish should be opaque and flake easily.
Yes, just be sure not to use fish fillets that are too thin, or they’ll finish cooking well before the rice. Cod or a thick piece of trout would be delicious here!
Two possibilities are likely: either the dish was not sealed tightly with foil, or you possibly didn’t use boiling water or stock. If either of those is the case, you can always remove the salmon from the dish, then return the rice to the oven to finish cooking.
Another possibility is that the salmon filet used was thin and cooked more quickly than the rice.
Absolutely! This is a great way to use up leftover herbs sitting in the fridge needing to get used up.
Expert Tips
Truly, the most important takeaways are to ensure that the rice is fully cooked underneath the baked salmon:
- Be sure to use hot water when mixing the rice together (so it takes less time to come up to temperature in the oven).
- If using a large piece of salmon, you can cut it into individual portions before placing it on top of the rice. During testing, when using a piece of fish larger than 2+ lbs, the rice underneath did not fully cook. To avoid this, cut into smaller pieces. Again, only for really large pieces of fish.
- Cover tightly with foil! If you place the dish uncovered into the oven, the rice will remain crunchy when the fish is fully cooked. Cover it tightly with aluminum foil!
Make-Ahead, Leftovers, & Storage
- To make-ahead: Because the rice is covered with hot water before cooking, you want to mix everything fresh just before placing in an oven. Tip below for if you’d like to cook the rice in advance, then make the salmon later.
- Leftovers and storage: Leftovers can be wrapped tightly with aluminum foil or transferred to an airtight container, then refrigerated for up to 3 days. Remember that seafood has a shorter shelf life than other proteins.
- To freeze: You can freeze the leftovers for up to 2 months), but the texture of both the rice and the salmon is best fresh. It loses a bit of texture as it thaws and reheats.
Alternatively: If you want to make and cook the rice ahead of time, you assemble it in the pan with hot water, cover and bake it, then cook the fish separately (when ready) and serve together. This was developed as a one-pot meal, but can easily be split apart to accommodate making in advance.
How To Serve
All you need are some roasted vegetables or a side salad to complete this easy salmon dinner. Here are a few of my personal favorites:
- Quick and easy roasted vegetables: oven roasted broccoli, easy roasted broccolini, Sicilian cauliflower, roasted root vegetables
- Salads with 15 minutes or less of prep: Kale Salad with Apple, 5-Minute Arugula Salad, House Salad with Goat Cheese & Balsamic
Ingredient Substitutions
- Salmon: Cod or a thick piece of trout would be delicious here! Just be sure if you’re using another type of fish that it’s not too thin or the fish will cook well before the rice has finished.
- Herbs: You can experiment with any variety of herbs you like. Or add dried spices to the rice, such as oregano, paprika, or something citrusy like Aleppo pepper (just a pinch or two!).
- While you can often substitute white rice with brown rice, in this instance, those longer-to-cook grains are not the best. The fish will over cook by the time the grain is tender. Stick to white rice for best results, and save brown rice or wild rice for another meal.
I just love a one pan dinner! If you love a baked rice dish as much as me, definitely give our Lemony One Pot Chicken and Rice a try next! It is so unbelievably flavorful!
If you make this Oven Baked Salmon recipe, please let us know by leaving a review and rating below!
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30-Minute Oven Baked Salmon with Herbed Rice
Equipment
Ingredients
For the rice
- 3 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 2 cups Basmati rice rinsed
- ½ cup fresh dill, finely chopped
- ½ cup fresh parsley, finely chopped
- ½ cup fresh cilantro, finely chopped
- 1 medium lemon, zested, about 2 tsp lemon zest, plus ½ lemon juiced
- 1 tsp Kosher salt
- 3 cups hot water
For the salmon
- 2-2½ lbs salmon fillet, skin on or off
- ⅓ cup extra virgin olive oil
- ¼ cup fresh parsley, finely chopped
- 4 cloves garlic, grated
- 1 Tbsp honey
- 1 tsp Kosher salt
- ⅓ cup sliced almonds preferably toasted for more flavor
- Flaky sea salt
- Freshly ground black pepper
- Lemon wedges, for serving
Instructions
- Prepare the herb rice. Preheat an oven to 400F. Drizzle 3 Tbsp olive oil in a 9×13 baking dish. Add 2 cups Basmati rice, ½ cup chopped dill, ½ cup chopped parsley, ½ cup chopped cilantro, 2 tsp lemon zest, ½ lemon juiced, 1 tsp Kosher salt. Pour 3 cups of hot water on top, then stir well.
- Add the salmon. Pat the salmon filet dry on all sides with a paper towel, then place on top of the rice.
- Make the sauce. In a small bowl, whisk together ⅓ cup olive oil, ¼ cup chopped parsley, 4 cloves grated garlic, 1 Tbsp honey, and 1 tsp Kosher salt. Pour this on top of the salmon. Cover tightly with aluminum foil.
- Bake the salmon and rice. Transfer to the oven and bake for 20-24 minutes, or until the rice is tender and fluffy and the salmon is cooked through Scatter ⅓ cup sliced almonds on top, then sprinkle with a generous pinch of flaky sea salt and freshly cracked black pepper. Serve immediately with lemon wedges!
Notes
- To make-ahead: Because the rice is covered with hot water before cooking, you want to mix everything fresh just before placing in an oven. Tip below for if you’d like to cook the rice in advance, then make the salmon later.
- Leftovers and storage: Leftovers can be wrapped tightly with aluminum foil or transferred to an airtight container, then refrigerated for up to 3 days. Remember that seafood has a shorter shelf life than other proteins.
- To freeze: You can freeze the leftovers for up to 2 months), but the texture of both the rice and the salmon is best fresh. It loses a bit of texture as it thaws and reheats.
- Tip for when you want to prep in advance: If you want to make and cook the rice ahead of time, you assemble it in the pan with hot water, cover and bake it, then cook the fish separately (when ready) and serve together. This was developed as a one-pot meal, but can easily be split apart to accommodate making in advance.
- Note: If you use a larger piece of salmon, you risk the rice underneath not fully cooking through. If using a large salmon fillet, you can always cut it into individual portions, then place on top of the rice to ensure all the rice — not just around the edges — fully cooks.
Let us know your thoughts!