If you love pan seared salmon, you will go crazy for this quick, simple weeknight Salmon Piccata recipe!
The salmon cooks in minutes and pairs beautifully with the luscious, lemony piccata sauce. It’s vibrant, a bit tangy from the capers and fresh lemon juice, and perfect both as a date night in for two or when feeding a crowd!
While some piccata recipes use heavy cream, we don’t think it’s necessary. It weighs down the sauce and dilutes that bright lemon sauce. Use a white wine you love drinking (recommended pairings below!) and read on for tips on how to emulsify your sauce without adding cream.
For more quick and easy weeknight salmon recipes, you might like our Salmon Florentine or Weeknight Slow Baked Salmon.
What Is Piccata?
Piccata generally refers to chicken or veal that is dredged in flour, then pan seared and served with a sauce made from lemon, capers, butter, and, often white wine or broth.
Though salmon may not be the traditional protein found in piccata, it is a natural pairing with these flavors and felt like an obvious choice for an elevated weeknight dinner!
Ingredients For Salmon Piccata
- salmon filets, skin on or off
- all-purpose flour (for dredging)
- kosher salt
- freshly ground black pepper
- garlic
- dry white wine, such as Pinot Gris or Pinot Blanc
- capers, drained and rinsed
- chicken stock or vegetable stock
- unsalted butter
- lemons
- fresh parsley
- flaky sea salt
- olive oil
A typical single serving salmon filet should weigh about 6 oz a piece. Ask your fish monger to slice them for you!
How To Make Salmon Piccata
To cook salmon:
- First, dry salmon by patting gently on all sides with a paper towel.
- Combine all-purpose flour, kosher salt, and black pepper in a shallow bowl.
- Season salmon filets on all sides with flour, shaking off any excess.
- Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. When hot, add salmon, flesh side down, and cook for 3 minutes undisturbed. Carefully turn salmon over so it is now skin side down, then cook an additional 2-3 minutes for medium-rare. Transfer salmon to a plate while you make the sauce.
Salmon is medium-rare (our preferred doneness for the fish) when the internal temperature reaches 110-125 F.
We recommend the Thermapen MK4 to check for doneness on all meats!
To make piccata sauce:
- Add smashed garlic cloves to the pan, then cook until fragrant and browned, about 30 seconds.
- Add white wine and capers, bring to a boil, and cook for about 1-2 minutes to reduce.
- Pour in stock (or water), turn heat down to medium, then add butter. Swirl until butter has completely melted.
- Remove pan from the heat, add lemon juice and parsley, then stir one final time. Taste and adjust seasoning as necessary.
- Return cooked salmon filets to piccata sauce, garnish with additional parsley, lemon wedges, and a sprinkle of flaky sea salt. Serve immediately with extra sauce spooned on top.
Expert Tips
- Cook with a wine that’s good enough to drink! The flavors concentrate as it reduces, so you definitely want to use something you enjoy.
- Go heavy on the capers! The brininess is a natural pairing with the seared salmon and lemon.
- Use fresh lemon juice. It is so much better than bottled!
- Dredge the salmon in flour! It helps to create that golden brown crust when you sear and will also thicken the piccata sauce without adding flour directly into the sauce.
How To Serve
Pasta is, of course, a classic choice! Not feeling like pasta? Roasted potatoes or rice are great too! Rice is great because it soaks up that delicious piccata sauce. So good!
Other side dishes we love serving with piccata:
For a bolder side dish, check out our Maitake mushrooms with ‘nduja. An egg yolk gets mixed in just before serving, making it oh so creamy, in a way you never knew you needed!
The seared salmon is crispy, yet luscious and smooth. The sauce is tangy and zesty. The whole recipe just works! If you’re a salmon lover like we are, you will love love love this quick, simple salmon piccata recipe!
Wine Pairings!
As part of my Date Night In series, I’m offering up a few wine suggestions to serve alongside. The pairings below are meant to play off the vibrant acidity from the lemons and capers, while matching the delicate nature of salmon.
Whites – Definitely sticking with crisp, dry Italian whites for this one! Look for Pinot Blanc or Pinot Gris, both of which are crisp and have a reasonable amount of minerality. If you’re a die hard Sauvignon Blanc or oaky Chardonnay fan (I have a strong preference for unoaked), those would of course pair well with the lemon!
Red – While enjoying a glass of red vino alongside a recipe featuring a white wine sauce is not the obvious choice, some people just prefer red! In that case, I recommend a light red, such as Pinot Noir or Gamay. The flavors in piccata are so delicate, you don’t want to overpower them with anything too heavy!
Rosé – As rosé is often my go-to in the summer moths, we drink it often with salmon. Our house preference is Provence rosé, which I’m convinced pairs beautifully with practically everything given it’s light, dry nature.
If you make Salmon Piccata recipe, please let us know by leaving a review and rating below.
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More salmon recipes to try!
Salmon en Papillote Weeknight Slow Baked Salmon with Herb Shallot Butter Salmon Escabeche (Escabeche de Pescado) Salmon Cakes 10 Salmon Dinner Recipes You Can’t Live Without
For more Italian-inspired recipes, check out the following:
- Easy chicken parmesan
- Spaghetti alle vongole
- Chicken milanese with fennel salad
- Macaroni with pancetta, peas, and arugula
- Lamb and mint ragu
- Veal saltimbocca
Salmon Piccata Recipe
Ingredients
- 4 (6 oz) salmon filets
- ½ cup all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp kosher salt
- ¼ tsp freshly cracked black pepper
- 1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- ½ cup dry white wine such as Pinto Blanc or Pinot Gris
- ¼ cup chicken stock or vegetable stock low-sodium
- 4 cloves garlic smashed
- 2 Tbsp capers drained
- 5 Tbsp unsalted butter cut into pieces, divided
- 1 lemon juiced about 3 Tbsp
- 2 Tbsp parsley chopped
Instructions
- Dry salmon by patting gently on all sides with a paper towel. Combine all-purpose flour, kosher salt, and black pepper in a shallow bowl. Season salmon filets on all sides with flour, shaking off any excess.
- Heat oil and 1 Tbsp butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat. When hot, add salmon, flesh side down, and cook for 3 minutes undisturbed. Carefully turn salmon over so it is now skin side down, then cook an additional 2-3 minutes for medium-rare. Transfer salmon to a plate while you make the sauce.
- Add smashed garlic cloves to the pan, then cook until fragrant and browned, about 30 seconds. Add white wine and capers, bring to a boil, and cook for about 1-2 minutes to reduce.
- Pour in stock (or water), turn heat down to medium, then add butter. Swirl until butter has completely melted. Remove pan from the heat, add lemon juice and parsley, then stir one final time. Taste and adjust seasoning as necessary.
- Return cooked salmon filets to piccata sauce, garnish with additional parsley, lemon wedges, and a sprinkle of flaky sea salt. Serve immediately with extra sauce spooned on top.
Notes
- Cook with a wine that’s good enough to drink! The flavors concentrate as it reduces, so you definitely want to use something you enjoy. We recommend Pinot Blanc or Pinot Gris. See post for more recommended wine pairings!
- Use fresh lemon juice if at all possible. The lemon juice is the star of the sauce. It will taste so much better than what comes in a plastic container.
Made this salmon last night with the delicious garlicky spinach and beans and it was so incredible! The recipe is super easy to follow and it was nice to be able to cook a meal within 30 mins! Highly recommend trying this out. This will definitely be a weekly staple at my house!
The fact that both can be ready in under 30 minutes is truly the best! So glad you enjoyed these, Noreen! xo, Ari
Would you recommend using a non stick pan here with the fish?
Hi Rachel! Nonstick is a great option for fish, but you shouldn’t feel limited by it. When proteins like fish or chicken or beef are cooked long enough in any pan (stainless steel, cast iron, etc), they should not stick. The trick is to make sure the pan is hot enough, the oil or butter has had a chance to heat or melt, and that you don’t flip the protein until is has a nice crust. So if you used a stainless steel pan for this and went to flip the salmon, but noticed it was sticking, that means you have to let it cook a bit longer. Once you can lift it up and flip it, it’s ready to turn! Let me know if this was confusing or not helpful! xo, Ari
Oh thanks for this!! So in a regular pan, how long would you suggest cooking the salmon fillets in this recipe for and at what heat?
Hi! What do you mean by a regular pan? Just a nonstick? Cook time and temperature is exactly the same! 🙂 What you’re looking for is the salmon to lift away easily from the pan before flipping, otherwise you risk ripping it. I also provide temperatures to check for doneness of the fish in the post, so if you’ve got a thermometer to check the temp you’re much less likely to under or overcook it. You got this!! xo, Ari