Easy Weeknight Meal - Parchment Paper Salmon

Today’s post about parchment paper salmon is one of my favorite meals to quickly throw together. But even better…it doubles as a fun dinner party idea as well! There are an endless number of topping combinations so you can mix and match for larger groups or pare down to your favorites for an easy, fool-proof dinner during the week. And bonus – the clean up is super fast since everything bakes on one pan!

This time around, I picked up spinach, asparagus, lemons, grape tomatoes, capers, yellow squash, onions, and mushrooms. You could pick anything you wanted to add in – in the past we’ve added corn, olives, fresh dill…the possibilities are endless! If you have a family with picky eaters, this is a way to allow them to customize their meal without worrying about cooking an entirely separate dish. And it’s a fun activity for children to get to “make their own” meal (or adults…I always love it when this is on the menu!).

A few tips on the salmon – at the seafood section of my grocery store, you can usually buy larger fillets with the skin on (charged by the pound) or smaller fillets with the skin off (charged by the piece). We usually like the skin on and have found that choosing a larger fillet and then cutting it in half works best for us – it’s “meatier” and usually ends up being less expensive than buying two separate fillets. I recommend taking the skin off for this meal – it doesn’t get quite as crispy with the parchment paper.

Before you get started, preheat the oven to 400 F. The directions for this are ridiculously easy – simply place the salmon fillet slightly to the right of center on a large, rectangular sheet of parchment paper. Pick and choose your desired toppings and place on/around the fillet. I’m pretty indecisive so I ended up using all of the toppings this go-around 🙂

Once you’ve selected your toppings, fold the long side of the parchment paper over the salmon. Start to fold the edges of the parchment paper together all around the salmon until you’ve reached the edge. Tuck the ends under and place the parchment paper bundle onto a sheet pan. Once you have all of your bundles finished, pop the sheet pan in the oven for 10-12 minutes.

I turned around after folding up my piece and putting it on the pan and Blake had dumped the rest of the ingredients out onto his fillet haha. You can use as much or as little as you want as long as it fits within the “pouch”!

Take the pan out and let it sit for a few minutes. Be careful when cutting into the parchment paper – steam may be released and it is HOT. You can dump the ingredients out of the pouch or eat it straight off the paper. And voila! A one pan, quick and easy dinner that will please multiple people…aka a lifesaver for those busy nights!