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This healthy Greek Salmon Baked in Foil is an easy dinner recipe that’s ready in 30 minutes! The fresh salmon and vegetables cook together in disposable tin foil packets, paired with the Greek flavors of lemon, garlic, and herbs for a convenient weeknight meal with almost no clean up!
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Whether you’re on the lookout for a healthy dinner that you can prepare over the fire on your next camping trip or a quick seafood option that you can toss in the oven on a busy night, this healthy salmon foil packets recipe is the perfect solution!
An added bonus? You can assemble this entire salmon dinner in advance! It’s an easy way to meal prep if you have some extra time earlier in the day. Take the stress out of the last-minute dinnertime rush by walking in the door, baking the salmon packets for 20 minutes, and serving your family a fresh Greek-inspired entrée with virtually no prep time, zero cleanup, and delicious flavors.
Ingredients for Greek Salmon Foil Packs
Below is an overview of the simple ingredients needed to make Greek salmon baked in foil packages. The flavor combo of fresh vegetables, Greek herbs, lemon, and flavorful salmon makes one of my favorite ways to enjoy salmon!
- Salmon Fillets: I love the flavor of fresh salmon, but frozen (thawed) salmon filets work. Make sure the skin is removed.
- Lemon Juice: fresh lemon juice infuses that citrusy, Mediterranean flavor into the salmon. A spritz of lemon juice is also the perfect garnish.
- Garlic & Oregano: these ingredients infuse herbaceous flavor into the salmon and vegetables.
- Fresh Vegetables: a mixture of zucchini, bell peppers, and onions steamed to tender perfection in the foil packs.
Simple Ingredient Substitutions for Salmon Foil Packets
For more authentic Greek flavors, try adding vegetables like grape tomatoes, black olives, red onion, or lemon slices (which, yes, are not vegetables but would taste delicious with the vegetables!). Herbs like fresh thyme, dill, and parsley will boost the herbaceous flavor of the salmon marinade. You could even add lemon pepper seasoning instead of regular black pepper for more of that lemon flavor.
How to Make Salmon Baked in Foil
This simple, low-calorie salmon dinner comes together in about ten minutes of prep time (and pays off with NO cleanup). Cooking salmon could not be any easier with the tin foil packet method.
- Assemble the lemon and herb sauce in a small bowl; set aside.
- Chop the fresh vegetables and divide them evenly between four large pieces of aluminum foil.
- Place a salmon fillet on top of the vegetables.
- Drizzle the lemon herb sauce on top of the salmon and vegetables.
- Tightly seal the foil packs.
- Place the foil packets on a large rimmed baking sheet.
- Bake the salmon foil packs in a 400-degree oven for 20 minutes until the salmon filets flake easily.
Do you need to flip salmon in foil?
When you bake salmon in foil packs, there’s no need to flip the salmon throughout cooking. The whole point of the tightly sealed packets is to steam the fish, so keeping the foil packets closed with seal that juicy flavor into the perfectly cooked salmon.
Can you use foil instead of parchment paper for salmon?
You can make salmon packs in either aluminum foil or parchment paper. I prefer foil – it’s non-stick, requires no extra fats (like excess oil or butter), and the foil seals in the steam in this fool-proof method. If you don’t have foil on hand, parchment paper is a fine alternative. Just make sure the packets are folded tightly enough so none of the steam escapes while baking.
How long do you bake salmon in foil at 400 degrees F?
A 4-ounce piece of salmon requires about 20 minutes to bake in foil at 400 degrees F. You know the fish is done when it flakes easily with a fork. The vegetables should be tender at this point, too! If you have a thicker piece of salmon, the cooking time might be a little longer. Depending on how well done you prefer your salmon, the internal temperature should be between 125 degrees F to 140 degrees F. If you’re unsure of the doneness, an instant-read meat thermometer is a great kitchen tool to have.
Prep and Storage Tips for Salmon Foil Packs
- Prep Ahead: these salmon foil packs are perfect for meal prep. You can assemble the foil packs days ahead of time and freeze them until ready to use. Make sure to thaw the salmon and vegetables before baking.
- Storage: Leftover salmon can be kept in an airtight container in the fridge for up to three days, or frozen for up to 3 months.
- How to Reheat: Leftover salmon is best when reheated in the oven or air fryer. Low and slow is best for reheating salmon to ensure it doesn’t dry out.
What to Serve with Baked Salmon and Vegetable Foil Packs
You’ve already got your protein and your vegetables in these convenient foil packets, so you don’t need much more on the side. Here are a few options that go well with the fish:
- Rice, orzo, or couscous.
- A loaf of crusty French bread.
- Buttered pasta or pasta tossed with pesto sauce.
- Aunt Bee’s 3-Ingredient Buttermilk Biscuits
- No-Knead 3-Ingredient Beer Bread
- 3-Ingredient Breadsticks
Cook’s Tips and Recipe Variations for Salmon Baked in Foil
- Pick your favorite vegetables! If you just want to use zucchini, or if you just want to use peppers and onions, that’s fine — just double or triple the quantities accordingly. You can also use chopped cabbage, sliced mushrooms, yellow summer squash, fresh spinach, or other vegetables that you enjoy.
- For a shortcut, skip the homemade lemon sauce and use a store-bought Greek vinaigrette salad dressing to drizzle over your fish and vegetables.
- Don’t love salmon? Substitute with pieces of fresh cod, mahi-mahi, or your other favorite fish.
- Make sure that you tightly seal your foil packets so that none of the steam escapes while the salmon is baking.
- If you don’t want to bake the salmon in the oven, you can also put these foil packets on the grill or cook them over a campfire!
More Easy Salmon Recipes to Try
Greek Salmon Baked in Foil
Ingredients
- ¼ cup lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 2 teaspoons minced fresh garlic
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano or 1 tablespoon of chopped fresh oregano
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon pepper
- 1 zucchini thinly sliced
- 1 onion thinly sliced
- 1 red bell pepper sliced
- 4 salmon fillets skin removed (about 4 ounces each)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Spray four large square pieces of aluminum foil (about 8 inches by 8 inches each) with cooking spray. Set aside.
- In a small bowl, whisk together lemon juice, olive oil, garlic, oregano, salt and pepper. Set aside.¼ cup lemon juice, 1 tablespoon olive oil, 2 teaspoons minced fresh garlic, 1 teaspoon dried oregano, 1 teaspoon salt, ¼ teaspoon pepper
- Divide zucchini, bell pepper and onion evenly among the four pieces of aluminum foil. Place a piece of salmon on top of the vegetables.1 zucchini, 1 onion, 1 red bell pepper
- Drizzle each salmon fillet with the lemon juice mixture. Seal the foil packets by folding them over the fish and pinching tightly to close. Place the foil packets on a large baking sheet and bake for about 20 minutes. The fish is done when it flakes easily with a fork.4 salmon fillets
Notes
- Pick your favorite vegetables! If you just want to use zucchini, or if you just want to use peppers and onions, that’s fine — just double or triple the quantities accordingly. You can also use chopped cabbage, sliced mushrooms, yellow summer squash, fresh spinach, or other vegetables that you enjoy.
- For a shortcut, skip the homemade lemon sauce and use a store-bought Greek vinaigrette salad dressing to drizzle over your fish and vegetables.
- Don’t love salmon? Substitute with pieces of fresh cod, mahi-mahi, or your other favorite fish.
- Make sure that you tightly seal your foil packets so that none of the steam escapes while the salmon is baking.
- If you don’t want to bake the salmon in the oven, you can also put these foil packets on the grill or cook them over a campfire!
Yum, yum, yum! I took the quick route and used my favorite Greek dressing. I also reduced the time to 15 minutes because my over cooks HOT, and I didn’t want to overcook the salmon.
I had some fresh sockeye salmon from Northwest and just YES!
My OVEN cooks hot. Maybe my “over” does, too, but I don’t know what that is. 🙂
Thanks, Rebecca! I’m glad that you thought to adjust for your hotter oven. So glad that it was a hit! 🙂
Instead of heating up my entire house in summer in the San Fernando Valley here in LA, could one use a toaster over instead.
Hi, Larry! Absolutely! That should work well, so long as you can fit your salmon packets in your toaster oven. I often find that my toaster oven cooks the food faster/hotter than my big oven (because it’s a convection oven), so you may want to decrease the temperature to 380-390 degrees instead of 400. Hope you enjoy!