Baked Salmon and Dill Rice

Baked Salmon and Dill Rice
Linda Xiao for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Rebecca Jurkevich.
Total Time
40 minutes
Rating
5(1,951)
Notes
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Fragrant dill rice is a natural accompaniment to salmon, and a complete meal of the two is made easy here by baking them together in one dish. Add fresh or dried dill to basmati rice, which is eventually topped with salmon covered in a tangy, sweet and spicy paste of mayo, lemon zest, honey and dried chile flakes. To ensure the rice is perfectly fluffy without overcooking the fish, the grains are baked until most of the water is absorbed before the salmon is added over the top.

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Ingredients

Yield:4 servings
  • 2tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
  • cups white basmati rice, rinsed and drained
  • Kosher salt (such as Diamond Crystal) and black pepper
  • 4ounces fresh dill, tough stems removed and finely chopped (about 1 cup), or ⅓ cup dried, plus more for serving
  • 2large garlic cloves, finely grated
  • 1large lemon, zested (about 1 teaspoon)
  • 1tablespoon mayonnaise
  • 1tablespoon honey
  • ¼teaspoon ground turmeric
  • ¼teaspoon red-pepper flakes, plus more for serving
  • 4(6-ounce) salmon fillets (1 inch thick at their thickest parts), skin on or off
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (4 servings)

715 calories; 33 grams fat; 7 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 12 grams monounsaturated fat; 9 grams polyunsaturated fat; 62 grams carbohydrates; 1 gram dietary fiber; 4 grams sugars; 40 grams protein; 610 milligrams sodium

Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.

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Preparation

  1. Step 1

    Place an oven rack in the center position and heat the oven to 400 degrees. In a kettle or a small saucepan, bring 2¾ cups water to a boil.

  2. Step 2

    To a 9-by-13-inch baking pan, add the olive oil and spread it around the pan. Add the rice, 1 teaspoon salt and the dill, and stir to combine. Spread the rice evenly across the pan. Add the boiling water, stir and cover tightly with foil. Place in the oven and bake until most of the water has been absorbed, 12 to 15 minutes.

  3. Step 3

    Meanwhile, in a small bowl, combine the garlic, lemon zest, mayonnaise, honey, turmeric and red-pepper flakes. Season both sides of the salmon fillets well with salt (about 1½ teaspoons total) and pepper. Spread the mayonnaise paste on top (or flesh side) of the salmon fillets.

  4. Step 4

    Remove the pan from the oven and very carefully lift the foil. Place the salmon fillets on top of the rice, paste side up, reseal and place back in the oven. Bake until the rice is fluffy and the salmon is tender, 15 to 20 minutes. Garnish with more fresh dill and red-pepper flakes.

Ratings

5 out of 5
1,951 user ratings
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Cooking Notes

Easy recipe but a little bland. Make rice with broth instead of water. Add some frozen peas to rice to add texture and more color. Double the fish seasoning mix and douse both sides of fish with same to enhance flavor.

Baked it in a CorningWare casserole with lid as opposed to a baking pan with aluminum foil. I made it just as described, but it was missing a little something. I had already zested the lemon. Why waste the rest of it? I then squeezed the lemon juice over the salmon and rice at the end, and that was just what was needed!

I recommend adding saffron to the salmon, and even the rice. To do so, boil a little water-couple of tablespoons, and add the saffron to "bloom" it. Then add to salmon/rice.

My family loved this. My daughter said it could have used more sauce, but otherwise wants me to add it to the rotation. I substituted jasmine rice because that is what I had on hand. A nice flavor for sure.

I made this last night a real crowd pleaser! To make things easy I just rubbed my salmon with harissa and it was fabulous! Made it in a Pyrex.

I always find it a challenge to cook salmon to the right degree of doneness. My wife and I have different preferences for how cooked the fish should be. I also am often frustrated by having too much fat emerge from the fish. This recipe worked very well to solve all those problems. I think the steam from the rice must be a key, plus it allows a relatively quick cooking time. As for the rice itself, season to your preference is all I can say.

The salmon and it’s turmeric/honey paste is extremely decadent! I would make alone without the again. Unfortunately, I only had dried instead of fresh dill. The ratio of 1/3 cup dried dill to rice overpowered the meal. I would like to try the rice again with fresh dill and would not recommend the dried method. Save extra lemon juice to squeeze on top at the end!

Easy and delicious. Used 1C fresh dill; good as written; if you especially like the flavor of dill, you could certainly use a heavy hand here for even more oomph.

I made this as written with 2 substitutions. For 2 people I used1 cup brown rice and 2 cups water; then baked as directed. For the fish I substituted Alaskan cod filets spread with tartar sauce from a bottle. Otherwise cooked as directed. Delicious, husband said “add this to the rotation. As dessert after this fish dish I made a Cara cara orange, coconut shreds & a handful of walnuts dressed with Paul Newman ginger salad dressing. Perfect for a tasty fish dish.

Made this tonight and the salmon was great. I had a problem with the rice though, as it wasn’t cooked when the salmon was. When you cook the rice the first time, it says the water should be “almost” gone. That’s not very specific. My advice is to cook the rice separately on the stove. That way you can control the cook times for the salmon and the rice and not have to hope they come out at the same time. We ate the salmon and let the rice cook a bit longer. Not ideal to eat in stages.

We loved this. Perfect for a weeknight. Cooked the salmon 15 min but one piece was very thick and needed maybe two more minutes. The only thing I swapped out was mayo and swapped in Greek yogurt.

My rice was by no means done after only 12 minutes in the 400 degree oven. In fact, it was still chewy after 40 minutes of baking. Baked rice has always seemed to me an iffy proposition, so I was cautious about this recipe from the start. Am I doing something wrong? Or do I need a new oven?

Last night's dinner and we thoroughly enjoyed it. Our salmon fillets only took 12 mins to be perfectly cooked and we look forward to leftovers!

Easy to throw together and it's very tasty. Made it just as the recipe called for with Jasmati rice since that's what was in my cupboard.

This was delicious but turned out over baked for me. I baked the rice first for 13 min and the salmon for 15. Beware overcooking!

I used hot honey instead of separate honey and red pepper flakes. It was quite hot! My husband loved it. The rice cooked perfectly.

Delicious meal. I used yoghurt instead of mayo and it worked beautifully. I also used jasmine rice, and it worked well. There was an absolute TONNE of rice, I’d probably do less next time.

Rice took 15 minutes til water was almost gone. For two servings I halved the recipe and used a clamshell of dill (packaging said it was 0.66 ounces). Dill was bountiful and tasty in the rice- I can’t imagine tripling the quantity as called for in the recipe. Salmon was perfectly cooked and the honey-turmeric paste was the perfect complement. Plating was a little messy, with the rice being under the fish. But hey, this ain’t The Bear!!

Fairly easy recipe but very bland as others have noted. Though both recipes have 5 star ratings, the maple glazed salmon is far superior. Recommend passing on this unless you have some sauce on hand to liven it up.

On the bland side. Someone's suggestion of harissa sounds good. Not sure that I would make it again.

The recipe calls for 4 ounces of fresh DILL--however, the packages of herbs in my upscale grocery store are 3/4 ounce--the recipe would require 5 packages of dill! Two packages of fresh dill worked out to about one cup.

June 29/24. Ok but not great or worth the effort. Way too much rice and not a good way to cook it. Eatable.

I added scallions and parsley to the rice in addition to the dill. But anyone else getting underdone rice and overdone salmon?

Am I missing something here? Is the amount of water that needed what one would normally use to cook that amount of rice? My list of ingredients doesn't show the boiling water at all.

So-So. Too much work for a mediocre dish. Just cook/bake/grill salmon how you like. Make rice separate with ingredients of your choice/taste. I suggest a bit of Thai sweet chili sauce.

Followed the directions except for using chicken stock and water combo for the rice. We thought it was outstanding and packed enough flavor without overshadowing the salmon. We will make this often.

I've done a very similar salmon-over-rice dish made on the stovetop in a covered sauté pan. Nine minutes with the rice cooking in a mix of coconut milk and water, add salmon and replace cover, another 8 minutes, and done!

Made this on a particularly warm night and not wanting to put on the oven, made it all in a rice cooker. Same amount of rice/dill, sauce that the recipe calls for but only 2 6 oz. salmon portions. I added the fish when the cooker button switched to warm mode for about 8-10 minute and was perfect!

Delicious! Made just as directed. Simple, elegant and satisfying. Added some peas and zucchini near the end of cooking to round out this one-pan meal.

Salmon has a great lemony flavor. My rice came out a little over dilly, but it could be because I used dry dill instead of fresh.

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