Recipes Ingredients Seafood Recipes Salmon Recipes Simple Poached Salmon 4.4 (104) Make healthy, perfectly cooked fish every time with this easy technique. Prep Time: 10 mins Cook Time: 15 mins Total Time: 25 mins Servings: 4 Jump to recipe Our simple poached salmon is a versatile dish, perfect for a healthy weeknight meal, lunch leftovers, or when you’re having guests over for dinner. If you don’t know how to poach salmon, have no fear. This technique is easy to learn, and it's a quick way to cook salmon fillets perfectly every time. Poaching helps keep fish moist and tender, making it difficult to overcook, and there's no additional fat needed, unlike with other cooking methods. Perhaps the best part of this recipe is that it takes far less time to prepare than you might think. The whole recipe comes together in under 30 minutes—and the fillets only take about 5 minutes to cook. Our recipe has a very light, bright flavor profile, but you can add whatever seasonings you’d like to amp up the flavor. Try adding some slices of fresh ginger or a few sprigs of fresh herbs, like dill, parsley, or thyme. Credit: Grant Webster How to Store Fish the Right Way (So Your Fridge Doesn't Smell) How to Poach Salmon Poaching is a moist cooking technique, where food is submerged (either fully or partially) in liquid and gently simmered until cooked through. It is an ideal cooking method for tender vegetables and lean proteins because it keeps the food from drying out as quickly as it can do when sautéing, roasting, or broiling. For our recipe, we fully submerge the salmon fillets in broth so they cook evenly and there is no need to flip the fish. Salmon is delicate, so we like to cook it undisturbed to maintain the shape of the fillets. The Poaching Liquid The most common poaching liquid is water or broth. For even richer flavor, sometimes food is poached in fat, like olive oil or melted butter. For this poached salmon recipe, you could also use a mixture of broth and clam juice. Try adding a splash of white wine for even more flavor. How to Tell When Poached Salmon Is Done The best way to tell when poached salmon is done is to gently press down against the top of the fillet with a fork. When the fillet separates easily into flakes, that means it's ready. You can also slide a thin-bladed paring knife into the center of a filet and hold it there for about five seconds. When you touch the blade, it should feel hot to the touch, meaning the fish is cooked through in the center. Directions Credit: Grant Webster Simmer poaching liquid: In a large, deep, straight-sided skillet or heavy pot, combine carrots, celery, onion, lemon, 1 1/2 teaspoons salt, and 6 cups water. Bring to a boil; reduce to a simmer, cover, and cook 8 minutes. Credit: Grant Webster Add salmon to poaching liquid: Season salmon with salt and gently lower into simmering liquid (liquid should just cover fish). Reduce to a very gentle simmer. Credit: Grant Webster Cook salmon: Cover and cook until salmon is opaque throughout, about 5 minutes (longer for thicker fillets). Credit: Grant Webster Credit: Grant Webster Remove and serve: Using a wide slotted spatula, remove salmon from liquid before serving. Credit: Grant Webster Storing and Reheating Poached Salmon Let the fish cool completely before storing poached salmon. Place it in an airtight container and refrigerate for up to 3 days. To keep the fish as moist as possible, add a ladle or two of the poaching liquid to the container. Reheating Poached salmon can be served cold from the refrigerator or gently reheated and eaten warm. To reheat, bring about 1 inch of water to a simmer in a large pot fitted with a steamer basket. Add your salmon fillets, cover the pot, and steam until just warmed through, about 5 minutes. How to Serve Our Simple Poached Salmon Moist and tender poached salmon can be served as an entrée with a side dish or two or be worked into salads or sandwiches. These are a few of our favorite ways to use it: With sides: Serve a piece of poached salmon alongside another healthy, easy recipe like lemony steamed carrots, a platter of tangy dressed green beans, a bright tasting bulgur salad with pomegranate seeds, or some herb-flecked orzo. On a salad: Make a salad for the main course and top each portion with a piece of poached salmon for added protein. Use it place of tuna in a classic Niçoise, add it to a crunchy Greek salad, or flake it into a summery panzanella. In a sandwich: Moist and tender poached salmon makes an excellent sandwich filling, whether kept whole as a fillet or turned into salmon salad. Make like the Scandinavians and pile it onto an open-face sandwich (known as smorrebrod) or add it to this vegetable-loaded number for a hearty lunch or dinner that won't weigh you down. Other ideas: Consider incorporating poached salmon into homemade sushi rolls, adding it to these ginger-scallion lettuce cups, or using it place of canned salmon in our crispy fish cakes. Frequently Asked Questions Is poaching the same as boiling? No, poaching is not the same as boiling. Poaching is a more gentle way to cook food than boiling. When poaching, the liquid should never come to a rapid boil and should remain at a bare simmer. Are all types of fish good for poaching? No, not all types of fish are good for poaching. If you're looking to poach fish, opt for a meaty, hearty option like salmon, halibut, or trout—they'll hold up well to the poaching technique and won't fall apart when you try to remove them. Whichever fish you select for poaching, use thick fillets (about 1-inch thick). Can I poach frozen fish? Yes, you can poach frozen fish. However, starting from frozen means the fish will take a few more minutes to cook. Since poaching is such a gentle technique, the center of the fish will cook properly without overcooking the rest of the fillet. Can you overcook poached salmon? Yes, you can overcook poached salmon. While it's more difficult to overcook salmon when poaching than when sauteing it, it does take less time than one may think for the fish to cook through. As soon as the salmon starts to look pale pink all over, it's time to test for doneness. Can you poach fish with the skin on? Yes, you can poach fish with the skin on. Leaving the skin on can help the fish cook more evenly (though poaching is already a gentle cooking technique that cooks foods quite evenly), and it can be easier to remove it after cooking than before. If you plan to leave the skin on, you will probably want to remove it before eating as it will be quite soft and chewy after poaching. 5 More Easy Fish Recipes to Try Broiled Fish With Summer Salad Sumac-Dusted Salmon With Broccolini Baked Flounder With Roasted Tomatoes Cod With Herbed White Wine and Lemon Sauce Panko-Breaded Fish Sticks Updated by Esther Reynolds Esther Reynolds Esther Reynolds is an experienced recipe developer, recipe tester, food editor, and writer with over a decade of experience in the food and media industries.