Garlic Caper Baked Salmon Recipe

We love this baked salmon recipe with capers and garlic. It tastes incredible. Tender, flaky salmon, gently cooked in butter with garlic, lemon, and capers. It’s one of the best things we’ve made recently.

We’ve been making a variation of this salmon recipe for ages. The method comes from my Mom, and I know I’m biased on this one, but my Mom’s method for cooking salmon is the best. She gently bakes her salmon, covered at a low temperature with a little liquid in the pan, so it doesn’t dry out.

In this caper butter version, we use melted butter as the baking liquid, then add lots more flavor with capers, fresh lemon, and garlic. Trust me when I say it’s incredible, or read through the reviews, everyone loves this recipe!

Key Ingredients

• Salmon: Any salmon fillet will work for this recipe. However, I especially love those with a higher fat content, like sockeye, king, and coho. When baked, these types of salmon stay soft and moist. I advise the same for most of our salmon recipes including our popular brown sugar baked salmon.
• Butter: The base of our lemon caper sauce. The salmon gently bakes in the butter, which you can spoon over the finished salmon fillets before serving (it’s incredible).
• Garlic: I love garlic butter and use a tablespoon of minced garlic to make our butter sauce.
• Capers: Salmon and capers are such a classic combination! I use drained capers to make this recipe. 
• Lemon: If salmon and capers are classic, adding lemon makes it even more so! Use fresh lemon for this recipe. It makes a difference.

Find the full recipe with measurements below.

How to Make Baked Salmon with Capers

Tip 1: Use an oven-safe skillet. To make this salmon, we use one pan. (Hello, easy cleanup!) A large, oven-safe skillet is best. I use my cast-iron skillet.

You’ll melt butter with garlic and capers, then when it is bubbling and smells like garlic butter, take it off the heat and place your seasoned salmon fillets into the pan.

Tip 2: Covering the pan is key. Spoon a little butter over the fillets, and then cover the skillet with foil or tuck a sheet of parchment paper around the salmon (an oven-safe lid is fine, too). Covering the salmon creates a steamy environment, preventing it from drying out in the oven.

Tip 3: How to tell it’s ready to come out of the oven. You’ll know the salmon is ready to come out of the oven when it flakes and is a little pink in the middle.

Once it’s out of the oven, squeeze over lemon juice, and take a moment to gather up all the garlic butter from the bottom of the pan and spoon it back over the salmon (YUM). I can’t wait for you to try this one!

Serving Suggestions

Thanks to the butter sauce, this salmon works really well next to many of our side dishes. Some of our family favorites are mashed cauliflower, which is light, or mashed potatoes, which are a bit more hearty. We also love this salmon with saffron rice, homemade grits, or this unbelievably creamy polenta.

I also love a veggie side like sautéed green beans or roasted green beans, quickly sautéed bok choy, sautéed cabbage, sautéed veggies, or this garlic roasted asparagus.

And, for a truly special meal, serve this delicious salmon over risotto. Try our easy mushroom risotto or this vegetable risotto.

More Favorite Salmon Recipes