Crispy Salmon Skin

Crispy Skin Salmon in a skillet, fresh off the stove

Crispy Salmon Skin is the crackling of the sea! Making crispy skin salmon is as simple as ensuring the skin is dry, and using enough oil so the skin goes golden and crispy rather than just burning. Easy!

Crispy Salmon Skin

I’m always one for saucing up my salmon (Honey Garlic Salmon will always be my favourite child) or marinating it (and here’s my favourite salmon marinade) or cooking it up in a sticky sauce (Asian Glazed Salmon is a reader hit!).

But when you know how to cook salmon so the skin is crispy from end to end, you don’t need to fuss with all that. The extra textural element and flavour you get from the crispy golden skin is all you need for a salmon dinner. Serve it naked, straight up!

And if you’re wondering just how crispy we get that skin? THIS crispy (volume ON!)

What you need to make Crispy Salmon Skin

All you need is salmon with the skin on (duh!), oil, salt and pepper.

What you need to make Crispy Skin Salmon

Skin on salmon – Make sure the fish is pin boned ie. little bones removed. Good fish mongers should pinion fish by default. To check, just run your fingers along the surface and the sides – you will feel if there are any bones inside. Use a fish bone tweezers (or even personal grooming tweezers!) to remove;
Oil – olive oil is my preferred oil to use, but any cooking oil will work just fine here; and
Salt and pepper – not only for flavour, but also to give the crust an extra little edge of crunch!

How to make crispy skin salmon

The two key things to ensure crispy salmon skin are dry skin, and not skimping on oil! If you skimp on oil, the skin will just burn instead of going golden, and it really won’t be that crispy.

Pat dry + optional fridge dry – Crispy skin requires dry flesh, so pat it dry with a paper towel. If time permits, leave the salmon skin side up in the fridge for an hour or so – this will air dry the skin even more. If the salmon was vacuum sealed (which prolongs the shelf life), I really recommend this fridge drying step because the skin gets fully “soaked” with fish juices;
Oil, salt and pepper – drizzle the fish with a tiny bit of oil and spread with fingers, just to give the salt and pepper something to adhere to. Make sure you do this just before cooking because the salt will draw moisture out of the salmon skin which will make it sweat = bad for crispy skin!
Skin side down first – put enough oil in a non stick skillet so the base is fully covered. Do not skimp on the oil – you need oil to ensure the skin goes crispy and golden instead of burnt and patchy. Heat the oil on medium high, then put the salmon in skin side down and turn down to medium;
Press down – using a spatula or even tongs, press down on each salmon for 10 seconds so the skin lies flat against the skillet and “sets” flat. Unlike other fish, skin curling is not such a problem with salmon skin, but pressing down ensures that we get crispy skin from end to end;
Turn after 7 minutes – cook the salmon 3/4 of the way through skin side down. It’s easy to tell when salmon is cooked – just look at the side of the salmon. When it changes from translucent to opaque 3/4 of the way up the salmon, that means it is cooked 3/4 of the way through. Now it’s time to turn the the salmon;
Cook 1 1/2 minutes flesh side down – it won’t take long on the flesh side;
Turn again – for crispy skin assurance!! My little trick to ensure super crispy salmon skin hits the table every time is to turn the salmon one more time and cook the skin for another 90 seconds so it’s super hot and crisp when you plate it up. Fish skin loses crispiness when it cools down (unless you deep fry it) so by giving the skin one last blast before taking it off the stove, it will stay crispy for longer!
Skin side UP!!! Plate up skin side up – to preserve that crispy skin! Also, do not put sauce on the skin, it will make it soggy almost instantly.

Here’s a close up of the salmon skin so you can see how crispy it is, and how wafer thin it is. To hear how crispy it is, just watch the recipe video!

Plate of creamy risotto with crispy salmon

What to serve with Salmon with Crispy Skin

A well seasoned, perfectly cooked salmon that’s juicy inside can be served plain because it’s an oily fish with plenty of flavour in the flesh. With the crispy skin as an extra element, it really doesn’t need anything else except perhaps a wedge of lemon!

It’s pictured with a lemony herb risotto which serves as a side and a semi-sauce because it’s so nice and creamy, you sort of scoop it up with the salmon. Want the recipe? (And what if I told you there’s an entirely hands-off oven way to make creamy risottos??)

But if you do want a simple sauce, try this Creamy Dill Sauce for Salmon. Quick to prepare, and a lovely fresh contrast to this rich fish, plus dill and salmon is always a classic pairing. Then choose a side salad or veggie side, and add some crusty bread to complete your meal! – Nagi x

Watch how to make it

Crispy Salmon Skin

Recipe video above. Cooking salmon so the skin is crispy from end to end is as simple as ensuring the skin is dry, and you use enough oil to cover the base of the skillet so the skin goes golden and crispy rather than just burning. Easy!

Course Mains

Cuisine Western

Keyword Crispy salmon skin, Crispy skin salmon

Prep Time 3 minutes

Cook Time 10 minutes

Servings

Calories 255cal

Author Nagi

Ingredients

4 salmon fillets , skin on (Note 1)
1 tsp olive oil (or other natural cooking oil)
1 tsp salt , cooking/kosher (3/4 tsp table salt, Note 2)
1/2 tsp black pepper

Cooking:

2 tbsp olive oil (or other natural cooking oil)

Serving:

Lemon wedges

Instructions

Dry skin: Pat the skin of the salmon dry with a paper towel. If time permits, place the salmon skin side up in the fridge for 1 hour (uncovered,) to dry it out even more.
Season: Drizzle flesh side with half a tiny bit of oil, spread with fingers, then sprinkle with half the salt and pepper. Flip skin side up, then repeat with oil, salt and pepper. Do not do this step until just before cooking.
Heat oil: Put enough oil in a large non stick skillet so it fully covers the base. Heat on medium high until it shimmers.
Skin side down: Place salmon in the skillet skin side down, then immediately turn the head down to medium.
Press down: Using a spatula, press down on each salmon for 10 seconds so the skin lies flat against the skillet and "sets". Repeat with each salmon.
Cook 7 minutes: Cook for 7 minutes, or until the salmon is cooked 3/4 of the way through (you will see the colour changing up the side of the salmon) and the skin is crispy.
90 sec on flesh: Turn the salmon and cook for just 90 seconds.
Final skin blast! (My secret tip) Turn the salmon again, turn the heat up to medium high and cook the skin side again for 1 minute, just to give it a final blast of heat to reinforce crispiness!
Serve skin side UP to protect the crispy skin. Fish skin will only stay crispy while it's hot, so serve asap! Pictured in post with creamy lemon herb risotto which acts as a side dish and semi-sauce – want the recipe?

Notes

1. Salmon – in theory, you can do this for as many salmon as you want, it’s just about how many you can handle in one batch. Also, don’t crowd the skillet – the salmon will just steam instead of pan fry!

Any size is fine, a standard serving is typically around 150 – 180g / 5 – 6oz per person.

2. Salt – cooking/kosher salt are slightly larger grains than table salt, intended for more easy handling for cooking purposes. So if you use table salt, you need to use less otherwise it will be too salty.

3. Nutrition per serving, assuming 150g/5oz per fillet and that half the oil is consumed.