While it may seem complicated to some home cooks, poached salmon is one of the simplest ways to cook this popular fish once you know the poaching secrets, and it’s even better topped with this deliciously easy mustard dill sauce that’s ready to serve in under 30 minutes.
Healthy-ish. Formal-ish. Style-ish. Lately these are words I’ve been adopting with relish.
In their root form, these lifestyle descriptions can sometimes feel too hard to achieve. Because who can truly devote themselves to always eating healthy and acting healthy when wine and cookies beckon? And who has it in them (not to mention the time) to nail each and every detail as the ultimate entertainer? And if anyone expects me to look like I strutted straight out of the pages of a magazine, I hope they’re reading a magazine about how to wear the same uniform day in and day out.
But with that little “-ish” at the end of almost any word, those stricter interpretations become more fluid, somewhat easier, a little less intimidating, and a lot more achievable.
This poached salmon recipe is a prime example of being healthy-ish, formal-ish, and totally style-ish for cooking any time, and because both the salmon and the sauce hold up especially well, its perfect for a simple-ish brunch, lunch or dinner buffet.
The recipe comes from one of this country’s most trusted sources when it comes to recipe creation and verification: America’s Test Kitchen. I’ve been a devout follower of their T.V. programs, bought the magazines, checked out the website, and the cookbooks too. So when they asked me to share a recipe from What Good Cooks Know, 20 Years of Test Kitchen Expertise, I knew that no matter what I chose to share would be stand-out for sure.
The goal of this cookbook is to become a one-stop reference guide for every level of cook to learn the secrets to success in the kitchen. True to America’s Test Kitchen form, they cover ALL of the bases. From the essentials of outfitting your pantry and kitchen to testing for the best kitchen tools, plus step-by-step techniques, improvements on classic techniques as well as new solutions for those pesky kitchen problems from how to butterfly a chicken and how to sharpen a knife.
I used my new favorite salmon from Chile, sustainable Verlasso salmon, for this dinner. It’s lower fat content and buttery, fresh flavor is why I’m willing to pay extra for it.
So good looking I almost didn’t want to cook it!
After poring over the cookbook and being wooed by the likes of Indian-Style Curry with Cauliflower and Vegetables, Eggplant Parmesan, and The Best Prime Rib, I finally settled on the notion that sharing the tricks to poaching salmon is a very spring-ish and healthy-ish thing to share.
Plus, poaching a few of filets for weekly meal prep is always a good plan to have.
The cookbook gives two recipes for topping the poached fish, one with an herb and caper vinaigrette (yes!), and the one I’ve done here, a mustard, dill and sour cream sauce flavored with shallots.
Both sauces take advantage of the layering of the flavor from the poaching liquid, and they both come together really quickly, and very flavorfully.
There are a few key tips to poaching fish that make it come out perfect every time. First, rest your fish fillets on a bed of sliced lemon, herbs and minced shallots. The lemons keep the fillets elevated for even poaching and the shallots and herbs flavor the broth.
Wine and water make up the poaching liquid, but not too much is required. We’re poaching here, not boiling, so only 1/2 cup of each is called for to create an even steaming effect.
Don’t be alarmed when you notice the white stuff oozing from your salmon when you cook it. It’s simply coagulated protein and can easily be swiped away. It happens pretty much no matter how you cook salmon, but if it really bugs you, America’s Test Kitchen did find a way to reduce it as reported here.
If prepping your fish for meal prep for the week, you could easily skip making the sauce. But then you’d miss out on one seriously wonderful element of this recipe. My advice? Make the sauce and store the fish and the sauce separately, to serve as you eat it through the week.
If you make this recipe, please let me know! Leave a comment below or take a photo and tag me on Instagram with #foodiecrusheats.

Poached Salmon With Dill Sour Cream Sauce
Ingredients
- 2 lemons one cut into 1/4-inch slices and the other cut into wedges
- 2 tablespoons minced fresh dill plus 8 to 12 dill stems
- 1 large shallot minced and divided
- 1/2 cup white wine
- 1/2 cup water
- 4 pieces salmon fillets 1 1/2 inch thick (about 2 pounds)
- 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
- 2 tablespoons sour cream
- 2 tablespoons butter
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
Instructions
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Arrange lemon slices in a single layer in a large skillet. Top with the half of the minced dill, the dill sprigs, plus half of the diced shallots, about 2 tablespoons. Add the wine an and water then top the lemon slices with the salmon pieces.
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Set the skillet over high heat and bring to a rolling simmer then reduce heat to low, cover, and cook until the center of the salmon is still transparent with checked with the tip of a paring knife, and registers 125 degrees, or medium rare, about 11-15 minutes.
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Remove the pan from the heat. Use a spatula to carefully transfer the salmon and lemon slices to a serving dish and discard the dill sprigs. Tent the salmon with aluminum foil.
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Return the pan with poaching liquid to high heat and simmer until the liquid has reduced to 2 tablespoons, about 5 minutes. Whisk in the remaining shallots and the Dijon mustard and simmer until thickened, about 4 minutes. Whisk in the sour cream and butter and season with kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper. Add lemon juice to taste and simmer until thickened, about 1 minute. Whisk in the remaiining minced dill.
More Recipe Reasons to Poach
Now that you have your poached salmon resting comfortably in the fridge…what next? Here are a few ideas of how to take your basic fish to the next level for a full week of meals.
Superfood Salad with Lightened-Up Poppy Seed Dressing
My ultimate leftover salmon lunch, so good I don’t even realize it’s healthy.
Get the recipe | FoodieCrush
Salmon Tacos with Green Onion & Asparagus Salsa
So many spring flavors totally ready to cure your Taco Tuesday cravings.
Get the recipe | Snixy Kitchen
Salmon and Bagel Egg Benedict
This is why you take weekend salmon and bagel brunching way beyond partnering with traditional cream cheese.
Get the recipe | FoodieCrush
Salmon Fried Rice
There’s barely a more efficient way to use leftovers than in a deliciously flavored fried rice.
Get the recipe | Simply Recipes
Salmon Citrus Salad with Avocado
Oranges and grapefruit add a bright bite to this lunch time salad fave!
Get the recipe | How Sweet It Is
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Karen @ Seasonal Cravings says
You can’t go wrong with the ATK cookbooks. Everything I cook from those books turns out perfectly. This salmon is gorgeous and I love that it’s fancy enough for company and healthy too!
heidi says
Totally agree Karen, the cookbooks are always spot on! And with all of the tips and other recs, I end up reading them like romance novels! And this salmon, yes, totally perfect for company!
Keith says
I noticed you used farmed salmon verses wild Alaska salmon. Here in Alaska we have a saying ” friends don’t let friends eat farmed salmon”. Seriously the recipe sounds yummy.
Kari says
I just recently started getting into poached salmon. Its so good!
Kari
http://sweetteasweetie.com/
Milena | craftbeering.com says
Beautiful salmon fillets! Poaching is such a tender way to address fish, I would love to try this recipe with a citrusy beer IPA.
Laurel says
Do you remove the salmon skin, and if so, when? This looks delicious!
Laurel Bender says
Do you remove the salmon skin, and if so, when? This looks delicious!
Laura | Tutti Dolci says
That mustard dill sauce is calling my name, what a gorgeous (and delicious!) way to serve salmon!
SaleOnLeather says
i just dont like salmon, but the dill sauce you’ve made is awesome, it is mouth-watering. i just dont know salmon always looks pink pink and it makes me think that it is raw.
Ana says
Loved this dish! It was the first time that I had made poached salmon and the flavors of the dill, shallot, and lemon was just great. The sauce was lovely as well. For those that are asking, I cooked the salmon with the skin. The salmon gets very soft so the skin helped to keep everything together when you’re moving the salmon from the pan and the meat came off easily when it came time to eat the filets. My cook times were a little longer as well because I used larger salmon filets. This is a great dish that pairs nicely with roasted asparagus. Thanks for the recipe!
Denise says
My friend Evelyn makes a similar dish, that I actually just asked her for the recipe last week. It is so good, light, and refreshing. The perfect spring time meal! Here’s to eating healthy (ish).
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Lynn smith says
This salmon was delicious! I will definitely make it again. I think next time I will add some capers to the sauce.
Hannah says
We love this recipe! My husband usually cooks the salmon on the grill, but he wasn’t feeling well, so I went to Pinterest for inspiration. I saw your recipe, was totally not intimidated, and followed your instructions. It was so delicious! The sauce is wonderful. My husband and I agreed that this was so good it could easily become Christmas Eve dinner….and we usually have my moms crab cakes and steamed shrimp, so that is saying a lot! Thanks so much!
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Jennifer KN Flynn says
This sauce was so easy and delicious… thanks
Ashley @ Foodie Crush says
Thanks so much!
Diane Churchill says
Is this recipe good served chilled?