~ Pan Seared Salmon yields moist, fall-apart fillets with a flavorful, crisply caramelized crust on top. A refreshing basil and chive tzatziki sauce is an unusual yet startlingly perfect counterpoint. This quick salmon recipe is luxurious enough for dinner parties, yet it’s really easy and makes even the busiest weeknights feel special! ~

This Recipe Is:   •  Ready in 30 Minutes or Less  •  Includes Make-Ahead Steps  •  Gluten Free  •

Need a great new salmon recipe? I’ve got your back here!

Maybe you’re trying to eat more fish (like … you know … pretty much every other health-conscious person)? High-five right there, BTW!

But you need some proven winners, don’t you? Quick salmon recipes that promise BIG flavor with little effort. Ones that just might convert your whole family (finally!) into fish lovers!

Or maybe you’re already cooking salmon frequently, but you’re just booooored by the same-old-same-old recipes … and you want a fresh new idea?

Either way, today’s your lucky (salmon) day!

Why You’ll Love This Seared Salmon Recipe

Perfectly pan-seared salmon has a crisp, golden exterior, yet it’s so moist and tender inside.

And with this particular version, there’s no need to fire up the oven to finish cooking the fish – the whole cooking process happens on the stovetop, in just a few minutes!

Quick and Easy!

Then, that succulent salmon is draped in a creamy, refreshing tzatziki sauce that swaps out the typical dill for bright, peppy basil … plus chives and tarragon. The fresh herbs in the tangy tzatziki sauce taste … FRESH, absolutely beautiful in elevating the rich salmon. So unexpected, and just really yummy!

It’s rich yet light. Flavorful, unique and satisfying.

Yet also so gosh-darn easy … and the tzatziki sauce can even be prepped ahead of time!

And it’s all ready in less than 15 minutes!

This Salmon’s Origin Story

The very first time I made this recipe (and I’ve made it numerous times over the years), my whole family adored it.

Total winner, right out of the gate.

Most impressively, though, my beef-loving daughter actually compared it very favorably to steak. I have no idea exactly why, since there’s really nothing steak-like about this recipe … but all I cared about was that – coming from her – it was the ultimate compliment!

So where did I find this little gem?

Well, you might recall that, until recently, my parents owned a second-hand bookstore, and they kept me very well-supplied with a steady stream of terrific cookbooks (as in … my cookbook collection numbers in the hundreds). Lucky me!

I read my treasured cookbooks voraciously (yes … I’m one of those people who reads cookbooks like most people read novels). But, I honestly don’t cook recipes from them all that often. I’m too busy making my own recipes to test, test and re-test for this site!

But when my parents gave me Giada’s Feel Good Food (by the incomparable Giada De Laurentiis), and I spied the recipe for “Salmon with Basil and Chive Tzatziki” – I had to try it!

We eat salmon at least once a week, so I’m always on the prowl for unique new twists to keep it interesting. (Not that I’m tired of Honey-Glazed Salmon – or Red Miso Salmon or Asian Salmon Burgers. I still make those recipes a lot, too!)

But still, I knew this was a must-try recipe. And I wasn’t disappointed. (Because … you know … that whole “it’s kind of like steak” thing!) It was a major hit!

And it’s so different from all the other salmon recipes in my repertoire!

Through the last 6 or 7 years, I’ve tweaked the recipe ingredients and proportions slightly, meticulously timed it all out, and tested and re-tested various options (more on all that later).

It’s too good not to share … too good to miss. So, now it’s your turn!

Here’s all you have to do:

How to Make This Pan-Seared Salmon Recipe

Make the Creamy Tzatziki Sauce

To make the tzatziki sauce, start by roughly chopping your herbs and grating your cucumber onto two or three layers of paper towels.

I like to use the short end of the cucumber (instead of grating at a diagonal along the sides) to keep the bits of cucumber fairly short.

Then, gather the paper towels around the cucumber and gently press, to remove more of the moisture. Pat it all dry, and set it aside for just a moment.

In a small food processor, blitz up the rest of the tzatziki ingredients (but NOT the cucumber!) until the herbs are very, very finely chopped and the sauce turns a gorgeous, light green color.

You want to be sure all the bits of herbs are very finely minced into little specks, so you’re not munching your way through an herb garden at dinner time.

Stir 1/2 cup of your grated cucumber into your pretty sauce and chill it until dinner. (This is great made earlier in the day. Just give it a quick stir, if needed, before serving.)

At this point, dinner is literally less than 10 minutes from being done … whenever you need it to be! (How easy is that???)

Make the Pan Seared Salmon

When it’s time for dinner, all you have left to do is quickly cook your salmon!

Fire up a large, heavy skillet over medium-high heat and swirl in the oil to give it a nice, thin coating. Season both sides of your salmon fillets and add them to the pan, with the “prettier” side down (and the side that used to have skin facing upwards).

Just three or four minutes (covered) on the first side, and the salmon should have a crispy, caramelized and golden sear to it.

Now, This Is Important …

You’ll know it’s time to flip the salmon when you can slide a sturdy spatula under it, and it releases fairly easily from the pan. If you have to scrape forcefully at it to get it to release, it’s not ready yet.

STOP!

Do not ruin it by tearing it away from the pan before it’s ready, leaving most of the seared flesh behind in the pan. Sad, sad, sad! If it won’t release, that’s your cue to give it another 30 seconds or a minute to form that fabulous seared layer.

THEN … flip it over.

From here, you’re just cooking the salmon for maybe another minute or two more, just until it’s cooked to your liking.

Pro Tip: Don’t overcook your salmon! As Bon Appetit says, “If you think you don’t like salmon, chances are high that you’re overcooking it.”

It should easily flake moistly apart, when tested with a fork. It should be tender, and definitely not overly firm inside.

Also remember that, just like with most any meat, your pan seared salmon will continue to cook a little further from residual heat, even after you’ve removed it from the pan.

(Fine Cooking has a handy little visual guide to help you gauge when salmon is done to your liking … and to help you avoid that kinda chewy, overly firm, not very tasty, overcooked mistake.)

Boom! And just like that, dinner’s done!

Serve your salmon topped with a creamy cascade of refreshing herbed tzatziki … glorious!

Shopping Tips

Great Salmon for Searing

If possible, purchase salmon that’s a fairly even thickness, so each fillet cooks in the same amount of time as the others.

If you have any fillets with really thin edges at one end, you can tuck those ends under to sort of double-up the thickness and help to keep those ends from overcooking too much, before the rest of the thicker parts of the fillet are done.

And of course, fish is always most delicious when it’s absolutely as fresh as possible. Purchase the freshest you can find, and cook it that same day, if you can – the next day at the latest.

The Best Cucumber

Seedless (aka “English” or “hothouse”) cucumbers have very thin skin and essentially no seeds. They’re perfect for this recipe because you don’t have to peel and seed them, saving time. If you can’t find them, you can substitute “regular” cucumbers, but you may need to peel the skin if it’s thick, and you’ll definitely want to remove any large seeds.

Either way, regardless of which type of cucumber you by, I like to grate my cuke on the short end, so you get short bits of cucumber, instead of annoyingly looooooong strands.

Bonus Tips on How to Make the Perfect Tzatziki (My Exhaustive Testing Notes!)

I’ve made this tzatziki sauce so many different times, obsessively testing it with lemon juice vs. white wine vinegar, with Greek yogurt vs. regular (non-Greek) yogurt, and with vs. without that tiny bit of extra virgin olive oil.

This version is the hands-down winner!

Here’s what I learned:

Tip #1

No matter what, don’t try to substitute “regular” yogurt for Greek yogurt. It’s horribly disappointing!

Tip #2

Although many traditional recipes call for full-fat Greek yogurt to produce a rich tzatziki, I always reach for nonfat Greek yogurt because I like the savings in fat and calories.

According to this article from Shape, choosing nonfat will save you 10 grams of total fat and 7 grams of saturated fat, plus 100 calories per 6 ounces. (Note that we’re using about 5 ounces in this recipe.)

Giada’s original recipe called for reduced-fat (2%) Greek yogurt, but that’s not as commonly available at the supermarket. Nonetheless, you can use that as a happy middle-ground between fat-free and full-fat, if you prefer.

Tip #3

Swirling a little extra virgin olive oil into the tzatziki does a beautiful job of rounding out the flavors. And the bit of fat it adds is much more heart-healthy than the fat found in full-fat dairy products like full-fat Greek yogurt.

Tip #4

Hey wait … doesn’t tzatziki sauce usually have dill and garlic?

Yup! Good catch.

But this one changes things up a little! It’s creative and unique … and delicious in its own right!

The chives have a lighter hand than assertive garlic, and the basil and tarragon offer a feeling of bright, summery freshness I just love! (You may recall from my scrumptious Healthy Chicken Salad with Grapes that I already have a bit of a torrid love affair with tarragon.)

Tip #5

DO NOT BE TEMPTED TO SKIP THE FOOD PROCESSOR!

You know I’m always looking for shortcuts for you (and for me, actually)! So you know I tested whether I could just mince the herbs up really finely with a knife, and skip the food processor altogether.

Trust me – don’t do it.

Even if you’re a very good and meticulous mincer (and I am!), you’ll still have too-big bits of herbs in the finished sauce, and you’ll end up unpleasantly chewing your way through them. It’s not awesome.

Just give them a rough chop and then throw them in the food processor – you’ll be glad you did!

Tip #6

If you Google “Tzatziki Recipes,” you’ll see a wide range of acidic ingredients used in different recipes, from lemon juice to “plain” white vinegar, to white wine vinegar (like I use here), and even to red wine vinegar.

I think “plain” white vinegar is a bit too harsh – white wine vinegar is more nuanced.

And, I’ve tested my tzatziki extensively using lemon juice, but I just never like it nearly as well.

Hands-down, for this particular version, go with white wine vinegar if you possibly can.

Tip #7

Although you can serve the tzatziki right away (since there’s no harsh garlic that needs to mellow for a while), it’s best if you can let the tzatziki hang out in the fridge for a little while – even just the few minutes it takes to set the table and pan sear the salmon. It gives all those flavors a little time to mix and mingle and come together.

Serving Suggestions

• I usually serve this with brown rice and either Blistered Green Beans, or the Easy Oven Roasted Asparagus you see in these photos. Grilled Asparagus or speedy Air Fryer Asparagus would be great, too.

• Roasted broccoli would be great, too!

• Instead of rice, you could make my Roasted Potatoes (I’d skip the rosemary on the potatoes, though). Try drizzling a bit of the tzatziki over both the potatoes and the salmon.

• Or, another alternative to the rice would be a power grain like quinoa. (If you’ve never tried that, you can check out my post on How to Cook Quinoa.) In the supermarket, you can often find pre-cooked rice and quinoa grain blends in the freezer section or in microwaveable packets in the rice aisle – that could be a super idea, too (and really easy)!

With its vibrant, fresh flavors and perfect pan roasted, golden crust, this salmon has won our hearts and become a regular favorite at our dinner table.

I just bet it’ll steal your heart and earn a regular place at your table, too!