Slow Cooked Salmon with Butter, Garlic, Capers, and Lemon is a perfect easy dinner for a meal that will impress guests or please the family! The slow cooked salmon recipe uses a large piece of fresh salmon to serve six people, and you have plenty of time to make side dishes while the salmon cooks in the oven!

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close-up photo of Slow Cooked Salmon with Butter, garlic, capers, and Lemon on serving plate

For years I’ve seen those large pieces of fresh salmon from Costco but never tried cooking a large fillet of salmon, partly because there were already so many excellent salmon recipes on the blog. But when my niece (and fantastic cooking assistant) Kara raved about a salmon recipe she spotted in a very old Instagram post, we decided we had to try it.

And this Slow Cooked Salmon with Butter, Garlic, Capers, and Lemon was absolutely amazing! I’m calling this salmon recipe slow cooked salmon because the salmon is cooked in the oven at a low temperature for 30 minutes, first wrapped loosely inside foil and then unwrapped to finish cooking. And that slower cooking method was such a great way to cook salmon.

Before it’s wrapped the salmon is seasoned with my favorite Szeged Fish Rub, then drizzled with melted butter that’s combined with minced garlic and capers, and it’s finished with fresh-squeezed lemon juice. W0w! And the slow cooking time for the salmon makes this a meal where you have plenty of time to make side dishes while the salmon is slowly cooking.

I’ve never cooked salmon at a low temperature for a longer time before now, but this salmon was so moist and flavorful that I know I’ll be making this again when I want an idea for a special dinner. And this recipe is absolutely perfect when you’re making dinner for guests and want something that’s completely a wow!

What ingredients do you need?

(This is only a list of ingredients; please scroll down for complete printable recipe. Or if you use the JUMP TO RECIPE link at the top of the page, it will take you directly to the complete recipe.)

  • large fresh salmon fillet
  • Szeged Fish Rub (affiliate link)
  • butter
  • minced fresh garlic or Minced Garlic (affiliate link) will work if you prefer it
  • Capers (affiliate link)
  • fresh-squeezed lemon juice
  • fresh chopped parsley, optional
  • salt and fresh-ground black pepper to taste

Can you use skin-on salmon for the Slow Cooked Salmon recipe?

We used a two pound fillet of skinless salmon for this recipe. But if you prefer salmon sold with the skin on, that will still be great.

Can you make the Slow Cooked Salmon recipe with smaller pieces of salmon?

You could definitely make this recipe with a smaller salmon fillet, or even with individual pieces of salmon, just adjusting the amount of butter, garlic, capers, and lemon. I do think smaller pieces might cook a bit more quickly so I would start checking after about 24 minutes cooking time.

Is fresh garlic a must for the Slow Cooked Salmon?

We used fresh garlic cloves that we minced with my favorite garlic press (affiliate link), but if you don’t mind having a slightly milder garlic flavor I think minced garlic from a jar will work for this recipe.

Does Slow Cooked Salmon keep in the fridge?

There is absolutely no doubt this slow cooked salmon will be most flavorful when it’s freshly made. But I did reheat some leftover salmon quickly in the microwave (or use a hot pan on the stove) and it was still quite tasty, especially with more lemon squeezed over the salmon. I ate my leftover salmon the next day, and I don’t think it will stay good much longer than that.

Want more low-carb fish and seafood recipes?

I’ll be adding this new salmon recipe to my collection of 70+ recipes for Low-Carb and Keto Fish Dinners!

Slow Cooked Salmon collage of process shots

How to Make Slow Cooked Salmon:

(This is only a summary of the steps for the recipe; please scroll down for complete printable recipe. Or if you use the JUMP TO RECIPE link at the top of the page, it will take you directly to the complete recipe.)

  1. We used a two pound skinless salmon fillet.
  2. Rub the salmon with Szeged Fish Rub (affiliate link) and let it come to room temperature.
  3. We used a garlic press (affiliate link) to mince the garlic, but minced garlic in a jar will work too. (Thanks to my sister Val who gave me that garlic press you see in the photos; I absolutely love it.)
  4. Measure out 2 tablespoons of capers.
  5. Melt butter over low heat.
  6. Add minced garlic to melted butter and cook 1-2 minutes on low.
  7. Add capers and stir to combine. Turn off heat.
  8. Tear off foil and put on a sheet pan. Put salmon on the foil, pour over butter mixture and spread over salmon, then squeeze on lemon juice.
  9. Wrap foil loosely up over the salmon and pinch edges together.
  10. Put sheet pan in the oven and bake 15 minutes.
  11. Remove sheet pan from oven and open the foil, moving it away from the salmon.
  12. Put salmon back into oven and bake 15 minutes longer.
  13. Chop fresh parsley and cut some pieces of lemon while the salmon bakes.
  14. After 30 minutes, remove salmon from the oven, sprinkle with parsley, season with salt and fresh-ground black pepper to taste, and serve with lemon if desired.

Slow Cooked Salmon with butter, garlic, capers, and lemon on serving plate

Make it a low-carb meal:

Slow Cooked Salmon would be an amazing low-carb meal with something like Stir-Fried Spinach with Garlic and Parmesan, Air Fryer Peppers and Onions, Cauliflower Rice with Basil, Parmesan, and Pine Nuts, Air Fryer Artichoke Hearts, or Pan-Fried Broccoli with Pine Nuts and Parmesan.

More Amazing Recipes for Salmon Fans:

close-up photo of Slow Cooked Salmon with Butter, garlic, capers, and Lemon on serving plate
Yield: 6 servings

Slow Cooked Salmon with Butter, Garlic, Capers, and Lemon

Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 30 minutes
Total Time 45 minutes

If you buy those large fresh salmon fillets from Costco, this Slow Cooked Salmon recipe is the perfect way to cook it. And this salmon that's flavored with butter, garlic, capers, and lemon is absolutely amazing.

Ingredients

  • 2 lb. fresh salmon fillet
  • 2 tsp. Szeged Fish Rub (see notes)
  • 4 T butter
  • 2 T minced fresh garlic (see notes)
  • 2 T capers
  • 2 T fresh-squeezed lemon juice
  • 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley (optional but good)
  • salt and fresh-ground black pepper to taste
  • cut lemon pieces to squeeze on at the table (optional but good)

Instructions

  1. Preheat the oven to 325F/162C.
  2. We used a two pound skinless salmon fillet from Costco for this recipe.
  3. Rub the salmon on both sides with Szeged Fish Rub (affiliate link) and let it come to room temperature.
  4. While fish is coming to room temperature, use a garlic press (affiliate link) to mince 1-2 T of minced garlic, depending on how much you like garlic.
  5. You will also need to measure out 2 tablespoons of capers. (You can rinse the capers if you want the flavor to be less strong, but I love capers so I never bother with that.)
  6. Melt the butter in a small non-stick frying pan over low heat.
  7. Add the minced garlic to the melted butter and cook 1-2 minutes on low.
  8. Add capers and stir to combine. Turn off heat.
  9. Tear off a large piece of foil and put it on a sheet pan. Put the salmon in the center of the foil, pour over butter mixture and spread it evenly over the salmon, then squeeze on the lemon juice.
  10. Wrap the foil loosely up over the salmon and pinch the edges together. 
  11. Put the sheet pan in the oven and bake 15 minutes.
  12. Remove sheet pan from oven and open the foil, moving it away from the salmon.
  13. Put sheet pan back into the oven and bake 15 minutes longer. (If your salmon piece is smaller I would start to check it a bit sooner.
  14. Chop fresh parsley and cut some pieces of lemon while the salmon continues to bake.
  15. After 30 minutes total cooking time, remove the salmon from the oven, sprinkle with parsley, season with salt and fresh-ground black pepper to taste, and serve with cut pieces of lemon if desired.
  16. We g-e-n-t-l-y moved the cooked piece of salmon on to a plate to take photographs, but if you're just serving it to the family you could definitely serve it directly from the foil!

Notes

I love Szeged Fish Rub but if you have a good seasoning rub for fish, there are other good ones that will work.

You might want a bit less garlic if you're not a big garlic fan. Minced garlic from a jar can be used, although the flavor will be better with freshly-chopped garlic.

Nutrition Information:

Yield:

6

Serving Size:

1

Amount Per Serving: Calories: 393Total Fat: 27gSaturated Fat: 9gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 16gCholesterol: 117mgSodium: 320mgCarbohydrates: 3gFiber: 1gSugar: 1gProtein: 34g

Nutrition information is automatically calculated by the Recipe Plug-In I am using. I am not a nutritionist and cannot guarantee 100% accuracy, since many variables affect those calculations.

Did you make this recipe?

Did you make this recipe? Please leave a star rating (under the PRINT button in the recipe) or share a photo of your results on Instagram! THANKS!

Slow Cooked Salmon square image showing salmon on serving plate with lemons in background

Low-Carb Diet / Low-Glycemic Diet / South Beach Diet Suggestions:
Slow Cooked Salmon is a perfect dish for any low-carb or Keto diet. Salmon cooked in butter would be high in fat for the original South Beach Diet but you could probably make a pretty good-tasting result using less butter if you’re trying to follow South Beach.

Find More Recipes Like This One:
Use Oven Dinners to find more recipes like this one. Use the Diet Type Index to find more recipes suitable for a specific eating plan. You might also like to follow Kalyn’s Kitchen on Pintereston Facebookon Instagramon TikTok, or on YouTube to see all the good recipes I’m sharing there.

Historical Notes for this Recipe:
Slow Cooked Salmon was first posted in 2022, and it’s definitely been a hit on the blog. The recipe was last updated with more information in 2024.

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