Sheet Pan Garlic Butter Salmon with Roasted Potatoes and Asparagus

Garlic butter salmon, asparagus, and roasted potatoes all made on one sheet pan! The easiest weeknight-friendly salmon dinner recipe!

This recipe is sponsored by our friends over at Challenge Butter. We’re using their high-quality butter to make today’s easy sheet pan salmon dinner!

One sheet pan dinners are what make weeknight dinners possible around here most nights!

You know, the kind of dinner where you get two sides and a protein cooking up and coming out of the oven at the same time. So you’re not doing backflips to get sides out of the oven while the stove is cooking up the protein. The whole family can sit down at the same time with a plateful of potatoes, asparagus, and garlic butter salmon. Can we also take a second to appreciate the blessings of a one-sheet pan dinner and how often it means fewer dishes to clean afterward? Music to my ears.

We’re talking about delicious salmon brightened up with compound butter made with fresh lemon zest and pressed garlic, perfectly al-dente asparagus, and crinkly garlic roasted potatoes. 

This is the stuff that dinner dreams are made of!

Ingredients for Sheet Pan Garlic Butter Salmon:

• Salted Challenge Butter: I love using Challenge Butter for this recipe because it is made the old-fashioned way! Churned fresh daily from milk from happy cows at their local family-owned dairies. It’s made from fresh sweet cream and salt, and doesn’t contain added hormones, additives, or fillers. I absolutely love that!
• Baby Potatoes: I like to use the teeny tiny potatoes for this recipe. If you can’t find those, feel free to use larger potatoes, but I suggest dicing them down into ¾ inch pieces so that they all roast up in the same amount of time.
• Fresh Garlic: garlic is added to the potatoes to give them a delicious roasted flavor and the compound butter for the salmon and asparagus.
• Seasonings: I’m using salt and pepper, and then just a dash of dried thyme and red pepper flakes to the butter for the salmon and asparagus.
• Fresh Lemons: we’ll use the zest and juice of the lemon to help flavor the butter we’ll use on the salmon and the asparagus. Lemons add the most delicious citrusy flavor to fish recipes.
• Salmon Filets: I usually buy precut filets from the grocery store. You can always ask the fishmonger to cut them for you. For this recipe, you can keep the skin on or off; totally your call!
• Fresh Asparagus: You’ll need about 1 ½ bunch of asparagus. Just snap off the woody ends before adding them to the sheet pan.

How to make a one-sheet pan garlic butter salmon dinner:

1. Start with the potatoes. The potatoes are going to be the ingredient that takes the longest here. So you want to toss them with just a hint of oil and a couple of tablespoons of melted Challenge Butter, some freshly pressed garlic, and salt and pepper. Then, pop them on the baking sheet and spread them out. Give them a 20-minute head start while you prep the remaining ingredients.
2. Salmon and asparagus. While the potatoes are roasting, you want to make that delicious compound butter topping. Add the softened butter to a bowl along with black pepper, pressed garlic, red pepper flakes, fresh lemon zest, lemon juice, and parsley. Stir it all together until the juice and butter are combined. When the potatoes are done, you want to scooch them over to one side of the sheet pan. Then, add the asparagus to the other side and lay the salmon fillets in the middle. Drop a dollop of the prepared butter on each of the salmon filets, dollop the rest evenly over all over the asparagus. Use a butter knife to spread out the butter, so it coats the fillets evenly. You can even add lemon slices to the fillets if you want to be a little fancy! Place the sheet pan back in the oven to roast.
3. Finish and serve. When the salmon is done, check to ensure that it registers at 145ºF on a meat thermometer. I like to hit the broil setting for a quick 30 seconds or so to give the tops of the potatoes, asparagus, and salmon just a hint of color. Serve warm!

Best Tips for homemade sheet pan garlic butter salmon:

1. Make sure all the potatoes are roughly the same size. This recipe works really well with those teeny tiny baby potatoes. All you have to do is cut them in half, and they are perfectly roasted by the time the salmon is done cooking. If you can’t find those, feel free to use regular-sized yellow or red potatoes. Just be sure to cut them into ¾ inch pieces to cook in the same amount of time.
2. For the asparagus. I like to buy asparagus that are on the thicker side. I find that they hold up much better during the cooking time and get perfectly al dente!
3. Remove the salmon from the refrigerator 30 minutes before cooking. This allows the salmon to cook more evenly throughout and causes it to maintain its shape better because it doesn’t go through a drastic temperature change so suddenly.
4. Take a second to pat the fish dry. Since we’re placing the compound butter on top of the salmon, we need to make sure to pat the fish dry first or the butter won’t spread.

A big thank you to our friends at Challenge Butter for sponsoring this post! We love working with companies that make good, wholesome ingredients!

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Yield: Serves 4

Sheet Pan Garlic Butter Salmon with Roasted Potatoes and Asparagus

Prep Time 10 minutes

Cook Time 30 minutes

Total Time 40 minutes

Garlic butter salmon, asparagus, and roasted potatoes all made on one sheet pan! The easiest weeknight-friendly salmon dinner recipe!

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Ingredients

• 1 ½ pound baby potatoes, halved or quartered
• 1 tablespoon high heat oil
• ½ cup salted Challenge Butter, softened
• ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
• 2 tablespoons garlic, minced or pressed
• ½ teaspoon EACH: black pepper, dried thyme, AND red pepper flakes
• 1 teaspoon fresh lemon zest
• 4 teaspoons lemon juice + lemon slices (optional)
• 2 tablespoons fresh parsley, minced
• 4 (6-ounce) salmon fillets
• 1 ½ pounds asparagus, woody ends removed

Instructions

1. POTATOES: Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 425ºF. Line a large sheet pan with parchment paper or foil. In a medium bowl, melt 2 tablespoons of butter. Add the oil, ¼ teaspoon kosher salt, ¼ teaspoon black pepper, and 2 teaspoons minced garlic and stir to combine. Toss potatoes in this mixture then transfer to the sheet pan and spread the potatoes out. Roast the potatoes for 20 minutes.
2. SALMON + ASPARAGUS: While potatoes are roasting, add the remaining softened butter to a small bowl, add ¼ teaspoon black pepper, minced garlic, red pepper flakes, lemon zest, lemon juice, parsley, and stir to combine. When the potatoes are done, push to one side of the sheet pan. Place the asparagus on the other side. Place the salmon fillets in the center and make sure to pat the flesh dry. Then, place a tablespoon of the prepared butter on each fillet and spread with a knife. Dollop the remaining butter mixture over asparagus.
3. BAKE: Top salmon with lemon slices, if desired. Place the sheet pan back in the oven for about 9-10 minutes. When the salmon is done, check to make sure it registers at least 145ºF on a meat thermometer. I like to hit the broil setting for a quick 30-60 seconds to give it a bit more color but that is optional. Serve warm!

Notes

• Salmon: It’s essential to remove the salmon fillets from the refrigerator at least 30 minutes prior to cooking. Cooking times may vary if you do not bring the salmon to temperature first.

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