This salmon sandwich recipe is bursting with flavor! Top the savory fish with feta crumbles and creamy dill sauce.
Want an interesting way to serve everyone’s favorite fish? Try this Salmon Sandwich with Dill Sauce! There’s something so satisfying about a good fish sandwich, and this one is irresistibly tasty. Throw a fillet of Old-Bay seasoned pan seared salmon onto a bun, then top with feta crumbles, red onion and creamy, lemony dill sauce. This is one for the books: our entire family loved it. Here’s what to do!
Ingredients for this salmon sandwich
You can build a salmon sandwich in many ways, like a Smoked Salmon Sandwich or a Salmon Salad Sandwich. But this one is a straight up salmon sandwich, pairing a lovely fillet of salmon with a creamy dill sauce. Here’s what you’ll need to put together this simple meal:
- Salmon fillets, skin on (wild caught if possible)
- Old Bay seasoning
- Salt and pepper
- Olive oil
- Dill Sauce
- Buns or focaccia bread
- Baby arugula
- Red onion slices
- Feta cheese crumbles
How to cook the salmon: pan fry or grill
This salmon sandwich recipe works with any type of cooking method for salmon. In the recipe below, we list instructions on how to pan fry the salmon. It comes out delicious and works in any season! Of course, if it’s grill season, grilled salmon is the way to go. You can also use any of these other options for how to cook salmon, adjusting the flavor to align with the Old Bay seasoning in this recipe:
- Pan seared salmon: It’s fast and easy, and cooks in about 10 minutes. Go to the recipe below!
- Grilled salmon: If it’s grilling season, pull out the grill for this one! Go to Easy Grilled Salmon.
- Broiled salmon: This cooking method is very quick and totally hands off. Go to Quick Broiled Salmon.
- Baked salmon: This oven baked salmon is a stand-by easy cooking method.
How to buy a great piece of salmon
This salmon sandwich is dependent on one thing: the quality of the salmon! Unfortunately there’s no way to “fix” poor quality salmon: even drowning it with a sauce. Keep in mind: lower quality salmon can taste fishy and have a mushy texture. You can use frozen salmon, but we’ve found that fresh salmon tends to taste better and be higher quality. Here’s how to buy a great piece of salmon:
- Buy wild caught salmon. Fish that is wild caught in your country is usually a sustainable choice. There are also quality options in well-regulated farms; see Seafood Watch Consumer Guide. Buy it fresh from the fish counter if you can; frozen works too.
- Look for US caught (if you’re in the US). 90% of the seafood we eat in the US is imported. Imported seafood runs the risk of being overfished, caught under unfair labor practices, or farmed in environmentally harmful ways.
- Coho is a good choice for great flavor. We tend to like Coho salmon for its mild flavor: it’s a good middle of the road option in terms of price. Of course, King salmon is incredible but it’s on the expensive end. Atlantic salmon is typically farmed salmon, so we tend to avoid it: however, we have found some good quality Atlantic salmon fillets at the fish counter.
For the dill sauce
This salmon sandwich owes everything to the creamy Dill Sauce, which drapes everything in a luxuriously silky, herbaceous drizzle. Don’t attempt to make this sandwich without it (or use one of the substitutes below). The sauce requires simple ingredients and comes together quickly. You’ll need:
- Sour cream
- Mayonnaise
- Fresh dill
- Lemon juice
- Garlic powder
- Dried dill
- Sugar
- Salt
You can also use this sauce simply for serving with plain grilled, broiled or pan seared salmon for a simple meal. It adds a bright pop of flavor and looks lovely too. Head to Dill Sauce for Salmon for more.
Alternative sauce ideas
Not a big dill person? Just make sure to serve this sandwich with a creamy sauce, otherwise it’s much too dry. Here are a few alternative salmon sandwich sauce ideas:
- Tartar Sauce: This Easy Tartar Sauce is zingy and creamy: perfect for fish sandwiches.
- Remoulade Sauce: This French sauce can be made classic or Cajun style; go to Remoulade Sauce.
- Cilantro Sauce: This Creamy Cilantro Sauce is delicious and dairy free, or this Quick Cilantro Lime Sauce is fast and creamy.
And that’s it! This tasty salmon sandwich is perfect as a healthy dinner recipe: we love it especially as a summer dinner on the patio. But of course, it works in any season! Let us know if you try it in the comments below.
More salmon recipes
Love salmon? Here are some of our favorite salmon recipes that make a great meal:
- Try simple and tasty Salmon Caesar Salad, or luxurious Salmon Nicoise Salad
- Opt for Maple Glazed Salmon or Blackened Salmon
- Whip up with Salmon Pasta or Honey Garlic Salmon
- Go for Pesto Salmon or Lemon Dill Salmon
- Make Classic Salmon Burgers or Salmon Tacos with Avocado Sauce
This salmon sandwich recipe is…
Pescatarian.
Print
Salmon Sandwich with Dill Sauce
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 10 minutes
- Total Time: 25 minutes
- Yield: 4 1x
Description
This salmon sandwich recipe is bursting with flavor! Top the savory fish with feta crumbles and creamy dill sauce.
Ingredients
- 1 pound salmon fillets, skin on (wild caught if possible)
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt, plus more for brining
- 1 teaspoon Old Bay seasoning
- Fresh ground black pepper
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 recipe Dill Sauce
- 4 buns, focaccia bread, or other buns
- Baby arugula
- Red onion slices
- Feta cheese crumbles
Instructions
- Brine the salmon* (optional): In a large shallow dish, whisk together 4 cups room temperature water and 3 tablespoons kosher salt until dissolved. Place the salmon in the water and wait for 15 minutes. Otherwise, allow the salmon to come to room temperature.
- Pan sear the salmon (or grill the salmon): Pat the salmon dry with a clean towel. Sprinkle it with the kosher salt, Old Bay seasoning, and generous grinds of fresh ground pepper. Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium high heat. Add the salmon skin side up and cook for 2 to 3 minutes, until cooked about halfway to the center of the thick part of salmon.
- Flip the salmon (a fish spatula makes easy work of it). Tilt the pan down slightly and quickly spoon the pan juices over the top of the fish a few times. Spoon the pan juices a few times again. Cook for 2 to 5 minutes, depending on the thickness, until just tender and pink at the center (the internal temperature should be between 125 to 130 Fahrenheit in the center when removed). If the pieces are very thick, you can place them in a 350 degree Fahrenheit oven to finish cooking. Remove from the heat.
- Prepare the toppings: Make the Dill Sauce. Toss the arugula with a bit of olive oil and a few pinches kosher salt. Thinly slice the red onion.
- Serve: To serve, place the cooked salmon on the buns. Top with arugula, red onion slices, feta cheese crumbles, and the dill sauce. Serve immediately.
Notes
*This is most important for salmon that is lower quality; it helps to reduce the white stuff that comes out when cooking fish (albumin).
- Category: Salmon
- Method: Stovetop
- Cuisine: Seafood
Keywords: Salmon sandwich, salmon sandwich recipe
