This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy.
This oven baked salmon is drizzled generously in a simple and delicious lemon cream sauce (classically known as lemon beurre blanc). The sauce will become your secret weapon for seafood recipes. It’s great with salmon, scallops, crab cakes and all kinds of fish. It is easy to make and brings so much amazing flavor.
We enjoyed salmon with lemon beurre blanc at our favorite fancy restaurant while celebrating the sale of our house. I knew at first bite that I had to recreate the recipe. For the $25.00 menu price of 1 serving, I could buy a whole salmon filet and feed the entire family!
Traditional beurre blanc recipes can be finicky if they aren’t done right but we found that using heavy cream makes it much more forgiving. It keeps the sauce from separating and allows for gentle reheating if you have leftovers.
As with any cream or butter based sauce, we recommend reheating over low heat, stirring frequently, just until hot and ready.
Notes: 2 lb of salmon serves 4 to 6 and 3 lb of salmon serves 6 to 8, depending on how you portion.
For Oven Roasted Salmon with Lemon Cream Sauce:
2 to 3 lb salmon fillet
salt and black pepper to taste
1 Tbsp olive oil for drizzling salmon
1 Tbsp parsley, finely chopped, to garnish
Ingredients for Sauce (Lemon Beurre Blanc)
1 small onion or 2 medium shallots, super finely diced (about 1/4 cup diced)
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice (from 2 medium or 1 large lemons)
1/4 cup dry white wine (such as chardonnay or pino grigio)
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup (8 Tbsp) cold unsalted butter cut into 8 pieces
How to Make Oven Baked Salmon with Lemon Cream Sauce:
1. Line rimmed baking sheet with foil or parchment paper. Arrange salmon skin-side-down, season with salt and pepper and drizzle the tops with oil. Bake uncovered at 425 for 10-15 min (depending on thickness of salmon) or until salmon is cooked through. My thick wild caught salmon took about 14 minutes.
2. In a small sauce pan, combine 1/4 cup finely diced onion, 1/4 cup lemon juice, 1/4 cup wine and simmer over medium heat until reduced to a thick mixture (7-8 min).
3. Whisk in 1/2 cup cream and as soon as it comes to a simmer, reduce to low heat and slowly whisk in the 8 Tbsp butter, one tablespoon at a time (whisking constantly). Add 1/4 tsp salt or to taste and remove from heat. Cover with a lid to keep warm until ready to serve.
Plate salmon and drizzle generously with the lemon sauce, garnish with freshly chopped parsley then serve your hungry dinner guests 🙂
This oven baked salmon pairs really well with fluffy white rice and asparagus. Now that’s one classy dinner!
Oven Baked Salmon with Lemon Cream Sauce

Ingredients
For Oven Baked Salmon with Lemon Cream Sauce:
- 2 to 3 lb salmon fillet
- salt and black pepper to taste
- 1 Tbsp olive oil for drizzling salmon
- 1 Tbsp parsley, finely chopped, to garnish
For the Lemon Cream Sauce:
- 1 small onion or 2 medium shallots, super finely diced (about 1/4 cup diced)
- 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice, from 2 medium or 1 large lemons
- 1/4 cup dry white wine, such as chardonnay or pino grigio
- 1/2 cup heavy cream
- 1/2 cup 8 Tbsp cold unsalted butter cut into 8 pieces
Instructions
- Line baking sheet with foil or parchment. Arrange salmon skin-side-down, season with salt and pepper and drizzle the tops with oil. Bake uncovered at 425 for 10-15 min (depending on thickness of salmon) or until salmon is cooked through. My thick wild caught salmon took 14 min.
- In a small sauce pan, combine 1/4 cup finely diced onion, 1/4 cup lemon juice, 1/4 cup wine and simmer over medium heat until reduced to a thick mixture (7-8 min).
- Whisk in 1/2 cup cream and as soon as it comes to a simmer, reduce to low heat and slowly whisk in the 8 Tbsp butter, one tablespoon at a time (whisking constantly). Add 1/4 tsp salt or to taste and remove from heat. Cover with a lid to keep warm until ready to serve.
- Plate salmon and drizzle generously with the lemon sauce, garnish with freshly chopped parsley then serve.
Notes
A 2 lb salmon serves 4 to 6 and a 3 lb salmon serves 6 to 8
Filed Under
If you make this recipe, I’d love to see pics of your creations on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter! Hashtag them #natashaskitchen
Do you have a go-to recipe for dinner guests? Let me know in a comment below!
Delicious times a HUNDRED!!! That sauce was balanced and addicting….A new staple in our families rotation!!
I’m so glad to hear!
This sauce was amazing on the salmon. My husband enjoyed it very much. My only regret was not making more.
Great to hear that you and your family enjoyed our recipe!
Beautiful sauce for salmon. I will certainly be making this dish again. My family loved it!
That’s great to hear, Sally!
Hi!
This looks fabulous, and I plan to try it. This might be a moronic question, but I’m wondering if it’s possible to put the sauce on the salmon BEFORE baking.
Thanks!
Hi Lisa! The sauce recipe is developed to be served over the salmon. I don’t know how the cream would handle the high heat of the oven for that length of time or what the texture and taste would be like if you placed it before baking. You can experiment with it if you’d like.
My friend can’t eat onions can I substitute onion powder?I want to make this for her birthday but that would be a no no for her
Hi Patty! I think that would be just fine.
This recipe is AMAZING. I didn’t have lemon but had lemon pepper. (if you use this, replace it as salt) FATASTIC. We scarfed it down.
Thank you for sharing your lovely review with me, Angelina! I’m so glad you enjoyed it!
Thank you, Natasha, for this recipe! It is our go-to recipe when cooking indoors. Simple, elegant and delicious! Are you Ukrainian?
Great to hear that, Rosemary! Thanks for sharing and yes, I am.
Made this tonight…absolutely delicious! The sauce is amazing and works so well with the salmon. Thank you!
That’s just awesome! Thank you for sharing your wonderful review, Alexandra!
So yummy and simple. Made it “sheet-pan” style. Put asparagus on the pan along with the salmon. It cooked beautifully in the same time as the salmon and was fantastic with the sauce. Mmmmmmm. Dinner done in less than 20 minutes.
Love it and great to hear that it was a success! Thanks for your review, Letha.
Hi, I’ve made this recipe in the past and it’s delicious but I currently do not have white wine so can I use chicken stock instead of of the wine?
Hi Pam, I haven’t tried anything else but I do think white wine is important to get the right flavors in this recipe. I suppose the next best thing would be broth.
This recipe sounds delicious and I wanted to use it for our salmon menu for a wedding. But quick question though, can we make the sauce a head of time? Like a day before? Refrigerate and heat up when ready to use?
Hi April, I think this recipe is best fresh. If reheating, heat the sauce slowly so the consistency won’t break.
v
This was delicious! The sauce put it over the top.
Thanks for your great review, Mary. Glad you enjoyed this recipe!
Nathasa you are the best. I use your recipe everyday.
Thank you for that wonderful compliment!
Excellent recipe and so easy. Every time I make it for guests I always get compliments. I have used this wonderful sauce on other dishes also. very flavorful and the salmon always turns our perfect.
Yay, that is awesome! Thank you so much for your good comments and feedback, Karen!
So goooood! I will be making this often!
Sounds like you found a new favorite, Julie! Thank you for sharing that great review!
I loved your recipe. I used garlic butter (not needed) and a pinch of sugar to combat the tartness of the lemon.
Thanks for posting
The heavy whipping cream was perfect
You’re welcome! I’m so happy you enjoyed it!
Tried this for a group of picky eaters. They loved it! Easy to make, your heavy cream tip made the blending easy. I added capers and just a tiny pinch of cayenne. Heavy cream sauces can use just a little zip. Thanks for a surefire sauce!
ps. 12 min @400°. Always pull your salmon when it is still pink. It will be perfect when plated. If you wait until it is done over heat, it will be a dog biscuit on the plate.
Thank you for sharing that Gordon.
That’s so great Gordon! Thank you for the awesome feedback!
I’m really excited to try this recipe tonight! Do you think buttermilk or almond milk would work as a substitute for the heavy cream?
Hi Emma, I honestly haven’t tried but I think both of those would be too thin. Maybe the canned version of coconut milk with the cream might work, but again, I just haven’t tested it to see if it would emulsify into that nice creamy consistency.
Any substitute to the wine?
Hi Ireen, I haven’t tried anything else but I do think white wine is important to get the right flavors in this recipe. I suppose the next best thing would be broth.
Hi Ireen,
I’ve substituted it with sparkling green grapes juice and it tastes
fine. Received compliments from guests.
Loved it.
Question – What do you think about adding mushrooms? My husband said it was good but it would taste better with mushrooms?
I’m so happy you enjoyed that, Ksusha! I haven’t tested that with mushrooms but I think it could work. If you experiment, let me know how you liked the recipe
My husband loves this dish, especially the sauce. When we have guests he always asks if I can make the white sauce 😉 my kids are currently dairy free so I was in a pickle. I tried this last night as written, substituted the heavy cream for coconut milk (well blended) and used 5 tbsp butter. The sauce came out perfect – really, I think it’s better than the cream version. I served mine with grits and steelhead and the entire dish was scrumptious. Today reheated everything, and had no issues, taste was still popping.
I’m so happy that worked for you all, Inga! Thank you for sharing that wonderful review!
This was super creamy and yummy. I added the juice from the fish to the sauce because it was so flavorful.
I’m so happy to hear that! Thank you for sharing that with me!