This slow-roasted maple mustard salmon is served over a fresh quinoa salad with dill and cucumber. Thanks to this low-temp method, it’s nearly impossible to overcook — juicy, flaky perfection every time!
Slow-roasted Maple Mustard Salmon is all about low heat and big flavour! This technique uses a simple dry marinade of salt and sugar, then bakes the salmon gently for melt-in-your-mouth results. It takes a little more time, but you’ll never overcook your fish again—totally worth the wait! This version is glazed with a maple and mustard glaze, but you can easily customize it to your liking.
Slow-Roasting Method
This method starts with a brief dry marinade of salt and sugar, which lasts for 45 minutes. The slow-roasting method keeps the fillet moist and tender, while the dry marinade enhances the texture and deepens the colour. You can also skip the marinade and directly roast the salmon fillet slowly, but the texture may appear raw, even if it’s cooked through, and it might not look as appealing. Midway through cooking, brush the maple-mustard glaze—and voilà!
Quinoa Salad
The bed of red quinoa is a simple salad of cucumber, radish, and fresh dill, adding a fresh touch and crunch to the dish. For the dressing, I used the leftover maple-mustard glaze, mixing it with a bit of extra olive oil. It’s nothing too complex, but it’s undoubtedly tasty and healthy.
Thickness of the Fillet
When choosing your salmon fillets, select ones of the same thickness to ensure even cooking. It’s a good rule of thumb to aim at 120°F (250C°) on the inside. The beauty of this cooking method is that you can leave the fillet 10 minutes longer and it won’t dry out. If your fillets are thinner, you can cut on the cooking time. Therefore, a thermometer is an excellent tool for this recipe.
Fried Fish Skin
Go for salmon fillets with the skin on if you can! Sprinkle the skin with salt after frying it in a small amount of olive oil until the bubbles stop. Your dish will be topped with crispy, savoury magic. Your fishmonger may have already done it for you, but remember to scrape against the grain with a chef’s knife or fish scaler to remove the scales first!
Variations
If you are not digging a honey and mustard glaze, you can always use these other lovely sauces for your salmon:
- Honey Garlic Glaze – Classic and simple, made with honey, soy sauce, garlic, and sometimes ginger.
- Teriyaki Glaze – Sweet and umami-rich with soy sauce, mirin, brown sugar, and ginger.
- Chilli Lime Glaze – Bright and bold with citrus and chilli flakes or sauce.
- Lemon Herb Butter Glaze – A subtle, buttery glaze with fresh lemon, garlic, and herbs like dill or parsley.
Other Salmon Recipes
So let’s make this perfectly cooked Salmon fillet!
Slow-Roasted Maple Mustard Salmon
Equipment
- thermometer *recommended
Ingredients
- 2 salmon fillets
Dry Marinade
- 3 tbsp salt
- 3 tbsp sugar
The Glaze
- 2 tbsp maple syrup
- 1 tbsp white wine mustard (or old-style mustard)
Quinoa Salad
- 200 g red quinoa (or white quinoa)
- 1/2 cucumber
- 2 radish (finely sliced)
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- fresh dill
- salt and pepper
Instructions
- Scrape and take off the skin of the salmon by carefully passing a sharp fillet knife between the flesh and skin.
- Add the dry marinade, consisting of sugar and salt, to the salmon, and let it marinate in a plastic bag in the refrigerator for 45 minutes.
- After marinating, rinse off the salt and sugar under cold running water and pat dry with a paper towel.
- Preheat the oven to 120°C (250°F).
- Cook the salmon fillets for about 25 minutes, or until the internal temperature reaches 120°C (250°F). It may require adding 5 minutes more or less.
- During that time, mix the maple syrup and mustard in a small bowl.
- Glaze the fish while it's cooking and reserve a bit for the quinoa salad dressing.
- When the fish is glazed, add the olive oil to the remaining maple and mustard mixture in the bowl and mix it into the quinoa salad.
- *Optional – Add olive oil to a small non-stick pan and fry the salmon skin until crisp. Season with salt when done, then reserve.
Notes
Nutrition
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13 Comments
Lovely combo of flavors. No need to go to a restaurant if you can make this.
lovely comment;) Thanks
This looks amazing! I love the sauce combo.
Thanks Allison!
Wow, this look so fresh tasting! I’ve got a personal chef client that I think will love this. Pinned to make soon!
So sweet! Thanks
This looks wonderful and so healthy! The idea of mixing maple and mustard together is a great one. Yum!
This looks great and super healthy. I need more of those recipes;) Thanks!
This looks amazing. My kind of food!
My husband is a huge salmon lover, he would love this! The combination of mustard and maple sounds heavenly!
What a beautifully composed plate. I love the crispy skin and the salmon looks perfect. I’m so excited to give this a try.
Crispy skin is irresistible!
Made it many times, I just so delicious. Light and healthy. Love it