There are few things more spectacular than serving a whole fish. And the truth is, with something like salmon, it’s a lot less risky (not to mention less time consuming) than roasting a turkey. If you under cook it you’re not going to make everyone sick. And most people are OK with eating raw salmon due to the spread of sushi. And the bonus is if it’s overcooked it doesn’t dry out because of the naturally high levels of oils. Win-win!

If you’re worried about the fish fitting in your oven, like I was. Watch the video for a demo on how to squeeze a large fish into a small oven. It’s not as difficult as you think.

The secret to cooking whole fish like this is to score the flesh down to the bone into ‘pre-cut serving sizes. This helps the fish cook more quickly and evenly AND makes it really easy to see when it is cooked or not.

Most large fish can be cooked in this way. If you’d prefer to use your BBQ, you’ll need one with a lid that is large enough to fit the fish. Preheat the BBQ on all burners until 200C (400F) on the top thermometer. Then turn the middle burners off and add the fish on a baking tray. Leave for 30 minutes then check. You may need to turn the fish over to get both sides cooked properly.

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Whole Baked Salmon

Total Time 1

Servings people

Ingredients

3 kg whole salmon
1 lemon sliced
1 small bunch dill optional

Metric - US Customary

Instructions

Preheat your oven to 200C (400F).
Wipe fish dry then score the fish on both sides (best to watch the video for this).
Drizzle with olive oil and season well with sea salt & pepper, rubbing salt into each cut.
Place fish diagonally on your largest baking tray. Let the tail end overhang more than the head.
Holding the tail curving up and over the body of the fish, ease the fish into the oven tail end first (again video is much better than words).
Bake for 30-45 minutes or until the fish is cooked when you look down each score mark to the bone.
Serve warm, at room temperature or chilled.

Quantities for Different Serving Sizes

It’s all about the size of your fish. For anything smaller than 3kg (6lb) you may have to use a different type of fish, although leftover salmon is really easy to use up.

Serves 16
4.5kg (9lb) salmon
2 lemons, sliced
1 large bunch dill
Bake 200C (400F). Start checking for doneness after 45 minutes.

Prepare Ahead

Salmon like this is lovely served chilled. So you could bake up to 2 days ahead and store in the refrigerator. This will save a last minute dash to the super-busy fish markets.

Variations

vegan / vegetarian – see the vegan / vegetarian menus.

Problem Solving Guide

bland – add a little more seasoning, but it’s all about the quality of your fish and there’s not much you can do apart from choose a different fishmonger next time.

burning smells coming from the oven– be careful which parts of the fish are touching the sides of the oven or the top element. You may need to wrap any offending or charring parts in protective foil.

underside not a pretty – unfortunately I haven’t figured out a cure for this. When baking fish, the top always looks the best. Using a baking rack to raise your fish from the baking tray can help but it won’t solve the problem completely.

Serving Suggestions

Wonderful with some flavoured mayonnaise or aioli and salad.

Leftover Potential

Brilliant!. Use anywhere that you’d normally use canned salmon: in salads, with mashed potato in fish cakes, sandwiches, omelettes – so many options.