This is an easy, make-ahead recipe worthy of entertaining! You can prep it ahead, then assemble and 30 minutes in the oven and voilà! - you have a delicious meal worthy of company or a family dinner.
I have made this so many times for company because it is so flavourful and easy to make. You can prepare all your ingredients the day before and then assemble it just before serving. You can enjoy your guests or a glass of wine while it bakes for about 25 minutes!
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🍗 Ingredients & Substitutions
- Rice - any sturdy leftover rice, long grain, brown or white will work. Sushi rice is especially good because it is so sturdy.
- Cafe de Paris butter - this is an integral part of the flavour for this recipe. I make a pound at a time and keep it in my freezer. If you are not (yet!) in the habit of having some on hand, then you can flavour your melted butter with some Worcestershire sauce, curry powder, paprika, and cayenne. See the recipe card for the amounts recommended.
- Salmon - you can use one large filet or individual filets. Skin-on or skinless both work.
- Fresh herbs are also a key ingredient. This is a great dish to make when your herb garden is just starting to flourish!
- Asparagus is great. You can substitute broccoli florets or another vegetable that will cook through in about 12 minutes in the oven.
🥣Instructions
The beauty of this dish is that you can prep it in advance and assemble it just before baking. You can flavour your butter, prep all the herbs and vegetables, glaze the salmon and combine all the rice ingredients the day before or early in the day you will be serving it. Then all you have to do is assemble it and bake in the last half hour.
Step 1: Mix all rice ingredients in a bowl.
Step 2: Bake rice for 12 minutes.
Step 3: Spread mustard glaze over salmon and place on rice with vegetables.
Step 4: Bake another 12 minutes, garnish and serve.
🍷 Wine Pairing
The herbs and savoury flavours here make a Sauvignon Blanc a perfect combination for this dish! A crisp white with a lemon profile, such as a Verdicchio or a Grillo, would also be good.
A savoury Rosé in the Provence style would go well with the herbs in this dish.
A medium-bodied, low tannin red such as Pinot Noir, Mencia or Barbera would work here.
FAQs
Freshly cooked rice will be too sticky and turn mushy. The cooked rice needs to be spread on a sheet to cool and needs at least 4 hours in the fridge. This firms it up and dries it a bit so it will crisp up in the oven.
You could use another fish that will cook at about the same rate, such as Cod, Halibut or Tilapia. I would probably not use the mustard/brown sugar mixture for those and use more melted butter/lemon juice as a topping for a mild fish.
The herbs make a bright note in this. You can use a mixture of parsley, dill, basil, tarragon or chives. If you don't have a large selection on hand then just use parsley for the full amount.
Related Recipes
Sheet Pan Salmon And Crispy Rice
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Save Print Pin FacebookEquipment
- 1 rimmed baking sheet
- foil to line baking sheet
Ingredients
Crispy Rice
- ½ cup Cafe de Paris butter See Note 1 for substitutes.
- 6 cups leftover rice Sushi rice works well. See Note 2.
- ½ cup green onions, sliced
- ¼ cup capers, drained
- 1 tablespoon kosher salt divided 2 teaspoon +1 tsp
- ¼ cup lemon juice preferably fresh from 2 lemons
Salmon
- 24 oz salmon filet
- 2 Tbsps Dijon mustard
- 2 Tbsps brown sugar
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
Vegetable & Garnish
- ½ lb asparagus trimmed and cut into 1" pieces
- OR can substitute
- 1 head broccoli florets, coarsely chopped
- olive oil plus more for drizzling
- ½ cup fresh herbs, finely chopped parsley, dill, basil, tarrgon - mixture of your choice
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Line a rimmed baking sheet with foil and put in in the oven to heat up while you prepare the ingredients.
- Melt the Cafe de Paris butter. (Or make the seasoned butter from Note 1.) Toss the rice, melted butter, scallions, capers and 2 tsps salt in a large bowl. Combine the olive oil and lemon juice and stir half the lemon mixture into the rice.
- Remove the hot baking sheet from the oven and spread the rice mixture evenly around it. Bake on the lower rack about 12-15 minutes until edges of rice are crispy and brown.
- While rice is baking, combine the mustard, brown sugar and remaining lemon juice mixture. Sprinkle salmon filet with pepper and ¾ teaspoon salt.
- Toss the asparagus or broccoli with a drizzle of olive oil and the remaining ¼ teaspoon salt.
- Remove rice from the oven and center the salmon over the rice. Distribute the asparagus evenly around the salmon. Spread the mustard mixture evenly over the salmon filet.
- Return the baking sheet to the oven and bake another 10-12 minutes until the salmon is cooked through.
- Remove the sheet pan from the oven and sprinkle fresh herbs evenly over the salmon, vegetables and rice. Drizzle with olive oil if desired.
- Serve immediately.
Notes
- Cafe de Paris butter gives the crispy rice an incredible depth of flavour. If you don't have it on hand or care to make it, melt ½ cup of butter and add 2 tsps Worcestershire sauce, 1 tablespoon ketchup, ½ teaspoon curry powder, ½ teaspoon paprika and ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper.
- If you are cooking rice in order to have the leftovers for this dish, cook according to package instructions and then spread on a baking sheet to cool. Refrigerate at least 4 hours. If you are using leftover rice from another recipe break it apart with a fork to loosen the rice kernels.
- To make ahead, combine all the rice ingredients and store in a bowl. Salt and pepper the salmon and glaze it with the mustard and brown sugar mix. Clean and prep your vegetable and fresh herbs. When it is time to cook preheat your oven, bake the rice for about 12 minutes until edges are golden brown, add the salmon and vegetables and bake another 12 minutes until salmon is cooked through. Garnish with fresh herbs and serve.
- Leftovers will keep well in the fridge for a day.
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