Cooking wild-caught salmon from frozen probably won’t earn you a James Beard Award for Outstanding Chef of 2023. But that doesn’t make this cooking technique any less worthy of a great cook’s consideration. And since it’s a new year and all, I think cooking salmon from frozen is one simple way to keep healthy, nutritious seafood on your home menu all year long, even when you haven’t had a chance to plan ahead.
I know that defrosting salmon before cooking it is the best way to preserve the quality and texture of the fillet. It’s also the best way to control the doneness of the fish, since it cooks more evenly when thawed. However, for those days when you need to be a little more spontaneous in the kitchen, sometimes getting the fish out of the package and into the pan is the best way to enjoy a good meal.
The WAC team has found that cooking from frozen works well with either sockeye or coho. Tail cuts work particularly well, since they’re thinner and will cook through more evenly from frozen. Whichever species and cut you have on hand, here are two new step-by-step guides for cooking salmon from frozen that I recommend bookmarking:
Pan-Fry Salmon from Frozen: Believe it or not, you can pan-fry a crispy-skinned fillet of salmon in about 15 minutes. That means you’ll have just enough time to toss together a crisp salad or heat up some leftover sides from last night to accompany your cold-out-of-the-freezer, hot-off-the-pan portion of fish. I like this option as a quick lunch or as an in-a-pinch dinner when I haven’t planned ahead.
Bake Salmon from Frozen: Baking from frozen takes a little more time — about 25 minutes from freezer to plate — but this gives you an extended moment to make a pot of rice and even roast some veggies on a separate sheet pan while the salmon cooks. That’s a fully composed meal, in under 30 minutes.
As an honorable mention, I wrote about cooking Quick Cuts from frozen a few weeks ago, but want to reiterate how amazing this particular cut is during soup season! They can go into a simmering pot of chowder straight from the pack and poach through in about 10 minutes. Wild Alaska Pollock Quick Cuts are currently an Add-On that you can add to your next box.
Live Wild,
Monica
Pictured above: A frosty fillet of sockeye salmon on a sheet pan, ready to be baked from frozen — a spontaneous shortcut to a nourishing meal of wild-caught seafood.
