Why It Works
- Coating the cabbage and salmon with spice-infused oils enhances the flavor of the vegetables and fish.
- Covering the cabbage with aluminum foil for the first part of its cooking time steams the cabbage leaves to ensure they turn tender and stay moist.
As I noted in my sheet-pan pork tenderloin recipe, my partner and I started cooking sheet-pan dinners together at home a few years ago. It’s an easy and convenient way for us to prepare complete, balanced meals any night of the week all year round. One of our favorites is this spiced salmon, cabbage, and mushroom dinner.
The entire meal comes together in under an hour and requires very little prep and cleanup, but there are a few key steps to ensure that the cabbage and salmon are tender, that each element is flavorful, and it all works together to create a harmonious whole. You can’t just slap everything on a sheet pan and expect a delicious meal. Here are my tips for making this elegant, company-worthy meal on a single pan.
3 Tips for a Favorful Sheet Pan Salmon Dinner
1. Build flavor with a combination of spices. As a chef from India, I love using my favorite spices even when I’m not making Indian food. Here I love the earthy hint that the combination of turmeric and cumin adds to the salmon. Smoked paprika gives the cabbage a welcome woodsy flavor that pairs nicely with the mushrooms, and ground fennel seed brightens the mushrooms.
I like to use freshly ground cumin and fennel seeds for this recipe: Spices lose their flavor quickly and store-bought powders don’t always have the same intensity as freshly ground ones. I grind my spices often so they are fresh, aromatic, and intensely flavorful when I need them. You can grind the spices in a spice mill or with a mortar and pestle. If you don’t grind your spices just be sure to buy pre-ground spices frequently and use them up quickly. Spices that have been sitting in your cabinet for many months will lose their flavor over time.
2. Bloom the spices in oil before brushing over the cabbage and salmon. It can be challenging to get dried spices and oil into all the nooks and folds of cabbage wedge’s leaves, not to mention that the slick surface of cabbage is hard for dried spices to cling to when sprinkled directly onto it. To ensure the smoked paprika is evenly distributed over the cabbage and that it reaches its full flavor potential, I briefly microwave a small amount of oil with the paprika before brushing it over the cut sides of the wedges. Blooming spices in oil also releases more of their flavor, since the ground spice’s flavor molecules are oil-soluble. So it’s not only easier to baste the cabbage with the spice-infused oil mixture, but it also will help develop more flavor.
I used this same technique for seasoning the salmon—instead of unevenly sprinkling the dry spices over the fish, I whisk the cumin and turmeric into oil, heat the mixture briefly, and brush it over the fish to ensure it’s well coated with the spices. (I found that tossing the small mushrooms directly in the spices and oil coated each mushroom well enough that I didn’t need to use this step with them.)
3. Stagger the cooking of the cabbage, mushrooms, and salmon. The main issue with many sheet-pan dinners is that everything is added to the pan at the same time and cooked all at once. This often leads to meat or fish that’s overcooked and accompanying vegetables that are still raw and crunchy, or vice versa. This can easily be avoided by adding each element to the sheet pan in stages, starting with the one that takes the longest to cook.
Here, the cabbage gets a jumpstart in the oven since it’s cut into thick wedges and its fibrous leaves take longer to cook than the mushrooms and salmon. I also cover the sheet pan tightly with aluminum foil to start. The foil traps in heat and moisture while the cabbage starts cooking, so the cabbage leaves steam and become tender. This ensures the cabbage cooks evenly and doesn’t dry out. The foil is then removed after 15 minutes and the mushrooms are added and cooked briefly before the salmon is finally added. The result is tender, flaky salmon, silky cabbage, and roasted mushrooms that all finish cooking at the same time.
Another benefit of staggered cooking times is that while one element begins cooking, you can use this time to prepare the next step, which helps save time.
This recipe can easily be halved to serve two people, which is how my partner and I usually enjoy this recipe. Alternatively, you can double it and cook it on two sheet pans.
The Secret to an Actually Delicious Sheet-Pan Salmon Dinner
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1/2 medium head green or red cabbage (about 2 1/2 pounds; 1200 g), cut through core
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5 tablespoons (75 ml) extra-virgin olive oil, divided
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1/4 teaspoon smoked paprika
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2 1/2 teaspoons Diamond Crystal kosher salt, divided; for table salt use half as much by volume
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1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
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8 ounces (226 g) beech mushrooms, trimmed and separated, or thinly sliced cremini mushrooms
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1 teaspoon ground fennel seeds
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4 (6- to 8-ounce; 170 to 226 g) skin-on or skinless salmon fillets
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1 teaspoon ground cumin
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1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric
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1/2 teaspoon lime zest and 1 tablespoon lime juice (from 1 lime)
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2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro or parsley (optional)
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Adjust oven rack to upper-middle position and heat oven to 500℉. Cut cabbage half through core into 2 pieces, then cut each piece through core into 2 wedges for a total of 4 wedges. Leave core intact. Arrange wedges, 1 flat side down, on 1 side of rimmed baking sheet, leaving other half of sheet empty.
Serious Eats / Maureen Celestine
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In a small microwave-safe bowl, combine 3 tablespoons oil with smoked paprika and heat until fragrant, 30 seconds. Vigorously whisk to combine well, then use a pastry brush to brush half of oil mixture on exposed cut sides of wedges and sprinkle evenly with 1/2 teaspoon salt. Flip wedges so oiled sides are now down. Brush second cut sides with remaining oil mixture and sprinkle with pepper and remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt. Cover sheet tightly with aluminum foil and roast for 15 minutes.
Serious Eats / Maureen Celestine
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While cabbage is roasting, in a medium bowl, toss mushrooms with 1 tablespoon oil, ground fennel seed, and 1/2 teaspoon salt until evenly coated.
Serious Eats / Maureen Celestine
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Pat salmon dry with paper towels. In now-empty small bowl, microwave 1 tablespoon oil with cumin, turmeric, and 1 teaspoon salt until fragrant and oil is beginning to bubble, about 30 seconds. Whisk vigorously to combine and set aside.
Serious Eats / Maureen Celestine
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Once cabbage has cooked for 15 minutes, remove baking sheet with cabbage from oven and reduce oven temperature to 450℉. Carefully uncover and discard foil and flip cabbage wedges.
Scatter prepared mushrooms next to cabbage on empty part of sheet tray, making sure the mushrooms have contact with sheet. Cook until mushrooms begin to soften, 8 minutes.
Serious Eats / Maureen Celestine
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Remove baking sheet from oven and using a spatula, gently push mushrooms aside and place salmon fillets directly onto sheet pan, on opposite side of cabbage. Redistribute mushrooms around the salmon and cabbage, ensuring mushrooms have contact with pan.
Serious Eats / Maureen Celestine
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Using a fork, whisk lime zest and lime juice into prepared oil mixture to combine, then brush oil mixture all over salmon fillets.
Serious Eats / Maureen Celestine
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Cook until salmon registers 115 to 130°F (46 to 55°C) for medium-rare to medium, and mushrooms and cabbage are cooked through, 8 to 12 minutes. Sprinkle with chopped parsley or cilantro, if desired.
Serious Eats / Maureen Celestine
Special Equipment
Pastry brush, aluminum foil
Notes
This recipe cake easily be halved to serve two or doubled to serve eight. If you do double the recipe, I recommend cooking the cabbage and mushrooms on one pan and the salmon on a second pan with the salmon going on a lower rack in the oven.
Make-Ahead and Storage
Leftovers can be refrigerated in an airtight container for up to 3 days.