I watched Gordon Ramsey’s Masterclass when #DiploBigBro signed up for it and his crispy salmon looked so good that we wanted to try making it. When I googled, I found a slightly different version on YouTube and it’s the version that we’ve tried making twice. It’s so so so good – the most perfectly cooked salmon I’ve ever had! – and the biggest bonus is my toddler, DiploBaby loves it so much! I don’t think we will every cook salmon any other way again!

It’s also pretty easy which is a huge plus for busy moms like me, so I wanted to share it here with you! This is the video which is great to watch so you can see his technique, but I’m also writing down the recipe below it for those who prefer to print these things out.

He starts cooking the salmon at 2:22 so that’s where the video starts but you can also start from the beginning if you want to see his crab & potatoes that go with the salmon. Personally we prefer just the best quality white rice that you can get your hands on.
I use this non-stick pan that I can cook high heat on and it sears pretty well and I can still use metal cooking utensils, unlike most teflon pans that peel and are toxic to consume. I also use a separate chopping block for meats and fish.
- 2 pieces of salmon with skin
- Olive oil
- Sea salt
- Optional: 2 cloves or garlic thinly sliced or finely chopped
- Optional: Rosemary stems

- Place the salmon on the chopping block skin side up.
- Roll the salmon to slice half an inch down into the salmon, as close together as you can. The closer they are the crispier the skin will be.
- Generously put salt inside the slices
- Optional: I placed thin slices of garlic (or you can used minced garlic) & rosemary in the slices. Gordon Ramsay says you can also place thyme flowers or basil.
- Glaze the skin side with olive oil.
- Heat olive oil in the pan on high
- Add the remaining garlic to the oil & remove from the high heat, just so that the garlic becomes fragrant and flavors the oil, but doesn’t burn. If it burns it turns bitter.
- Once the oil smells like garlic return back to the stove.
- When the oil starts smoking put the fish in, skin side down. Push down with your fingers to make sure it’s flat on the pan.
- Season the entire top generously with salt. Do not touch or move the fish.
- Watch closely on the sides until the fish is cooked 2/3rds of the way. The cooked portion changes color.
- Once it’s 2/3rd of the way cooked (about 4.5 to 5minutes depending on how thick your cut is) it’s time to flip the fish.
- Then tilt the pan so the oil goes up to the entire uncooked portion of the fish & get it cooked through.
- Once it looks cooked through, you can flip it back to skin side down to rest.
- Remove the pan from the heat, & keep it there to keep it hot & crisp up some more while you put some hot rice on a plate.
- Place top of a bowl or plate piping hot rice.
- Be sure to drizzle the garlic infused oil all over the rice and the fish. This is the best bit so don’t throw the oil away. Serve every drop of the garlic infused olive oil with the rice and fish.

For DiploBaby I remove the rosemary stems, but TD and I love to eat the crunchy bits of rosemary with the fish. To make it easier for our toddler to self-feed, we cut the salmon meat & skin into smaller pieces and place in a bowl with rice. This also keeps the rice warmer for longer. If we served it on a plate the rice would cool super fast when the room is cold, unless you have a plate warmer.

He was literally sighing. “Hmmmm-mmmm-mmm” and repeating “This is sooo good mama” and scarfing it down. He finished 3 bowls. So I’m really happy!


After having 3 bowls plus 11 small pieces of his current favorite dessert, Ben & Jerry’s Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Chunks & 1 Bonne Maman Sablés noisettes chocolat cookie he looked like he was in a food coma LOL!


This is definitely a mom-win for me!
I hope you love this recipe as much as our whole family does – including DiploDog ha! If you make it, please do tag me on Instagram at @undiplomaticwife. I would love to see what you make and get your feedback. Also let me know if there are other recipes that you would like me to post on the blog for easy reference.
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