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Date nights at home can be cozy and fun, but you don't want to spend all night cooking. And what if that special meal doesn't turn out? No stress! I got you.
Inspired by the traditional beef dish, this Salmon Wellington recipe is my favorite "fancy" dinner because it's pretty much foolproof. Salmon, cheese, herbs, and lemon get wrapped up in packets of flaky puff pastry, and baked to golden perfection. It looks like way more effort than it is!
What You Need
- Salmon fillets
- Cream cheese
- Parmesan cheese
- Lemon
- Dry white wine
- Fresh thyme
- Salt
- Black pepper
- Garlic powder
- Extra virgin olive oil
- Puff pastry
- Egg
How to Make Salmon Wellington
Heat oven to 400 degrees.
In a bowl, combine cream cheese, Parmesan cheese, lemon zest, lemon juice, wine, thyme, garlic powder, salt, and pepper. Set aside.
Cut your salmon into 4 equal pieces. Set aside.
Unfold puff pastry and cut into 4 equal pieces.
Assemble It
Place 1 piece of pastry on a lightly floured surface and gently roll it out with a rolling pin to form a rectangle.
Place 2 tablespoon of cream cheese mixture in the middle of the piece of pastry and carefully spread it out, stopping within ½ inch of the edges of the pastry.
Place a piece of salmon on the cream cheese mixture.
Drizzle the salmon with ½ teaspoon olive oil.
In a small bowl, whisk the egg.
Using a pastry brush, brush the edges of the pastry with beaten egg.
Fold the pastry over the salmon and press down on the edges to seal. Using a fork, crimp the edges to ensure a tight seal.
Repeat these steps with the remaining 3 pieces of pastry and salmon until you have 4 pastry packets filled with salmon and cheese.
Bake It
Place salmon packets on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
Cut slits in the top of pastry to vent.
Brush tops with remaining beaten egg.
Bake for 20-25 minutes.
Enjoy!
Tips on Salmon Wellington
Low fat and fat free cream cheeses work great in this recipe.
To speed up making this dish on date night, you can make the cream cheese mixture a day or two ahead of time.
Serve Salmon Wellington with a side salad or try my chili garlic roasted carrots for an easy, but special, meal.
You may have a little cream cheese mixture left over. Find another use for it. If you add it into the salmon packets you'll likely have them come open and overflow during baking.
Cocktail Pairing
I love Salmon Wellington with a cold glass of dry white wine or a tart cocktail, like this classic bee's knees.
Print the Recipe Card
PrintSalmon Wellington
Inspired by the traditional beef dish, salmon, cheese, herbs, and lemon get wrapped up in packets of flaky puff pastry, and baked to golden perfection.
- Prep Time: 15 min
- Cook Time: 25 min
- Total Time: 40 min
- Yield: 4 servings 1x
- Category: Dinner
- Method: Oven
- Cuisine: American
Ingredients
- 8-10 oz. salmon fillets, boneless & skinless
- 3 oz. cream cheese, room temperature
- ⅓ cup shredded Parmesan cheese
- 1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
- ½ teaspoon lemon zest
- 1 tablespoon dry white wine
- 1 teaspoon fresh thyme (or ½ teaspoon dried thyme)
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 2 teaspoon extra virgin olive oil
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 sheet puff pastry, thawed
- 1 egg
Instructions
Heat oven to 400 degrees.
In a bowl, combine cream cheese, Parmesan cheese, lemon zest, lemon juice, wine, thyme, garlic powder, salt, and pepper. Set aside.
Cut your salmon into 4 equal pieces. Set aside.
Unfold puff pastry and cut into 4 equal pieces.
To assemble
Place 1 piece of pastry on a lightly floured surface and gently roll it out with a rolling pin to form a rectangle.
Place 2 tablespoon of cream cheese mixture in the middle of the piece of pastry and carefully spread it out, stopping within ½ inch of the edges of the pastry.
Place a piece of salmon on the cream cheese mixture.
Drizzle the salmon with ½ teaspoon olive oil.
In a small bowl, whisk the egg.
Using a pastry brush, brush the edges of the pastry with beaten egg.
Fold the pastry over the salmon and press down on the edges to seal. Using a fork, crimp the edges to ensure a tight seal.
Repeat these steps with the remaining 3 pieces of pastry and salmon until you have 4 pastry packets filled with salmon and cheese.
Bake
Place salmon packets on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
Cut slits in the top of pastry to vent.
Brush tops with remaining beaten egg.
Bake for 20-25 minutes.
Enjoy!
Keywords: salmon, wellington, date night dinner, puff pastry, salmon in puff pastry, cream cheese
Al McAvoy
Loved it!
★★★★★
Heather
This is an excellent recipe!!! It was absolutely delicious -- even the kids liked it. I thoight my Wellingtons wouldn't look right because I couldn't seal the dough on some of them due to the size to and shape of my salmon, but this is really forgiving and they looked beautiful!
★★★★★
Katy McAvoy
Yay! Delicious and impressive is a big goal with this recipe. So glad you enjoyed it!