Table Trotter

Dinner night · Norway

Ovnsbakt Laks with Dill Cucumber Salad

Norwegian oven-baked salmon with boiled potatoes and a sweet-sour cucumber salad: an honest fish dinner on the table in 35 minutes.

Norway · back to the map
On our list — not yet cooked
Ovnsbakt Laks with Dill Cucumber Salad: Norwegian oven-baked salmon with boiled potatoes and a sweet-sour cucumber salad: an honest fish dinner on the table in 35 minutes
AI-generated illustration
Prep
15 min
Cook
20 min
Total
35 min
Serves
2 adults + 1 child
Budget
$22–$34

Ovnsbakt laks is exactly what it says: oven-baked salmon. The Norwegian home version is plain by design, a fillet seasoned with salt, pepper, lemon and a thicket of dill, baked gently so it stays pink and soft at the center. It comes with boiled potatoes and agurksalat, a quick cucumber salad in a sweet vinegar dressing that is the standard partner for fish and fried foods across Norway. Nothing here is complicated; the whole point is good fish, not overcooked.

Why it's on our list

Our launch recipes were almost all chicken, and this is our chance to put a proper fish dinner in the rotation that does not involve frying. Norway is the world's biggest producer of farmed Atlantic salmon, so the fish in our supermarket is quite possibly Norwegian already. What I want to learn is the restraint: how good salmon tastes when it is baked at a moderate temperature and taken out early, rather than blasted and sauced. The cucumber salad is a five-minute job my son can make, and the whole dinner is three simple components that finish at the same time. It also happens to be gluten-free and dairy-free as written.

Field notes · Origin & culture

Salmon has been fished from Norway's rivers and fjords for as long as people have lived there, but the fish on most dinner tables today is farmed. On 28 May 1970, brothers Ove and Sivert Grøntvedt put salmon in a floating net pen off the island of Hitra, raising what is generally regarded as the first successful generation of farmed Atlantic salmon; Norway has been the largest producer ever since. Everyday Norwegian cooking leans on simple preparations, boiled potatoes, and sharp pickled or vinegared sides such as agurksalat, a cucumber salad dressed with vinegar, sugar and water. Dill is the default herb for fish across the Nordic countries. This is a plain home dinner rather than a festive dish, which is exactly why we wanted it.

Noteworthy ingredients

  • Salmon: Buy a center-cut fillet about 1 to 1 1/4 inches thick with the skin on; the skin protects the bottom from drying out. If the label says Norwegian, so much the better. Frozen fillets work if thawed overnight in the refrigerator.
  • Fresh dill: Not optional here. One bunch covers the fish, the potatoes and the salad.
  • Small waxy potatoes: Yukon Gold or small red potatoes hold together when boiled. Norwegians often serve them skin-on.
  • White vinegar: The cucumber salad uses plain distilled or white wine vinegar with sugar, not oil. It should taste sweet-sour and clean.
  • Lemon: For the fish and for the table.

Prep — 15 min

  1. Heat the oven to 375°F. Line a sheet pan with parchment.
  2. Scrub the potatoes and halve any larger than a golf ball. Put them in a pot, cover with cold water by an inch, and add a teaspoon of salt.
  3. Make the agurksalat: slice the cucumber as thinly as you can, ideally with a mandoline or the slicing side of a box grater. Toss with 1/2 teaspoon salt in a colander and let it drain 10 minutes. Meanwhile stir together 1/4 cup vinegar, 1/4 cup water, 2 tablespoons sugar and a pinch of black pepper until the sugar dissolves. Squeeze the cucumber gently, add it to the dressing with 1 tablespoon chopped dill, and refrigerate.
  4. Pat the salmon dry. Rub with 1 tablespoon olive oil, season with 3/4 teaspoon salt and pepper, and lay it skin-down on the parchment. Zest half the lemon over the top and press on 3 tablespoons chopped dill.
  5. Cut the remaining lemon into wedges. Chop another 2 tablespoons dill for the potatoes.

Cook — 20 min

  1. Bring the potatoes to a boil, then simmer 15–18 minutes until a knife slides in easily.
  2. When the potatoes have 12 minutes left, put the salmon in the oven. Bake 12–15 minutes for a fillet about 1 inch thick. It is done when the thickest part flakes under gentle pressure but is still translucent pink in the very center; a thermometer should read 125°F for moist salmon or 135°F if you prefer it fully opaque.
  3. Drain the potatoes and return them to the hot pot for 30 seconds to steam dry. Toss with 1 tablespoon olive oil, a pinch of salt and the chopped dill.
  4. Rest the salmon 2–3 minutes on the pan. Slide a thin spatula between the skin and flesh if anyone prefers it skinless; the skin peels away in one sheet.

Serving

Give each plate a portion of salmon, a scoop of potatoes and a generous spoonful of cucumber salad with some of its dressing, plus a lemon wedge. This dinner is mild from end to end, so my son's plate is the same as ours; the only adult additions are whole-grain mustard and extra black pepper. Leftover salmon is excellent cold the next day, flaked over the leftover cucumber salad or on a slice of rye bread for an open sandwich. The salad keeps two days and gets better overnight.

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