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Homemade Salmon en Croûte is a special wow-factor dish to serve up for celebrations. Follow this simple recipe to get an impressive salmon in puff pastry main that’s surprisingly easy to make!
I love to cook Salmon en Croûte for a celebratory meal. If you associate celebrating with feeding your loved ones like me, this recipe has it all.
Despite a few hidden shortcuts (which you know I LOVE, especially when life is extra busy around special occasions) it shouts decadence and effort, with succulent fish wrapped in flaky puff pastry and a creamy spinach filling, AND it’s surprisingly easy to achieve!
Not only is this classic recipe delicious, it also looks beautiful too, so it’s always a proud moment when serving this up for main course, whether it’s throughout the Christmas season or any other time of year.
Why you’ll love this Easy Salmon en Croûte recipe
⭐️ Impressively decadent – perfect for a special meal
⭐️ So easy to make with simple ingredients
⭐️ About 20 minutes of prep
Salmon en Croûte vs Salmon Wellington
Salmon ‘en croûte’ simply translates to salmon ‘in crust’, so technically speaking you could wrap just about anything in pastry and call it something-en-croûte!
Salmon Wellington is exactly the same thing, but seems to be a more familiar term in the USA than it is in the UK. Either way, it’s delicious!
Whatever you call it, it was created in France, adapted from a Russian pie-like dish called ‘coulibiac’, which had a lot stuffed into pastry, such as rice or buckwheat, hard-boiled eggs, salmon and mushrooms.
Salmon en Croûte Ingredients
- Spinach – While I often use frozen spinach in my recipes, it’s best to use fresh spinach for this one.
- Garlic and herb cream cheese – Make sure to use a full fat cream cheese to keep it from splitting. I like Boursin but any full fat garlic and herb cream cheese is fine.
- Lemon – We’re using the zest and juice.
- Salmon – You will need 1kg of salmon (I like to use 2x 500g skinless fillets as it’s really easy to buy these from most supermarkets).
- Puff pastry – We’re using ready-rolled puff pastry. Make sure you take it out of the fridge 15 minutes before working with it in the recipe.
- Egg – For the egg wash (brushing on the pastry to make it golden).
- Freshly ground black pepper and sea salt – Season the spinach filling mixture generously.
How to make Salmon en Croûte
1. Pour over a full kettle of boiling water over the spinach, then run it under a cold tap. When cool, use your hands to squeeze as much of the water out as possible. Roughly chop (as per the full recipe below).
2. Mix the spinach with the cream cheese in a bowl, the zest of the whole lemon and the juice of half of it. Season with salt and pepper and set to one side.
3. Pat the salmon dry and turn one piece over so it’s flat side up. Spread the cream cheese and spinach mixture over the top, then place the second piece of salmon on top, flat side down.
4. Place the salmon onto one end of the pastry, brush the edges with egg and fold the rest of the pastry over. Use a fork to seal. Brush all the pastry with egg, cut a small ‘X’ into the top and bake, as per the recipe below.
Decorating
We’ve kept the pastry pretty simple in this one and cut it with an X to let the steam escape, but you could use extra pastry to put shapes on top, or you could even use a small, sharp knife to score the pastry with scales! Just be careful not to cut all the way through it.
Leftovers
In the fridge Salmon en Croûte is best eaten when prepared but it will keep in the fridge for up to 3 days and will make for a delicious cold lunch with salad.
Salmon skin still on?
You might find that the larger pieces of salmon you can buy in the supermarket all have skin on. Don’t panic!
Lay the salmon, skin side down, on a chopping board. Cut through the salmon right in the corner so there’s a tiny piece you can use as a ‘handle’ (I then grip this using some kitchen roll so it doesn’t slip). Run your knife between the salmon meat and its skin, flat to the board, cutting away from you. And voila, it comes right off.
It can take a bit of practice but even if it’s not as neat as you’d like, it will still be delicious and no one will be able to tell!
If you’re buying your fish from a fishmonger, certainly ask them to do this bit for you.
More salmon recipes…
Salmon Recipes
Smoked Salmon Pâté
Comfort Food
Creamy Salmon Bake {with Potatoes & Broccoli}
Christmas Recipes
Smoked Salmon Canapés
Air Fryer
Air Fryer Salmon
FAQs
How about some green vegetables and something fancy potatoes – perhaps Colcannon mash or Boulangere? Or Roast Potatoes? Salad would also work well.
Let me know how you got on and what you thought of these recipes. Please rate the recipe using the ⭐️ below.
Also I’d LOVE to see your cooking creations. If you’d like to share yours with me, you can tag me on Instagram (@tamingtwins).
Salmon en Croûte {Just 6 Ingredients!}
Ingredients
- 200 g (7 oz) Spinach
- 150 g (5 oz) Garlic and herb cream cheese, See notes
- 1 Lemon, Zest and juice
- 1 kg (2.2 lb) Skinless salmon fillets, See notes
- 320 g (11 oz) Ready-rolled puff pastry
- 1 Egg, Beaten
- Freshly ground black pepper and sea salt, Season
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 200℃ fan/220℃/Gas Mark 7/390F.
- Place the spinach in a colander, either in the sink or in a large bowl, then pour over a full kettle of boiling water, making sure all the spinach has turned dark green and wilted. Run the spinach under a cold tap and when cool enough to handle use your hands to squeeze as much of the water out as possible.
- Roughly chop the spinach and mix together with the cream cheese in a bowl, the zest of the whole lemon and the juice of half of it. Season with salt and pepper and set to one side.
- Pat the salmon dry with some kitchen roll and turn one piece over so it’s flat side up. Spread the cream cheese and spinach mixture over the top, then place the second piece of salmon on top, flat side down.
- Unroll the pastry, leaving it on the baking paper it comes on and give it a little extra roll to make it slightly wider.
- Place the salmon onto one end of the pastry, making sure there’s a 2 cm border around the three closest sides, then brush the edges with egg and fold the rest of the pastry over. Use a fork to seal.
- Brush all the pastry with the rest of the beaten egg, then cut a small ‘X’ into the top (this helps any steam escape.)
- Trim off any excess baking paper, then carefully slide the en croute onto a baking tray and bake for 35-40 minutes until the pastry is golden and the salmon cooked through. Leave the Salmon en Croûte to rest for 10 minutes before slicing and serving.
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Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation. Nutritional values are per portion unless otherwise stated.
This post was originally published on November 23, 2025 and updated later to make improvements.
Wow, what a treat this was. I made this for my friends for dinner and it turned out perfectly. Thank you Sarah!