Make these Summer Veggie Salmon Foil Packets for an easy and fuss-free family dinner tonight! The fish comes out flaky, tender and flavorful from a delicious garlic herb butter.

This is a great meal for hot summer days, or to serve a healthy dinner loaded with zucchini, red pepper, corn and asparagus while camping. Use the grill or the oven – whatever suits you best!

overhead view of salmon fillet in opened foil packet over bed of summer vegetables, with wooden fork stuck in vegetables

Grilled salmon in foil

I know fish is not always THE hottest dinner topic, but I absolutely love it. My kids love it. My husband loves it, too.

This is one of my favorite ways to make salmon on hot summer days – prep is super quick and easy, the fish stays super juicy and flavorful and just like with my grilled corn in foil, my steak and potato foil packets or my hobo dinner, I don’t need to worry about too much clean-up on the grill!

Ingredients you’ll need

Here is a visual overview of the ingredients in the recipe. Scroll down to the recipe at the bottom for quantities.

ingredients for salmon foil packets with text labels — Ingredients for Summer Vegetable Salmon Foil Packets: Salmon, asparagus, corn, red pepper, zucchini, lemon juice, parsley, olive oil, butter, garlic powder, salt and pepper.

Ingredient notes

Corn: I used fresh, but frozen or canned works, too.
Salmon: I used skin-on salmon fillets, because they stay the most succulent. Feel free to use skinned fillets, but they may come out a little on the dry side.
Parsley: If you don’t have fresh parsley on hand, feel free to use 2 teaspoons dried parsley instead.
Vegetables: Feel free to leave out any of the vegetables if you don’t like them. Yellow summer squash works well in place of the zucchini, too – and green beans in place of the asparagus.

How to make Salmon Foil Packets

In short, this recipe goes something like this:

Wrap all ingredients in foil, then grill or bake until everything is cooked. That’s it! It’s so easy.

seasoned vegetables in glass bowl — season vegetables

vegetables and raw salmon fillet on piece of aluminium foil — season vegetables

Toss the vegetables with olive oil, some salt, pepper and chopped parsley. Divide between 4 large pieces of aluminium foil, then top each with a salmon fillet.
Mash the butter with seasoning, lemon juice and parsley, then use it to dot each salmon fillet.
Fold down and crimp the longer edges (top and bottom for me) of the foil first, then crimp the shorter sides (left and right for me) to seal the pouch.
Now, can cook it in the oven or on the grill for around 20 minutes, or until the salmon flakes easily and all veggies are tender.

overhead view of four opened salmon foil packets garnished with fresh lemon and chopped parsley

Recipe tips

Cut the veggies as evenly as you can. Don’t be a perfectionist about it and take a ton of time, but try to be a little consistent. Otherwise some will not cook, some will be mush.
Make sure you seal the foil packets well. Crimp all openings well to fully seal them. Otherwise you’ll have unwelcome leaks on the grill or in the oven.
Careful, hot steam comes out of the pouch as you open it, and there are hot juices/melted butter in the pouch. Always use a plate underneath your foil pouches and avert your face when you open them. Also, help kids with their pouches!

Serving ideas

Depending on where you are making your foil packets (grill or oven at home, or out and about over the campfire), you’ll have different options to choose from. The salmon goes really well with potato sides or with rice – so on the campfire, you could simply make some baked potatoes in the fire, too.

Here are some of our favorites I like to make with our foil packet dinner:

Many people have asked me if they can add potatoes directly to the foil packets, but they do take a lot longer to cook. You would have to slice them really thin to make it work, and avoid stacking too many on top of each other. I still think cooking potatoes separately is your best choice here.