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!
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 printable recipe card at the bottom of this post for quantities!
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.
season vegetables arrange on foil top with garlic butter seal foil pouch
- 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.
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.
PS If you try this recipe, please leave a review in the comment section and add a star rating in the recipe card – I appreciate your feedback! Follow along on Pinterest, Facebook or Instagram. Sign up for my email list, too!
Summer Veggie Salmon Foil Packets
Recipe details
Ingredients
- 1 large ear corn kernels shaved off (alternatively, use 1 cup canned or frozen)
- 1 large red pepper cored and diced into 1-inch pieces
- 1 medium zucchini thinly sliced
- 1 pound thin asparagus spears trimmed and cut in half
- 4 tablespoons chopped parsley divided
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- salt to taste
- ground black pepper to taste
- 4 (6-oz) salmon fillets
- 4 tablespoons butter softened
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon lemon juice
Instructions
- Preheat grill (or oven) to 425°F. Place 4 large pieces of aluminium foil on counter (each about 18-20 inches long).
- Toss corn, red pepper, zucchini and asparagus in large bowl with olive oil, 1 tablespoon chopped parsley, salt and pepper. Evenly divide between centers of prepared foil pieces.
- Lightly season salmon with salt and pepper, then place on top of vegetables, one fillet per piece of foil.
- Mash butter in small bowl with remaining chopped parsley, garlic powder, salt, pepper and lemon juice. Evenly dot salmon pieces with seasoned butter.
- Fold up sides of foil to create "bowl", then fold down and crimp longer sides. Finally, crimp shorter sides to seal pouch. Make sure pouches are sealed well to avoid leaks during cooking!
- Cook pouches on grill or in oven for around 20 minutes, or until fish flakes easily and vegetables are all tender.
Notes
- 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.
- Cut the vegetables as evenly as you can. Otherwise some will not cook, some will be mush.
- 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!
Nutrition
More recipe information
Recipe first published on 07/31/2018. Updated with new photos, better text and a much better recipe on 06/10/2021.
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Rachel says
Could you use green beans instead of asparagus?
Nora says
Rachel, sure! I would boil green beans for 5 minutes before adding them to the foil packets, though. Hope this helps!