Anna Louise Salmon en croute sounds like the kind of thing that only happens in professional kitchens. A whole salmon fillet, wrapped in golden, flaky puff pastry with a layer of herby cream cheese and wilted spinach, sliced to reveal perfect layers — it looks spectacular. It tastes extraordinary. And it is far simpler to make than its appearance suggests.
Mary Berry’s salmon en croute recipe is built around one central insight — good quality ready-made puff pastry does most of the visual work for you. The filling takes fifteen minutes to prepare.
The assembly takes ten. The oven does the rest. The result is a centrepiece dish that looks like it took hours and actually took about thirty minutes of active effort.
This is the dish I make when I want to impress without stress. It works for Christmas, for Easter, for a dinner party, or for any occasion where you want something genuinely beautiful at the centre of the table.
What Makes This Work
Ready-made puff pastry. All-butter puff pastry, rolled to the right thickness, gives a beautifully crisp, golden shell that looks professional and tastes excellent. There is no meaningful reason to make puff pastry from scratch for this recipe — the shop-bought version is genuinely excellent.
The cream cheese and herb layer. A mixture of cream cheese, fresh dill, lemon zest, and capers spread directly on the pastry before the salmon goes on serves two purposes — it flavours the salmon from the outside as it cooks, and it creates a moisture barrier between the pastry and the fish that helps keep the pastry crisp.
Chilling before baking. Like all pastry-wrapped dishes, the assembled en croute benefits enormously from a thirty-minute chill before it goes in the oven. This firms everything up and prevents the pastry from shrinking and the filling from leaking during baking.
Ingredients for Mary Berry Salmon en Croute
For the En Croute
- 2 x 500g ready-made all-butter puff pastry blocks (or 2 sheets ready-rolled)
- 800g–1kg salmon fillet, skin removed, pin bones removed (one even piece)
- 150g full-fat cream cheese
- 2 tbsp fresh dill, finely chopped
- 1 tbsp fresh flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped
- Zest of 1 unwaxed lemon
- 1 tbsp capers, rinsed and roughly chopped
- 100g fresh baby spinach, wilted and all excess moisture squeezed out thoroughly
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 2 large egg yolks, beaten with 1 tbsp water (for egg wash)
How to Make Mary Berry Salmon en Croute — Step by Step
Step 1 — Prepare the Spinach
Wash the baby spinach and place in a dry pan over a medium heat. Stir for one to two minutes until completely wilted. Turn out onto a clean tea towel, bring the edges together, and squeeze very firmly to remove as much moisture as possible. The spinach must be as dry as you can get it — excess moisture makes the pastry soggy. Set aside.
Step 2 — Make the Cream Cheese Filling
Beat the cream cheese until smooth. Add the fresh dill, parsley, lemon zest, capers, salt, and pepper. Mix until combined. Taste and adjust seasoning — it should taste well seasoned and fragrant with herbs.
Step 3 — Prepare the Pastry
On a lightly floured surface, roll out one block of pastry to a rectangle approximately 5cm larger than the salmon fillet on all sides — about 30x20cm for an 800g fillet. This is the base. Transfer to a large baking tray lined with baking parchment.
Roll out the second block to a rectangle about 5cm larger than the first piece. This is the lid.
Step 4 — Assemble
Spread the cream cheese mixture over the centre of the pastry base, in a rectangle the same size as the salmon fillet. Lay the wilted spinach over the cream cheese layer.
Place the salmon on top of the spinach, positioning it centrally. Season the top of the salmon generously with salt and pepper.
Brush the pastry border around the salmon with egg wash. Carefully lay the second pastry rectangle over the top, pressing firmly around the edges to seal. Trim the excess pastry to leave a 3cm border around the salmon. Crimp the edges firmly with a fork or your fingers to create a strong seal.
Brush the entire surface generously with egg wash. Score a light diamond pattern across the top with a sharp knife — be careful only to score the pastry surface and not cut through to the salmon. This is both decorative and allows steam to escape.
Step 5 — Chill
Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes — this firms up the pastry and helps everything hold its shape in the oven.
Step 6 — Bake
Preheat your oven to 200°C / 180°C fan / Gas 6. Brush the chilled en croute with a final layer of egg wash. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes until the pastry is deep golden brown and the salmon is cooked through.
To check — insert a metal skewer into the centre and hold for five seconds. If it feels hot when pressed to your wrist, the salmon is cooked.
Step 7 — Rest and Serve
Leave to rest for five minutes before slicing with a sharp serrated knife. Serve in generous slices at the table.
My Top Tips For Mary Berry Salmon en Croute
Squeeze the spinach until it is bone dry. I cannot stress this enough. Even a small amount of retained moisture will leak into the pastry during baking and create a soggy bottom. Squeeze in a tea towel, then squeeze again. The spinach should look almost like a dry ball when you are done.
Use all-butter puff pastry. The flavour and texture difference between all-butter and non-butter puff pastry is significant and completely noticeable in a dish where pastry is half the experience. Always all-butter.
Chill the assembled en croute before baking. Thirty minutes minimum. Chilling firms up the butter in the pastry and the cream cheese filling, which means everything holds its shape in the oven rather than spreading and the filling leaking out.
Score the top — do not cut through. The scored diamond pattern looks beautiful and allows steam to escape. But if you cut through to the salmon, the filling can leak out through the cuts during baking. Score gently — surface only.
Use a sharp serrated knife to slice. A plain knife drags through the pastry. A sharp serrated knife cuts through cleanly without compressing the beautiful layers.
Check the salmon with a skewer, not a timer. Oven temperatures and fillet thicknesses vary. The skewer test is reliable — hot to the wrist after five seconds in the centre means the salmon is cooked.
Serving Suggestions
With new potatoes and green beans for a complete elegant dinner. With a simple cucumber and dill salad for freshness. With lemon butter sauce or hollandaise alongside for something more indulgent. This is the centrepiece — let everything else be simple.
How to Store Mary Berry Salmon en Croute
Cooked: Store covered in the fridge for up to 2 days. Reheat in a 180°C oven for 15 minutes — the pastry will not be as crisp as fresh but the flavour remains excellent.
Assembled, unbaked: Refrigerate for up to 24 hours before baking. Can also be frozen assembled and unbaked for up to 1 month — defrost overnight in the fridge before baking.
Mary Berry Salmon en Croute Recipe
Ingredients
Method
- Wilt spinach in a dry pan. Squeeze very thoroughly in a clean tea towel until bone dry. Set aside.
- Mix cream cheese, dill, parsley, lemon zest, capers, salt, and pepper until combined.
- Roll one pastry block to about 30x20cm. Place on a lined baking tray.
- Spread cream cheese mixture over the centre (salmon-sized rectangle). Layer wilted spinach on top. Place salmon on spinach. Season generously.
- Brush pastry border with egg wash. Roll second pastry block 5cm larger than first. Lay over salmon. Press and seal edges firmly. Trim to 3cm border. Crimp edges. Brush with egg wash. Score diamond pattern on top — surface only.
- Refrigerate 30 minutes. Brush with a final layer of egg wash.
- Preheat oven to 200°C / 180°C fan / Gas 6. Bake 30–35 minutes until deep golden. Rest 5 minutes. Slice with a sharp serrated knife.
Notes
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I use individual salmon fillets instead of one large piece?
Yes — make individual en croutes using 150g portions of salmon with smaller portions of the filling. Reduce the baking time to 20 to 25 minutes. Individual portions look very elegant for a dinner party.
Can I leave out the spinach?
Yes — the en croute works without the spinach layer. Without it, increase the cream cheese mixture slightly and layer it more generously.
Why is my pastry soggy on the bottom?
Almost always because the spinach was not squeezed dry enough. The moisture from the spinach soaks into the pastry base during baking. Squeeze the spinach until it is as dry as you can possibly get it.
Can I add other fillings to the cream cheese?
Yes — sun-dried tomatoes, basil, and pine nuts make a Mediterranean-inspired filling that is wonderful. Horseradish stirred into the cream cheese is excellent alongside a salmon with a more robust, smoky flavour.
Can I use shortcrust pastry instead of puff?
You can — shortcrust gives a crispier, more substantial casing that is less dramatic in appearance but equally delicious. The baking time remains roughly the same.
How do I know the salmon is cooked all the way through?
Insert a metal skewer into the thickest part of the salmon through the pastry. Leave for five seconds. Remove and press immediately to your wrist or inner arm — if it feels hot, the salmon is cooked. If it feels warm or cool, return to the oven for a further five minutes and check again.
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