My Creamy Coconut Lime Salmon Skillet allows you create an amazing Thai-inspired salmon dinner on the stove top in just 15 minutes. While this skillet meal is a quick, one-dish fix that is perfect for weekdays, the rich and complex flavors will make family and friends assume you labored on the dish for hours.Read on to get this wildly delicious salmon recipe which is Paleo-friendly and lower carb!

Before I get started on the fish recipe details, let me say that I’m kinda picky about my salmon. I’ve been really happy with my Sitka Salmon Shares and it’s super convenient to have it stockpiled in my freezer.  So fresh, it’s basically boat to doorstep!

Wild-caught salmon from Southeast Alaska and the North Pacific is delivered flash-frozen at the peak of freshness. It’s delivered on dry-ice, along with recipes and a newsletter featuring the actual fisherman-owners that caught the share. That makes me feel good. So does the fact that Sitka Salmon is harvested via hook-and-line the old-school way to minimize negative ecological impact, and each haul is traceable to the individual fisherman and boat that caught it for you.  Use code SITKA25 at SitkaSalmonShares.com to take $25 off any 2020 Premium Sitka Seafood Share.

Chelsea and Dustin caught the Coho Salmon I used in this recipe!

So back to the Creamy Coconut Lime Salmon recipe! I love Thai coconut lime soup, and was inspired to translate that rich and flavorful combination of coconut milk, lime juice, ginger, lemongrass and more to a quick salmon skillet. Plus, I’m on this mushroom binge, so I added a generous amount of mushrooms to the creamy sauce — they are very healthy and also, according to trend forecasters, one of the “it” foods of 2020.

The creamy coconut milk sauce uses lemongrass to get that familiar Thai flavor profile. Many people peel the tough outer layer of lemongrass and then slice thinly to simmer in sauce or soup, sometimes even fishing the chunks out later. I think this all takes too much time, so I just run the whole, unpeeled stalk of lemongrass across a micro-planer, and what wants to be grated will be collected and the rest will fall away. Plus, it is grated up so finely that it just blends away into the sauce.

The cooking method for the salmon is to par cook the filets by searing and then finish off by poaching in the sauce. By searing first, you get some good caramelized flavor and a better crispy exterior texture that you wouldn’t get if just solely poaching salmon.

This Creamy Coconut Lime Salmon Skillet makes plenty of sauce that needs to be sopped up, so I serve it with rice on the side – or noodles would work too!  WITHOUT noodles or rice, each serving has 255 calories, 6g carb, 26g protein and 13g healthy fats.

Remember to check out SitkaSalmonShares.com and use code SITKA to take $25 off in 2020.

5 from 13 votes

Print

Creamy Coconut Lime Salmon Skillet

Prep Time

5 mins

Cook Time

12 mins

Total Time

17 mins

 

Enjoy this Thai-inspired, one-dish dinner that cooks up in less that 20 minutes.

Course: dinner, entree, Main Course

Cuisine: Asian, thai

Keyword: fish, one dish, salmon, skillet

Servings: 4 servings

Calories: 255 kcal

Ingredients

• 12 ounces salmon skin on (cut into 3 or 4 servings)
• 2 tablespoons olive oil divided
• 8 ounces Cremini mushrooms sliced
• 1 tablespoon minced garlic
• 1 tablespoon finely grated ginger
• 2 tablespoons finely grated fresh lemongrass about a 4-inch piece
• 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice approximately 1 lime
• 1 tablespoon fish sauce
• 1 teaspoon coconut sugar
• 1 tablespoon more or less red chili sauce, gochujang, sriracha, etc.
• 7 ounces about ½ can full-fat coconut milk
• 2 teaspoons fresh lime zest about 1 lime’s worth
• 1 teaspoon more or less dried red pepper flakes
• ¼ cup fresh chopped cilantro

Instructions

1. Add 1 tablespoon olive oil to skillet and heat to medium-high. Add salmon, skin side up, and sear for 1 1/2 to 2 minutes and then flip to skin side and cook for an additional minute.

2. Transfer par-cooked salmon to plate. Add remaining tablespoon of olive oil and mushrooms and sautee for 3 minutes until softened. Add garlic, ginger and lemongrass to mushrooms and cook, stirring frequently, for an additional 1 minute.

3. Add lime juice, fish sauce and sugar, quickly stirring in for 1 minute. Lower heat to medium-low.

4. Add coconut milk and red chili sauce to mushroom mixture and stir in to combine.

5. Add fish back into this mixture and let simmer on medium-low, with lid on skillet, for 3 to 4 minutes until hot and cooked through.

6. Sprinkle with lime zest, dried chili flakes and cilantro.

7. Serve with rice or noodles.

Recipe Notes