As we approach the start of a new year, I’ve lined up five healthy, simple, and creative salmon recipes to make waves at the dinner table. These are the best easy salmon recipes!
I’m a mega fan of salmon for supper – it’s packed with omega-3 fatty acids, protein, and a host of essential nutrients, salmon not only will fuel your body but also provide a versatile canvas for your culinary imagination. Just a 3-oz portion of salmon boasts 22g protein and only 155 calories, and that’s a win for my training diet.
These salmon recipes offer something for everyone – and even the non-fish fans will fall in love (I hope)!
Garlic Butter Salmon & Mushrooms – Whip out your skillet and prepare this weeknight salmon recipe in just 15 minutes – it’s low-carb and delicious. I love how the mushrooms serve as sponges to sop up the buttery, garlic goodness. One of my all-time favorite salmon skillet dinners (because yee-haw, I’m a huge mushroom fan too).
Strawberry-Chipotle Salmon (with Quinoa Salad) – this quick and easy meal shines bright with a salmon glaze made jarred strawberry jam (I use a sugar-free variety), soy sauce, and canned chipotle peppers that have been chopped up! Sweet and spicy!
Creamy Coconut Lime Salmon Skillet – this low-carb, paleo-friendly skillet meal is rich and satisfying! Salmon poaches in coconut milk and is so tender and delicious – I like to serve it with cauliflower rice.
Cranberry-Orange Salmon Sheet Pan Dinner – This 30-minute salmon meal cooks up entirely on a standard rimmed baking sheet. Green beans, cranberries and citrus slices create a memorable medley of flavor – this salmon sheet pan dinner is elegant enough for a holiday celebration, yet easy-peasy for a busy night.
Grilled Salmon Zucchini Quinoa Burgers – a fresh and fit spin on a traditional patty – so juicy and tasty! Sandwich between the bun of your choosing and load up with toppings! This is a total mom win that sneaks in extra veggies and nutrients to “burger” night.
Salmon fillets are a mainstay on on my weekly dinner menu. Whether fresh or from frozen, salmon is a quality protein that makes the perfect blank canvas, ready to be “painted” with colorful vegetables and the seasonings that suit your mood of the moment!
When it comes to seasonings and flavor, garlic can’t be beat. It has a host of functional health benefits, is umami-friendly and maximizes the flavor of everything it’s paired with, from veggies, to proteins, to grains, pastas and bread . . ahh, garlic bread. Distinctively pungent, yet more mellow upon cooking, garlic is probably the “first reach” seasoning in my kitchen. If I could only pick one seasoning (other than salt and pepper) for a dish, it would be garlic — that’s how I keep life easy! Fresh minced or crushed garlic is the best, but when I’m making a quick dinner recipe, I rely on the convenience of minced garlic in a jar, garlic paste in a tube, or pre-portioned frozen crushed garlic.
Minced fresh garlic if you have the time, but purchased garlic in jar, tube or frozen portions is convenient!
I drooled earlier about buttery garlic bread, but buttery garlic MUSHROOMS – ohhhhyeah! Low-cal and low-carb, can be a little bland on their own — but with just a little butter and garlic, any mushroom side dish becomes heaven! You can use white button mushrooms or baby bellas (cremini) mushrooms in this low-carb salmon recipe — both act like little sponges that soak up all the rich flavor.
A quick little 15-second tutorial!
Pro-Tips:
1) Leave bottom skin on salmon, this makes a richer recipe and makes the cooking process easier (less sticking). You can remove it later . . . but remember, the brown/gray “gunk” between the skin and salmon flesh is salmon fat and where most of the beneficial Omega-3 fatty acids reside.
2) Salmon is cooked in 2 steps. First a sear with the skin side up. Then the par-cooked salmon rests on a plate while the veggies cook. Second, the fish is finished off by cooking skin side down among the vegetables, with a lid on top of the skilled to expedite the process. Make sure to have the lid nearby.
3) You can substitute peeled, de-veined jumpo shrimp. Those will cook for 3 to 4 minutes UNTIL DONE on the first step, and then you add back into the recipe when the vegetables are finished. Don’t add cooking time after this, or they will become rubbery.
4) For this garlic mushroom salmon skillet recipe, a non-stick skillet/fry pan with lid (10″) works well to keep the garlicked up salmon from sticking to the pan on the searing step. However, if you don’t have a non-stick or don’t want to use a non-stick, and end up with some bits burned onto the pan, there is a solution. After removing fish to rest on plate, add a splash of water to the hot skilled to sizzle and then quickly scrape off with spatula.
5) This mushroom salmon recipe scales up easily. To make 4 servings, just double the recipe (fine to be loosy-goosey on vegetables) and use a 12″ non-stick skillet/frypan with lid.
Pin this for later!Macros per serving: 469 cal, 34g fat, 6g net carb, 33g protein
What's better than garlic butter? Garlic butter all over salmon, mushrooms and delicious veggies! This easy one-dish salmon skillet is sure to become your favorite 15-minute meal.
Course:
dinner
Keyword:
garlic, mushrooms, one dish, salmon
Servings: 2
Calories: 469kcal
Ingredients
2 5-ouncesalmon filetsskin on
¼teaspooneach salt and black pepperplus more for seasoning at end, if desired
2tbsp.garlicdivided
1.5tbspssalted butter
8ouncewhite or cremini mushroomscleaned and halved ½ red onion, chopped coarsely
1/2cut coarsely chopped red onion
3cupsfresh spinachcoarsely chopped
Instructions
Season salmon with salt, pepper and 1 tbsp. of the garlic.
Heat olive oil in skillet over med-high heat.
Add filets skin side up; sear for 3 minutes or until crust forming on flesh. Set par-cooked fish aside on plate (will finish cooking later).
Melt butter in skillet over med-high, add mushrooms and onions and saute for about 3 minutes; add remainder of garlic and cook for another 30 seconds. Stir in spinach; set salmon back in skillet, skin side down this time. Cook on medium for about 3 to 5 more minutes (with lid on for several minutes to help speed process). Actual cook time will depend on thickness of salmon filets.
Season with additional salt and pepper, as desired.
Recipe Notes
2 servings. Each serving: 469 cal, 34g fat, 6g net carb, 33g protein
Strawberries play perfectly with the smoky heat of chipotle peppers in my new fish recipe – Strawberry Chipotle Salmon on Strawberry-Avocado Quinoa Salad. Not only is it a 30-minute recipe, but a flavorful and nutritious salmon recipe you’ll have on repeat all summer long.
I used wild Coho salmon from a fisherman’s co-op I love and trust – SitkaSalmonShares.com (jump below to get an amazing discount code). Coho salmon is a healthy, clean sources of protein with amazing nutritional benefits.
Save $25 at SitkaSalmonShares.com with code: FITFORK
Coho salmon is leaner than the omni-present Sockeye salmon you most typically see in the grocery store and also offers the highest amounts of the omega-3 fatty acids, EPA and DHA, of all wild Alaska species. These essential fatty acids are important for brain health during all stages of life. I like to purchase my salmon with the skin on, primarily because that’s were a large concentration of the omega-3s are found. It’s the brownish fatty layer between the skin and flesh – don’t scrape it off, EAT IT to optimize the nutritional benefits of Coho salmon.
This strawberry chipotle salmon recipes is very easy, you don’t even have to make the quinoa salad if in a rush. The glaze is simple a no-sugar-added strawberry preserve* mixed together with soy sauce and chopped chipotle peppers in adobo (or a chipotle paste for no chopping and thus even more convenience).
*Note: For the strawberry preserve or jam, there are options based on your dietary preferences. For example, I used a stevia-sweetened jam, but there are jams sweetened with honey, juices and different sweetener substitutes. You can also use a traditional strawberry jam or preserve, if you’d rather.
The strawberry quinoa salad is equally easy to whip up. I like to prepare my quinoa in advance so that it has time to cool to at least room temperature. Then it’s just a matter of tossing in the chopped strawberry avocado quinoa salad ingredients.
And, shaking up strawberry chipotle dressing in a jar.
Holds up for meal prepping or packing for work lunch or picnic.
This inspired by the southwest quinoa salad is holds up well and can even be made the day before – or meal prepped and put into jars! For best results, stir in the avocado right before serving.
Serve the strawberry chipotle salmon filet atop the sweet-spicy quinoa salad. Or, you can also “chunk” up the salmon and stir into the salad. Tasty served warm, room temperature OR cold – making it an excellent meal prep salmon salad recipe.
Thank you Sitka Salmon Shares for the amazing wild Alaskan salmon for this Coho salmon recipe. This “community supported fishery” seafood delivery is one of my favorite ways to keep my freezer stocked with premium fish and seafood that supports my active lifestyle. Owner-partner fishermen (and women) hit the cold Pacific waters around Alaska to responsibly source the best and tastiest Alaskan seafood. I I’m all about having quality proteins on hand so we won’t run out and eat junk. Order a Premium Share today and save $25 on your order with my code: FITFORK (It’s SOOOOO worth it).
Creamy Coconut Lime Salmon Skillet is another one of my favorite Sitka Salmon Shares recipes using Coho salmon. This thai-inspired salmon dinner comes together on the stove top in just 15 minutes and is suitable for low carb diets.
1tablespoonchopped chipotle peppers in adobo sauce
For Salad:
2cupscooked quinoafrom 2/3 cup dry
1medium avocadochopped,
1cupchopped strawberries
1cuppacked chopped fresh spinach
½cupdiced red onion
¼cupchopped fresh cilantro
For dressing:
¼cupfresh lime juice
¼cupolive oil
1tablespoonchopped chipotle in adobo sauce
2tablespoonsno-sugar-added strawberry preserves
¼teaspoonsalt
¼teaspoonground black pepper
Instructions
Preheat oven to 400F degrees. Pat salmon filet dry and place skin side down in rimmed baking dish.
Mix together preserves, chipotles, and soy sauce and spread across top of fish.
Bake for about 20 minutes until fish flaky. Keep a close eye so that glaze doesn’t burn. Use a spoon to redistribute any run-off glaze halfway through baking and again when removing from oven.
While fish is baking, toss together salad ingredients.
Make dressing by shaking up dressing ingredients in jar. Mix into salad.
Serve fish atop quinoa salad, either warm, room temperature or cold! All ways delicious.
If desired can “chunk up” the salmon and mix into the salad.
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! Continue reading →
Can’t believe I’ve already got the back-to-school dinner routine on my mind, it’s not even August quite yet. But boom-bam, in less than a month, the stress of a new routine will escalate for many of us! Let a sheet pan supper restore order when the rest of life seems like chaos.
My Cranberry Orange Sheet Pan Salmon earns high marks as a healthy meal for busy work and school nights. And, shhh, this beautiful and “how can it be so easy” fish recipe is also my little secret to stress-free, last-minute entertaining. Read on to get the scoop on this sheet pan salmon recipe! Continue reading →
