Parmesan Pesto Baked Salmon - Only 4 Ingredients

September 15, 2020

Looking for an honest baked salmon recipe? Baked Salmon Pesto may be a four ingredient meal that’s ready in twenty minutes. Plus, use homemade or store-bought pesto for this salmon pesto recipe.

A recent survey of readers confirmed that salmon may be a staple protein in many people’s weekly dinner rotation. It’s easy to know why. It’s healthy, easy to form and widely available. This easy Baked Salmon Pesto may be a regular during the weeknights because it’s a four ingredient meal that takes but half-hour . I got your attention, didn’t I?

Salmon Nutrition

Salmon is prized for its health benefits and while farmed salmon is sweet , wild Coho, Sockeye or Atlantic salmon is even better. The highlight reel of salmon’s nutritional benefits include:

Omega-3 fatty acids (decreasing vital sign , lowering inflammation, reducing cancer risk).

Selenium (good for your bone health and reducing thyroid disease).

Potassium (reduces vital sign and your risk for stroke).

B Vitamins and vitamin Bc (All B Vitamins work together providing optimal functioning of the brain and nervous system).

Salmon Pesto Recipe – A Four Ingredient Meal

This pesto salmon bake couldn’t be simpler to form . Start by slicing your salmon fillet into individual portions. (Ok,you don’t need to do that , but slicing it BEFORE baking, gives you lovely even cuts. If you slice it AFTER it bakes, the salmon will flake — not the top of the planet , but if you’re a food blogger appearance matters…) Then spoon your favorite pesto sauce over the fillets.

When you need a good baked salmon seasoning, pesto is one among my favorites — it’s bright and herbal and puts a punctuation on any baked salmon recipe, however, if you’re not getting to use the cheese and breadcrumb topping, I’d recommend baking the salmon first then spooning the fresh pesto sauce over the cooked fish, otherwise the pesto will develop a crusty and unsightly green algae color — and that’s not what we’re going for here.

That said, you actually want the crunchy topping... It’s golden and flavorful, adding another dimension to the present simple dish. Because there’s parmigiano reggiano within the pesto and therefore the pesto, I could have easily called this dish Salmon Parmesan.

I bake the salmon at a lower temperature than you would possibly expect — only 325°– to assure that the salmon isn’t over-cooked and to attenuate the gooey white stuff that invariably oozes from the fish when it’s baked. The white stuff is named albumin and it’s harmless, but unsightly. Cooking at a lower temperature reduces the quantity of albumin leaked, but the oven is hot enough to brown the the crumb topping. It’s a win-win.

This salmon pesto recipe can easily be doubled or tripled counting on the dimensions of your crowded it might be great for company or maybe a festive Easter dinner, because of it’s scaleability.