Our one pan pesto salmon recipe is a delicious, easy dish and works any night of the week. A simple pesto adds flavor and brightness; cherry tomatoes add a sweet and savory note with asparagus and diced potatoes. This is a complete one-pan dinner recipe for two but can easily be doubled or tripled to cater to more.
If you love this Pesto Salmon, you will also love this Brown Butter Salmon With Capers And Sundried Tomatoes, Greek Codfish Cakes or Shrimp Orzo In A Lemon Garlic Sauce!
Why this recipe sings
Here is what you need
- Fresh salmon fillets. This recipe will also work with one large salmon fillet. You will need to adjust the cooking time accordingly.
- Extra virgin olive oil.
- Pesto sauce. Get a jar of pesto sauce, or make your own. Vegan pesto works as well as the one with parmesan.
- Cherry tomatoes. Campari variety of tomatoes would also be great, as well as grape tomatoes.
- Yukon gold potatoes. I never peel the skin. Instead, I scrub the skin clean and cube them to a small size. Use the potatoes that already are in your pantry and by all means, peel the skin before dicing if you prefer.
- Asparagus. It is one of my favorite vegetables, especially roasted. I wash and peel the lower part, then cut it into two or three pieces, depending on the size. The asparagus goes in at the second part of the recipe and gets beautifully roasted.
- Onion and garlic. A small onion is enough. Substitute with shallots or thinly sliced leeks.
- Sea salt, pepper and chili flakes. I love adding some chili flakes for serving.
- A lemon. When the dish is done and ready for serving, I zest a lemon and drizzle tits juice all over. The lemon adds brightness and makes the pesto flavor pop.
Please note: This versatile recipe is easy to tweak to adjust your pantry supplies and budget. For example, you can add the garlic cloves still in their skin (they get sweet and savory with roasting, switch the fish to a different kind, or go for cauliflower florets, broccolini or green beans instead of asparagus.
How to make this pesto salmon
- Prepare the veggies. Halve the cherry tomatoes, peel the asparagus, and cut into one-inch-long pieces. Dice the potatoes and roughly chop the onion and garlic.
- Preheat the oven to 220°C/ 425°F.
- Add the cherry tomatoes, cubed potatoes, onion and garlic in a medium oven-proof pan. Drizzle half of the olive oil and season with sea salt and pepper. Take half of the pesto and mix it with the veggies. Bake for 30 minutes.
- Remove the pan from the oven.
- Massage each salmon fillet with one full tablespoon of pesto.
- Create space in the middle of the veggies with the help of a large spatula or spoon. Tuck in the salmon fillets and surround them with the veggies. Arrange the asparagus pieces all over. Drizzle with the rest of the olive oil.
- Return the pan to the oven and bake for 30 minutes or until the salmon has reached your preferred doneness.
- Right before serving, zest the lemon and drizzle lemon juice all over the dish.
How to serve this pesto salmon
This salmon is a complete meal, yet you can pair it with fresh, warm olive oil bread, a beautiful green salad, or Greek sweet peas with dill. For a seafood feast family style, add a broccoli cauliflower salad, fried crispy calamari, and shrimp saganaki to your table.
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Pesto Salmon Recipe
Equipment
- 1 oven-proof pan
Ingredients
- 1 onion small
- 2 garlic cloves sliced
- 1 cup cherry tomatoes halved
- 2 Yukon gold potatoes cubed
- ½ cup pesto
- ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
- 2 salmon fillets 6 oz each
- 4 oz asparagus spears trimmed and cut into one inch pieces
- sea salt
- freshly ground pepper
- chili flakes
- 1 lemon
Instructions
- Halve the cherry tomatoes, peel and cut the asparagus into one-inch-long pieces. Scrub clean and dice the potatoes and roughly chop the onion and garlic.
- Preheat the oven to 220°C/ 425°F. In a medium oven-proof pan, add the cherry tomatoes, diced potatoes, garlic and onion—drizzle half of the olive oil and season with sea salt. Take half of the pesto and mix it with the veggies.
- Remove the pan from the oven. Create a space in the middle with the help of a large spatula or spoon. Massage each salmon fillet with a full tablespoon of pesto.Tuck the salmon pieces between the veggies. Scatter the asparagus pieces all over the pan. Drizzle with the rest of the olive oil—return the pan to the oven and bake for 30 minutes.
- Right before serving, zest the lemon and drizzle lemon juice all over the dish.
Notes
Nutrition
Anything with pesto is a winner in our books and this pesto salmon is luxurious and oh-so flavorful!
I loved that this recipe is basically a one pan meal. My son loves pesto so I wanted to try something new – we all enjoyed it!
Anything with pesto and I’m all in! This sounds so delicious and wholesome…a beautiful meal for any occasion 😀
this might be my favourite combo ever! I made this a couple of days ago, and my husband already wants me to make it again. Thanks so much for the recipe 🙂
I am all for recipes with salmon and pesto, so this one sounds like the perfect one to try! Thanks for the recipe share!
This pesto salmon has such fresh flavors in it with the pest and fresh vegetables. A great meal for any night of the week.
Wow! This salmon recipe looks so delicious and has a great twist for that amazing flavor and taste! Then theirs the color this dish brings to the table which is enticing. Everybody will definitely love this!
I am not a fan of eating pesto but I made this one and it’s really delicious!
Thank you!
M hubby is a huge salmon fan and I’m a big lover of pesto. This paired so perfectly together! Thank you for sharing!
This salmon turned out so good! The pesto added a wonderful fresh flavor. Can’t wait to use this with other types of fish.
So delicious!!! I had made pesto a few days ago and had some leftovers and some fresh salmon in the fridge and was looking for a recipe to use them both. This was perfect and so easy to make!
Any recipe with pesto is a winner for our family. And this one gets bonus points as it is made as a one-pan meal. So easy to assemble and put together and we all loved it.