This easy pesto salmon recipe takes advantage of the time-saving sheet pan for a super simple summer recipe that tastes great and is packed with lots of anti-inflammatory nutrients.
Price: $25.16 | Per Serving: $6.29 | Makes: 4 servings
Healthy dinners can sometimes be extremely simple. This baked pesto salmon pairs with quick-cooking vegetables and pre-cooked white beans to make an entire meal in just 25 minutes!
And while this recipe is absolutely on the pricier side on this blog - it is totally worth it! I think of it as a trade off: you're getting a restaurant-quality meal, that's even MORE convenient than a restaurant (seriously, almost no prep and very few dishes). Plus, it's super nutritious!
Wild salmon can be really expensive, but if you can find it at a good price, and you get your asparagus & tomatoes in season, you can make this recipe for half the cost!
If you love simple sheet pan meals, then you definitely need to check out this sheet pan pork tenderloin and sheet pan chicken thighs.
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Why You Will Love This Baked Pesto Salmon
- Almost no prep required! The entire dish comes together in about 25 minutes. We're using vegetables that require almost no prep at all. You don't even need a cutting board!
- This healthy meal provides plenty of anti-inflammatory omega-3's and polyphenols! It's also excellent at balancing your blood sugar.
- One pan meal means easy cleanup!
Ingredients
All you need are a handful of wholesome, easy-to-find ingredients to make this baked pesto salmon.
- Veggies: We are using fresh asparagus (I recommend thin stalks) and on-the-vine cherry tomatoes. You can also use grape or cherry tomatoes.
- White beans: Use any type of canned white bean. I am using butter beans but you can also use cannellini beans and great northern beans.
- Salmon: Try to use wild caught if you can afford it. Wild salmon has been shown to have a higher level of omega-3 fatty acids and other key minerals, while containing lower levels of contaminants. (But sustainably farmed options are often still very nutritious.)
- Pesto: You can make this with just about any type of basil pesto. I love this budget-friendly basil pesto with walnuts but you can use this spinach pesto, a bitter greens pesto, or kale pesto. To really save time and effort, use store-bought! (I often do!)
Dietary Modifications
Paleo: No - but you can eliminate the beans and use a dairy-free pesto to make it paleo. You'll probably want to add a side of potatoes or something else to bulk it up.
Vegetarian: No it's not. You could try this pesto baked tofu to make it vegetarian.
How to Make Pesto Salmon Sheet Pan
This dinner is perfect for weeknights because it comes together so quickly. Be sure to check the recipe card for all the details.
- Prep everything first. I prefer to use parchment paper to protect my food from aluminum and Teflon, but you do you. Rinse your vegetables, and drain and rinse the white beans. Break off (or cut) the bottom woody portion of the asparagus.
PRO TIP: The amount you need to remove will vary from piece to piece. One trick is to simply snap off the bottom bit that’s white, wrinkled, and tough. If you have thicker asparagus, you can remove the bottom ½ inch and then peel the bottom 4 inches with a vegetable peeler.
- Arrange the asparagus, tomatoes, and white beans on the sheet pan. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper.
- Place the salmon on top of the white beans. Make sure there are some that are uncovered so they can develop a bit of a crunch.
- Add the pesto to the top of the salmon.
- Spread the pesto out evenly over the top of the salmon.
- Place the baking tray in the middle rack in the oven and bake for about 15 minutes, or until the salmon reaches a safe internal temperature of 135ºF. Let the salmon rest for five minutes before slicing and serving. Serve with more pesto if desired.
Expert Tips and FAQs
- For easy prep, cook the piece of salmon whole rather than cut into pieces.
- Be sure to check for bones and remove any you find.
- You can make pesto salmon with store bought or homemade pesto but I would not recommend using avocado pesto here.
- Store leftovers in the fridge. You can also freeze the salmon and beans for a couple of months, but the asparagus and tomatoes will not freeze and reheat well.
- To reheat (thaw overnight in the fridge if reheating from frozen), place the ingredients on a sheet pan or glass dish on 300ºF for about 10 minuets. This will preserve the moisture of the salmon but should warm everything through.
Just about any veggies go great! But for this sheet pan dinner you want to use veggies that will cook in about the same time as the salmon. Green beans, zucchini, yellow squash, and mushrooms are all veggies that will work great.
We are cooking at a higher temperature here (450ºF) to cook the salmon through while providing some nice texture to the vegetables and beans. You can cook this as low as 350ºF, but for 10 minutes longer, but the vegetables will not develop any color and the beans will not get crispy.
Nope! You do not need to flip salmon while baking. It will cook even all the way through. If you would like crispy skin, cook the salmon with the skin side up (and pesto side down).
More Salmon Recipes
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Pesto Salmon Sheet Pan Dinner
Ingredients
- 1 pound fresh asparagus
- 14-16 ounces on-the-vine cherry tomatoes or about 1 pint grape or cherry tomatoes
- 2 cans 15-ounce white beans drained and rinsed (butter beans pictured here, but smaller cannellini and great northern also work)
- 1 Tablespoon olive oil
- ¼ teaspoon fine salt
- ¼ teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper
- 1 pound salmon whole piece or cut into 4 filets, wild preferred
- ⅓ cup pesto of choice
- 1 whole lemon for serving
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 450ºF.
- Prepare a large sheet pan (I use parchment paper, you do you).
- Rinse your vegetables, and drain and rinse the white beans.
- Remove the bottom woody portion of the asparagus - the amount you need to remove will vary from piece to piece, but you can easily snap off the bottom bit that’s white, wrinkled, and tough.
- Arrange the asparagus, tomatoes, and white beans on the sheet pan. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper.
- To keep prep to a minimum, I like to keep my piece of salmon intact, but you can cut yours into single-portion filets if you’d like. I do check for and remove any bones I find.
- Place the salmon on top of the white beans, making sure there are some that are uncovered so they can develop a bit of a crunch. Spread the pesto in an even layer over the top of the salmon.
- Place in the middle rack in the oven and bake for about 15 minutes, or until the salmon reaches a safe internal temperature of 135ºF. It may take up to 22 minutes, depending on your oven.
- Let the salmon cool for about 5 minutes before slicing and serving. Divide the vegetables and beans among 4 plates, add a piece of salmon, and serve with a lemon wedge. Serve with more pesto on the side if desired. Enjoy!
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