Keto salmon with pesto and spinach

Keto salmon with pesto and spinach

How much do you love both pesto and salmon? If the answer is “more than pretty much anything in the world,” then this is the recipe for you! Bonus: It’s fast, keto, and gorgeous. What more can you want?
May 6 2016 recipe by , photo by , nutritional review by in Recipes, Dinner, Lunch, Meal

Keto salmon with pesto and spinach

How much do you love both pesto and salmon? If the answer is “more than pretty much anything in the world,” then this is the recipe for you! Bonus: It’s fast, keto, and gorgeous. What more can you want?
USMetric
4 servingservings

Ingredients

  • 1½ lbs 650 g salmon, boneless filletsalmon, boneless fillets
  • 1 cup 240 ml mayonnaise or vegan mayonnaise or sour cream
  • 1 tbsp 1 tbsp green pesto or red pesto
  • ¾ cup (2 oz.) 180 ml (60 g) shredded Parmesan cheese
  • 1 lb (15 cups) 450 g (3.5 liters) fresh spinach
  • 1 oz. 28 g butter or olive oil
  • salt and pepper
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Instructions

Salmon

  1. Preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C). Grease a baking dish with half of the butter, or olive oil.
  2. Place the salmon fillets in the baking dish, skin-side down, and season them with salt and pepper.

    3. Pesto Topping

  3. In a small bowl, mix together the mayonnaise, pesto, and parmesan cheese. Spread it over the salmon.
  4. Place on the middle rack and depending upon the thickness of the filet, bake for 20 - 30 minutes. The salmon is done when it flakes easily with a fork.
  5. Meanwhile, heat the remaining butter or olive oil in a large pan, over medium heat. Saute the spinach for about 2 minutes, or until the spinach is wilted. Season with salt and pepper, to taste.
  6. Plate the spinach with the baked salmon, and enjoy!

Dairy Free?

No problem! For a dairy-free dish, skip the parmesan and sour cream, and fry the spinach in olive oil instead of butter. Also, remember that green pesto usually contains parmesan, so reach for some red pesto instead.

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19 comments

  1. 1 comment removed
  2. 2
    Jane
    May 11 2016
    I used mayonnaise option and found it too "clawing" tasting. There is a very similar recipe on here which has the topping as mayo, pesto & yogurt which I had last week which was much nicer.
  3. 3
    Liz
    August 25 2016
    Just made this tonight and it was absolutely delicious. It actually serves about 6 people. The sauce on top makes this dish. I did add a few red pepper flakes to the spinach. Oh, and I used Primal Kitchen's avocado mayonaise instead of sour cream. I'm not sure what Jane found "clawing." My entire family raved about it. Thanks for all you do, Andreas, to give us such great recipes!
  4. 4
    Maxine
    October 8 2016
    I made a half recipe (actually half a small wild pink salmon ) for my husband and myself. Used high fat 'Balkan style' yogurt (6%) and home -made pesto. Baked it surrounded by chunks of partly cooked sweet potato and white turnip and served with kale stir-fried with red sweet pepper and onion. Really yummy.
  5. 5
    Helga Delgado
    November 14 2016
    i am so happy i get to find a website like this. Thanks a lot to all the good quality work and all the good information, you guys make me change my lifestyle
  6. 6
    Elizabeth
    July 31 2017
    All the supermarket pestos are made with seed oils. Can anyone recommend a brand available in Australia not containing seed oils?
    Reply: #12
  7. 7
    Martyn
    November 16 2017
    The pesto sauce works nicely when made with 50-50 Mayonnaise and sour cream although I always try to go light on the Parmesan. For an additional side, crispy sautéed brown mushrooms are always well received. I find the Spinach benefits from a little garlic. Alternatively, sautéed mushrooms and watercress work well for when you get fed up with spinach.
  8. 8
    Sarah
    January 14 2018
    it would be great if we knew the macros
  9. 9
    Hollie
    May 17 2018
    i changed the mayo to sour cream and its was truly delicious
  10. 1 comment removed
  11. 11
    Suzanne
    September 19 2018
    I made it for my husband’s birthday dinner. Loved it. Served it on a bed of cauliflower broccoli rice. Made extra sauce. Added a lot more pesto. Very tasty then.
  12. 12
    Reply to comment #6 by Elizabeth
    Susie
    November 13 2018
    Try making your own. For this dish I just chopped some basil leaves with a pinch of salt and a clove of garlic.
  13. 1 comment removed
  14. 14
    Thomas
    December 4 2018
    I replaced the mayonnaise with crème fraiche and it was just delicious. Easy and fast to prepare and makes you feel quite full!
  15. 1 comment removed
  16. 16
    Yawa McDonnell
    January 16 2019
    Love this! Just made it and it is delicious, first recipe l’ve made from this website.

    Thanks

  17. 17
    Kelly
    January 23 2019
    This was fab.
    Great to portion up for work lunches.
  18. 1 comment removed
  19. 19
    Rozzele
    June 5 2019
    First recipe used of this page. Really enjoyed it. I used less Mayo, and not all the sauce (it was so good I wish I'd used more) tracked in my fitness pal 700kcal so pretty accurate nutrition.
  20. 20
    Jane
    June 8 2019
    One of the best DD recipes. Simple, quick and delicious!
  21. 21
    Marcin
    June 29 2019
    I love salmon, I love cheese, so this dish was perfect for me. I recommend adding garlic to the spinach for those who like garlic.
  22. 22
    Annalina
    August 25 2019
    I halfed the pesto sauce and used 50/50 mayo and sour cream, because I don't like overpowering mayo taste, and it was heaven!
    I added a spoonful of cream and grated cheese to the spinach as well. SO yummy!
  23. 23
    Zee
    June 4 2020
    Tzaziki can subsitute mayo if you're okay with a bit more sour like sour cream. 1 tablespoon is just 25 calories.
  24. 24
    Kate Nordin
    November 10 2020
    Hello there!
    Thanks so much for your feedback. We've listened, re-tested this recipe, and improved it. We hope once you try it again yourself, you'll notice the difference — and love it as much as we do.
    Happy cooking!

    /The recipe team

    P.S. To keep the comments section up-to-date, we've gone ahead and removed any comments regarding the now-resolved issues. Thanks!

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