Baked Salmon with Dijon Basil Pesto

Baked Salmon with Dijon Basil Pesto gets a new flavor from this exquisite sauce. Quick and easy to prepare, and ready in minutes, this salmon with Dijon basil pesto is SO incredibly delicious, you’re sure to make it a regular dish in your dinner rotation.

The Idea of Baking Salmon with Pesto…

A few weeks ago, I tasted this salmon dish at a food-tasting event, and it was so amazing that I couldn’t get it off my mind. Because I make salmon often, but simple dishes like our skillet salmon with chili sauce, and pan-seared salmon with teriyaki ginger sauce. But I was curious to see if I could come up with that salmon dish I tasted baked with pesto sauce.

I remembered the ingredients were few and simple.  But after a few attempts, I finally came up with my version and was very pleased with the results! 

The Dijon basil pesto mixture is spooned over the salmon before it bakes – no need to wait or marinate it.  Just spread the mixture on and into the oven it goes! Making salmon with zesty, tangy flavors turned out to be fabulous. The combination was amazing! 

Having fresh basil pesto sauce on hand is essential! I prefer homemade with most of my recipes.  It tastes so much better and has that freshness that no jar could ever provide.

And the most important reason is that our daughter is allergic to nuts.  While almost every jarred pesto sauce on the market contains at least one or more types of nuts, that limits me… so we prefer to making our own pesto sauce.

How to Prepare and Bake Salmon with Dijon Basil Pesto?

Our full recipe card is located at the bottom. But first, let’s run through our easy to follow steps, so you can see how this recipe works.   

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. (190. degrees C)
2. Line baking pan with a sheet of foil wrap. Season the salmon on both sides with salt and black pepper and transfer onto the baking sheet.
3. Combine 1/4 cup of basil pesto sauce with 1.5 tablespoons of Dijon mustard and 1/2 of a lemon, juiced in a small bowl. Spoon over salmon evenly with the basil mixture.
4. BAKE for 15 minutes, or until the salmon is opaque and separates easily.Serve salmon with an extra lemon wedge squeezed on top.

Salmon is a fish that usually cooks up very quickly. Therefore, you will only need to bake it for 15 minutes or so, depending on how you prefer your salmon cooked, rare, medium, or well done.  Then serve it with a side dish.

We like to serve it with our Easy Kale Quinoa Salad.  The two are perfect together.

You’ll love this tangy, flavorful sauce that covers the top of the salmon.  It turned out SO good, you’ll love this combination.

 

Kitchen Items You’ll Need:

• ONE Baking pan,
• One small bowl for mixing, and some salt and black pepper to season the salmon.
• A Spatula
• Plus ,we prefer to use Himalayan pink salt, but you can use sea salt as well.

  

More Recipes to Love Salmon! 

Pan Seared Salmon with Teriyaki Ginger Sauce

 

Pan Seared Salmon with Zesty Tomato-Onion Relish

Grilled Salmon over Egg-less Caesar Salad

Easy Baked Salmon…

Hello friends!  Are you baking with us?  If you make this delicious Baked Salmon with Dijon Basil Pesto, let us know and leave a comment and a star rating below!  Sharing your experience and insights will help all our readers, and it helps us too. For more delicious dinner ideas, follow us on Pinterest and Instagram! We’d love to hear from you!

Happy and Healthy BAKING!!  🙂

Thanks for stopping by!

xo Anna and Liz