There is a reason why salmon is a favorite main dish. It is absolutely delicious! But it's also an incredibly healthy food and easy to prepare.
Here are 30 healthy and easy sides dishes to serve with salmon.
If you love salmon and often serve it as a main dish, pairing it with a healthy side dish is a great way to eat more healthfully. This round-up of healthy side dishes goes far beyond simple steamed broccoli.
You'll find a range of low carb, keto, paleo and Whole30 ideas that can be quickly made using various cooking methods. You'll find ways to serve cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, carrots, root vegetables and more.
Easy homemade sauces like pesto and salsa will help elevate salmon as well as other side items.
Salads such as coleslaw, broccoli, and sweet potatoes offer a range of ideas great for warm weather and potlucks. Grain-free pasta options using vegetables offer perfect side dishes to pair with salmon.
Healthy sides for salmon
Side dishes that are healthy and that will compliment your salmon dinner can be found in this collection of easy recipes.
Sheet Pan Salmon and Asparagus
Side dishes do not have to be complicated to be delicious. With this simple sheet pan dinner, the roasted asparagus cooks with the salmon on one baking sheet.
Just add a topping of grainy mustard to the salmon, toss the asparagus with olive oil, salt and pepper and bake to perfection. Dinner is on the table in 20 minutes! Recipe
Air Fryer Brussels Sprouts
Tender on the inside and crispy on the outside, these air fryer Brussels sprouts offer a healthy vegetable side dish that's the perfect compliment for salmon.
Ready in just 15 minutes, your air fryer will cook these sprouts with a simple seasoning of olive oil and salt and pepper. Drizzle them with a tangy balsamic vinaigrette for a little extra spiciness.
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Crockpot Butternut Squash
Save yourself the hassle of trying to cut a butternut squash by using this easy and mess-free crockpot method to cook this healthy seasonal veggie. Just put the whole squash in your slow cooker, turn it on, low and slow, and come back to a tender and cooked squash ready to cut with ease.
Enjoy the cooked squash as is, puree it into a soup, or save it in the fridge for later. No matter how you use it, it makes a healthy side dish to serve with salmon.
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Broccoli Salad With Bacon
Sweet, savory, crunchy and full of green veggie goodness, this easy-to-make broccoli salad is a colorful and outrageously flavorful side option for salmon.
Broccoli florets, salty crumbled bacon, spicy red onion, sweet golden raisins and crunchy walnuts get a tangy drizzle of apple cider vinegar for a delicious Whole30 compliant salad that's always a crowd-pleaser.
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Smoked Maple Butternut Squash
Kick up the flavor of butternut squash with a little maple syrup after you've cooked it to tenderness on your smoker. No smoker? No worries. Just add wood chips to your grill (follow the included directions for charcoal or gas-powered options) to obtain that smoky flavor.
This sweet and savory mashed butternut squash pairs beautifully with salmon.
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Roasted Carrots
Carrots are naturally sweet and when you roast them, you turn them into an elegantly simple side dish that's perfect for almost any meal.
Here, roasted carrots stay healthy with just a bit of coconut oil, sea salt and pepper. It's a gluten-free, dairy-free, paleo, vegan and Whole30-friendly way to enjoy carrots.
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Slow Cooker Sweet Potatoes
Tender and just barely caramelized are the hallmarks of everyone's favorite orange potato - the sweet potato! To achieve this tasty goodness, use your slow cooker rather than your oven.
This convenient cooking method will get them to perfection in 3-4 hours on high or 5-6 hours on low. Serve with salmon for a complimentary side item that everyone will enjoy.
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Easy Coleslaw
You're just a few ingredients away from this crunchy homemade coleslaw. Shredded cabbage and shredded carrots, or even a pre-made bag from the store, gets a healthy drizzle of an apple cider vinaigrette to turn it into a healthy salad that pairs wonderfully with salmon.
Make this coleslaw a few hours ahead and let it chill in the fridge to deepen the flavors.
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Quick Cauliflower Rice
"Riced" cauliflower is a great low carb and grain-free substitute for rice, so you'll want to try this easy method of making it. Using a food processor, pulse it with a grater blade, working in batches. You can also simply use a box grater.
Once riced, you can store it in your fridge or freezer and cook it when you need it. A quick sauté with some seasoning is all you need to make it a great side dish to serve with salmon.
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Sweet Potato Casserole
If you're doubting the existence of a healthy sweet potato casserole, then you need to try this recipe! It's paleo and ridiculously easy in addition to being naturally sweet and flavorful.
Just a touch of honey along with pumpkin pie spices, egg, and vanilla make this sweet potato filling a tasty treat. Top it with a crumble of almond flour, chopped pecans and butter (ghee) and bake it to deliciousness.
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Easy Roasted Root Vegetables
What could be easier than roasting root veggies such as sweet potatoes, carrots, celeriac, parsnips, beets, or butternut squash on a sheet pan?
Whatever you have available can be cubed and tossed with a scant bit of olive oil and seasoned with salt and pepper before their session in the oven. Give them a little drizzle of balsamic vinegar and a smattering of fresh herbs before serving with salmon.
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Avocado Caprese Salad
Garden fresh heirloom tomatoes, basil and ripe avocados make for an easy and scrumptious salad that's perfect for a summer side item for your salmon dinner.
Slice your tomatoes and avocado and stack them, finishing with a fresh basil leaf on top of each. Season with salt and pepper and garnish with a drizzle olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Divine!
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Mashed Cauliflower With White Truffle Oil
Give mashed cauliflower a flavorful boost with the addition of white truffle oil. This quick recipe that uses frozen cauliflower makes perfect mock mashed potatoes that's a classic salmon side dish.
Here, frozen cauliflower is cooked in chicken stock with garlic for added flavor before being pureed in a food processor along with the truffle oil.
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Roasted Butternut Squash
Up-level butternut squash by roasting and seasoning it with rosemary, garlic and duck fat. Peel and cube the squash, toss it with the melted duck fat, minced garlic and freshly chopped rosemary. Roast it on a sheet pan for 30 minutes and serve this fragrant and perfect side dish.
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Bacon Roasted Brussels Sprouts With Honey Mustard
A popular side item for salmon is Brussels sprouts. These mini cabbages are a tasty mix of tartness that can be layered with delicious flavors such as bacon, and in this case, honey mustard.
The sweet and savory flavors are easy to achieve with this cooking method that includes tossing them in garlic-infused olive oil and diced uncooked bacon. Roast them in the oven and then drizzle with a honey mustard glaze before serving.
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Roasted Sweet Potato Salad
This cold sweet potato salad is a scrumptious take on a warm weather side dish that's perfect for backyard barbecues, tailgating and potlucks. It also makes a delicious option to serve with salmon.
The healthy avocado-based mayo made with lime juice gives the cooked and tender cubed sweet potatoes a zesty flavor that pairs well with the diced red onion, red pepper and cilantro. Chill well before serving.
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Roasted Garlic Cauliflower Celery Root Mash
Keep it paleo with this delicious combination of cauliflower and celery root to give this mashed side dish a little something extra in the flavor department. Roasted garlic adds dimension, too.
Cook the fresh cauliflower florets and celery root in a pot of water until tender. Drain and transfer everything to a food processor and pulse until smooth. So tasty!
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Instant Pot Spaghetti Squash
A wonderful and healthy way to serve noodles with salmon is to scrape out strands of cooked spaghetti squash for use as a pasta substitute. An easy and quick way to cook spaghetti squash is to let your Instant Pot pressure cook it to tenderness.
When serving the noodles, just top with your favorite sauce or pesto. If you happen to have leftover noodles, they're freezer-friendly, so you can store them for another meal.
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Fresh Tomato Salsa
Fresh homemade salsa has a depth of flavor that you just won't find in store-bought jarred salsa. Use organic, homegrown, and/or farmer's market tomatoes for the most delicious taste.
Along with onion, jalapeno pepper, lime juice, cilantro and garlic-infused olive oil, you're just minutes away from making this appetizing condiment that will pair perfectly with salmon.
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Roasted Garlic Walnut Pesto
This basil and walnut pesto makes a scrumptious dairy-free condiment to serve on your salmon or toss on your spaghetti squash noodles for a side dish.
Using fresh basil, roasted garlic, toasted walnuts and olive oil, add the ingredients to your food processor or high speed blender and process until desired consistency is achieved. Leftovers can be stored in a glass jar in the fridge for 4-5 days or can be frozen for up to 3 months.
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Butternut Squash In The Instant Pot
Don't stress over peeling and cutting butternut squash to use in your next recipe; instead, cook it to tenderness in your Instant Pot by putting it in whole, on a trivet, and adding water to the bottom and let it pressure cook.
Once done, easily cut it in half, scoop out the seeds, and use the flesh in your recipes. Mash it, turn it into soup, dice it for use with other ingredients or freeze it for later use.
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Arugula Strawberry Salad
This arugula and strawberry salad recipe is perfect topped with baked or grilled salmon. It takes just minutes to put together and with all the fresh spring flavors it's a fantastic meal for lunch or dinner.
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Simple Roasted Tomatoes
This simple rustic side dish of roasted cherry tomatoes is one of the best side dishes to pair with any kind of fish. Add another vegetable side like mashed cauliflower for a hearty dinner.
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Bacon Ranch Grilled Romaine Salad
Need a side for grilled salmon? Make this easy grilled romaine salad while the fish is on the grill and serve it up together for an easy and tasty dinner.
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Zucchini Noodle Pesto
The fresh flavors in this zucchini pasta pesto recipe are a natural with broiled salmon. Make the zucchini noodles, toss with pesto and top with the fish. With fresh basil pesto, homegrown zucchini and tomatoes, this easy meal is bursting with flavor.
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Asparagus with Easy Blender Hollandaise Sauce
If you can use a blender, you can make this easy Hollandaise sauce. It's delicious over roasted asparagus and equally delicious over baked salmon. A perfect combination!
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Easy Roasted Broccoli
This easy roasted broccoli with garlic and lemon is quick and healthy for a weeknight dinner. Keep it simple and serve this family favorite alongside your fish.
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Chimichurri Sauce
Chimichurri sauce is good on so many different things, and salmon is no different. Try grilling the fish along with some veggies and drizzle the chimichurri over the whole platter. So good and so easy!
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Air Fryer Asparagus
Roasting asparagus in the air fryer makes it super quick and easy. Cook it while your fish is in the oven, or cook them both in the air fryer for an even easier dinner.
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Cucumber Tomato Salad
This favorite summer salad is so easy to make with farm fresh tomatoes and cucumbers. Just toss with olive oil, vinegar, onions and spices for the perfect accompaniment to just about any dish.
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Easy salmon dishes are perfect for weeknights. Even something as simple as a side dish can make it a little more creative and exciting. Try these healthy and easy side dishes to serve with your salmon and spice up your next meal.
Enhance your next salmon meal with these deliciously easy and healthy side dish recipes.
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