Can you ever go wrong with pesto? In our opinion, no. It’s honestly freakin’ delicious, and has the ability to elevate almost anything you’re eating. This pesto salmon recipe is sure to please. This low carb dinner is so easy to throw together, and it’s always perfectly satisfying and rich!
One of our favorite things about this dish? This baked pesto salmon is mostly hands off time too. Just quickly season the salmon fillets and bake it, so you have time to mix up a quick side or salad to go along with it. This dish will become an easy, flavorful dinner staple with minimal prep time.
We include lots of process pictures in the body of the text, as well as ideas for substitutions and more. Feel free to skip to the recipe card if you’d like to get right into it. This recipe is also available as a Google Web Story here!
Ingredients:
- Whole salmon fillet – Or salmon portions, whatever is easier for you. Just make sure you have about 1.5 pounds of salmon. Skin on or off according to your preference.
- Basil pesto – We use our homemade walnut pesto recipe for this. You can make it up to 10 days in advance. It’s ready in just minutes in your food processor, but of course any store bought or homemade variety can be used here.
- Butter – We love something high quality and grass fed for this (liked Kerrygold) but of course you can use whatever you want. It’s best to use softened butter to make your butter pesto sauce, so it’s easy to mix together. You can also soften it slightly in the microwave.
- Extra virgin olive oil – We mix in a bit of extra olive oil to make the perfect sauce!
- Lemon juice & zest – Freshly squeezed is always your best bet, and zest just helps amp up that lemon flavor easily. We just love adding lemon to seafood recipes.
- Seasoning – We keep it simple with red pepper flakes (optional) and a little kosher salt and pepper.
- Serve with: fresh basil, tomatoes, and lemon slices (optional)
How to Make This Basil Pesto Butter Salmon:
Preheat oven to 400°F. Drizzle lemon juice over top of the salmon, season with salt, pepper and red pepper flakes on both sides.
In a separate container, combine olive oil, pesto, lemon zest and softened butter. Mix well. Transfer salmon to a prepared baking sheet. Place the buttery pesto sauce over salmon until completely covered.
Bake for 8-10 minutes until an instant read thermometer reaches 145°F. The buttery pesto sauce will melt off the sides, we like to drain it off into a separate container and serve with the salmon later. Plate the salmon with lemon slices, fresh basil, tomatoes and drizzle the remaining sauce over top.
Tips For The Best Baked Basil Pesto Salmon Recipe:
- This recipe was made using about 3 servings of our homemade walnut pesto recipe if you want to use store bought, feel free, but be sure to adjust the macros accordingly!
- Tomatoes, lemon and extra basil are not included in the nutrition facts.
- Red pepper flakes are optional.
Yes! Absolutely! It’s only 1 net carb per serving, 59 grams of fat, and 38 grams of protein for an ultra satisfying and filling meal.
Yes, this recipe is 100% gluten free. We make all of the components ourself however. So, if using something store bought, be sure to double check the ingredients. Pesto is generally naturally gluten free, and everything else is a pretty “whole” ingredient, so it’s pretty safe. Always be sure to check though if you are celiac. Sometimes store bought ingredients have weird additives.
We suppose you could, but salmon is kind of awful reheated. It just gets super overcooked and dry. We recommend simply eating leftovers cold.
More Keto Recipes To Try:
- Keto Eggplant Milanese
- Crispy Parmesan Pesto Cauliflower
- Keto Antipasto Salad
- Burrata and Prosciutto Salad with Arugula
Need more ideas? Be sure to check out this massive list of over 85+ low carb and keto friendly recipes on our site!
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Until Next Time,
Briana & Chamere
Pesto Butter Salmon
Ingredients
- 1.5 pounds salmon fillets
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice (about the juice of half a lemon)
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes (optional)
- 8 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1/2 teaspoon lemon zest
- 1/2 cup homemade walnut basil pesto (use store bought or our recipe)
- Garnish with: fresh basil, tomatoes, lemon slices (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400°F. Drizzle lemon juice over top of the salmon, season with salt, pepper and red pepper flakes on both sides.
- In a separate container, combine olive oil, pesto, lemon zest and softened butter. Mix well. Transfer salmon to a prepared baking sheet. Place the buttery pesto sauce over salmon until completely covered.
- Bake for 8-10 minutes until an instant read thermometer reaches 145°F. The buttery pesto sauce will melt off the sides, we like to drain it off into a separate container and serve with the salmon later. Plate the salmon with lemon slices, fresh basil, tomatoes and drizzle the remaining sauce over top.
- Store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days. Do not reheat, simply enjoy leftovers cold.
Notes
- This recipe was made using about 3 servings of our homemade walnut pesto recipe if you want to use store bought, feel free, but be sure to adjust the macros accordingly!
- Tomatoes, lemon and extra basil are not included in the nutrition facts.
- We don’t recommend reheating leftovers, just enjoy them cold.
- Red pepper flakes are optional.
Nutrition
These nutrition facts are provided as a courtesy and are only estimates. We cannot guarantee the accuracy.
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