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10 Healthy Sides for Salmon – From Rice Dishes to Salads

Fresh quinoa tabbouleh salad with tomatoes, peppers and cucumbers

10 Healthy Sides for Salmon – From Rice Dishes to Salads

Salmon is a great light and healthy meal that still offers a good amount of protein. In a four-ounce salmon filet, you can get between 20-25 grams of protein. On average, women need 45 grams of protein per day, and men need 55 grams per day. That means one filet of salmon can provide almost half of your daily protein intake! If you're looking to keep your dinner healthy, here are some great side dishes for salmon.

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Sauteed Garlic Mushrooms and Zucchini

These sauteed garlic mushrooms and zucchini are full of flavor and easy to make. With only 10 minutes of prep and 15 of cooking time, they're ready in under 30 minutes. For this recipe, you'll need zucchini, button mushrooms, yellow onion, garlic, herbs, and vegetable broth.

Mediterranean Salad

This refreshing side dish is great to pair with your salmon. Made with tomatoes, cucumber, red onion, and cilantro, it's a bright and fresh salad that you can simply toss together with some olive oil and lime juice or vinegar. All you have to do is cut up the vegetables and make a quick vinaigrette, and it's ready to go.

Parmesan and Balsamic Roasted Asparagus With Tomatoes

This recipe is a fun way to spruce up your side of asparagus. Adding tomatoes, minced garlic, and balsamic glaze makes the asparagus super flavorful. If you don't have balsamic glaze, but you have balsamic vinegar, you can make a reduction by boiling down the vinegar to a glaze. And if you want to sweeten the dish, you can add honey or maple syrup to your glaze reduction.

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Greek Lemon Rice

This zesty Greek lemon rice recipe is a delicious Mediterranean side. Filled with herbs and lots of lemon, it's a great pair for salmon. Ready in 30 minutes, all you have to do is sautee onions and garlic, then add broth, lemon juice, and seasonings to cook into the rice. Once the rice is done, it's optional to add in some butter and an extra squeeze of lemon juice.

Low-Carb Broccoli Salad

This loaded low-carb broccoli salad has broccoli, cauliflower, red onions, bacon, and cheese. It's also made with a homemade dressing. My personal belief is everything is better with a homemade dressing! This dressing is made with Greek yogurt, mayonnaise, honey, red wine vinegar, sugar, salt, and pepper.

Garlic Butter Quinoa

Quinoa is normally a plain-tasting grain, but this garlic butter quinoa recipe makes it a rich and flavorful side. It only takes five ingredients; quinoa, butter, garlic, salt, and vegetable broth. One of the keys to cooking quinoa is cooking it in a broth so that it adds extra flavor. If you cook it in water, it will be plain with an earthy taste. But it will soak up the flavor of the liquid it's cooked in, so make sure that liquid is flavorful.

Roasted Carrots With Pecans And Goat Cheese

Not only is this side dish pretty, but it tastes amazing. It's a great balance of sweet and savory with brown sugar and tangy goat cheese. If you don't like goat cheese, no problem, you can easily substitute it with feta cheese. Once the carrots are prepared, they will go in the oven for up to an hour. During that time, you can make candied pecans to sprinkle the carrots with once they're done. If you prefer to have regular pecans, you can roast them alongside the carrots.

Lemon Orzo Salad

This twist on a classic pasta salad is so fun. It's fresh from all the veggies and is easy to make with minimal prep time. While you cook the orzo, cut up all the cucumbers, peppers, and onions. The dressing is easy and delicious, made with olive oil, lemon juice, salt, pepper, and garlic. To make it taste even more fresh, add in fresh basil and parsley.

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Jennifer Aniston Salad

If you haven't heard of the famous Jennifer Aniston salad yet, where have you been? Made with chickpeas, quinoa, cucumber, red onion, fresh parsley and mint, salted pistachios, and crumbled feta cheese, it has a ton of flavor. Then toss in lemon juice, olive oil, honey, and salt and pepper, and it is perfection. This is a cold salad, so make sure to cool down the cooked quinoa before mixing together the salad.

Cilantro Lime Rice

If you love the Chipotle cilantro lime rice, then you'll love this recipe. Made with onion, fresh garlic, vegetable or chicken stock, lime juice, and fresh cilantro, this rice bursts with flavor. Anything citrus is a great addition to your salmon meal.

Gourmet portion of thick juicy fresh salmon grilling on a griddle seasoned with lemon zest, herbs and spices in a low angle view with copyspace and rising steam
Salmon is a heart-healthy food because of its high omega-3 content.

©stockcreations/Shutterstock.com

Cooking Your Salmon

If you're new to making salmon at home, make sure to check out these articles on how to best cook your salmon.

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