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This Easy Salmon recipe is made with chili, pan-seared, and served over zucchini noodles. They are so easy to make, very tasty, and ready in less than 30 minutes. It’s the perfect low carb dinner option that’s filling and anyone can enjoy.
Looking for an easy salmon recipe? You’ve found it right here. This salmon bites recipe is easy to make and the perfect low carb meal to enjoy without any guilt. Swap noodles with zucchini noodles and you have automatically cut down on loads of carbs. Make this easy salmon recipe for lunch or dinner and impress your family and friends.
If you’re looking for more salmon recipes, why not also try my Honey Glazed Air Fryer Salmon and my Creamy Tuscan Salmon!
why you’ll love this easy salmon recipe
- A healthy weeknight meal. This recipe is very nutritious with high-quality protein and nutrient-dense.
- Perfect salmon. Pan searing the salmon gives you crispy edges with a tender flaky center.
- An Easy Salmon recipe! Only a handful of ingredients needed, this recipe goes from pantry to table in 20 mins.
- Low carb. Made with zoodles instead of pasta noodles, this is a guilt-free, delicious, low carb dish.
- Great for meal prep. This is a great lunch or dinner, just portion out into meal prep containers and eat when ready!
ingredients you need
- Salmon Fillet
- Zucchini
- Butter or Olive Oil
- Garlic
- Chili Flakes
- Salt & Pepper
- Parsley
how to make this easy salmon recipe
- Coat the salmon – in a mixing bowl, add cubed salmon, garlic, chili, lime juice/zest, salt & pepper. Mix well.
- Pan sear the salmon – In a large skillet with butter/oil, add the cubed salmon and cook until golden brown. Set aside.
- Cook your zoodles – In the same pan, add oil, garlic and zoodles. Coko and toss for 1-2 mins.
- Portion – Divide the salmon into containers and add the zoodles next to the salmon.
- Garnish and enjoy when ready!
recipe notes and tips
- For best zoodles use a spiralizer.
- Spiralize the zucchini raw, before cooking. Do not peel it.
- Pat zoodles dry with paper towels after spiralizing them.
- Cut your zoodles into 6-inch noodles, for easier eating.
- The zoodles only need a couple of minutes to cook, longer than that and they can become too watery.
- Don’t overcrowd the zoodles! Cook them in batches if you have to, make sure there’s lots of room. You want as much surface area of the zoodles touching the pan as possible.
- Don’t overcook the salmon, it only needs a few mins.
- Garnish with fresh parsley.
- Include a slice of lime or lemon in the meal prep containers so they can squeeze a bit of zest on the salmon.
- If making this meal for meal prep, you can store it in the fridge for up to 3 days.
faq’s
What’s good with Salmon?
I love how versatile salmon can be. It tastes amazing with so many sides. The options are truly endless but I will be giving you a few ideas so you can always mix things up. Whichever way you prepare your salmon, you can always add it over a bowl of your favorite salad recipe. Have it with some roasted veggies like this eggplant zucchini gratin and this green beans tomato salad, some mashed sweet potatoes, or try this sweet potato recipe here, with some zucchini noodles, or some whole-grain noodles. Also, try it with this Mexican Street Corn salad. So Yummy!! The list could go on and on but options are endless really.
Do you take the skin off Salmon
This will be a personal preference and also depends on the recipe. Most people like to keep the skin on the salmon when they are grilling or pan searing the salmon. It keeps the salmon intact and allows some of the good fats from the skin to absorb. Also keeping the skin when grilling will prevent overcooking the salmon. Some prefer to take the skin off. For this easy chili salmon recipe, I removed the skin before I cubed them. But almost most times I keep the skin on and once cooked and I am ready to eat I carefully remove the skin.
How to avoid watery zuchinni noodles
Zoodles are a great alternative to pasta noodles, but they can end up on the watery side if you take your eye off them! For perfect zoodles, follow these steps:
- Pat zucchini noodles dry with paper towels after spiralizing them.
- Cook zoodles over medium-high heat. This encourages the evaporation of any excess water.
- Do not cover the zucchini during cooking as this will trap the moisture.
- Avoid overcrowding the pan with zoodles, allow for maximum surface area to touch the pan.
- Do not add salt to the pan, this makes the zucchini release more water.
- Don’t overcook the zoodles. Overcooking means more water can seep out of the zucchini.
- Remove from the pan right after cooking. Leaving the zoodles in the pan to ‘rest’ means they’ll continue to cook and release water.
Other easy dishes
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Easy Chili Salmon with Zucchini Noodles
Ingredients
- 1 lb Salmon Fillet, cut into 1-inch cubes
- 2 Tbsp Butter or Olive Oil , divided
- 2 Cloves Garlic, minced
- 1 Tsp Chili Flakes, or to taste
- 1 Tbsp Fresh chopped parsley, to garnish
- 1 Lemon or Lime, sliced, to garnish
- Sea salt and fresh cracked pepper, to taste
- 4 Large Zucchini , spiralized
Instructions
- In a mixing bowl add cubed salmon, garlic, chili, lime juice plus zest, salt, and pepper. Mix well to coat.
- Melt butter (or if using olive oil add 1 tbsp ) in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add in salmon bites and cook for about 1-2 minutes on each side, or until cooked through and golden brown.
- Remove salmon from pan and divide into meal prep containers. In the same heated pan, add remaining butter or oil, garlic and stir in the zucchini noodles.
- Cook and toss for 1-2 minutes, then season with salt and pepper to your taste. Add zucchini noodles next to the salmon bites into the meal prep containers
- Garnish with fresh chopped parsley and lime or lemon slices. You can squeeze some lemons over your meal. Enjoy.
Notes
- For best zoodles use a spiralizer.
- Spiralize the zucchini raw, before cooking. Do not peel it.
- Pat zoodles dry with paper towels after spiralizing them.
- Cut your zoodles into 6-inch noodles, for easier eating.
- The zoodles only need a couple of minutes to cook, longer than that and they can become too watery.
- Don’t overcrowd the zoodles! Cook them in batches if you have to, make sure there’s lots of room. You want as much surface area of the zoodles touching the pan as possible.
- Don’t overcook the salmon, it only needs a few mins.
- Garnish with fresh parsley.
- Include a slice of lime or lemon in the meal prep containers so they can squeeze a bit of zest on the salmon.
- If making this meal for meal prep, you can store it in the fridge for up to 3 days
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
How much garlic for salmon marinade and tossing with doodles? How much lime juice and zest?
Thank you
Hi Candice. It’s on the Recipe Card. 2 Garlic Cloves and one lime. As for garnishing, you can sprinkle as much lime and lime zest you like.
Just made this tonight and it was DELICIOUS!! I used Tajin seasoning as a shortcut for the chili and lime and it worked great. Such a great dinner idea I wouldn’t have come up with on my own.
Yay. Thanks so much for your feedback.So glad you liked this recipe.