This easy salmon recipe is simple enough for a toddler to make. Kids love the colorful pesto & crunchy pistachios, making it a perfect way to introduce fish to your little ones. But the best thing about this salmon recipe is that it’s just three ingredients and ready in under 20 minutes, start to finish!
Seafood can be a hard food for little kids. It often has a strong taste, unlike any other food they may have tried, and it can be dry or mushy, or anywhere in between, (don’t worry, I’ll tell you below how to perfectly cook your salmon). Â But seafood is an important part of a healthy diet, even for babies and toddlers. Salmon can be a good starter seafood for kids because of its bright color, fatty taste, and how good it can be either hot or cold.
The first time Corban tried salmon, it was from cooking a whole salmon, and he refused to try it until I brought him the tail. He decided that was pretty cool, and was willing to take a few bites. Next we tried salmon skewers, which he thought were fun to play with, but still only took a couple of bites.
Then I was sent a recipe for pesto pistachio salmon. Just three ingredients, salmon, pesto, pistachios, and voila…perfectly moist and crazy flavorful.
Corban loved the pesto salmon so much, that now he gets to cook whenever we’re having it for dinner.
In the video, we used pink salt because I let Corban choose what salt to use, but you could use any salt you like. You can even skip the salt and pepper all together if your pesto is really fresh and flavorful.
This is one of those recipes that can be a quick five minute prep using a jarred pesto (we love Costco’s!), or can be made using your favorite fresh pesto recipe. We’ve tried it both ways, and each one was fantastic.
For crushing the pistachios, you can use a meat hammer like Corban did, a rolling pin, or even a regular hammer. It’s a great way to get some frustration out!
Make sure you follow the step for covering the salmon with foil. It’s my secret to perfectly cooked salmon every time. The foil traps the moisture in as the fish cooks. That means no dried out sad fish, even if you’re hiding in the bathroom sipping a half a glass of wine and reading a cooking magazine and don’t hear the kitchen timer until your pre-schooler comes to tell you it’s been going off five minutes later. Or so I’ve heard.
We hope your little one loves this easy salmon recipe as much as our mini chef does. Be sure to let us know in the comments if you try it. We love to hear from you!
THANKS FOR SUPPORTING EATING RICHLY EVEN WHEN YOU’RE BROKE
Our favorite store bought pestos are found in the refrigerated section. But you can also order pantry stable pestos online if you can’t get out to shop. By clicking one of these links before making a purchase on Amazon, we get a small percentage of your purchase, without it costing you anything extra! Thanks for helping to support our family business.
THREE INGREDIENT EASY SALMON RECIPE
Three Ingredient Easy Salmon Recipe
This easy salmon recipe has just three ingredients! You can use jarred pesto, or homemade, but make sure to use unsalted pistachios. Adapted from food.com
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup pistachios
- 4 ounce salmon fillets, Around 3-4 Fillets
- salt and pepper, optional
- 1/2 cup pesto
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
- Place pistachios in a bag and pound a few times until they are slightly crushed.
- Grease a baking sheet. We like olive oil but you can use a spray if you prefer.
- Place the salmon fillets on the sheet and sprinkle with salt and pepper if you'd like them.
- Spoon the pesto onto each salmon fillet, then sprinkle on the crushed pistachios.
- Cover the whole thing with foil and bake it for 12 minutes.
Notes
Approximate cost/serving: This depends on the cost of your salmon. While farm raised salmon is going to be cheapest, we prefer sustainable, wild caught Alaskan salmon. The best way to make this affordable is to buy whole salmon and fillet it yourself. It's surprisingly easy! When we found a whole salmon for just $8/lb, this cost us less than $3 a serving. That's crazy!
Gluten Free: Yes completely! This can also be dairy free and paleo by making your own pesto with no parmesan.
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
4Serving Size:
4 servingsAmount Per Serving: Calories: 332Saturated Fat: 3.34gCholesterol: 47mgSodium: 397mgCarbohydrates: 7.3gFiber: 2.1gSugar: 2.68gProtein: 21.67g
I am hosting Mini Chef Mondays along with 11 fabulous bloggers!
Be sure to check out each of their Mini Chef posts as well. We would love it if you would share your Mini Chef posts with us each week, too! Follow along socially and join in on the fun by using our hashtag #MiniChefMondays to share creations your mini chef created in the kitchen. Additionally, if you have a kid-friendly recipe that kids can easily recreate link up! Don’t have a blog? Share the URL of your instagram photo in our linky below.
- Homemade Maple Yogurt Recipe // Courtney’s Sweets
- Jello Play Doh // Momma Lew
- Best Baked Oatmeal Recipe with Apples and Pears // Baby Loving Mama
- 3 Bean Chicken Chili // We’re Parents
- Spicy Shredded Beef Quesadillas // Frugal Novice
- Easy Salmon Recipe That Kids Will Actually Eat // Eating Richly
- Homemade Chicken Nuggets // Giggles, Gobbles and Gulps
- Kid Safety Tips for Kids // Step Stool Chef
- Cooking with Kids // Vegging at the Shore
- Gingerbread Cookies and Cream Bars // Mom’s Messy Miracles
- Applesauce Muffins // O’Boy! Organic
- Chocolate Covered Pretzel Snowflakes // Can’t Google Everything
OMG that video is TOO cute!! The salmon looks pretty good too 🙂
Thank you Brita! So appreciate you stopping by to comment.